A lens antenna system with flexible beam reconfiguration

Abstract

The application discloses a lens antenna system with flexible beam reconfiguration, which comprises a lens antenna including a target lens and a multi-path transceiving array arranged on the surface of the target lens; a signal conversion module connected with the multi-path transceiving array on one side; a digital domain coding module connected with the other side of the signal conversion module on one side; the target lens is used for adjusting the wavefront phase of the transceiving electromagnetic wave and focusing or parallelizing the transceiving electromagnetic wave; the multi-path transceiving array is used for forming multiple directional transceiving patterns through the target lens; the signal conversion module is used for converting the signal between the multi-path transceiving array and the digital domain coding module; and the digital domain coding module is used for carrying out digital domain coding processing on the digital domain transceiving signal. It can be seen that the application can improve the beam forming performance and realize the flexible reconfiguration of the beam, can improve the anti-interference capability of the lens antenna system, and is favorable for expanding the application scenarios of the lens antenna system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of antenna technology, and in particular to a lens antenna system with flexible beam reconfiguration. Background Technology

[0002] As a core component for signal transmission and reception in fields such as wireless communication, radar detection, and satellite navigation, the performance of antennas directly determines the communication quality, coverage, and detection accuracy of the entire electronic system applied in these fields. Therefore, antennas play an irreplaceable role in scenarios such as mobile communication, intelligent driving, and aerospace.

[0003] With the development of communication technology and the growth of digital services, single-beam coverage technology can no longer meet the demands of application scenarios for capacity, coverage, cost, and anti-interference capabilities. Based on its advantages of low cost and high beamforming performance, multi-beam coverage technology has solved the aforementioned multiple bottlenecks of single-beam coverage technology, and has received increasing attention and is being applied more widely in related fields. Currently, the most commonly used multi-beam coverage technology is achieved through lens multi-beam antennas, which can achieve directional radiation of electromagnetic waves through the refraction and focusing principle of lenses (such as Luneburg lenses) to achieve wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). However, practice has shown that although the aforementioned lens multi-beam antennas can improve beamforming performance, such as consistent radiation patterns in all directions and good coverage, the beam direction and frequency of their beamforming are fixed and cannot be flexibly reconfigured. This is detrimental to improving the anti-interference capability of lens multi-beam antennas and also hinders the expansion of their application scenarios.

[0004] It is evident that how to improve beamforming performance while achieving flexible beam reconfiguration is a technical problem that urgently needs to be solved in this field. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This invention provides a lens antenna system with flexible beam reconfiguration, which can improve beamforming performance while achieving flexible beam reconfiguration.

[0006] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this invention discloses a lens antenna system with flexible beam reconfiguration, the lens antenna system comprising:

[0007] A lens antenna, comprising a target lens and a multi-channel transceiver array disposed on the surface of the target lens;

[0008] A signal conversion module, one side of which is connected to the multiplex transceiver array;

[0009] A digital domain coding module, one side of which is connected to the other side of the signal conversion module;

[0010] The target lens is used to adjust the wavefront phase of the transmitted and received electromagnetic waves and to focus or parallelize them; the multi-channel transceiver array is used to form multiple transmission and reception patterns through the target lens; the signal conversion module is used to convert the signal between the multi-channel transceiver array and the digital domain encoding module; and the digital domain encoding module is used to perform digital domain encoding processing on the digital domain transmitted and received signals.

[0011] As an optional implementation, in this invention, the lens antenna system further includes:

[0012] An analog domain coding module, one side of which is connected to one side of the signal conversion module, and the other side of which is connected to the multiplexer array;

[0013] The analog domain coding module is used to perform analog domain coding processing on the received signal to be processed;

[0014] The signal to be processed includes: the signal transmitted by the multiplexer to the analog domain coding module, or the signal transmitted by the signal conversion module to the analog domain coding module.

[0015] As an optional implementation, in this invention, the analog domain coding module is specifically used to perform analog domain coding processing on the received signal to be processed through a multiple-input multiple-output matrix.

[0016] As an optional implementation, in this invention, the multiple-input multiple-output matrix includes a matrix composed of a group of identity orthogonal vectors.

[0017] As an optional implementation, in this invention, the digital field encoding process includes at least matrix operations on the generalized inverse matrix factors corresponding to the multiple-input multiple-output matrix.

[0018] As an optional implementation, in this invention, the lens antenna system receives signals in the following specific manner:

[0019] The target lens receives electromagnetic waves from multiple directions in space and focuses and deflects these waves, converting them into multiple receiving beams. These multiple receiving beams enter the analog domain encoding module, which performs orthogonal encoding on the multiple receiving beams in the analog domain to obtain an analog-coded beam. This analog-coded beam is then sent to the signal conversion module. The signal conversion module converts the analog-coded beam into a digital signal to be processed via analog-to-digital conversion. This digital signal is provided to the digital domain encoding module. The digital domain encoding module performs secondary encoding and weighting operations on the digital signal in the digital domain.

[0020] As an optional implementation, in this invention, the lens antenna system transmits signals in the following specific manner:

[0021] The digital domain encoding module performs secondary encoding and weighting operations on the digital signal to be transmitted to generate a digital baseband signal, and provides the digital baseband signal to the signal conversion module; the signal conversion module converts the digital baseband signal into an analog signal to be processed through digital-to-analog conversion, and provides the analog signal to be processed to the analog domain encoding module; the analog domain encoding module encodes the phase and amplitude of the analog signal to be processed in the analog domain to generate multiple analog signals; the multiple analog signals are incident on the target lens through the multi-channel transceiver array, and the target lens generates multiple beams in different directions and radiates them into space.

[0022] As an optional implementation, in this invention, the signal conversion module includes a radio frequency remote unit (RRU).

[0023] As an optional implementation, in this invention, the target lens is one of the following: a Luneburg lens, a generalized Luneburg lens, a Rotman lens, a metamaterial lens, and a novel spherical lens.

[0024] As an optional implementation, in this invention, the specific method by which the digital domain coding module performs secondary encoding and weighting operations on the digital signal to be transmitted to generate a digital baseband signal includes:

[0025] The digital domain coding module performs secondary encoding and weighting operations on the digital signal to be transmitted according to the predetermined target coding parameters to generate a digital baseband signal;

[0026] The target encoding parameters are determined based on the scenario information corresponding to the application scenario of the lens antenna system and the application requirement information corresponding to the application scenario of the lens antenna system.

[0027] Implementing this invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0028] In addition to the lens antenna, the lens antenna system of this invention further includes a digital domain coding module and a signal conversion module for signal conversion. Signals transmitted and received by the lens antenna undergo digital domain coding processing (such as secondary coding and weighting) through the digital domain coding module, thereby enabling flexible adjustment of beam direction and power. Therefore, this invention can improve beamforming performance based on the lens antenna (such as consistent radiation pattern in all directions, good coverage, low sidelobe gain, and low inter-beam leakage), while also enabling flexible beam reconstruction based on the digital domain coding module. This not only enhances the anti-interference capability of the lens antenna system but also facilitates the expansion of its application scenarios. Attached Figure Description

[0029] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0030] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a beam-reconfigurable lens antenna system disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of another beam-flexibly reconfigurable lens antenna system disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a continuously overlapping multi-beam Luneburg lens antenna disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of another beam-flexibly reconfigurable lens antenna system disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0034] To better understand and implement this invention, the technical solutions in the embodiments of this invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this invention, and not all of them. Based on the embodiments of this invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this invention.

[0035] It should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the term "electrical connection" in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this invention should be interpreted broadly. For example, it can refer to a fixed electrical connection, a detachable electrical connection, or an integral electrical connection; it can refer to a mechanical electrical connection or a mutually communicating connection; it can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; it can refer to the internal connection of two elements or the interaction between two elements. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," etc., in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this invention are used to distinguish different objects, not to describe a specific order. The terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this invention according to the specific circumstances.

[0036] This invention discloses a lens antenna system with flexible beam reconfiguration. While improving beamforming performance (such as consistent radiation pattern in all directions, good coverage, low sidelobe gain, and low inter-beam leakage) based on the lens antenna, it also enables flexible beam reconfiguration based on a digital domain coding module. This not only enhances the anti-interference capability of the lens antenna system but also expands its application scenarios. The following sections are based on... Figure 1-2 The structure of the lens antenna system with flexible beam reconfiguration is described in detail.

[0037] Example

[0038] Please see Figure 1-4 As shown, the beam-reconfigurable lens antenna system 10 may include:

[0039] Lens antenna 101, which includes a target lens 1011 and a multiplexer array 1012 disposed on the surface of the target lens 1011;

[0040] Signal conversion module 102, one side of which is connected to multiplex transceiver array 1012;

[0041] Digital domain encoding module 103, one side of which is connected to the other side of signal conversion module 102.

[0042] The target lens 1011 is used to adjust the wavefront phase of the transmitted and received electromagnetic waves and to focus or parallelize them; the multi-channel transceiver array 1012 is used to form multiple transmission and reception patterns through the target lens 1011; the signal conversion module 102 is used to convert the signal between the multi-channel transceiver array 1012 and the digital domain encoding module 103; and the digital domain encoding module 103 is used to perform digital domain encoding processing on the digital domain transmitted and received signals to achieve flexible reconstruction of beam direction and power.

[0043] In this embodiment of the invention, the lens antenna system 10 can radiate electromagnetic waves into space through the target lens 1011, and can also receive electromagnetic waves in space through the target lens 1011. The target lens 1011 of the lens antenna system 10, through its gradient refractive index distribution, can focus the received electromagnetic waves onto a specific point on a sphere, significantly improving antenna gain. Furthermore, it can achieve beam scanning over a wide coverage area through a multi-channel transceiver array 1012 (also referred to as multiple feed sources), improving coverage performance. Optionally, the target lens 1011 can be one of a Luneburg lens, a generalized Luneburg lens, a Rotman lens, a metamaterial lens, or a novel spherical lens.

[0044] Preferably, the target lens 1011 is a Luneburg lens. An antenna composed of Luneburg lenses can also be called a multi-beam Luneburg lens antenna, and one structure of a multi-beam Luneburg lens antenna can be found in [reference needed]. Figure 3 beams 0 to 3 are the beams. The directional radiation of electromagnetic waves is achieved based on the refraction and focusing principle of Luneburg lenses, thus achieving wavelength division multiplexing. In this way, when beamforming is achieved through the lens antenna system 10 including Luneburg lenses, high performance can be achieved with the same radiation pattern in all directions, good coverage, low sidelobe gain, and low inter-beam leakage.

[0045] As can be seen, the embodiments of the present invention can improve beamforming performance based on lens antennas, and can also achieve flexible beam reconstruction based on digital domain coding modules. This not only improves the anti-interference capability of the lens antenna system, but also helps to expand the application scenarios of the lens antenna system.

[0046] In an optional embodiment, such as Figure 2 As shown, the lens antenna system 10 also includes:

[0047] Analog domain coding module 104, one side of analog domain coding module 104 is connected to one side of signal conversion module 102, and the other side of analog domain coding module 104 is connected to multiplexer array 1012;

[0048] Analog domain encoding module 104 is used to perform analog domain encoding processing on the received signal to be processed;

[0049] The signals to be processed include: signals transmitted from the multiplexer 1012 to the analog domain coding module 104, or signals transmitted from the signal conversion module 102 to the analog domain coding module 104.

[0050] Optionally, the analog domain coding module 104 is specifically used to perform analog domain coding processing on the received signal to be processed using a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) matrix. Further optionally, the MIMO matrix includes a matrix composed of a set of identity orthogonal vectors.

[0051] As can be seen, this optional embodiment can also achieve low-cost beam coverage through the analog domain coding module 104. Furthermore, by implementing analog domain coding through a multiple-input multiple-output matrix composed of units of orthogonal vectors, the effect of power sharing between beams can be improved.

[0052] Optionally, the above-described digital field encoding process includes at least matrix operations on the generalized inverse matrix factors corresponding to the multiple-input multiple-output matrix.

[0053] In this optional embodiment, when transmitting signals based on the lens antenna system 10, the generalized inverse matrix operation corresponding to the generalized inverse matrix factor enables digital domain beam weighting to better fit channel characteristics, achieving precise control over beam direction and shape. When receiving signals based on the lens antenna system 10, multi-beam signals can be efficiently decoupled, recovering the original transmitted information and improving beamforming / recovery accuracy. Furthermore, in complex electromagnetic environments, multi-beam signals are susceptible to interference. The generalized inverse matrix operation corresponding to the generalized inverse matrix factor can orthogonally suppress interference signals, thereby distinguishing useful beam signals from interference signals in the digital domain, reducing the impact of interference on communication quality, and improving the stability of the lens antenna system 10 in multi-interference scenarios. Moreover, the generalized inverse matrix factor can be dynamically adjusted, allowing digital domain beam coding to continuously adapt to channel changes, achieving adaptive beam optimization, which in turn helps the lens antenna system 10 maintain high performance in complex scenarios.

[0054] Optional, please refer to Figure 4 The signal conversion module 102 includes a radio frequency remote unit (RRU). As can be seen, this optional embodiment can achieve digital-to-analog conversion or digital-to-analog conversion through the RRU, with a simple structure. Furthermore, the RRU can be deployed close to the lens antenna 101, significantly shortening the transmission distance of the radio frequency signal and reducing signal attenuation, thereby improving signal strength and coverage.

[0055] The specific implementation method of the lens antenna system 10 receiving signals is as follows:

[0056] The target lens 1011 receives electromagnetic waves from multiple directions in space and focuses and deflects these waves, converting them into multiple receiving beams. These multiple receiving beams enter the analog domain encoding module 104, which performs orthogonal encoding on the multiple receiving beams in the analog domain to obtain the encoded beams. The encoded beams are then sent to the signal conversion module 102. The signal conversion module 102 converts the encoded beams into a digital signal to be processed via analog-to-digital conversion. This digital signal is then provided to the digital domain encoding module 103. The digital domain encoding module 103 performs secondary encoding and weighting operations on the digital signal in the digital domain.

[0057] Furthermore, the specific implementation method of the lens antenna system 10 transmitting signals is as follows:

[0058] The digital domain encoding module 103 performs secondary encoding and weighting operations on the digital signal to be transmitted to generate a digital baseband signal, and provides the digital baseband signal to the signal conversion module 102. The signal conversion module 102 converts the digital baseband signal into an analog signal to be processed through digital-to-analog conversion, and provides the analog signal to be processed to the analog domain encoding module 104. The analog domain encoding module 104 encodes the phase and amplitude of the analog signal to be processed in the analog domain to generate multiple analog signals. The multiple analog signals are incident on the target lens 1011 through the multi-channel transceiver array 1012, and the target lens 1011 generates multiple beams in different directions and radiates them into space.

[0059] Further optionally, the digital domain coding module 103 may perform secondary encoding and weighting operations on the digital signal to be transmitted to generate a digital baseband signal in the following ways:

[0060] The digital domain coding module 103 performs secondary encoding and weighting operations on the digital signal to be transmitted according to the predetermined target coding parameters to generate a digital baseband signal;

[0061] The target encoding parameters are determined based on the scenario information corresponding to the application scenario of the lens antenna system 10 and the application requirement information corresponding to the application scenario of the lens antenna system 10.

[0062] Taking communication scenarios as an example, the scenario information corresponding to the application scenario can include user density, environmental obstruction, etc., and the application requirement information corresponding to the application scenario can include coverage area, signal enhancement range, signal transmission rate, signal transmission delay, etc.

[0063] As can be seen, this optional embodiment can adaptively determine the target coding parameters of the digital domain coding module 103 based on the scenario information and corresponding application requirements of the actual application scenario, and then perform secondary coding and weighting operations on the digital signal to be transmitted based on the determined target coding parameters. This not only helps to expand the application scenarios of the lens antenna system 10, but also improves the matching degree between beamforming performance and application scenarios.

[0064] The foregoing has provided a detailed description of a beam-reconfigurable lens antenna system disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention. Specific embodiments have been used to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the present invention. However, the above preferred embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention. The description of the above embodiments is only for the purpose of helping to understand the method and core ideas of the present invention. At the same time, for those skilled in the art, based on the ideas of the present invention, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention shall be determined by the scope defined in the claims.

Claims

1. A lens antenna system with flexible beam reconfiguration, characterized in that, The lens antenna system (10) includes: The lens antenna (101) includes a target lens (1011) and a multi-channel transceiver array (1012) disposed on the surface of the target lens (1011). A signal conversion module (102) is connected on one side to the multiplexer (1012). A digital domain encoding module (103) is provided, with one side of the digital domain encoding module (103) connected to the other side of the signal conversion module (102); The target lens (1011) is used to adjust the wavefront phase of the transmitted and received electromagnetic waves and to focus or parallelize them; the multi-channel transceiver array (1012) is used to form multiple transmission and reception patterns through the target lens (1011); the signal conversion module (102) is used to convert the signal between the multi-channel transceiver array (1012) and the digital domain encoding module (103); the digital domain encoding module (103) is used to perform digital domain encoding processing on the digital domain transmitted and received signals; when the lens antenna system (10) transmits signals, the digital domain encoding module (103) is specifically used to: The digital baseband signal is generated by secondary encoding and weighting of the digital signal to be transmitted according to the predetermined target encoding parameters, and the digital baseband signal is provided to the signal conversion module (102). The target encoding parameters are determined according to the scene information corresponding to the application scenario of the lens antenna system (10) and the application requirement information corresponding to the application scenario of the lens antenna system (10). If the application scenario is a communication scenario, the scene information corresponding to the application scenario includes user density and environmental obstruction. The application requirement information corresponding to the application scenario includes coverage area, signal enhancement range, signal transmission rate and signal transmission delay. Furthermore, the lens antenna system (10) further includes: An analog domain coding module (104) is provided, with one side of the analog domain coding module (104) connected to one side of the signal conversion module (102) and the other side of the analog domain coding module (104) connected to the multiplexer (1012). The analog domain coding module (104) is used to perform analog domain coding processing on the received signal to be processed through a multiple-input multiple-output matrix; the multiple-input multiple-output matrix includes a matrix composed of a group of unit orthogonal vectors; The signal to be processed includes: the signal transmitted from the multiplexer (1012) to the analog domain coding module (104), or the signal transmitted from the signal conversion module (102) to the analog domain coding module (104); the digital domain coding process includes at least matrix operations on the generalized inverse matrix factors corresponding to the multiple-input multiple-output matrix.

2. The beam-reconfigurable lens antenna system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The specific implementation method of the lens antenna system (10) receiving signals is as follows: The target lens (1011) receives electromagnetic waves from multiple directions in space and focuses and deflects these electromagnetic waves, converting them into multiple receiving beams. The multiple receiving beams enter the analog domain encoding module (104), which performs orthogonal encoding on the multiple receiving beams in the analog domain to obtain an analog-encoded beam. The analog-encoded beam is then sent to the signal conversion module (102). The signal conversion module (102) converts the analog-encoded beam into a digital signal to be processed through analog-to-digital conversion. The digital signal to be processed is provided to the digital domain encoding module (103). The digital domain encoding module (103) performs secondary encoding and weighting operations on the digital signal to be processed in the digital domain.

3. The beam-reconfigurable lens antenna system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The specific implementation method of the transmitted signal by the lens antenna system (10) is as follows: The digital domain encoding module (103) performs secondary encoding and weighting operations on the digital signal to be transmitted to generate a digital baseband signal, and provides the digital baseband signal to the signal conversion module (102); the signal conversion module (102) converts the digital baseband signal into an analog signal to be processed through digital-to-analog conversion, and provides the analog signal to be processed to the analog domain encoding module (104); the analog domain encoding module (104) encodes the phase and amplitude of the analog signal to be processed in the analog domain to generate multiple analog signals; the multiple analog signals are incident on the target lens (1011) through the multiple transceiver array (1012), and multiple beams in different directions are generated by the target lens (1011) and radiated into space.

4. The beam-reconfigurable lens antenna system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The signal conversion module (102) includes a radio frequency remote unit (RRU).

5. The beam-reconfigurable lens antenna system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The target lens (1011) is one of Luneburg lenses, Rotman lenses, and metamaterial lenses.

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