Satellite communication method, storage medium, controller and vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a satellite communication method, a storage medium, a controller and a vehicle, and the method comprises the steps: generating a first beamforming vector and a second beamforming vector according to a space angle of a satellite, generating a third beamforming vector according to a signal received by the second beamforming vector, and transmitting the third beamforming vector to the vehicle; and finally, determining the beam forming vector with the maximum signal power from the first beam forming vector, the second beam forming vector and the third beam forming vector as a beam control parameter, and realizing satellite communication between the satellite and the terminal by using a signal beam of the beam control parameter. Wherein the first beamforming vector, the second beamforming vector and the third beamforming vector are used for determining the direction of a signal beam between the satellite and the terminal. Therefore, the beam alignment precision of satellite communication can be improved, and the signal receiving quality and the communication efficiency are enhanced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of satellite communication technologies, and particularly to a satellite communication method, a storage medium, a controller, and a vehicle. Background Art

[0002] Currently, the beam alignment of ground terminals in a satellite communication system mainly relies on two methods. The first is to calculate the beam pointing based on integrated navigation and satellite ephemeris. The second is to find the optimal beam direction through signal scanning.

[0003] However, the first method is affected by navigation errors and complex channel environments, resulting in limited alignment accuracy. For the second method, if a small scanning step is selected, the alignment time is long; if a large scanning step is selected, the optimal beam direction may be missed, resulting in limited signal-to-noise ratio gain.

[0004] Therefore, the beam alignment accuracy, signal reception quality, and communication efficiency of existing satellite communications are not high. Summary of the Invention

[0005] An embodiment of this application provides a satellite communication method, which improves the effect and efficiency of satellite communication to at least partially solve the above technical problems.

[0006] To achieve the above objective, according to the first aspect of this application, a satellite communication method is provided, including: Generating a first beamforming vector and a second beamforming vector according to the spatial angle of a satellite; Generating a third beamforming vector according to the signal received by the second beamforming vector; Determining the beamforming vector with the maximum signal power among the first beamforming vector, the second beamforming vector, and the third beamforming vector as a beam control parameter, and implementing satellite communication between the satellite and a terminal using the signal beam of the beam control parameter; wherein, the first beamforming vector, the second beamforming vector, and the third beamforming vector are used to determine the direction of the signal beam between the satellite and the terminal.

[0007] Optionally, the first beamforming vector is generated through the following steps: Obtaining the navigation information of the terminal and the ephemeris information of the satellite; Determining the elevation angle and azimuth angle of the satellite relative to the terminal according to the navigation information and the ephemeris information; Generating the first beamforming vector according to the elevation angle and the azimuth angle.

[0008] Optionally, the second beamforming vector is generated through the following steps: Perform angle expansion centered on the elevation angle and the azimuth angle to obtain an elevation angle range and an azimuth angle range; Generate a set of orthogonal beam codewords covering the elevation angle range and the azimuth angle range to obtain the second beamforming vector.

[0009] Optionally, the generating a set of orthogonal beam codewords covering the elevation angle range and the azimuth angle range includes: Obtain limit angle information; the limit angle information includes a horizontal angle upper limit and a horizontal angle lower limit, as well as a vertical angle upper limit and a vertical angle lower limit; Obtain the number of horizontal array elements in the horizontal axis direction and the number of vertical array elements in the vertical axis direction; According to the limit angle information, the number of horizontal array elements, and the number of vertical array elements, determine the total number of beam codewords in the second beamforming vector and the weights of each element in each beam codeword to obtain the set of orthogonal beam codewords.

[0010] Optionally, the weights of each element in each beam codeword are determined through the following steps: Obtain the index of each beam codeword, the index, excitation amplitude, and spacing between adjacent elements of each element; According to the index of the element, the horizontal angle lower limit, and the number of horizontal array elements, determine the horizontal target angle; According to the index of the element, the vertical angle lower limit, and the number of vertical array elements, determine the vertical target angle; According to the excitation amplitude of each element, the spacing between adjacent elements, the horizontal target angle, and the vertical target angle, determine the weight of each element.

[0011] Optionally, the total number of beam codewords is determined through the following steps: Obtain the first number of beams in the horizontal axis direction; Obtain the second number of beams in the vertical axis direction; According to the first number and the second number, obtain the total number of beam codewords.

[0012] Optionally, the method further includes: Obtain the error of the navigation information and the error of the ephemeris information; According to the error of the navigation information and the error of the ephemeris information, dynamically adjust the values of the elevation angle range and the azimuth angle range to obtain an adjusted elevation angle range and an adjusted azimuth angle range.

[0013] Optionally, the generating a third beamforming vector according to the signal received according to the second beamforming vector includes: Perform weighted synthesis on multiple signals received by the second beamforming vector to obtain a signal matrix; Determine the covariance matrix of the signal matrix; Extract the eigenvector corresponding to the maximum eigenvalue of the covariance matrix, and perform normalization processing on the eigenvector corresponding to the maximum eigenvalue to obtain the third beamforming vector.

[0014] Optionally, the determining the covariance matrix of the signal matrix includes: Perform conjugate transpose processing on the signal matrix to obtain the conjugate transpose matrix of the signal matrix; Determine the covariance matrix of the signal matrix according to the product of the signal matrix and the conjugate transpose matrix.

[0015] Optionally, the method further includes: If the power of the beam control parameter received signal is less than a preset threshold, expand the elevation range and the azimuth range; Determine new beam control parameters according to the expanded elevation range and azimuth range.

[0016] According to the second aspect of the present application, there is also provided a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method described above are implemented.

[0017] According to the third aspect of the present application, there is also provided a controller, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method described above are implemented.

[0018] According to the fourth aspect of the present application, there is also provided a vehicle, including the controller described above.

[0019] According to the fifth aspect of the present application, there is also provided a computer program product, including a computer program or instruction, and when the computer program or instruction is executed by a processor, the steps of the method described above are implemented.

[0020] In summary, in the embodiment of the present application, first, according to the spatial angle of the satellite, the first beamforming vector and the second beamforming vector are generated, and then, according to the signal received by the second beamforming vector, the third beamforming vector is generated, so that the second beamforming vector can be optimized to obtain the third beamforming vector, enhancing the diversity of subsequent selection of each beamforming vector. Finally, the beamforming vector with the maximum signal power is determined from the first beamforming vector, the second beamforming vector, and the third beamforming vector as the beam control parameter, and the signal beam of the beam control parameter is used to implement satellite communication between the satellite and the terminal. By comprehensively considering the advantages and disadvantages of multiple beamforming vectors and selecting the beamforming vector with the best signal reception quality, the beam alignment accuracy of satellite communication can be improved, and the signal reception quality and satellite communication efficiency can be enhanced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following will briefly introduce the accompanying drawings required for the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the accompanying drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0022] In order to more fully understand the present application and its beneficial effects, the following will be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, where the same reference numerals represent the same parts in the following description.

[0023] Figure 1 is a flowchart of a satellite communication method provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the execution process of the satellite communication method provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; Figure 3 is a comparison diagram of the average beam gains of different beam alignment methods of a 12×12 antenna uniform planar array in a channel environment with a Rice factor of 10 provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; Figure 4 is a comparison diagram of the average beam gains of different beam alignment methods of a 16×16 antenna uniform planar array in a channel environment with a Rice factor of 10 provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; Figure 5 is a comparison diagram of the average beam gains of different beam alignment methods of a 12×12 antenna uniform planar array in a channel environment with a Rice factor of 1 provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; Figure 6 is another flowchart of a satellite communication method provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a satellite communication device provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a vehicle provided in an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Detailed implementation manners

[0024] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

[0025] Based on the problems mentioned in the foregoing background art, in the related art, the beam alignment of ground terminals in a satellite communication system mainly relies on two common methods. The first method is based on combined navigation information (such as inertial measurement units, GPS, etc.) and satellite ephemeris data. The terminal calculates the relative geometric relationship between its own position and the satellite orbit to determine the initial pointing angles (azimuth and elevation angle) of the beam, and generates the corresponding beamforming vector. This method relies on the accuracy of navigation and ephemeris information and can quickly achieve preliminary beam alignment. The second method is that the terminal actively scans the beam direction, real-time detects the received signal strength (such as signal-to-noise ratio or bit error rate), and adjusts the beam pointing until the signal quality reaches the optimal. This method does not rely on external information, but requires multiple scans to find the best beam direction.

[0026] However, both of the above methods have significant limitations. For example, the first method completely relies on navigation and ephemeris data. In actual applications, these information may have errors (such as GPS positioning deviation, ephemeris update delay, etc.), resulting in a deviation between the calculated beam direction and the true optimal direction. In addition, the direction of the highest signal-to-noise ratio between the satellite and the terminal may not be the direct path (such as there are obstructions or multipath reflections in an urban environment), and it is difficult to adapt to complex channel environments only relying on geometric calculations. Although the second method can dynamically optimize the beam direction, if the scanning step size is small, the alignment time is long; if the step size is large, the optimal beam direction may be missed, resulting in limited signal-to-noise ratio gain. Therefore, it is difficult for the prior art to achieve a balance between accuracy and efficiency, which restricts the performance improvement of satellite communication systems.

[0027] The present application provides a method for satellite communication. Please refer to Figure 1 , the satellite communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application includes steps S101 - S103, which will be introduced in detail below.

[0028] Step S101: Generate a first beamforming vector and a second beamforming vector according to the spatial angle of the satellite.

[0029] Among them, the beamforming vector is used to determine the direction of the signal beam between the satellite and the terminal. The beamforming vector is a vector containing the phase and amplitude adjustment information of all elements in the antenna array, defining how to form a beam in the desired direction by adjusting the signals of the elements.

[0030] The main function of the beamforming vector is to determine the direction of the signal beam between the satellite and the ground terminal. The beamforming vector can form a strong beam in the direction of the satellite, thereby enhancing the transmission efficiency and reception quality of the signal. By forming a beam in a specific direction, the beamforming vector helps to increase the gain of the signal, that is, the intensity of the signal in the desired direction. It can improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the communication link, thereby improving the communication performance. Beamforming can also form nulls or low-gain regions in undesired directions, thereby suppressing interference and noise from these directions and improving the anti-interference ability of the system.

[0031] In practical applications, the beamforming vector can be applied to the beam control of the antenna array. By adjusting the phase of each element in the array surface according to the beamforming vector, beamforming reception can be achieved. In this way, the antenna array can form a strong beam in the direction of the satellite, thereby improving the quality and efficiency of signal reception.

[0032] In specific implementation, two different first beamforming vectors and second beamforming vectors can be generated according to the spatial angle of the satellite. In some embodiments, the first beamforming vector is generated through the following steps: First, obtain the navigation information of the terminal and the ephemeris information of the satellite; Next, according to the navigation information and the ephemeris information, determine the elevation angle and azimuth angle of the satellite relative to the terminal; Finally, generate the first beamforming vector according to the elevation angle and azimuth angle.

[0033] The terminal of the present application can be equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigation systems for obtaining the geographical location information of the terminal, including longitude, latitude, and altitude. The attitude information of the terminal, such as pitch angle, roll angle, and yaw angle, can be obtained through a built-in Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) or other sensors.

[0034] Among them, the ephemeris information of the satellite can include the position and velocity of the satellite, which can be obtained through the signals broadcast by the satellite or the data sent by the ground station. The ephemeris information can also include various orbital parameters of the satellite, such as orbital altitude, inclination angle, right ascension of the ascending node, and argument of perigee, etc.

[0035] Specifically, the relative position between the satellite and the terminal can be calculated using the geographical location information of the terminal and the ephemeris information of the satellite. For example, it can be calculated by means of the conversion from geographical coordinates to Cartesian coordinates and the analysis of satellite orbital parameters.

[0036] After determining the relative position between the satellite and the terminal, the elevation angle and azimuth angle of the satellite relative to the terminal can be calculated. The elevation angle is the angle between the line connecting the satellite and the terminal and the horizontal plane of the terminal, and the azimuth angle is the angle between the projection of the line connecting the satellite and the terminal on the horizontal plane of the terminal and the reference direction. Then, based on the calculated elevation angle and azimuth angle, the array factor of the antenna array or the beamforming algorithm can be used to generate the first beamforming vector, which can be represented by "u". Finally, the generated first beamforming vector can be applied to the beam control of the antenna array, adjusting the phase of each element in the array surface to achieve beamforming reception, using the adjusted antenna array to receive signals from the satellite direction, and recording the received signal power.

[0037] In some embodiments, the second beamforming vector is generated through the following steps: First, angle expansion is performed with the elevation angle and azimuth angle as the center to obtain the elevation angle range and azimuth angle range; Then, a set of orthogonal beam codewords covering the elevation angle range and azimuth angle range is generated to obtain the second beamforming vector.

[0038] Specifically, according to the accuracy of the navigation information and ephemeris data, a suitable angle expansion amount can be determined for beam scanning to ensure that the generated beam codewords can cover all possible positions where the satellite may be located. For example, with the calculated elevation angle as the center, expand a certain angle up and down to obtain an elevation angle range . Correspondingly, with the calculated azimuth angle as the center, expand a certain angle left and right to obtain an azimuth angle range . Then, according to the performance requirements of the system and the capabilities of the antenna array, the angular resolution, that is, the minimum angular increment within the angle range, is determined to decide the number of generated beam codewords.

[0039] Specifically, the beamforming algorithm of the antenna array can be used to generate a set of orthogonal beam codewords within the calculated elevation angle range and azimuth angle range. The generated beam codewords should be evenly distributed throughout the angle range and be orthogonal to each other. It can be verified whether the generated beam codewords meet the orthogonality condition, that is, the dot product of any two different beam codewords is zero, and then, if necessary, the generated beam codewords can be optimized to improve the performance of beamforming, such as reducing the sidelobe level or increasing the main lobe gain.

[0040] In the scenario of this application, the generated set of orthogonal beam codewords is the second beamforming vector. The second beamforming vector is used to adjust the antenna array to receive signals and evaluate the reception effect.

[0041] In the above manner, the present application can perform beam scanning and signal reception within a wider angular range where the satellite may be located, thereby improving the accuracy of beam alignment and the robustness of the communication system.

[0042] It should be noted that when the combined navigation information and the ephemeris data of the satellite cannot be obtained, the angular range can be set to the maximum angular range that the phased array can scan. For example, the elevation angle of the satellite relative to the terminal array can be set to 0 - 70 degrees, and the azimuth angle can be set to 0 - 360 degrees. Alternatively, a wide beam scanning method can be used to obtain the specific angular range.

[0043] In some embodiments, a set of orthogonal beam codewords is generated through the following steps: First, obtain the limit angle information; the limit angle information includes the upper and lower limits of the lateral angle, as well as the upper and lower limits of the longitudinal angle; Next, obtain the number of lateral array elements in the horizontal axis direction and the number of longitudinal array elements in the vertical axis direction; Finally, based on the limit angle information, the number of lateral array elements, and the number of longitudinal array elements, determine the total number of beam codewords in the second beamforming vector and the weights of each array element in each beam codeword to obtain a set of orthogonal beam codewords.

[0044] Among them, the limit angle information can be determined based on the design parameters of the antenna array, the operating wavelength, and the required beam scanning range. The upper limit of the lateral angle and the lower limit of the lateral angle describe the angular range to be covered in the azimuth direction and are related to the element spacing and wavelength of the antenna array in the azimuth direction. The upper limit of the longitudinal angle and the lower limit of the longitudinal angle describe the angular range to be covered in the elevation direction and are related to the element spacing and wavelength of the antenna array in the elevation direction.

[0045] Specifically, the limit angle information can be determined according to the elevation range and the azimuth range, and can be calculated respectively , , cos( ), cos( ), sin( ), sin( ), and then determine the interval and . The specific expressions are as follows:

[0046]

[0047]

[0048] ; Among them, min(a, b, c, d) represents selecting the minimum value among a, b, c, and d, and max(a, b, c, d) represents selecting the maximum value among a, b, c, and d.

[0049] The number of array elements determines the resolution of the antenna array and the ability of beamforming. After determining the limit angle information, the number M of horizontal array elements and the number N of vertical array elements of the antenna array in the horizontal axis direction can be obtained. Then, according to the limit angle information, the number of horizontal array elements, and the number of vertical array elements, the total number of beam codewords in the second beamforming vector and the weights of each array element in each beam codeword are calculated to obtain a set of orthogonal beam codewords.

[0050] It can be understood that the total number of beam codewords is used to determine, under a given phase resolution, the number of beams to be calculated to cover the range from the interval and The weights of each array element in each beam codeword include phase and amplitude, which are used to adjust the signals emitted by the array elements so as to form a beam in a specific direction. Finally, a set of orthogonal beam codewords can be obtained according to the total number of beam codewords and the weights of each array element in each beam codeword including phase and amplitude, which are used to form beams pointing in different directions in the antenna array, thereby achieving precise beam alignment and signal reception.

[0051] In some embodiments, the weights of each array element in each beam codeword are determined through the following steps: First, obtain the index of each beam codeword, the index, excitation amplitude of each array element, and the spacing between adjacent array elements; Next, according to the index of the array element, the lower limit of the horizontal angle, and the number of horizontal array elements, determine the horizontal target angle; Then, according to the index of the array element, the lower limit of the vertical angle, and the number of vertical array elements, determine the vertical target angle; Finally, according to the excitation amplitude of each array element, the spacing between adjacent array elements, the horizontal target angle, and the vertical target angle, determine the weight of each array element.

[0052] Among them, the index of the beam codeword is (p, q), where p and q respectively represent the sequence numbers of the beam codeword in the azimuth angle and elevation angle directions. The index of the array element is (m, n), where m and n respectively represent the positions of the array element in the horizontal and vertical directions. The excitation amplitude is represented by which refers to the intensity of the signal emitted by the array element and can be adjusted according to the requirements of array synthesis. The spacing d between adjacent array elements is the physical distance between adjacent array elements in the antenna array and is usually related to the wavelength.

[0053] Specifically, the calculation expression of the weight of each array element is as follows:

[0054] In the formula, represents the excitation amplitude of the array element, represents the spacing between the array elements, represents the wavelength, represents the transverse target angle, represents the longitudinal target angle.

[0055] It should be noted that under different array synthesis methods has different values, but the array synthesis method does not affect the implementation of the embodiments of the present application. For the convenience of description and understanding, here is taken as an example to illustrate. Through the above method, the orthogonal beam codewords ; can be obtained, and the weights of all array elements under can be obtained .

[0056] In some embodiments, the total number of beam codewords is determined through the following steps: First, obtain the first number of beams in the horizontal axis direction; Next, obtain the second number of beams in the vertical axis direction; Finally, according to the first number and the second number, obtain the total number of beam codewords.

[0057] Specifically, the first number can be expressed as: , and the second number can be expressed as: . According to the first number and the second number, the total number of beam codewords can be obtained by multiplying the first number in the horizontal axis direction by the second number in the vertical axis direction, and is expressed as:

[0058] Among them, for the index of the beam codeword being (p, q), , .

[0059] Through the above method, the present application can ensure that the antenna array can form a sufficient number of beams within the required azimuth and elevation angle ranges, so as to achieve accurate beam alignment and signal reception.

[0060] In some embodiments, the error of the navigation information and the error of the ephemeris information can be obtained first; then, according to the error of the navigation information and the error of the ephemeris information, the values of the elevation angle range and the azimuth angle range are dynamically adjusted to obtain the adjusted elevation angle range and the adjusted azimuth angle range.

[0061] In specific implementation, the error of navigation information can be evaluated by comparing navigation data at different time points, using differential positioning technology, or integrating multiple navigation sensors. The error of ephemeris information can be evaluated by using error correction data provided by the satellite control center, comparing historical orbit data, or using an advanced orbit prediction model.

[0062] Specifically, the influence of the error of navigation information and ephemeris information on the calculated elevation angle and azimuth angle can be analyzed first, and then the original calculated elevation angle range and azimuth angle range can be adjusted according to the evaluated error. For example, if the error analysis shows that the elevation angle may be several degrees higher or lower than the calculated value, the elevation angle range can be expanded accordingly. Finally, the adjusted elevation angle range and azimuth angle range can be used for subsequent beamforming vector calculation and beam codeword generation, and through simulation or actual testing, it can be verified whether the adjusted elevation angle range and azimuth angle range can improve the accuracy of beam alignment and the quality of signal reception.

[0063] Through the above method, the present application can ensure that the antenna array can still accurately align with the satellite in the presence of errors in navigation information and ephemeris information, thereby improving the performance and reliability of the satellite communication system.

[0064] Step S102: Generate a third beamforming vector according to the signal received by the second beamforming vector.

[0065] Specifically, the second beamforming vector can be applied to the antenna array to adjust the phase and amplitude of the array elements to form a beam in a specific direction, and the adjusted antenna array is used to receive signals from the satellite. Then, the signals received by each array element in the antenna array are combined to form a total received signal. Finally, the total received signal is analyzed and processed to obtain an optimized third beamforming vector.

[0066] In some embodiments, the third beamforming vector can be generated in the following manner: Perform weighted synthesis on multiple signals received by the second beamforming vector to obtain a signal matrix; Determine the covariance matrix of the signal matrix; Extract the eigenvector corresponding to the maximum eigenvalue of the covariance matrix, and perform normalization processing on the eigenvector corresponding to the maximum eigenvalue to obtain the third beamforming vector.

[0067] As Figure 2 shown, first, the second beamforming vector can be used to adjust the antenna array to form a beam in a specific direction. The terminal array surface sequentially uses different orthogonal beam codewords to receive satellite signals, and receives and stores multiple signals from this direction. Then, the received signals can be weighted and synthesized to obtain a signal matrix, and the signal matrix can be expressed as:

[0068] Among them, X is the signal matrix, S is the received signal, is the conjugate transpose of the second beamforming vector.

[0069] Among them, the signal received by each beam scan with the second beamforming vector can be expressed as: , the signal power is , is the number of sampling points.

[0070] The total received signal can be expressed as: . , .

[0071] The conjugate transpose of the second beamforming vector can be expressed as: , each element .

[0072] In some embodiments, the signal matrix can be first subjected to conjugate transpose processing to obtain the conjugate transpose matrix of the signal matrix; then, according to the product of the signal matrix and the conjugate transpose matrix, the covariance matrix of the signal matrix is determined. The covariance matrix reflects the correlation between the elements in the signal matrix, and can be specifically expressed as:

[0073] Among them, R is the covariance matrix, X is the signal matrix, is the conjugate transpose matrix of the signal matrix.

[0074] After determining the covariance matrix, the covariance matrix can be subjected to eigenvalue decomposition to find its maximum eigenvalue and its corresponding eigenvector v, and v is solved through the expression v.

[0075] After determining the eigenvector v, it can be normalized to obtain the third beamforming vector , and the specific expression is:

[0076] Among them, is the third beamforming vector, v is the eigenvector, represents taking the modulus of all elements in the eigenvector v.

[0077] It should be noted that to calculate the eigenvector corresponding to the maximum eigenvalue, eigenvalue decomposition can be performed to find the maximum eigenvalue and eigenvector, or algorithms such as the power iteration method can be used to directly calculate the maximum eigenvalue and the corresponding eigenvector. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0078] Through the above method, the present application can process the received signal of the second beamforming vector to obtain an optimized third beamforming vector that more accurately aligns with the signal source, thereby improving the quality and efficiency of signal reception.

[0079] Step S103: Determine the beamforming vector with the maximum signal power among the first beamforming vector, the second beamforming vector, and the third beamforming vector as the beam control parameter, and use the signal beam of the beam control parameter to implement satellite communication between the satellite and the terminal.

[0080] It can be understood that each beamforming vector can be used to adjust the antenna array and receive signals, and then calculate the power of the received signals to evaluate the performance of each beamforming vector. The powers of the signals received using the first beamforming vector, the second beamforming vector, and the third beamforming vector are respectively 、 and . By comparing 、 and , it is determined which beamforming vector has the maximum signal power for signal reception.

[0081] Finally, the beamforming vector with the maximum signal power can be selected as the optimal beam control parameter, adjust the phase and amplitude of the array elements of the antenna array based on the beam control parameter, and use the optimized beam to implement signal transmission between the satellite and the terminal to establish a stable satellite communication link.

[0082] Through the above method, the present application can generate various types of beamforming vectors and select the beamforming vector with the best signal reception quality according to real-time signal conditions, thereby improving the quality and efficiency of satellite communication.

[0083] In some embodiments, if the power of the signal received by the beam control parameter is less than the preset threshold, the elevation angle range and the azimuth angle range are expanded; according to the expanded elevation angle range and azimuth angle range, new beam control parameters are determined.

[0084] Specifically, it can be determined whether the power of the signal received by the beam control parameter meets the requirements. When the power of the received signal is less than the preset threshold, the elevation angle range and the azimuth angle range can be expanded to increase the beam scanning range, while considering the errors of navigation and ephemeris information.

[0085] In some embodiments, the expanded angular range can be recalculated and set according to satellite orbit characteristics, terminal position, and the system's requirements for signal capture probability. Then, the new second beamforming vector and the third beamforming vector can be calculated based on the expanded angular range, and the beam control parameter with the maximum received signal power can be determined from the above new types of beamforming vectors.

[0086] In the scenario of this application, in a channel environment with a Rice factor of 10, the average beam gains of 12×12 and 16×16 antenna uniform planar phased arrays under different beam alignment methods can be analyzed. A Rice factor of 10 indicates that there is a significant direct path between the satellite and the terminal, which usually occurs in suburban or open areas. Under the condition that the mean value of the calculation errors of azimuth and elevation angles is assumed to be 0 and the standard deviation is 2 degrees, for example, Figure 3 and Figure 4 show the beam gain situations using different beamforming vectors.

[0087] From Figure 3 it can be seen that if beam alignment is directly based on combined navigation information, due to errors, the average beam gain is approximately 20.5 dB. However, the beamforming vector determined by the method of this application can have a beam gain about 0.5 dB higher than the traditional method. Combining Figure 3 and Figure 4 , as the scale of the antenna array increases, the beam becomes narrower, and the difficulty of beam alignment under the same angular error increases. However, the method of this application can still effectively improve the average gain.

[0088] In addition, compared with the method of only scanning and selecting beams through orthogonal narrow beams, the method of this application can obtain a higher beam gain, up to more than 21 dB, approaching the performance of optimal beam alignment. By using combined navigation information and ephemeris information, this application reduces the scanning or searching range, enabling this range to be covered by fewer orthogonal beams, thereby accelerating the beam alignment process and achieving fast and high-gain beam alignment.

[0089] Such as Figure 5As shown, the average beam gain of a 12×12 antenna uniform planar phased array under different beam alignment methods in a channel environment with a Rice factor of 1 is presented. A Rice factor of 1 indicates that there is a direct path between the satellite and the terminal, but there are also many reflected paths, which is common in urban environments. Under the same error assumption conditions, compared with the environment with a Rice factor of 10, the method of the present application shows more significant performance gains in the case of a Rice factor of 1. Specifically, in the case of a relatively high signal-to-noise ratio, the method of the present application has a beam gain 2 dB higher than the method of directly performing beam alignment based on combined navigation information and satellite ephemeris information. At the same time, compared with the method of directly using orthogonal narrow beam scanning and performing beam selection, the beam gain of the method of the present application is also nearly 3 dB higher.

[0090] In summary, the method of the present application can provide a higher beam gain than traditional methods in different channel environments. Especially in complex environments, the performance advantages of the method of the present application are more prominent.

[0091] To more clearly describe the overall process of the satellite communication method of the present application, please refer to Figure 6 , Figure 6 which is another schematic flow diagram of the satellite communication method of the present application, specifically including the following steps.

[0092] S201. Obtain the terminal position information, attitude information, and the position information of the satellite; S202. Calculate the elevation angle and azimuth angle of the satellite relative to the terminal; S203. Generate a beamforming vector u according to the calculated elevation angle and azimuth angle for signal reception, and record the signal power; S204. Expand an angular range centered on the calculated angle; S205. Generate a set of orthogonal beam codewords w according to the angular range; S206. Sequentially use the orthogonal beam codewords for signal reception, and store the received signals and powers; S207. Calculate a new beamforming vector according to the stored signals; S208. Use for signal reception, and record the received signal power; S209. Select the u or or with the maximum received power as the beam control parameter to receive signals; S210. Determine whether the received power meets the requirements. If yes, end; S211. If not, expand the angular search range and return to step S205.

[0093] It should be noted that for the specific embodiments and beneficial effects of the above steps S201 - S211, please refer to the specific descriptions of steps S101 - S103 above, and will not be elaborated here.

[0094] Figure 7 It is a block diagram of a controller 300 shown according to an exemplary embodiment. As Figure 7 shown, the controller 300 may include: a processor 301, a memory 302. The controller 300 may further include one or more of a multimedia component 303, an input / output (I / O) component 304, and a communication component 305.

[0095] Among them, the processor 301 is used to control the overall operation of the controller 300 to complete all or part of the steps in the above method. The memory 302 is used to store various types of data to support the operation of the controller 300. These data may include, for example, instructions for any application or method operating on the controller 300, as well as application-related data, such as contact data, received and sent messages, pictures, audio, video, and so on. The memory 302 can be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage device or a combination thereof, such as static random access memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic disk, or optical disk. The multimedia component 303 may include a screen and an audio component. Among them, the screen may be, for example, a touch screen, and the audio component is used to output and / or input audio signals. For example, the audio component may include a microphone for receiving external audio signals. The received audio signal may be further stored in the memory 302 or sent through the communication component 305. The audio component also includes at least one speaker for outputting audio signals. The I / O component 304 provides an interface between the processor 301 and other interface modules, and the above other interface modules may be a keyboard, a mouse, buttons, etc. These buttons may be virtual buttons or physical buttons. The communication component 305 is used for wired or wireless communication between the controller 300 and other devices. Wireless communication, such as WiFi, Bluetooth, near field communication (NFC), 2G, 3G, 4G, NB-IOT, eMTC, or other 5G, etc., or a combination of one or more of them is not limited herein. Therefore, the corresponding communication component 305 may include: a WiFi module, a Bluetooth module, an NFC module, and so on.

[0096] In an exemplary embodiment, the controller 300 may be implemented by one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other electronic components for performing the above-described method.

[0097] In another exemplary embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium including program instructions is also provided. When the program instructions are executed by the controller, the steps of the above-described method are implemented. For example, the computer-readable storage medium may be the memory 302 including the program instructions, and the above program instructions may be executed by the processor 301 of the controller 300 to complete each step included in the above method.

[0098] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a vehicle provided in an embodiment of the present application, as Figure 8 shown. The vehicle 400 includes the above controller 300. It can be understood that in modern vehicle communication systems, establishing a stable and efficient communication connection with satellites is crucial, especially in remote areas or urban environments where vehicles need to rely on satellite communication to obtain navigation information, emergency services, or other critical data. The satellite communication method of the present application can significantly improve the communication quality between the vehicle and the satellite, ensuring reliable data transmission in various environments.

[0099] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program for electronic data exchange, and the computer program enables a computer to execute some or all of the steps of any one of the audio processing methods described in the above method embodiments.

[0100] It should be noted that for the foregoing method embodiments, for the sake of simple description, they are all expressed as a series of action combinations. However, those skilled in the art should know that the present application is not limited by the described action sequence, because according to the present application, certain steps may be performed in other sequences or simultaneously. Secondly, those skilled in the art should also know that the embodiments described in the specification are all preferred embodiments, and the actions and modules involved are not necessarily essential to the present application.

[0101] In the above embodiments, the descriptions of the respective embodiments each have their own focuses. For parts not detailed in a certain embodiment, reference may be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0102] In several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed device can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, 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 displayed or discussed couplings or direct couplings or communication connections to each other can be through some interfaces. The indirect couplings or communication connections of the devices or units can be in electrical or other forms.

[0103] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated. The components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they can be located in one place or distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0104] In addition, in each embodiment of the application, the various functional units can be integrated in a processing unit, or each unit can exist physically alone, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit. The above integrated units can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software program modules.

[0105] If the above integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software program module and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage unit. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of this technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage unit and includes several instructions for causing 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 methods described in each embodiment of the present application. And the aforementioned storage unit includes: various media such as USB flash drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), mobile hard disks, magnetic disks, or optical discs that can store program codes.

[0106] Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that all or part of the steps in the various methods of the above embodiments can be completed by instructing relevant hardware through a program, and this program can be stored in a computer-readable storage unit, which may include: a flash drive, a read-only storage unit, a random access memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc.

[0107] The preferred embodiments of the present application have been described in detail above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present application is not limited to the specific details in the above embodiments. Within the scope of the technical concept of the present application, various simple modifications can be made to the technical solutions of the present application, and these simple modifications all fall within the protection scope of the present application.

[0108] In addition, it should be noted that, among the various specific technical features described in the above specific embodiments, they can be combined in any appropriate manner without conflict. To avoid unnecessary repetition, the present application will not separately describe various possible combination methods.

[0109] In addition, any combination can be made between various different embodiments of the present application as long as it does not violate the idea of the present application, and it should also be regarded as the content disclosed by the present application.

[0110] In the description of the present application, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, the features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more features. In the description of the present application, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more unless otherwise specifically defined.

[0111] In the above embodiments, the descriptions of the respective embodiments have their own focuses. For the parts not detailed in a certain embodiment, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0112] Among the embodiments, embodiments, and related technical features of the present application, they can be combined and replaced with each other without conflict.

[0113] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present application and do not impose any form of limitation on the present application. However, as long as it does not depart from the content of the technical solution of the present application, any simple modification, equivalent change, and modification made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of the present application still fall within the scope of the technical solution of the present application.

Claims

1. A satellite communication method, characterized in that: include: generating a first beamforming vector and a second beamforming vector according to a spatial angle of the satellite; generating a third beamforming vector according to the signal received by the second beamforming vector; Determine a beamforming vector with the largest signal power from among the first beamforming vector, the second beamforming vector and the third beamforming vector as a beam steering parameter, and use the signal beam of the beam steering parameter to realize satellite communication between the satellite and the terminal; The first beamforming vector, the second beamforming vector and the third beamforming vector are used to determine the direction of the signal beam between the satellite and the terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first beamforming vector is generated by the following steps: Acquiring navigation information of the terminal and ephemeris information of the satellite; Determine the elevation angle and azimuth angle of the satellite relative to the terminal according to the navigation information and the ephemeris information; The first beamforming vector is generated according to the elevation angle and the azimuth angle.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The second beamforming vector is generated by the following steps: Performing angle expansion with the elevation angle and the azimuth angle as the center to obtain an elevation angle range and an azimuth angle range; A group of orthogonal beam codewords covering the elevation angle range and the azimuth angle range are generated to obtain the second beamforming vector.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The generating a set of orthogonal beam codewords covering the elevation angle range and the azimuth angle range comprises: Acquire limit angle information; the limit angle information includes a lateral angle upper limit and a lateral angle lower limit, and a longitudinal angle upper limit and a longitudinal angle lower limit; Obtain the number of transverse array elements in the horizontal axis direction and the number of longitudinal array elements in the longitudinal axis direction; The total number of beam codewords in the second beamforming vector and the weight of each array element in each beam codeword are determined according to the limit angle information, the number of transverse array elements and the number of longitudinal array elements to obtain the set of orthogonal beam codewords.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The weights of the array elements in each of the beam codewords are determined by the following steps: Obtaining the index of each of the beam codewords, the index and excitation amplitude of each of the array elements, and the spacing between adjacent array elements; Determining a lateral target angle according to the index of the array element, the lateral angle lower limit and the number of lateral array elements; Determining a longitudinal target angle according to the index of the array element, the longitudinal angle lower limit and the number of longitudinal array elements; The weight of each array element is determined according to the excitation amplitude of each array element, the spacing between adjacent array elements, the lateral target angle and the longitudinal target angle.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The total number of beam codewords is determined by the following steps: Acquire a first number of beams in a horizontal axis direction; Acquire a second number of beams in the longitudinal direction; The total number of the beam codewords is obtained according to the first number and the second number.

7. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that Also includes: Acquire an error of the navigation information and an error of the ephemeris information; According to the error of the navigation information and the error of the ephemeris information, the value of the elevation angle range and the value of the azimuth angle range are dynamically adjusted to obtain an adjusted elevation angle range and an adjusted azimuth angle range.

8. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The generating a third beamforming vector according to the signal received by the second beamforming vector comprises: Performing weighted synthesis on a plurality of signals received by the second beamforming vector to obtain a signal matrix; determining a covariance matrix of the signal matrix; An eigenvector of a maximum eigenvalue of the covariance matrix is ​​extracted, and the eigenvector of the maximum eigenvalue is normalized to obtain the third beamforming vector.

9. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that: Determining the covariance matrix of the signal matrix includes: Performing conjugate transposition processing on the signal matrix to obtain a conjugate transposed matrix of the signal matrix; A covariance matrix of the signal matrix is ​​determined according to the product of the signal matrix and the conjugate transposed matrix.

10. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that: Also includes: If the power of the beam control parameter received signal is less than a preset threshold, expanding the elevation angle range and the azimuth angle range; New beam steering parameters are determined based on the expanded elevation angle range and azimuth angle range.

11. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 are implemented.

12. A controller having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 are implemented.

13. A vehicle, characterized in that: Comprising the controller as claimed in claim 12.

14. A computer program product, characterized in that The method comprises a computer program or instructions, which implement the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 when executed by a processor.

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