Multi-target beamforming method and equipment thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a multi-target beam forming method and equipment thereof. The equipment comprises an antenna system, a wireless power supply system and a computer readable storage medium. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring a target device which does not complete beamforming and has the highest priority in a plurality of target devices as a given target device; determining a transmitting sub-array for wirelessly supplying power to the given target equipment, wherein the transmitting sub-array comprises a plurality of antenna units; adjusting an antenna unit in the transmitting sub-array to enable given target equipment to complete beam forming; taking the adjusted transmitting sub-array as a new antenna unit in a transmitting antenna array, and repeatedly executing the steps until the plurality of target devices complete beamforming; and when the transmitting sub-array is used as a new antenna unit in the transmitting antenna array, the feed amplitude is fixed, and the relative feed phase between the antenna units in the transmitting sub-array is kept unchanged. According to the multi-target beamforming method, the structural complexity of the transmitting antenna array is reduced, and the cost of multi-target beamforming is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of wireless power supply technology, and in particular to a multi-target beamforming method and device thereof, wherein the device includes an antenna system, a wireless power supply system, and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid rise of wireless communications, the Internet of Things (IoT), and the Industrial Internet, a wide range of wireless electronic devices and products, including mobile phones, sensors, and radio frequency identification tags, are emerging, expanding their applications. However, most wireless devices still rely on batteries, and these batteries are facing increasing challenges such as short battery life and high maintenance costs. Providing reliable power to these widely distributed wireless devices and ensuring their stable and continuous operation is a key challenge and a key issue for the long-term, green development of IoT and Industrial Internet technologies.

[0003] Currently, wireless power supply mainly includes several methods such as near-field inductive coupling, electromagnetic resonance coupling, microwave (radio frequency) energy transmission and laser energy transmission. Microwave energy transmission is less affected by the environment and is easy to achieve beam forming and pointing control. However, during the microwave energy transmission process, if it is necessary to simultaneously form high-efficiency energy transmission beams for multiple targets distributed in a wide azimuth range, it is necessary to set up corresponding transmission channels for each target. The more targets there are, the more transmission channels there are, and the higher the system cost. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In order to solve the above problems, the present application proposes a multi-target beamforming method and a device thereof, which includes an antenna system, a wireless power supply system and a computer-readable storage medium, aiming to solve the above problems.

[0005] To solve the above technical problems, a technical solution adopted in the present application is: to provide a multi-target beamforming method, which is applied to a wireless power supply device, the wireless power supply device is configured to wirelessly power multiple target devices, and the wireless power supply device includes a transmitting antenna array. The multi-target beamforming method includes: obtaining a target device with the highest priority among multiple target devices that has not completed beamforming as a given target device; determining a transmitting subarray for wireless powering the given target device, wherein the transmitting subarray includes multiple antenna units; adjusting the antenna units in the transmitting subarray so that the given target device completes beamforming; using the adjusted transmitting subarray as a new antenna unit in a transmitting antenna array, and repeating the above steps until multiple target devices complete beamforming; wherein, when the transmitting subarray is used as a new antenna unit in the transmitting antenna array, the feeding amplitude is fixed and the relative feeding phase between the antenna units in the transmitting subarray remains unchanged.

[0006] Among them, the step of obtaining the target device with the highest priority among multiple target devices that has not completed beamforming as the given target device includes: sorting the target devices based on the wireless energy transmission demand priority of all target devices that have not completed beamforming; and taking the target device with the highest priority of wireless energy transmission demand as the given target device.

[0007] The step of determining a transmitting subarray for wirelessly powering a given target device includes: transmitting the same microwave to the given target device one by one from all antenna units in the transmitting antenna array, and recording the power value received by the given target device from each antenna unit; sorting the received power values in descending order to obtain a power sorting table; and selecting antenna units corresponding to a preset number of power values in the power sorting table before sorting, to form an array as the transmitting subarray for the given target device.

[0008] The step of adjusting the antenna units in the transmitting subarray to enable the given target device to complete beamforming includes: controlling the antenna units of the transmitting subarray to transmit microwaves; adjusting the feeding phases of the antenna units of the transmitting subarray to maximize the wireless power received by the given target device; and obtaining the minimum value of the feeding phases of the antenna units in the transmitting subarray to serve as the feeding phases of the new antenna units.

[0009] The transmitting antenna array includes a non-uniform antenna array.

[0010] The antenna units of the transmitting antenna array include high-gain directional antenna units with narrow main lobe width.

[0011] To solve the above technical problems, another technical solution adopted in this application is: providing an antenna system, which includes a transmitting antenna array and a controller, the transmitting antenna array including multiple antenna units; the controller is connected to the transmitting antenna array, and is used to execute any of the above-mentioned multi-target beamforming methods, and send the beam after beamforming processing to the transmitting antenna array for transmission.

[0012] In order to solve the above technical problems, another technical solution adopted in this application is: to provide a wireless power supply system, which includes the above-mentioned antenna system and multiple target devices, and the antenna system is used to wirelessly power the multiple target devices.

[0013] To solve the above technical problems, another technical solution adopted in the present application is: providing a computer-readable storage medium, which stores program instructions therein, and the program instructions are executed to implement any of the above multi-target beamforming methods.

[0014] The beneficial effects of the present application are as follows: Different from the prior art, the multi-target beamforming method of the present application includes: obtaining a target device with the highest priority and uncompleted beamforming among multiple target devices as a given target device; determining a transmitting subarray for wireless powering of the given target device, the transmitting subarray including multiple antenna units; adjusting the antenna units in the transmitting subarray so that the given target device completes beamforming; using the adjusted transmitting subarray as a new antenna unit in a transmitting antenna array, and repeating the above steps until multiple target devices have completed beamforming; when the transmitting subarray is used as a new antenna unit in the transmitting antenna array, the feeding amplitude is fixed and the relative feeding phase between the antenna units in the transmitting subarray remains unchanged. In the above manner, the multi-target beamforming method of the present application uses the transmitting subarray of the given target device as a new antenna unit to perform beamforming for other target devices, which can reduce the structural complexity of the transmitting antenna array for multi-target multi-beamforming and reduce the cost of multi-beamforming. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The drawings herein are incorporated into and constitute a part of the specification. These drawings illustrate embodiments consistent with the present application and, together with the specification, are used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application.

[0016] Figure 1 This is a flowchart of the first embodiment of the multi-target beamforming method provided by this application;

[0017] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 A flow chart of a specific embodiment of step S101;

[0018] Figure 3 yes Figure 1 A flow chart of a specific embodiment of step S102;

[0019] Figure 4 yes Figure 1 A flow chart of a specific embodiment of step S103;

[0020] Figure 5 This is a flowchart of the second embodiment of the multi-target beamforming method provided by this application;

[0021] Figure 6 is a structural diagram of an embodiment of a non-uniform antenna array provided by the present application;

[0022] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the radiation pattern of the central element of an embodiment of a non-uniform antenna array provided by the present application;

[0023] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the radiation pattern of peripheral elements of an embodiment of a non-uniform antenna array provided by the present application;

[0024] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of a radiation pattern of beamforming of two array elements with opposite edges according to an embodiment of a non-uniform antenna array provided by the present application;

[0025] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of a radiation pattern of two diagonally opposite array element beamformation according to an embodiment of a non-uniform antenna array provided by the present application;

[0026] Figure 11 is a structural diagram of an embodiment of an antenna system provided by the present application;

[0027] Figure 12 This is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of a wireless power supply system provided by the present application;

[0028] Figure 13 It is a structural diagram of an embodiment of a computer-readable storage medium provided by this application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of this application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0030] With the rapid rise of wireless communications, the Internet of Things (IoT), and the Industrial Internet, a wide range of wireless electronic devices and products, including mobile phones, sensors, and radio frequency identification tags, are emerging, expanding their applications. However, most wireless devices still rely on batteries, and these batteries are facing increasing challenges such as short battery life and high maintenance costs. Providing reliable power to these widely distributed wireless devices and ensuring their stable and continuous operation is a key challenge and a key issue for the long-term, green development of IoT and Industrial Internet technologies.

[0031] Currently, wireless power transmission mainly includes near-field inductive coupling, electromagnetic resonance coupling, microwave (radio frequency) energy transmission, and laser energy transmission. Laser transmission is significantly affected by obstacles and rainy and foggy weather, and there are still many challenges in terms of safety, cost, and system complexity. Near-field coupling technologies, including inductive coupling and electromagnetic resonance coupling, can only be used for short-range energy transmission on the millimeter to centimeter scale. Microwave energy transmission, on the other hand, uses electromagnetic waves radiated in the microwave frequency band, which is less affected by the environment and can easily achieve beam forming and pointing control. It is more suitable for on-demand wireless powering of multiple widely distributed electronic devices over longer distances.

[0032] In the field of microwave energy transmission, in order to improve the efficiency of microwave wireless power supply, it is usually necessary to achieve beam forming through array antennas, that is, using multiple antennas to form a large-aperture antenna array, and each antenna unit is fed separately as a radiating unit (or array element) of the array. The electromagnetic waves radiated by all array elements are coherently superimposed in space to form a microwave beam with high power density in a specific direction, thereby transmitting microwave energy in a directionally directed manner along the specific direction to the target device that requires wireless power supply.

[0033] However, when directional microwave energy transmission is actually applied to wireless power supply, it also needs to have the ability of multi-beam wide-area coverage. That is, during the microwave energy transmission process, if it is necessary to simultaneously form high-efficiency energy transmission beams for multiple targets distributed in a wide azimuth range, it is necessary to set up corresponding transmission channels for each target. The more targets there are, the more transmission channels there are, and the higher the system cost.

[0034] For example, in the prior art, existing beamforming array antennas usually adopt a planar array form. Typical antenna array forms include microstrip antenna arrays, slot antenna arrays, etc., and all array elements are exactly the same and evenly distributed.

[0035] To meet the requirement of wide-area coverage, the radiation pattern of the array element should have a wide main lobe. The typical array element is a single-patch microstrip antenna. The spacing between adjacent array elements is 0.5 to 1 wavelength. When the given antenna size is N times the wavelength, the number of array elements required is N. 2 to 4N 2 indivual.

[0036] Existing technical solutions for multi-target energy transmission include time-division sequential energy transmission, frequency-division multi-beam energy transmission, and array-segmented multi-beam energy transmission. However, these methods require dividing the overall transmitting array into multiple smaller arrays, each responsible for generating a single directional beam. This necessitates the use of small, low-gain antennas with wide main lobes as individually fed elements to achieve wide-area coverage, increasing the number of channels and increasing costs. However, using large-aperture, high-gain elements results in narrow main lobes, making wide-area coverage impossible. According to antenna theory, a larger main lobe width results in lower radiation gain and a smaller aperture area. Therefore, for a given array aperture, a larger number of elements is required, leading to a complex feed network and increased cost and complexity. Furthermore, with multiple targets distributed over a large area, traditional planar antenna array beamforming, designed for a single target, cannot simultaneously cover multiple targets. Using methods such as time-division sequential energy transmission and frequency-division multi-beam energy transmission, however, requires even more complex systems and communication control costs.

[0037] In order to solve the above problems, this application first proposes a multi-target beamforming method, which is applied to a wireless power supply device. The wireless power supply device is configured to wirelessly power multiple target devices, and the wireless power supply device includes a transmitting antenna array. Figure 1 , Figure 1 This is a flow chart of the first embodiment of the multi-target beamforming method provided by this application. Figure 1 As shown, the multi-target beamforming method of this embodiment specifically includes steps S101 to S104:

[0038] Step S101: obtaining a target device with the highest priority and for which beamforming has not been completed among multiple target devices as a given target device.

[0039] In this embodiment, when beamforming is performed on multiple target devices, the target device with the highest priority that has not yet completed beamforming is first determined as the designated target device. In this embodiment, priority can be determined based on the energy transmission requirements of each target device. In other embodiments, priority can also be determined based on other methods such as the importance of each target device, which is not limited here. In addition, if a target device has already completed beamforming, it is excluded and no priority comparison is performed.

[0040] Step S102: determining a transmitting subarray for wirelessly powering a given target device, wherein the transmitting subarray includes a plurality of antenna units.

[0041] After a given target device is determined, the transmitting subarray in the transmitting antenna array that provides wireless power to the given target device can be determined. In this embodiment, the transmitting antenna array has multiple antenna units (or array elements), but only a portion of the antenna units in the transmitting antenna array are required to wirelessly power any given target device. That is, any given target device is covered by the main lobe range of a portion of the antenna units, and these antenna units constitute the transmitting subarray that provides wireless power to the given target device.

[0042] The specific method for determining the transmitting sub-array of a given target device is described below and will not be described in detail here.

[0043] Step S103: adjusting the antenna units in the transmitting subarray to complete beamforming for the given target device.

[0044] After determining the transmitting subarray for wirelessly powering a given target device, the antenna elements in the transmitting subarray need to be adjusted to enable the given target device to complete beamforming. In this embodiment, the feeding phase of the antenna elements in the transmitting subarray can be adjusted to maximize the wireless power received by the given target device.

[0045] Step S104: The adjusted transmitting subarray serves as a new antenna element in a transmitting antenna array, and the above steps are repeated until beamforming is completed for multiple target devices. When the transmitting subarray serves as a new antenna element in the transmitting antenna array, the feeding amplitude is fixed and the relative feeding phases between the antenna elements in the transmitting subarray remain unchanged.

[0046] As described above, after beamforming is completed for a given target device and the corresponding transmitting subarray is adjusted, the adjusted transmitting subarray can be used as a new antenna unit in a transmitting antenna array. When the transmitting subarray is used as a new antenna unit in the transmitting antenna array, the feeding amplitude is fixed and the relative feeding phases between the antenna units in the transmitting subarray remain unchanged.

[0047] At this time, steps S101 to S104 are repeatedly executed until beamforming of multiple target devices is completed, that is, until the transmitting sub-arrays of all target devices and their corresponding feeding phases are determined.

[0048] Different from the existing technology, the multi-target beamforming method of the present application includes: obtaining the target device with the highest priority and uncompleted beamforming among multiple target devices as a given target device; determining the transmitting subarray for wireless powering of the given target device, the transmitting subarray including multiple antenna units; adjusting the antenna units in the transmitting subarray so that the given target device completes beamforming; using the adjusted transmitting subarray as a new antenna unit in a transmitting antenna array, and repeating the above steps until multiple target devices have completed beamforming; when the transmitting subarray is used as a new antenna unit in the transmitting antenna array, the feeding amplitude is fixed and the relative feeding phase between the antenna units in the transmitting subarray remains unchanged. In the above manner, the multi-target beamforming method of the present application uses the transmitting subarray of the given target device as a new antenna unit to perform beamforming for other target devices, which can reduce the structural complexity of the transmitting antenna array for multi-target multi-beamforming and reduce the cost of multi-beamforming.

[0049] Optionally, see Figure 2 , Figure 2 yes Figure 1 Flow chart of step S101 in a specific embodiment. Figure 2 The method shown implements step S101, and the specific steps include steps S201 to S202:

[0050] Step S201: sorting the wireless energy transmission requirements of all target devices for which beamforming has not been completed based on their priorities.

[0051] In this embodiment, as described above, this embodiment can sort all target devices for which beamforming has not been completed based on their wireless energy transmission demand priorities, that is, all target devices for which beamforming has not been completed can be prioritized from high to low according to their wireless energy transmission demand.

[0052] In other embodiments, priority sorting may also be performed according to actual needs, such as the importance of the target device, etc., which is not limited here.

[0053] Step S202: The target device with the highest wireless energy transmission demand priority is selected as the given target device.

[0054] After all target devices for which beamforming has not been completed are prioritized from high to low according to the wireless energy transmission requirements, in this embodiment, the target device with the highest priority of wireless energy transmission requirements can be used as the given target device that currently requires waveform forming for subsequent beamforming operations.

[0055] Optionally, see Figure 3 , Figure 3 yes Figure 1 The flowchart of step S102 in a specific embodiment is as follows: Figure 3 As shown, this embodiment can be Figure 3 The method shown implements step S102, and the specific steps include steps S301 to S303:

[0056] Step S301: All antenna units in the transmitting antenna array transmit the same microwave to a given target device one by one, and record the power value received by the given target device from each antenna unit.

[0057] In this embodiment, when determining a transmitting subarray for wirelessly powering a given target device, the transmitting subarray for wirelessly powering the given target device can be determined from the transmitting antenna array based on the wireless power received by the given target device. Specifically, when determining the transmitting subarray for wirelessly powering the given target device, all antenna elements in the transmitting antenna array must first transmit identical microwaves to the given target device one by one, and the power values received by the given target device from each antenna element are recorded. The identical microwaves refer to microwaves of the same frequency and power.

[0058] Step S302: Sort the received power values in descending order to obtain a power sorting table.

[0059] The power values received by the given target device at each antenna unit are sorted in descending order to obtain a power sorting table.

[0060] Step S303: selecting antenna units corresponding to the first preset number of power values in the power ranking table to form an array as a transmitting sub-array for a given target device.

[0061] Based on the power ranking table, antenna units corresponding to the first preset number of power values in the power ranking table are selected to form an array as a transmitting subarray for a given target device. In this embodiment, the preset number can be set based on actual conditions and is not limited here.

[0062] For example, when determining a transmitting subarray for wireless powering a given target device, all antenna units in the transmitting antenna array need to individually transmit the same microwave to the given target device. The given target device records and sorts the received wireless power, and according to a certain threshold, the top M antenna units with the largest received power for the given target device in the previous step are selected to form an array as the transmitting subarray for the given target device.

[0063] Optionally, see Figure 4 , Figure 4 yes Figure 1 Flow chart of a specific embodiment of step S103 in FIG. Figure 4 The method shown implements step S103, and the specific steps include steps S401 to S403:

[0064] Step S401: Control the antenna units of the transmitting subarray to transmit microwaves.

[0065] After determining the transmitting subarray of a given target device, when beamforming is performed on the given target device to wirelessly power the given target device, it is first necessary to control all antenna units in the transmitting subarray of the given target device to transmit microwaves.

[0066] Step S402: adjusting the feeding phase of the antenna units of the transmitting subarray so as to maximize the wireless power received by the given target device.

[0067] At this time, it is also necessary to adjust the feeding phase of the antenna unit of the transmitting subarray to maximize the wireless power received by the given target device, thereby completing beamforming for the given target device.

[0068] Step S403: obtaining the minimum value of the feeding phase of the antenna units in the transmitting subarray as the feeding phase of the new antenna unit.

[0069] In addition, after completing the beamforming of the current given target device, as described above, the transmitting subarray of the given target device needs to be used as a new antenna unit of the transmitting antenna array to perform beamforming for subsequent target devices. When the transmitting subarray of the given target device is used as a new antenna unit of the transmitting antenna array, it is necessary to obtain the minimum value of the feeding phase in the antenna unit in the transmitting subarray as the feeding phase of the new antenna unit.

[0070] Optionally, based on the above embodiment, in this embodiment, the transmitting antenna array includes a non-uniform antenna array.

[0071] That is, in this embodiment, the transmitting antenna array used in this embodiment is a non-uniform antenna array, where the "non-uniform" means that the antenna type, size and radiation pattern of the antenna units in the transmitting antenna array are not completely consistent, that is, a mixed array of antenna units of multiple types and performances is used.

[0072] In this embodiment, a non-uniform antenna array is used, and antenna units with different radiation patterns can be combined to form a wider beam scanning range. It is not necessary for the radiation main lobe of each antenna unit to cover the beam scanning range required by the application, which makes it easy to achieve wide-area coverage.

[0073] Optionally, based on the above embodiment, in this embodiment, the antenna units of the transmitting antenna array include high-gain directional antenna units with a narrow main lobe width.

[0074] That is, in this embodiment, the antenna units of the transmitting antenna array used in this embodiment include high-gain directional antenna units with a narrow main lobe width. This embodiment uses the antenna form of high-gain directional antenna units with a narrow main lobe width as the antenna units of the transmitting antenna array, which can improve transmission efficiency, reduce the number of antenna units of the transmitting antenna array and the number of independent feeding circuit channels, thereby reducing costs.

[0075] Optionally, see Figure 5 , Figure 5 is a flow chart of the second embodiment of the multi-target beamforming method provided by this application. In this embodiment, Figure 5 As shown, the multi-target beamforming method of this embodiment specifically includes steps S501 to S509:

[0076] Step S501: sort the target devices in descending order of priority, with the target device number corresponding to the highest priority being 1.

[0077] Step S502: Select the target device with the highest priority, and set the target device sequence number variable i=1.

[0078] Step S503: All array elements of the transmitting antenna array transmit microwaves of the same frequency and power to the target device i one by one, and the power values received by the target device i are recorded and sorted in sequence.

[0079] Step S504: Select M array elements corresponding to the largest M power values to form the transmitting sub-array S of the target device i i .

[0080] Step S505: Control the transmitting sub-array S i The M array elements transmit microwaves simultaneously, and the feeding phases of the M array elements are adjusted so that the microwave power received by the target device i reaches the maximum, and the relative values of the M feeding phases are recorded.

[0081] Step S506: Set the transmitting sub-array S i As a new element of the transmitting antenna array, the transmitting subarray S i The relative relationship between the internal M feeding phases remains unchanged, wherein the minimum feeding phase is used as the feeding phase of the new array element.

[0082] Step S507: Transmit sub-array S i Combined with other camps of the transmitting antenna array, a new transmitting antenna array is formed.

[0083] Step S508: Determine whether all target devices have completed beamforming.

[0084] If all are completed, it is determined that the beamforming of each target device has been completed; if not, go to step S509.

[0085] Step S509: For the next target device in the priority sequence, go to step S503 and set i=i+1.

[0086] In one application scenario, considering the demand for microwave wireless power supply technology for multiple indoor wireless sensors, the target sensors are distributed in a 6m×6m area, the size of the transmitting antenna array is controlled within 0.6m×0.6m, and the vertical distance from the target sensor distribution area is 3 meters. This requires the beam control of the transmitting end of the transmitting antenna array to have a wide-area scanning coverage capability of more than 100 degrees.

[0087] If a traditional microstrip antenna array is used, the antenna unit must be designed as a single patch antenna with a main lobe width of at least 100 degrees. When the transmission frequency is set at 2.45 GHz, approximately 64 array elements are required within the transmit array area (0.6 m x 0.6 m), corresponding to 64 phased microwave transmission channels.

[0088] However, by adopting the above-mentioned method of the present application, an array can be formed by hybrid antenna units, where the transmitting antenna array includes two sub-arrays. The only difference between the two sub-arrays is the position of the feeding point. The difference in the position of the feeding point will lead to a difference in the phase. By precisely designing the position of the feeding point, the beam direction is deflected toward the target angle, and the beams of multiple sub-arrays are coherently superimposed, thereby expanding the coverage of the beam. In order to achieve coverage of a wider area beam, the placement of the two sub-arrays can be combined, and each sub-array is responsible for the coverage of different areas. After the coherent superposition of multiple sub-arrays, multiple target directions can be covered, and wide-area power supply can be achieved.

[0089] See also Figure 6 , Figure 6 is a structural diagram of an embodiment of a non-uniform antenna array provided by the present application, such as Figure 6 As shown, the array element uses a 2×2 4-patch microstrip array antenna, with a total of 9 elements. Each element's main lobe radiation direction is different, and together they cover the wide-angle beam scanning range required by the application. Compared with traditional microstrip antenna array designs and their beamforming methods, the number of array elements and feed channels in this application scheme is reduced from 64 to 9, and the radiation gain of the array elements is improved by 4dB to 6dB.

[0090] See also Figures 7 and 8 , Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the radiation pattern of the central element of an embodiment of a non-uniform antenna array provided by the present application; Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the radiation pattern of the peripheral elements of an embodiment of the non-uniform antenna array provided by this application. Among them, the four radiating patches of the central element are all fed in phase, and their radiation pattern is as follows Figure 7 As shown in the figure, its main lobe is along the normal direction of the aperture, that is, the +z axis direction, which is also the spherical coordinate θ = 0°. The eight surrounding array elements use the same asymmetric feeding design. The four radiating patch units of each array element are divided into two groups, and the feeding phase difference is 165 degrees, so that the radiation main lobe deviates from the normal direction of the aperture, forming an oblique sub-beam. Figure 8 As shown, the peripheral array elements have two main lobes, which radiate to the maximum along θ = 45° and θ = -45°. Figure 6 Arranged in the manner shown, they cover 8 oblique directions in different directions.

[0091] Based on this non-uniform transmit array, the multi-target beamforming method of this application can form a wide-area coverage multi-target beamforming required by the application. Figure 9 , Figure 9 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a radiation pattern of two array element beams with opposite edges in an embodiment of a non-uniform antenna array provided by the present application; FIG. Figure 9As shown in the figure, the radiation pattern formed by the two edge-to-edge array element beams can cover the target within a 45° azimuth range at two angles of spherical coordinates φ = 90° and φ = -90°. Figure 10 , Figure 10 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a radiation pattern of two diagonally opposite array element beamformation according to an embodiment of a non-uniform antenna array provided by the present application; Figure 10 As shown, the radiation pattern synthesized by the two diagonal array element beams can cover targets within an azimuth range of 45° at two angles of spherical coordinates φ = 135° and φ = -45°.

[0092] Optionally, this application further proposes an antenna system, see Figure 11 , Figure 11 It is a structural diagram of an embodiment of the antenna system provided in this application.

[0093] like Figure 11 As shown, the antenna system 100 of this embodiment includes a transmitting antenna array 10 and a controller 20. The transmitting antenna array 10 includes multiple antenna units. The controller 20 is connected to the transmitting antenna array 10 and is used to execute any of the above-mentioned multi-target beamforming methods and send the beam after beamforming processing to the transmitting antenna array 10 for transmission.

[0094] Optionally, this application further proposes a wireless power supply system, see Figure 12 , Figure 12 It is a structural diagram of an embodiment of a wireless power supply system provided in this application.

[0095] like Figure 12 As shown, the wireless power supply system 200 of this embodiment includes the above-mentioned antenna system 100 and a plurality of target devices 110 . The antenna system 100 is used to provide wireless power supply to the plurality of target devices 110 .

[0096] Optionally, the present application further proposes a computer-readable storage medium. Figure 13 , Figure 13 It is a structural diagram of an embodiment of a computer-readable storage medium provided by this application.

[0097] The computer-readable storage medium 300 of the embodiment of the present application stores program instructions 310 therein. The program instructions 310 are executed by a processor to implement the multi-target beamforming method of any of the above embodiments.

[0098] The program instructions 310 may be formed into a program file and stored in the aforementioned storage medium in the form of a software product, so that an electronic device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or a processor executes all or part of the steps of the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: a USB flash drive, a mobile hard drive, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, etc., various media that can store program code, or terminal devices such as computers, servers, mobile phones, and tablets.

[0099] The computer-readable storage medium 300 in this embodiment may be, but is not limited to, a USB flash drive, an SD card, a PD optical drive, a mobile hard drive, a large-capacity floppy drive, a flash memory, a multimedia memory card, a server, and the like.

[0100] In one embodiment, a computer program product or computer program is provided, the computer program product or computer program including computer instructions stored in a computer-readable storage medium. A processor of an electronic device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium and executes the computer instructions, causing the electronic device to perform the steps of each of the above method embodiments.

[0101] In addition, if the above functions are implemented as software functions and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a storage medium readable by a mobile terminal. That is, the present application also provides a storage device storing program data, which can be executed to implement the methods of the above embodiments. The storage device can be, for example, a USB flash drive, an optical disk, a server, etc. In other words, the present application can be embodied in the form of a software product, which includes a number of instructions for causing a smart terminal to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in each embodiment.

[0102] Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of the technical features being referred to. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of such features. Throughout the description of this application, "plurality" means at least two, for example, two, three, etc., unless otherwise specifically defined.

[0103] Any process or method description in a flowchart or otherwise described herein may be understood to represent a mechanism, segment or portion of code comprising one or more executable instructions for implementing a specific logical function or process step, and the scope of the preferred embodiments of the present application includes alternative implementations in which functions may be performed in a sequence other than as shown or discussed, including performing functions in a substantially simultaneous manner or in a reverse order depending on the functions involved, as should be understood by those skilled in the art to which the embodiments of the present application pertain.

[0104] The logic and / or steps represented in the flowcharts or otherwise described herein, for example, can be considered as a sequenced list of executable instructions for implementing the logical functions, and can be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by, or in conjunction with, an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device (which can be a personal computer, server, network device, or other system that can fetch and execute instructions from an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device). For purposes of this specification, a "computer-readable medium" can be any device that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by, or in conjunction with, an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of computer-readable media include the following: an electrical connection with one or more wires (electronic devices), a portable computer disk cartridge (magnetic device), random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable and programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), fiber optic devices, and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM). Furthermore, the computer-readable medium may even be paper or other suitable medium on which the program is printed, since the program may be obtained electronically, for example, by optically scanning the paper or other medium and then editing, interpreting or processing it in another suitable manner if necessary, and then storing it in a computer memory.

[0105] The above description is merely an embodiment of the present application and does not limit the patent scope of the present application. Any equivalent structure or equivalent process transformation made using the contents of the present application specification and drawings, or directly or indirectly applied in other related technical fields, are also included in the patent protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A multi-target beamforming method, characterized in that: Applied to a wireless power supply device, the wireless power supply device is configured to wirelessly power multiple target devices, the wireless power supply device includes a transmitting antenna array, and the multi-target beamforming method includes: Acquire a target device with the highest priority and for which beamforming has not been completed among the multiple target devices as a given target device; determining a transmitting subarray for wirelessly powering the given target device, wherein the transmitting subarray includes a plurality of antenna units; Adjusting the antenna units in the transmitting subarray to enable the given target device to complete beamforming; The adjusted transmitting subarray is used as a new antenna unit in the transmitting antenna array, and the above steps are repeated until beamforming is completed for the multiple target devices; When the transmitting subarray serves as a new antenna unit in the transmitting antenna array, the feeding amplitude is fixed and the relative feeding phases between the antenna units in the transmitting subarray remain unchanged.

2. The multi-target beamforming method according to claim 1, wherein: The step of obtaining the target device with the highest priority and for which beamforming has not been completed among the multiple target devices as the given target device includes: Sorting the wireless energy transmission requirements of all target devices for which beamforming has not been completed based on their priorities; The target device with the highest priority in wireless energy transmission demand is used as the given target device.

3. The multi-target beamforming method according to claim 1, wherein: The step of determining a transmitting subarray for wirelessly powering the given target device includes: All antenna units in the transmitting antenna array transmit the same microwave to the given target device one by one, and record the power value received by the given target device by each antenna unit; Sorting the received power values in descending order to obtain a power sorting table; The antenna units corresponding to a preset number of the power values before sorting in the power sorting table are selected to form an array as the transmitting sub-array of the given target device.

4. The multi-target beamforming method according to claim 1, wherein: The step of adjusting the antenna units in the transmitting subarray so as to enable the given target device to complete beamforming includes: controlling the antenna units of the transmitting subarray to transmit microwaves; Adjusting the feeding phase of the antenna unit of the transmitting subarray so as to maximize the wireless power received by the given target device; A minimum value of the feeding phases of the antenna units in the transmitting subarray is obtained as the feeding phase of the new antenna unit.

5. The multi-target beamforming method according to claim 1, wherein: The transmit antenna array includes a non-uniform antenna array.

6. The multi-target beamforming method according to claim 1, wherein: The antenna units of the transmitting antenna array include high-gain directional antenna units with narrow main lobe width.

7. An antenna system, characterized in that: include: A transmitting antenna array comprising a plurality of antenna elements A controller is connected to the transmitting antenna array and is used to execute the multi-target beamforming method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, and send the beam after beamforming processing to the transmitting antenna array for transmission.

8. A wireless power supply system, characterized in that: The invention comprises the antenna system according to claim 7 and a plurality of target devices, wherein the antenna system is used to wirelessly power the plurality of target devices.

9. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: Program instructions are stored therein, and the program instructions are executed to implement the multi-target beamforming method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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