Dynamic phase calibration system for flexible phased array and calibration method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a dynamic phase calibration system for a flexible phased array and a calibration method thereof. The flexible array comprises a plurality of same antenna units which are tightly arranged in a planar array form, and each antenna unit is arranged according to the following structure: metal thin layers and flexible medium substrates are sequentially arranged on the upper side and the lower side of a curing sheet, and radiators / inertial sensing units are arranged on the upper / lower surfaces of the flexible medium substrates on the upper / lower side of the curing sheet; the microcontroller is electrically connected with the inertial sensing unit and the digital-to-analog converter in the flexible array, and the vector multiplier is electrically connected with the digital-to-analog converter and a feeding point on a radiator in the flexible array and is used for regulating and controlling an excitation signal applied to the feeding point on the radiator. And driving the electromagnetic wave to radiate to the free space to form a beam with a preset direction. The invention has the advantages of simple structure, low cost, no need of array prior shape information and the like, and is suitable for a plurality of application scenes such as wearable communication, health monitoring, intelligent surface radar and the like.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a dynamic phase control system suitable for a flexible array, in particular to a dynamic phase calibration system and a calibration method thereof for a flexible phased array. Background Art

[0002] Flexible arrays, due to their excellent conformal ability, can be attached to various curved surfaces and have shown wide application value in wearable devices, health monitoring, microwave imaging, military radar, and wireless communications. However, in practical applications, flexible arrays are often subject to interference from environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, airflow, vibration, and mechanical loads, which inevitably cause deformation of the array. For example, a flexible array installed on the wing surface of a large-aspect-ratio drone will experience significant bending deformation under the action of aerodynamic loads during flight. This type of dynamic deformation will cause the position and normal direction of each antenna unit in the array to change, seriously affecting the radiation pattern of the array, manifesting as beam pointing deviation, sidelobe lift, and other phenomena, thereby causing system performance to degrade or even fail.

[0003] In the above application scenarios, in order to maintain the target radiation pattern of the array and achieve accurate beam control, it is necessary to obtain the three-dimensional shape of the array after deformation in real time and perform dynamic phase calibration based on it. At present, some studies have attempted to perceive the deformation of the array by introducing sensors. Among them, the more common methods include flexible resistor sensors and optical fiber sensors. However, flexible resistor sensors usually rely on prior modeling of the initial shape of the array. It is necessary to establish a mapping relationship between resistance and structural deformation under the premise of known deformation type, which makes it difficult to adapt to unknown or complex deformation scenarios. On the other hand, although optical fiber sensors have high measurement accuracy, their optical signals need to be converted into usable electrical signals with the help of large and expensive optical demodulation devices, which increases the complexity and weight of system integration and is not conducive to the deployment of flexible arrays in lightweight platforms.

[0004] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a dynamic array shape perception method that does not require array geometry priori, has the characteristics of low cost, low power consumption, and miniaturization, and can achieve dynamic high-precision phase compensation to meet the technical requirements of flexible arrays for stable beam pointing in multiple scenarios. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present invention aims to provide a dynamic phase calibration system for flexible arrays, constructing a collaborative closed-loop system integrating perception, decision-making and control to address key issues such as beam instability and pointing deviation that occur during the dynamic deformation of flexible arrays.

[0006] The technical solutions adopted in the present invention are as follows:

[0007] The present invention includes a flexible array, a microcontroller, a digital-to-analog converter, and a vector multiplier. The flexible array includes a plurality of identical antenna units closely arranged in a planar array. Each antenna unit includes a radiator, a flexible dielectric substrate, a metal thin layer, a cured sheet, and an inertial sensing unit. The metal thin layer and the flexible dielectric substrate are sequentially provided on the upper and lower sides of the cured sheet. The radiator is provided on the upper surface of the flexible dielectric substrate on the upper side of the cured sheet, and the inertial sensing unit is provided on the lower surface of the flexible dielectric substrate on the lower side of the cured sheet.

[0008] The microcontroller is electrically connected to the inertial sensing unit and the digital-to-analog converter in the flexible array, respectively. The vector multiplier is electrically connected to the digital-to-analog converter and the feeding point on the radiator in the flexible array, respectively. The excitation signal input from the feeding point on the radiator drives each antenna unit to radiate electromagnetic waves into free space, thereby forming a beam with a preset direction.

[0009] It also includes a host computer, which is electrically connected to the microcontroller and is used to change the preset direction of the beam.

[0010] The inertial sensing unit of each antenna unit is arranged at the center of the lower surface of the flexible dielectric substrate on the lower side of the cured sheet, and is used to collect the position information of each antenna unit in three-dimensional space in real time.

[0011] The flexible dielectric substrates on the upper and lower sides of the cured sheets in all antenna units are an integrated structure, and together constitute a flexible dielectric substrate layer.

[0012] The flexible dielectric substrate is a non-stretchable flexible dielectric material.

[0013] A dynamic phase calibration method for a flexible phased array comprises the following steps:

[0014] S1, the inertial sensing unit in each antenna unit in the flexible array collects the posture information of each antenna unit and transmits it to the microcontroller;

[0015] S2, the microcontroller receives the posture information of all inertial sensor units and constructs the rotation matrix of each antenna unit respectively, and then uses the posture mapping algorithm to obtain the array space configuration of the flexible array;

[0016] S3, the microcontroller obtains the phase delay value of each antenna unit according to the array spatial configuration of the flexible array, and then converts each phase delay value into a digital control signal and transmits it to the digital-to-analog converter;

[0017] S4. The digital-to-analog converter receives each digital control signal and converts it into each analog control signal and transmits it to the vector multiplier. Then, each preset excitation signal is input into each vector multiplier. Each vector multiplier adjusts the phase of its own preset excitation signal according to its own analog control signal to obtain the excitation signal after adjusting the phase, and transmits it to the feeding point of the radiator in each antenna unit, so as to drive each antenna unit to radiate electromagnetic waves into the free space, thereby forming a beam with a preset direction.

[0018] The array space configuration of the flexible array is obtained according to the following formula:

[0019]

[0020] in, Represents the position vector of the antenna unit in the mth row and nth column of the flexible array, R m,n represents the rotation matrix of the m-th row and n-th column antenna element in the flexible array, and Denote the basic displacement vectors in the row direction and column direction respectively, d x and d y Respectively represent the arrangement spacing of antenna units in the row direction and column direction.

[0021] The phase delay value is obtained by processing according to the following formula:

[0022]

[0023] Among them, φ m,n represents the phase delay value of the antenna unit in the mth row and nth column of the flexible array, j represents the imaginary unit, λ represents the free space wavelength corresponding to the center operating frequency of the antenna unit, and x m,n 、y m,n and z m,n They represent the x, y, and z coordinate components of the m-th row and n-th column antenna unit in three-dimensional space, θ0 and They represent the polar angle and azimuth angle of the preset beam direction respectively.

[0024] The dynamic phase calibration system is applied to wearable communications, smart surface radar systems, drone wing embedded communication arrays, and flexible satellite antenna arrays.

[0025] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0026] 1. Compared with array deformation measurement solutions based on fiber optic sensors, the inertial sensing unit used in this invention does not require complex and expensive optical demodulation equipment, which simplifies the system integration process and significantly reduces system volume, weight and cost. It is more suitable for flexible array platforms with high requirements for miniaturization and lightweighting.

[0027] 2. Compared with solutions based on flexible resistor sensors, this invention does not require pre-construction of a mapping relationship between array shape type and resistance change, thus breaking away from the reliance on prior shape modeling. It can operate stably under unknown or non-ideal deformation conditions, and has higher practicality and environmental adaptability.

[0028] 3. By introducing a closed-loop path of inertial sensor unit perception, microcontroller decision-making and vector multiplier phase control, the present invention realizes shape reconstruction and phase calibration of the flexible array under dynamic deformation conditions, effectively suppresses the beam pointing deviation problem, and significantly improves the beam stability and communication / detection performance of the array system under complex working conditions.

[0029] Therefore, the present invention has the advantages of no need for geometric priors, high integration, low cost, and strong adaptability, and is suitable for various practical application scenarios such as wearable devices, health monitoring, and military radar. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] Figure 1 It is a structural block diagram of the phase calibration system based on the flexible array of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of output data of an inertial sensor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 3 It is an exploded diagram of the unit structure of an example of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the layout of the flexible array antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the circuit connection of an example of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 6 It is the coordinate definition during the dynamic deformation of the flexible array;

[0036] Figure 7 This is a working principle diagram of a vector multiplier according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0037] In the figure: 1. Flexible array, 2. Inertial sensor unit, 3. Microcontroller, 4. Host computer, 5. Digital-to-analog converter, 6. Vector multiplier, 7. Radiator, 8. Flexible dielectric substrate, 9. Metal thin layer, 10. Cured sheet. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0039] The system architecture of the embodiment of the present invention is as follows Figure 1As shown, the flexible array 1 includes a microcontroller 3, a digital-to-analog converter 5, and a vector multiplier 6. The flexible array 1 includes a plurality of identical antenna units that are closely arranged in a planar array. Each antenna unit includes a radiator 7, a flexible dielectric substrate 8, a metal thin layer 9, a cured sheet 10, and an inertial sensing unit 2. The metal thin layer 9 and the flexible dielectric substrate 8 are sequentially provided on the upper and lower sides of the cured sheet 10. The radiator 7 is provided on the upper surface of the flexible dielectric substrate 8 on the upper side of the cured sheet 10, and the inertial sensing unit 2 is provided on the lower surface of the flexible dielectric substrate 8 on the lower side of the cured sheet 10.

[0040] Specifically, each antenna unit includes a radiator 7, a flexible dielectric substrate 8, a metal thin layer 9, a cured sheet 10, a metal thin layer 9, a flexible dielectric substrate 8 and an inertial sensor unit 2 stacked in sequence from top to bottom; the flexible dielectric substrate 8 on the upper / lower side of the cured sheet 10 in all antenna units is an integrated structure, together forming a whole flexible dielectric substrate layer.

[0041] The microcontroller 3 is electrically connected to the inertial sensing unit 2 and the digital-to-analog converter 5 in the flexible array 1, respectively. The microcontroller 3 is used to receive the posture information collected by the inertial sensing unit 2 and transmit it to the digital-to-analog converter 5 after processing. The digital-to-analog converter 5 is used to convert the digital control signal output by the microcontroller 3 into an analog control signal and output it to the vector multiplier 6. The vector multiplier 6 is electrically connected to the digital-to-analog converter 5 and the feeding point on the radiator 7 in the flexible array 1, respectively. The vector multiplier 6 adjusts the amplitude and phase of the excitation signal according to the received analog control signal, and is used to apply the adjusted excitation signal to the feeding point on the radiator 7 to drive each antenna unit to radiate electromagnetic waves into free space, thereby forming a beam with a preset direction.

[0042] In general, the microcontroller 3 communicates with each inertial sensing unit 2 via a serial peripheral interface (SPI) bus, runs a solution algorithm for fusing motion measurement data into attitude information, and, based on a customized attitude-phase mapping algorithm, calculates the I and Q bias voltages required for control by the vector multiplier 6. These are output as analog voltage signals via the digital-to-analog converter 5. The microcontroller 3, digital-to-analog converter 5, and vector multiplier 6 can be integrated into the flexible array 1. The inertial sensing units 2 and vector multiplier 6 are packaged in a minimal size to minimize their impact on the array's flexible deformation performance and enhance reliability.

[0043] Phased arrays can adjust the phase of the antenna elements so that the radio waves emitted by the array form a focused beam in a specific direction in space. By adjusting the phase of each antenna element, the direction of the beam can be changed without physically rotating the antenna array. Flexible phased arrays typically use flexible materials as the antenna substrate, which can bend and adapt to different shapes to a certain extent. However, deformation of the antenna array can affect the direction of the beam.

[0044] This system automatically adjusts the transmit phase of each antenna after a flexible phased array deforms, ensuring that beam direction and signal performance are not affected. By monitoring array deformation with inertial sensors, compensating with microcontrollers, and making real-time corrections with phase control circuits, it is suitable for applications such as flexible radar and wearable communications.

[0045] The host computer 4 is also included, and the host computer 4 is electrically connected to the microcontroller 3 for changing the preset direction of the beam. The host computer 4 receives the parameters in the microcontroller 3 and can change the preset direction of the beam by changing θ0 and The host computer 4 communicates with the microcontroller 3 via the universal serial bus USB to input the desired beam direction and dynamically display the current position coordinates and phase assignments of each unit in the flexible array.

[0046] The inertial sensing unit 2 of each antenna unit is arranged at the center of the lower surface of the flexible dielectric substrate 8 on the lower side of the cured sheet 10, and is used to collect the position information of each antenna unit in three-dimensional space in real time, which also includes the acceleration and angular velocity data of each antenna unit.

[0047] The inertial sensing unit 2 includes a three-axis accelerometer and a three-axis gyroscope, providing six-degree-of-freedom dynamic information. After data fusion, it is used to calculate the antenna unit's attitude rotation matrix. The inertial sensing unit 2 and vector multiplier 6 are packaged in a minimal footprint to minimize impact on the array's flexible deformation performance and enhance reliability.

[0048] The flexible dielectric substrate 8 is made of a non-stretchable flexible dielectric material, so that the deformation of the flexible array 1 is only manifested as bending or twisting, thereby ensuring that the arc length between adjacent antenna units remains unchanged and improving the shape reconstruction accuracy.

[0049] In this embodiment, the inertial measurement unit 2 uses a six-axis inertial sensor that integrates a three-axis accelerometer and a three-axis gyroscope, such as the ICM-42605 from TDK InvenSense, but not limited to this. This sensor can provide an angular velocity range of ±15.625dps to ±2000dps and an acceleration range of ±2g to ±16g. The output axis and direction of each inertial measurement unit 2 are determined by its packaging structure. Its spatial installation direction should be unified to maintain data consistency. The typical data output format is as follows: Figure 2 shown.

[0050] The antenna unit can adopt common antenna structures such as microstrip patch antenna, which is prepared on a flexible non-stretchable dielectric substrate 8 such as Rogers TM On 5880, an inertial sensor 2 is set to form a flexible array 1. The minimum functional unit structure of the phase calibration array system is as follows Figure 3As shown, this is achieved using a multi-layer flexible PCB process. Specifically, the first three layers, radiator layer 7, flexible dielectric layer 8, and ground metal layer 9, form the microstrip patch antenna. The inertial measurement unit 2 is soldered to the back of the bottom PCB layer, aligned with the physical center of the antenna unit to ensure accurate measurement of the unit's three-dimensional spatial motion data. The fifth metal layer 9 can be defined as a reference ground or power layer depending on its function. If used as a reference ground, it must be connected to the upper ground metal layer through metallized vias.

[0051] The above-mentioned antenna minimum units are periodically arranged to form a flexible array 1. The present invention is described using a two-dimensional planar array as an example. Figure 4 As shown. Array 1 contains N antenna elements in the horizontal direction, with a spacing of d y ; The longitudinal direction contains M antenna units with a spacing of d x .

[0052] The inertial measurement unit 2, microcontroller 3, vector multiplier 6 and digital-to-analog converter 5 are all deployed on the bottom layer PCB. The system circuit connection is as follows: Figure 5 As shown, the microcontroller 3 controls data acquisition from multiple inertial measurement units 2 via the SPI bus. It uses the chip select signal CS to poll each sensor one by one, collecting spatial motion information from all array elements. Simultaneously, the microcontroller 3 connects to the digital-to-analog converter 5 via the SPI interface to control its analog output voltage. Each vector multiplier 6 channel requires two I / Q voltage drivers, necessitating a corresponding number of digital-to-analog converter 5 channels based on the array size. The host computer 4 communicates with the microcontroller 3 via a USB interface, inputting target beam direction parameters and visually displaying the array deformation state and the phase assignment results for each element in real time.

[0053] A dynamic phase calibration method for a flexible phased array comprises the following steps:

[0054] S1, the inertial sensing unit 2 in each antenna unit in the flexible array 1 collects the posture information of each antenna unit in real time and transmits it to the microcontroller 3;

[0055] The posture information includes the linear acceleration and angular velocity data of the three axes in the three-dimensional space.

[0056] S2, the microcontroller 3 receives the posture information of all inertial sensing units 2 and constructs the rotation matrix of each antenna unit respectively, and uses the posture mapping algorithm to obtain the array space configuration of the flexible array 1 as a whole;

[0057] S3, the microcontroller 3 obtains the phase delay value of each antenna unit according to the overall array spatial configuration of the flexible array 1, and then converts each phase delay value into a corresponding digital control signal and transmits it to the digital-to-analog converter 5;

[0058] S4, the digital-to-analog converter 5 receives each digital control signal and converts it into each analog control signal and transmits it to the vector multiplier 6, and then inputs each preset excitation signal into each vector multiplier 6. Each vector multiplier 6 dynamically controls the phase of the signal in the RF path according to its own analog control signal and adjusts the phase of its own excitation signal, and then transmits it to the feeding point of the radiator 7 in its own antenna unit to drive each antenna unit to radiate electromagnetic waves into free space, thereby forming a beam with a preset direction.

[0059] The array spatial configuration refers to the actual arrangement of each antenna unit in the flexible phased array in three-dimensional space, specifically a matrix composed of the position vectors of all antenna units.

[0060] The array space configuration of the flexible array 1 is obtained according to the following formula:

[0061]

[0062] in, represents the position vector of the antenna element in the mth row and nth column of the flexible array 1, R m,n represents the rotation matrix of the antenna element in the mth row and nth column of the flexible array 1, and Denote the basic displacement vectors in the row direction and column direction respectively, d x and d y Respectively represent the arrangement spacing of antenna units in the row direction and column direction.

[0063] The phase delay value is obtained according to the following formula:

[0064]

[0065] Among them, φ m,n represents the phase delay value of the antenna unit in the mth row and nth column of the flexible array 1, j represents the imaginary unit, λ represents the free space wavelength corresponding to the center operating frequency of the antenna unit, and x m,n 、y m,n and z m,n They represent the x, y, and z coordinate components of the m-th row and n-th column antenna unit in the three-dimensional space position vector, θ0 and They represent the polar angle and azimuth angle of the preset beam direction respectively.

[0066] A dynamic phase calibration system for flexible phased arrays is used in wearable communications, smart surface radar systems, drone wing-embedded communication arrays, and flexible satellite antenna arrays.

[0067] The system works as follows:

[0068] When the flexible array undergoes dynamic deformation due to the external environment, inertial sensors located on the back of each antenna element collect three-axis acceleration and angular velocity data in real time. A microcontroller acquires motion data from all elements via the SPI interface and fuses this data using a quaternion-based attitude fusion algorithm, such as the Extended Kalman Filter, to calculate the rotation matrix for each antenna element.

[0069] After solving the element pose, the microcontroller uses the first array element as a reference and, by applying a piecewise fitting method based on the spatial transformation relationship between adjacent elements, reconstructs the array shape. It then calculates the excitation phase value for each antenna element based on the set beam direction and the electrical length difference between the array element position and the desired beam direction.

[0070] The microcontroller converts the target phase value into corresponding I and Q voltage control values, generating analog voltage signals through a digital-to-analog converter. This signal is input to a vector multiplier connected to each feed point, enabling dynamic phase control of each RF path. This closed-loop system, integrating perception, decision-making, and control, continuously and adaptively corrects the phase of each channel as the array structure continuously deforms, ensuring that the main beam direction stably tracks the preset target.

[0071] The specific data processing process is as follows:

[0072] The global coordinate system xoy is established with the flexible array 1 being undeformed and placed horizontally as the reference, and the local coordinate system is established with the inertial measurement unit 2 itself as the reference, as shown in Figure 6 As shown. When the flexible array 1 is deformed, it will drive the inertial measurement unit 2 to move in three-dimensional space. The inertial measurement unit 2 outputs the acceleration and angular velocity of the movement. After data fusion, the rotation matrix of each unit at any time can be calculated using quaternions. The data fusion method is mainly used to more accurately calculate the rotation matrix. There are many optional solutions in the prior art, such as complementary filtering and Kalman filtering data fusion methods. The relevant methods can be implemented by the skills mastered by those skilled in the art and are not important to the present invention, so they will not be repeated here. The quaternion at any time is obtained by the following formula:

[0073]

[0074] in, is the quaternion at the current moment, is the quaternion of the previous moment, Δt is the sampling time interval, The angular velocity after data fusion can also be expressed by the following formula:

[0075]

[0076] Among them, q0, q1, q2, q3 are the four elements that make up the quaternion, all of which are real numbers. and are mutually orthogonal unit vectors.

[0077] Since the inertial measurement unit 2 is installed on the back of the antenna unit, when the array is not deformed and placed horizontally, the local coordinate system of each unit is consistent. The global coordinate system is rotated 180° along the x-axis to obtain the initial local coordinate system. Therefore, the rotation matrix at any time can be obtained by the following formula:

[0078]

[0079] To construct the relative spatial position, the first unit of the flexible array 1 is used as the reference, and a chain spatial transformation is performed through the adjacent rotation relationship to reconstruct the three-dimensional shape of the entire array. Each unit of the array 1 is calculated by the above method to obtain the rotation matrix at the current moment. The rotation matrix of the antenna unit in the mth row and nth column is expressed as R m,n Because the flexible dielectric substrate 8 in the present invention is made of an inextensible material, the array only bends or twists during dynamic deformation, and the arc lengths between its elements remain unchanged. Therefore, to accurately represent the spatial layout of the elements during array beamforming, the present invention employs a piecewise fitting strategy. Based on the known orientation of each element, i.e., the rotation matrix, the relative spatial position coordinates of each element are gradually restored.

[0080] The first unit is always used as the coordinate origin during the calculation process, and the position of subsequent units is calculated from their local rotation relationship relative to the previous unit and the known arc length vector, thereby constructing the three-dimensional spatial morphology of the entire array. It can be obtained by the following recursive formula:

[0081]

[0082] in Denote the basic displacement vectors in the row direction and column direction respectively. x and d y Respectively represent the arrangement spacing of antenna units in the row direction and column direction.

[0083] Based on the spatial geometric relationship between the position of each element in the array and the desired beam direction, the present invention uses the principle of equivalent electrical length difference to perform phase calibration. The phase delay that each element should have relative to the reference point is determined by the wavefront propagation path. The phase value φ after calibration of the antenna element in the mth row and nth column m,n Calculated by the following formula:

[0084]

[0085] Where λ is the free space wavelength corresponding to the center operating frequency of the antenna unit, is the unit vector of the desired beam direction, x m,n 、y m,n and z m,n They represent the x, y, and z coordinate components of the m-th row and n-th column antenna unit in the three-dimensional space position vector, θ0 and Respectively represent the polar angle and azimuth angle of the preset beam direction. The above formula constructs the mapping relationship between the array unit attitude and phase. In order to achieve continuous phase control and avoid quantization error, the present invention uses a vector multiplier 6 to control the phase of the RF path. Its working principle diagram is shown in the figure below. Figure 7 Its essence is an analog IQ modulation structure that controls the amplitude and phase of the output RF signal by adjusting the input I in-phase and Q quadrature channel bias voltages.

[0086] The present invention uses the ADL5390 of Analog Devices as an example, but the selection is not limited thereto. According to the working principle of the vector multiplier 6 and the data sheet of the ADL5390, the relationship between the IQ offset voltage and the calibrated phase is as follows:

[0087]

[0088] Where V m,nI and V m,nI They respectively represent the bias voltage values ​​of the I channel and Q channel of the vector multiplier corresponding to the antenna unit in the mth row and nth column.

[0089] When the flexible array 1 undergoes dynamic deformation under the influence of the external environment, the inertial measurement unit 2 collects spatial motion data and transmits it to the microcontroller 3. After running a data fusion algorithm, the microcontroller 3 calculates the rotation matrix of each antenna element. Then, based on the set beam pointing, it executes the attitude-phase mapping relationship constructed by the formula to calculate the excitation phase value to be assigned to each antenna element. Finally, the phase is converted into the corresponding I and Q voltage control values ​​using the formula. The analog voltage signal generated by the digital-to-analog converter 5 controls the vector multiplier 6, realizing a dynamic phase control system that integrates perception, decision-making, and control, and achieves adaptive beam pointing during dynamic processes.

[0090] The present invention constructs a closed-loop architecture that integrates attitude perception, phase calculation, and phase control. In the present invention, an inertial sensing unit is deployed at the center of the back of each antenna unit to obtain the three-dimensional spatial motion state in real time. A microcontroller collects the output data of each inertial sensing unit and runs the attitude solution algorithm. A custom attitude-phase mapping algorithm is used to calculate the target phase value of each unit and convert it into I and Q voltage control signals in real time. The digital-to-analog converter output drives the vector multiplier to update the phase of each RF channel. This allows the phase of each channel to be dynamically calibrated during the dynamic deformation of the array, keeping the main beam stable and pointing in the target direction.

[0091] The innovation of the present invention is:

[0092] 1. Inertial sensors are integrated into flexible phased arrays to achieve real-time and accurate phase compensation. Traditional methods usually rely on static calculations or external attitude detection. The present invention provides dynamic data through inertial sensors, realizing real-time monitoring and adjustment of the array attitude, and solving the problem of beam offset under flexible structures.

[0093] 2. The present invention proposes a posture mapping algorithm to obtain the array space configuration of the flexible array, and reconstructs the entire flexible array structure by rotating the matrix + spatial recursion. By introducing a closed-loop path of inertial sensor unit perception, microcontroller decision-making and vector multiplier phase control, the shape reconstruction and phase calibration of the flexible array under dynamic deformation conditions are realized, which effectively suppresses the beam pointing deviation problem and significantly improves the beam stability and communication / detection performance of the array system under complex working conditions.

[0094] 3. The present invention gets rid of the dependence on prior shape modeling, can operate stably under unknown or non-ideal deformation conditions, and has higher practicality and environmental adaptability.

[0095] The above is only a specific embodiment of the present invention in which a planar array is composed of microstrip patch antennas as radiating units, and does not limit the present invention in any form. Any technician familiar with this profession may use the phase calibration system disclosed above to change the radiating units and array methods to equivalent examples. However, any simple modifications, equivalent changes and modifications made to the above examples based on the technical essence of the present invention without departing from the content of the technical solution of the present invention are still within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A dynamic phase calibration system for a flexible phased array, characterized by comprising a flexible array (1), a microcontroller (3), a digital-to-analog converter (5) and a vector multiplier (6); the flexible array (1) comprises a plurality of identical antenna units closely arranged in a planar array; each antenna unit comprises a radiator (7), a flexible dielectric substrate (8), a metal thin layer (9), a cured sheet (10) and an inertial sensing unit (2); the metal thin layer (9) and the flexible dielectric substrate (8) are sequentially arranged on the upper and lower sides of the cured sheet (10); the radiator (7) is arranged on the upper surface of the flexible dielectric substrate (8) on the upper side of the cured sheet (10); and the inertial sensing unit (2) is arranged on the lower surface of the flexible dielectric substrate (8) on the lower side of the cured sheet (10); The microcontroller (3) is electrically connected to the inertial sensing unit (2) and the digital-to-analog converter (5) in the flexible array (1), respectively; the vector multiplier (6) is electrically connected to the digital-to-analog converter (5) and the feeding point on the radiator (7) in the flexible array (1), respectively; and the excitation signal input from the feeding point on the radiator (7) drives each antenna unit to radiate electromagnetic waves into free space, thereby forming a beam with a preset direction.

2. The dynamic phase calibration system for a flexible phased array according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a host computer (4), which is electrically connected to the microcontroller (3) and is used to change the preset direction of the beam.

3. The dynamic phase calibration system for a flexible phased array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The inertial sensing unit (2) of each antenna unit is arranged at the center of the lower surface of the flexible dielectric substrate (8) on the lower side of the solidified sheet (10), and is used to collect the position information of each antenna unit in three-dimensional space in real time.

4. The dynamic phase calibration system for a flexible phased array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The flexible dielectric substrates (8) on the upper and lower sides of the cured sheets (10) in all antenna units are an integrated structure, and together constitute a flexible dielectric substrate layer.

5. The dynamic phase calibration system for a flexible phased array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The flexible dielectric substrate (8) is a non-stretchable flexible dielectric material.

6. A dynamic phase calibration method for a flexible phased array as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The steps include: S1, the inertial sensing unit (2) in each antenna unit in the flexible array (1) collects the posture information of each antenna unit and transmits it to the microcontroller (3); S2, a microcontroller (3) receives the position information of all inertial sensor units (2) and constructs the rotation matrix of each antenna unit respectively, and then uses the attitude mapping algorithm to obtain the array space configuration of the flexible array (1); S3, the microcontroller (3) obtains the phase delay value of each antenna unit according to the array spatial configuration of the flexible array (1), and then converts each phase delay value into a digital control signal and transmits it to the digital-to-analog converter (5); S4, the digital-to-analog converter (5) receives each digital control signal and converts it into each analog control signal and transmits it to the vector multiplier (6), and then inputs each preset excitation signal into each vector multiplier (6). Each vector multiplier (6) adjusts the phase of its own preset excitation signal according to its own analog control signal to obtain an excitation signal after adjusting the phase, and transmits it to the feeding point of the radiator (7) in each antenna unit, so as to drive each antenna unit to radiate electromagnetic waves into free space, thereby forming a beam with a preset direction.

7. The dynamic phase calibration method for a flexible phased array according to claim 6, characterized in that: The array space configuration of the flexible array (1) is obtained by processing according to the following formula: in, R represents the position vector of the antenna element in the mth row and nth column of the flexible array (1). m,n represents the rotation matrix of the antenna element in the mth row and nth column of the flexible array (1), and Denote the basic displacement vectors in the row direction and column direction respectively, d x and d y Respectively represent the arrangement spacing of antenna units in the row direction and column direction.

8. The dynamic phase calibration method for a flexible phased array according to claim 6, characterized in that: The phase delay value is obtained by processing according to the following formula: Among them, φ m,n represents the phase delay value of the antenna unit in the mth row and nth column of the flexible array (1), j represents the imaginary unit, λ represents the free space wavelength corresponding to the center operating frequency of the antenna unit, and x m,n 、y m,n and z m,n They represent the x, y, and z coordinate components of the m-th row and n-th column antenna unit in three-dimensional space, θ0 and They represent the polar angle and azimuth angle of the preset beam direction respectively.

9. Application of a dynamic phase calibration system for a flexible phased array according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The dynamic phase calibration system is applied to wearable communications, smart surface radar systems, drone wing embedded communication arrays, and flexible satellite antenna arrays.

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