Stable-phase transmission beam forming device

Abstract

The invention discloses a stable-phase transmission beam forming device, and the device comprises a near-end assembly which is used for achieving stable-phase closed-loop regulation and control, beam forming preprocessing and system extension management, and the near-end assembly comprises a light stable-phase transmitting unit, a first power divider, a first wavelength division multiplexer, a light delay compensator, n first receiving and transmitting light modules and n light delay attenuators, the near-end assembly is bidirectionally connected with the far-end assembly through an optical fiber; the far-end assembly is used as a signal distribution and phase reflection execution end, decouples the optical signal to each microwave array element and reflects a stable-phase signal, and the far-end assembly comprises a second wavelength division multiplexer, an optical stable-phase receiving unit and n second light receiving and emitting modules; according to the device, the light delay attenuator is used in the light transmission link to adjust the amplitude and phase of the signals between the arrays, the device is suitable for broadband signals, the array scale is expanded by increasing the light receiving and emitting modules with different wavelengths or increasing the power divider, and meanwhile the device has the broadband, stable-phase transmission and extensible capabilities.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of light-controlled phased array, and in particular to a stable phase transmission beam synthesis device. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the increase of the size of the phased array, the size of the entire phased array system is large, and the assembly of all components of the phased array system together can cause the entire system to have large volume, weight and power consumption, which does not meet the actual application requirements. The phased array system is divided into multiple functional units, and signal transmission is performed between each functional unit, which can effectively reduce the weight, size and power consumption pressure of each unit. At this time, stable phase transmission between each functional unit is particularly important to improve the performance of the phased array system. In addition, the power of the phased array system is proportional to the antenna aperture, and increasing the size of the phased array can effectively improve the system performance. In practice, different application scenarios require different aperture antennas, so it is of great application value to improve the expansion capability of the phased array system and perform high-performance splicing and expansion of different aperture arrays. The wideband phased array system plays an increasingly important role in actual application due to its wideband performance. The wideband phased array system often uses an adjustable true delay network to reduce beam dispersion and aperture transition effects and improve the performance of the phased array system. Therefore, it has certain practical application significance to propose a phased array beam synthesis device that simultaneously has wideband, stable phase transmission and expandability. SUMMARY

[0003] To solve the technical problems in the background art, the present application provides a stable phase transmission beam synthesis device.

[0004] The stable phase transmission beam synthesis device provided by the present application comprises:

[0005] A near-end component for realizing stable phase closed-loop regulation, beam synthesis preprocessing and system expansion management, the near-end component comprising an optical stable phase transmitting unit, a first power divider, a first wavelength division multiplexer, an optical delay compensator, n first transceiver optical modules and n optical delay attenuators, and the near-end component being bidirectionally connected with a far-end component through an optical fiber;

[0006] A far-end component for serving as a signal distribution and phase reflection execution end, decoupling optical signals to each microwave array element and reflecting stable phase signals, the far-end component comprising a second wavelength division multiplexer, an optical stable phase receiving unit and n second transceiver optical modules;

[0007] An optical fiber for transmitting bidirectional optical signals, the bidirectional optical signals comprising stable phase reference optical signals with a wavelength of λ0 and array element optical signals with wavelengths of λ1-λ n .

[0008] Preferably, the optically stabilized phase-transmitting unit is communicatively connected to the first wavelength division multiplexer, the optically stabilized phase-transmitting unit is communicatively connected to the optical delay compensator, and the first power divider is communicatively connected to each of the n first receive-transmitting modules in a one-to-one correspondence; the n first receive-transmitting modules are communicatively connected to n optical delay attenuators in a one-to-one correspondence; the n optical delay attenuators are all communicatively connected to the first wavelength division multiplexer, the first wavelength division multiplexer is communicatively connected to the optical delay compensator, the optical delay compensator is communicatively connected to the optical fiber; the optical fiber is communicatively connected to the second wavelength division multiplexer; the second wavelength division multiplexer is communicatively connected to the optically stabilized phase-receiving unit, and the second wavelength division multiplexer is communicatively connected to each of the n second receive-transmitting modules.

[0009] Preferably, the optically stable phase-emitting unit receives a stable phase reference signal and performs electro-optical conversion on the stable phase reference signal to obtain an optical signal with wavelength λ0, and outputs the optical signal with wavelength λ0 to the first wavelength division multiplexer; the optically stable phase-emitting unit performs photoelectric conversion on the optical signal with wavelength λ0 input to the first wavelength division multiplexer; the optically stable phase-emitting unit is used to perform phase detection between the stable phase reference signal and the optical signal with wavelength λ0 input to the first wavelength division multiplexer, and controls the optical delay compensator according to the phase detection value.

[0010] Preferably, the operating laser wavelengths corresponding to the n first receiving and emitting modules are all different, and the operating laser wavelengths corresponding to the n first receiving and emitting modules are λ1 to λ2. n , where n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1; n first-order receiving and transmitting modules receive the optical signals input from the corresponding n optical delay attenuators, and convert the optical signals into corresponding electrical signals and output them to the first power divider; n first-order receiving and transmitting modules respectively receive the electrical signals input from the first power divider, and convert the electrical signals into corresponding optical signals and output them to the corresponding optical delay attenuators.

[0011] Preferably, the optical delay attenuator delays and modulates the amplitude of the transmitted and received optical signals passing through the first transceiver module.

[0012] Preferably, the optically stable receiver receives the optical signal of wavelength λ0 input to the second wavelength division multiplexer and transmits the optical signal of wavelength λ0 to the second wavelength division multiplexer.

[0013] Preferably, the optical delay compensator is used to adjust the optical delay in real time according to the control signal output by the optically stable phase-emitting unit.

[0014] Preferably, both the first wavelength division multiplexer and the second wavelength division multiplexer include n+1 beam splitting channels, and the n+1 beam splitting channels correspond to transmission wavelengths λ0, λ1, ..., λ1, respectively. n The optical signal is transmitted through the same beam combining channel, where n+1 beam splitting channels correspond to n+1 wavelength optical signals, and n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0015] Preferably, the n second transceiving light modules correspond to different working laser wavelengths, and the n first transceiving light modules correspond to working laser wavelengths of λ1~λn. n wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1; the n second transceiving light modules respectively receive second wavelength division multiplexer input optical signals, convert the optical signals into corresponding electrical signals and output the electrical signals to the respective microwave elements; the n second transceiving light modules receive electrical signals input from the respective microwave elements and convert the electrical signals into corresponding optical signals and output the optical signals to the second wavelength division multiplexer.

[0016] The application provides a stable phase transmission beam synthesis device, which comprises:

[0017] m stable phase transmission beam synthesis devices according to any one of the preceding devices;

[0018] a second power divider, configured to divide a stable phase reference signal into m paths and input the stable phase reference signal into m light stable phase transmitting units corresponding to the m devices, respectively;

[0019] a third power divider, configured to combine electrical signals output by the first power dividers of the m devices;

[0020] wherein the total number of array elements after expansion is N=m*n, and the wavelengths of the first transceiving light modules of the devices do not overlap.

[0021] In the application, the stable phase transmission beam synthesis device is composed of an active stable phase optical link formed by a light stable phase transmitting unit, a light delay compensator, an optical fiber and a light stable phase receiving unit, which can compensate for phase disturbance caused by the optical fiber between the near-end component and the far-end component in real time. The array element signals transmitted by the phased array are coupled into the same optical fiber for transmission together with the stable phase link signals through the wavelength division multiplexer, the phase stability of the phased array element signals is realized, the long-distance transmission and beam synthesis of the near-end component and the far-end component are realized, and the performance of the phased array system is improved. The amplitude and phase of the signals between the array elements are adjusted through the light delay attenuator in the optical transmission link, the beam pointing direction can be flexibly switched, the beam shape can be edited, the optical true delay beam synthesis is suitable for wideband signals, and the dispersion and aperture transition effects are reduced. The light stable phase receiving unit can not only use the reflected stable phase reference optical signal for closed-loop stable phase in the stable phase optical loop, but also can photoelectrically convert the stable phase reference optical signal, so that the stable phase transmission of the stable phase reference signal between the far-end component and the near-end component is realized. One wavelength optical signal is transmitted by one array element in the application, the array scale can be expanded by adding different wavelength transceiving light modules, the array scale can also be expanded by adding one stable phase reference signal power divider and one beam synthesis signal power divider, and the expandability is strong. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1A device architecture schematic diagram of a stable phase transmission beam synthesis device is provided for the present application;

[0023] Figure 2 A light stable phase transmitting unit embodiment schematic diagram of a stable phase transmission beam synthesis device is provided for the present application;

[0024] Figure 3 A light stable phase receiving unit embodiment 1 schematic diagram of a stable phase transmission beam synthesis device is provided for the present application;

[0025] Figure 4 A light stable phase receiving unit embodiment 2 schematic diagram of a stable phase transmission beam synthesis device is provided for the present application;

[0026] Figure 5 An implementation architecture schematic diagram of an array element expansion system is provided for the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] REFERENCE Figures 1-4 A stable phase transmission beam synthesis device is provided for the present application, comprising:

[0028] A near-end component for realizing stable phase closed-loop regulation, beam synthesis preprocessing and system expansion management, the near-end component comprising a light stable phase transmitting unit, a first power divider, a first wavelength division multiplexer, a light delay compensator, n first transceiving light modules and n light delay attenuators, the near-end component being bidirectionally connected with a far-end component through an optical fiber.

[0029] A far-end component for serving as a signal distribution and phase reflection execution end, decoupling optical signals to each microwave array element and reflecting stable phase signals, the far-end component comprising a second wavelength division multiplexer, a light stable phase receiving unit and n second transceiving light modules.

[0030] An optical fiber for transmitting bidirectional optical signals, the bidirectional optical signals comprising stable phase reference optical signals with a wavelength of λ0 and array element optical signals with wavelengths of λ1-λn. n

[0031] In the present embodiment, as shown in Figure 1 The light stable phase transmitting unit and the first wavelength division multiplexer are in communication connection with each other, the light stable phase transmitting unit and the light delay compensator are in communication connection, the first power divider is in one-to-one corresponding communication connection with each of the n first transceiving light modules; the n first transceiving light modules are in one-to-one corresponding communication connection with the n light delay attenuators; the n light delay attenuators are in communication connection with each other and the first wavelength division multiplexer, the first wavelength division multiplexer and the light delay compensator are in communication connection, the light delay compensator and the optical fiber are in communication connection with each other; the optical fiber and the second wavelength division multiplexer are in communication connection with each other; the second wavelength division multiplexer and the light stable phase receiving unit are in communication connection with each other, and the second wavelength division multiplexer and the n second transceiving light modules are in communication connection with each other. ​

[0032] In the embodiment, the optical stable phase transmitting unit receives the stable phase reference signal and performs electro-optical conversion on the stable phase reference signal to obtain an optical signal with a wavelength λ0, and outputs the optical signal with the wavelength λ0 to the first wavelength division multiplexer; the optical stable phase transmitting unit performs photoelectric conversion on the optical signal with the wavelength λ0 input by the first wavelength division multiplexer, and is configured to perform phase discrimination on the stable phase reference signal and the optical signal with the wavelength λ0 input by the first wavelength division multiplexer, and control the optical delay compensator according to the phase discrimination value.

[0033] Specifically, as shown in Figure 2 An embodiment of the optical stable phase transmitting unit includes a fourth power splitter, an electro-optical converter, a first optical circulator, a first photodetector, a frequency mixer, and a control unit. The optical stable phase transmitting unit receives the stable phase reference signal, splits the stable phase reference signal into two paths of reference signals by the fourth power splitter, converts one path of the reference signals into an optical signal with a wavelength λ0 by the electro-optical converter, and outputs the optical signal with the wavelength λ0 to the first optical circulator, and then outputs the optical signal with the wavelength λ0 to the first wavelength division multiplexer as a reference optical signal. The other path of the reference signals is input to the frequency mixer. The optical stable phase transmitting unit receives the optical signal output by the first wavelength division multiplexer, outputs the optical signal to the first photodetector through the optical circulator, converts the optical signal into an electrical signal by the first photodetector, and inputs the electrical signal to the frequency mixer. The frequency mixer performs frequency mixing and phase discrimination on the two input electrical signals, outputs a phase discrimination signal to the control unit, and the control unit generates a delay control signal according to the phase discrimination signal and outputs the delay control signal to the optical delay compensator. The optical delay compensator can adjust the optical delay in real time according to the control signal output by the optical stable phase transmitting unit, and compensate for the phase disturbance in the process of optical fiber transmission in real time.

[0034] Specifically, the optical stable phase receiver has two embodiments.

[0035] Embodiment 1 of the optical stable phase receiver:

[0036] As shown in Figure 3 , which includes a second optical circulator, an optical beam splitter, and a second photodetector. The second optical circulator receives the optical signal with the wavelength λ0 input by the second wavelength division multiplexer and transmits the optical signal to the optical beam splitter. The optical beam splitter splits the input optical signal into two beams. One beam is input to the second photodetector to complete photoelectric conversion and output a stable phase reference signal. The other beam is input to the second optical circulator and then output to the second wavelength division multiplexer. The optical signal with the wavelength λ0 is sequentially transmitted through the second wavelength division multiplexer, an optical fiber, an optical delay compensator, and the first wavelength division multiplexer, and then output to the optical stable phase transmitting unit as a stable phase reference optical signal for stable phase control.

[0037] Embodiment 2 of the optical stable phase receiver:

[0038] As shown in Figure 4As shown, only a fiber reflector is contained, which is used to reflect the wavelength λ0 optical signal input by the second wavelength division multiplexer, and the reflected optical signal sequentially passes through the second wavelength division multiplexer, the optical fiber, the optical delay compensator, and the first wavelength division multiplexer, and is output to the optical phase stabilization transmitting unit as a stable phase reference light to perform phase stabilization control.

[0039] In the embodiment, the optical phase stabilization transmitting unit, the first wavelength division multiplexer, the optical delay compensator, the second wavelength division multiplexer, and the optical phase stabilization receiving unit together form an active phase stabilization loop, which compensates for the phase disturbance in the optical fiber transmission process in real time. Since the optical signals transmitted by the first transceiver module combination and the second transceiver module combination and the optical signal transmitted by the optical phase stabilization transmitting unit are transmitted through the same optical fiber, the phase of the optical signal transmitted between the first transceiver module combination and the second transceiver module combination is also compensated, which can ensure the phase stability of the beam synthesis signal.

[0040] In the embodiment, the working laser wavelengths corresponding to the n first transceiver modules are all different, and the working laser wavelengths corresponding to the n first transceiver modules are λ1-λn. n wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1; the n first transceiver modules receive the optical signals input by the corresponding n optical delay attenuators, and convert the optical signals into corresponding electrical signals and output the electrical signals to the first power divider; the n first transceiver modules receive the electrical signals input by the first power divider, and convert the electrical signals into corresponding optical signals and output the optical signals to the corresponding optical delay attenuators. The amplitude weighting of the corresponding array element signals can be realized through the amplitude regulation of the optical delay attenuator, and the delay switching between the array elements can be realized through the delay regulation of the optical delay attenuator, thereby realizing the transceiver beam pointing switching effect.

[0041] In the embodiment, the optical delay attenuator regulates the delay and amplitude of the optical signal transmitted by the first transceiver module.

[0042] In the embodiment, the optical phase stabilization receiver receives the wavelength λ0 optical signal input by the second wavelength division multiplexer, and transmits the wavelength λ0 optical signal to the second wavelength division multiplexer.

[0043] In the embodiment, the optical delay compensator is used to regulate the optical delay amount in real time according to the control signal output by the optical phase stabilization transmitting unit.

[0044] In the embodiment, the first wavelength division multiplexer and the second wavelength division multiplexer each contain n+1 beam splitting channels, and the n+1 beam splitting channels correspond to the transmission of optical signals with wavelengths λ0, λ1, …, λn, respectively. n The n+1 wavelengths of the optical signals corresponding to the n+1 beam splitting channels are transmitted through the same beam combining channel, wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0045] In the embodiment, the working laser wavelengths corresponding to the n second transceiving light modules are all different, the working laser wavelengths corresponding to the n first transceiving light modules are λ1-λn, and the working laser wavelengths corresponding to the m first transceiving light modules are λ1-λm. n wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1; the n second transceiving light modules respectively receive the second wavelength division multiplexer input optical signals, convert the optical signals into corresponding electrical signals, and output the electrical signals to the respective microwave arrays; the n second transceiving light modules receive the electrical signals input by the corresponding microwave arrays, and convert the electrical signals into corresponding optical signals and output the optical signals to the second wavelength division multiplexer.

[0046] With reference to Figures 1-5 The array element expansion system provided by the application comprises:

[0047] m phase-stable transmission beam synthesis devices according to any one of the above;

[0048] a second power divider for splitting the phase-stable reference signal into m paths and inputting the m paths to the respective optical phase-stable emission units of the m devices;

[0049] a third power divider for combining the electrical signals output by the first power dividers of the m devices;

[0050] wherein the total number of array elements after expansion N=m×n, and the wavelengths of the first transceiving light modules of the devices do not overlap.

[0051] In the embodiment, the near-end component, the far-end component, and the optical fiber are one basic beam synthesis unit, the phase-stable reference signal is split by one m-channel second power divider, is interconnected with the input ports of the optical phase-stable emission units of each beam synthesis unit, at the same time, the beam synthesis signals are split by one m-channel third power divider, and are interconnected with the first power dividers of each beam synthesis unit, so that the phase-stable beam synthesis of m×n arrays can be realized, wherein m and n are both positive integers greater than or equal to 1. Taking the array expansion of m=2 beam synthesis units as an example, the array expansion is intended as shown in Figure 5 The near-end component 1, the optical fiber 1, and the far-end component 1 together constitute the beam synthesis unit 1, the near-end component 2, the optical fiber 2, and the far-end component 2 together constitute the beam synthesis unit 2, and the beam synthesis unit 1 and the beam synthesis unit 2 realize the array scale expansion through the second power divider 2 and the third power divider 3. The phase-stable reference signal is split into two paths by the second power divider 2 and is input to the optical phase-stable emission unit 1 and the optical phase-stable emission unit 2, respectively. Since the same phase-stable reference signal source is input, the beam synthesis unit 1 and the beam synthesis unit 2 are phase-locked with the same signal source, so that they are phase-locked with each other. The beam synthesis unit 1 and the beam synthesis unit 2 realize beam synthesis through the third power divider 3, so that the array scale is expanded from n to 2×n through the two power dividers.

[0052] The above merely describes preferred specific embodiments of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art, according to the technical solution and inventive concept of the present application, makes equivalent replacement or change within the technical range disclosed by the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A stable phase transmission beam synthesizer apparatus, characterized by, include: The near-end component is used to realize phase-stable closed-loop control, beamforming preprocessing and system expansion management. The near-end component includes an optical phase-stable transmitter unit, a first power divider, a first wavelength division multiplexer, an optical delay compensator, n first receiver-transmitter modules and n optical delay attenuators. The near-end component is bidirectionally connected to the far-end component through optical fiber. The remote component is used as a signal distribution and phase reflection execution end to decouple the optical signal to each microwave array element and reflect the phase-stabilized signal. The remote component includes a second wavelength division multiplexer, an optical phase-stabilized receiving unit, and n second receiving and emitting modules. An optical fiber for transmitting bidirectional optical signals including a stable phase reference optical signal having a wavelength λ0 and an array element optical signal having a wavelength λ1 ~ λ n .

2. The stable phase transmission beam synthesizing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The optically stabilized phase-transmitting unit is communicatively connected to the first wavelength division multiplexer (WDM), and is also communicatively connected to the optical delay compensator. The first power divider is communicatively connected to each of the n first receive-transmitting modules. Each of the n first receive-transmitting modules is communicatively connected to one of the n optical delay attenuators. Each of the n optical delay attenuators is communicatively connected to the first WDM, which is also communicatively connected to the optical delay compensator. The optical delay compensator is communicatively connected to the optical fiber. The optical fiber is communicatively connected to the second WDM, which is communicatively connected to the optically stabilized phase-receiving unit. The second WDM is also communicatively connected to each of the n second receive-transmitting modules.

3. The stable phase transmission beam synthesizing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The optically stable phase-emitting unit receives a stable phase reference signal and performs electro-optical conversion on the stable phase reference signal to obtain an optical signal with wavelength λ0, and outputs the optical signal with wavelength λ0 to the first wavelength division multiplexer; the optically stable phase-emitting unit performs photoelectric conversion on the optical signal with wavelength λ0 input from the first wavelength division multiplexer; the optically stable phase-emitting unit is used to perform phase detection between the stable phase reference signal and the optical signal with wavelength λ0 input from the first wavelength division multiplexer, and controls the optical delay compensator according to the phase detection value.

4. The stable phase transmission beam synthesizing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The working laser wavelengths of the n first transceiving light modules are all different, and the working laser wavelengths of the n first transceiving light modules are λ1-λn. n wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1; the n first transceiving light modules receive optical signals input by the corresponding n optical delay attenuators, and convert the optical signals into corresponding electrical signals and output the electrical signals to the first power divider; the n first transceiving light modules receive electrical signals input by the first power divider, and convert the electrical signals into corresponding optical signals and output the optical signals to the corresponding optical delay attenuators.

5. The stable phase transmission beam synthesizing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The optical delay attenuator delays and modulates the amplitude of the optical signals transmitted and received through the first transceiver module.

6. The stable phase transmission beam synthesizing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The optically stable receiver receives the optical signal of wavelength λ0 input to the second wavelength division multiplexer and transmits the optical signal of wavelength λ0 to the second wavelength division multiplexer.

7. The stable phase transmission beam synthesizing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The optical delay compensator is used to adjust the optical delay in real time according to the control signal output by the optically stable phase-emitting unit.

8. The stable phase transmission beam synthesizing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The first wavelength division multiplexer and the second wavelength division multiplexer each include n+1 beam splitting channels, and the n+1 beam splitting channels correspond to optical signals with wavelengths of λ0, λ1, …, λn respectively. n The n+1 beam splitting channels correspond to n+1 wavelength optical signals, and the n+1 wavelength optical signals are transmitted through a same beam combining channel, where n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.

9. The stable phase transmission beam synthesizing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The working laser wavelengths corresponding to the n second transceiving light modules are all different, and the working laser wavelengths corresponding to the n first transceiving light modules are λ1~λn. n wherein n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1; the n second transceiving light modules respectively receive second wavelength division multiplexer input optical signals, convert the optical signals into corresponding electrical signals, and output the electrical signals to the microwave array elements; the n second transceiving light modules receive electrical signals input from the microwave array elements, convert the electrical signals into corresponding optical signals, and output the optical signals to the second wavelength division multiplexer.

10. An array element expansion system characterized by, include: m phase-stable transmission beamforming devices as described in any one of claims 1-9; The second power divider is used to split the phase-stabilized reference signal into m paths, which are then input into the corresponding optical phase-stabilized emission units of each of the m devices. The third power divider is used to combine the electrical signals output from the first power divider corresponding to m devices; The total number of array elements after expansion is N = m × n, and the wavelengths of the first receiving and emitting modules of each device do not overlap.

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