Angle determination method and device

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides an angle determination method and device. The method comprises: a receiving device receiving a first multi-tone signal, the first multi-tone signal comprising N1 frequency points, N1 being an integer greater than or equal to 2; the receiving device performs phase measurement on the first multi-tone signal and obtains first phase values corresponding to k antennas of the first device at N1 frequency points; and the receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device according to the acquired first phase value. According to the method disclosed by the invention, rapid and high-precision angle measurement can be realized.

Description

An angle determination method and apparatus

[0001] This application is a divisional application. The original application has the application number 202280098429.1 and the original application date is August 1, 2022. The entire contents of the original application are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a method and apparatus for determining an angle. Background Technology

[0003] Currently, positioning technology has a wide range of applications and enormous commercial value. Among them, the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) can provide high-precision outdoor location information; WiFi positioning technology based on received signal strength indicator (RSSI) and Bluetooth positioning technology based on beacons can provide indoor location information. Currently, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG) supports Bluetooth protocols for angle of arrival (AoA) and angle of departure (AoD), improving indoor positioning accuracy by utilizing directional information from Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signals.

[0004] However, in actual indoor environments, the phase difference fluctuates with the channel due to multipath reflection, resulting in inconsistencies in the angles calculated by different channels. Furthermore, limitations of the Bluetooth protocol mean that a single AoA / AoD angle measurement can only measure the phase information of one frequency point, leading to low accuracy and excessively long measurement time.

[0005] Therefore, how to achieve fast and high-precision angle measurement is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This application provides an angle determination method and apparatus that can achieve fast and high-precision angle measurement.

[0007] Firstly, an angle determination method is provided. This method can be executed by a receiving device, or by a chip or circuit used in the receiving device; this application does not limit the method in this regard. For ease of description, the following explanation uses the example of execution by a receiving device.

[0008] The method includes: a receiving device receiving a first multi-tone signal, the first multi-tone signal including N1 frequency points, where N1 is an integer greater than or equal to 2; the receiving device performing phase measurement on the first multi-tone signal, and acquiring first phase values ​​of k antennas of the first device at the N1 frequency points, where k is an integer greater than or equal to 2; and the receiving device determining the angle of the signal of the first device based on the acquired first phase values.

[0009] It should be understood that the first phase value can be regarded as a phase matrix with k columns and N1 rows, and the number of phase values ​​in the phase matrix can be greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to k multiplied by N1. Of course, there may be situations where, due to interference from other signals, the first multi-tone signal may not collect a phase value or have a large phase value error at a certain frequency point during angle measurement. This application does not make specific limitations on this.

[0010] According to the solution provided in this application, by receiving multi-tone signals and performing phase measurements on the multi-tone signals, the angle of the signal from the first device is determined based on the acquired measurement values. Compared with the traditional phase measurement of single-tone signals, using multi-tone signals to determine the angle can quickly obtain phase values, improve measurement efficiency, and achieve rapid angle measurement.

[0011] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, when the first device is a receiving device, the angle of the signal of the first device is the arrival angle of the receiving device; or, when the first device is a transmitting device, the angle of the signal of the first device is the departure angle of the transmitting device.

[0012] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the receiving device includes a radio frequency local oscillator (RFLO), and the receiving device performs down-conversion processing on the first radio frequency multi-tone signal to obtain a first baseband multi-tone signal, including: the receiving device performing a mixing process on the first radio frequency multi-tone signal and the signal of the RFLO to obtain the first baseband multi-tone signal.

[0013] It should be noted that in this implementation, the first radio frequency multi-tone signal is the same as the first multi-tone signal. For example, when determining the angle of arrival of a signal, it is necessary to measure the phase difference of the radio frequency signals between the two antennas. Considering that the frequency of the radio frequency signal changes too rapidly, it is difficult to directly measure the phase of the radio frequency signal. Therefore, in engineering implementation, the phase of the radio frequency signal is indirectly obtained by down-converting the radio frequency signal to a lower frequency baseband signal and then measuring the phase of the baseband signal. The phase of the RF LO during down-conversion will affect the phase value of the baseband signal. However, since the RF LO has the same effect on the phase of all k antennas, its influence on the phase can be canceled out when calculating the phase difference between the k antennas.

[0014] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the receiving device includes N1 digital LOs, each corresponding to one of N1 frequency points. The receiving device performs phase measurement on the first multi-tone signal and obtains the first phase values ​​of the k antennas of the first device at the N1 frequency points. This includes: the i-th digital LO of the receiving device performs digital down-conversion processing on the first multi-tone signal, performs IQ averaging processing on the digitally down-converted first multi-tone signal, and obtains the first phase value of the k antennas of the first device at the i-th frequency point, where i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N1.

[0015] In this implementation, the receiving device obtains the average IQ of a signal at a specific frequency on a specific antenna by averaging the IQ values ​​(the IQ values ​​of other frequencies are canceled out). Based on this average IQ, the phase value of the signal at that frequency on that antenna can be calculated. Similarly, the phase value of the signal at that frequency on another antenna can be obtained, and thus the phase difference between the two antennas can be calculated to determine the angle of arrival. It should be understood that the above process applies to the processing of all other frequency signals.

[0016] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device based on the acquired first phase value, including: the receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device based on the difference between the phase value of the first antenna at the i-th frequency point and the phase value of the second antenna at the i-th frequency point; wherein the first antenna and the second antenna are any two different antennas among the k antennas, and i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N1.

[0017] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the frequency interval between any two adjacent frequency points among the N1 frequency points is the same.

[0018] Optionally, the frequency interval between any two adjacent frequency points among the N1 frequency points of the first multi-tone signal can also be different, and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0019] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the RF LO and multiple digital LOs of the receiving device remain in a non-loose state.

[0020] In other words, this implementation requires switching antennas to obtain the phase values ​​of each antenna at different frequency points. To avoid introducing additional phase into the LO (including RF LO and digital LO), during antenna switching, such as when measuring the signal's angle of arrival, the RF LO and multiple digital LOs of the receiving device are kept rotating, and the multiple digital LOs and RF LO of the transmitting device are also kept rotating, i.e., continuously transmitting multi-tone signals.

[0021] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the receiving device receives a second multi-tone signal, the second multi-tone signal including N2 frequency points, the N2 frequency points and N1 frequency points having M common frequency points, N2 being an integer greater than or equal to 2, and M being an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than the minimum value of N1 and N2.

[0022] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the receiving device performs phase measurement on the second multi-tone signal and obtains the second phase values ​​corresponding to N2 frequency points of the k antennas of the first device; the receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device based on the obtained second phase values; or, the receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device based on the obtained first phase values ​​and second phase values.

[0023] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device based on the acquired first phase value and second phase value, including: the receiving device determining a phase compensation value based on the acquired first phase value and second phase value; the receiving device compensating the first phase value based on the phase compensation value; and the receiving device determining the angle of the signal of the first device based on the compensated first phase value and second phase value.

[0024] Optionally, the receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device based on the acquired first phase value and second phase value, including: the receiving device determining a phase compensation value based on the acquired first phase value and second phase value; the receiving device compensating the second phase value based on the phase compensation value; and the receiving device determining the angle of the signal of the first device based on the compensated second phase value and the first phase value.

[0025] Due to multipath reflection in actual measurements, different frequencies (or different channels) exhibit different frequency responses. For example, the phase difference varies much more significantly with channel variation than the 3% variation in an ideal environment. This means that each path measured in a multipath environment will have a corresponding AoA / AoD, but the AoA / AoD corresponding to the line-of-sight (LOS) signal is the most accurate. By stitching together the aforementioned phase values, a larger frequency bandwidth can be obtained, which is beneficial for resolving the flight time of multipath signals, thereby determining the LOS and the corresponding angle estimate. This implementation method improves the accuracy of angle measurements.

[0026] It should be noted that when splicing the phase values ​​corresponding to the first and second multi-tone signals, the initial phase of the RF LO during the two measurement processes can be any value. By using a shared frequency point (or channel) method, the difference between the initial phases of the RF LO in the two angle measurements can be calculated, and compensation for the initial phase value of the RF LO can be performed. Therefore, the influence of errors in the angle measurement results of the signal can be avoided or reduced.

[0027] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the time interval between the transmission times of the first multi-tone signal and the second multi-tone signal, and the time interval between the reception times of the first multi-tone signal and the second multi-tone signal are the same.

[0028] Based on this implementation method, the flight time of the signal can remain constant throughout the entire measurement process, avoiding the introduction of unnecessary errors.

[0029] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the N1 digital LOs have the same initial phase when they are turned on, and the i-th digital LO has the same initial phase at the first time and the second time; wherein, the first time is the time when the first multi-tone signal is transmitted, and the second time is the time when the second multi-tone signal is transmitted; or, the first time is the time when the first multi-tone signal is received, and the second time is the time when the second multi-tone signal is received.

[0030] Based on this implementation, it is ensured that the initial phases of the multiple digital LOs of the transmitting device are the same when they are turned on, and the initial phase value of the same digital LO must also be the same during each angle measurement. Similarly, the initial phases of the multiple digital LOs of the receiving device are the same when they are turned on, and the initial phase value of the same digital LO must also be the same during each angle measurement. This avoids introducing additional phase errors and improves the accuracy of angle measurement.

[0031] Secondly, an angle determination method is provided, which can be executed by a transmitting device, or by a chip or circuit used in the transmitting device; this application does not limit this. For ease of description, the following explanation uses execution by a transmitting device as an example.

[0032] The method includes: a transmitting device generating a first multi-tone signal, the first multi-tone signal including N1 frequency points, where N1 is an integer greater than or equal to 2; the transmitting device transmitting the first multi-tone signal, the first multi-tone signal being used to determine the angle of a signal from a first device.

[0033] According to the solution provided in this application, by transmitting multi-tone signals, the receiving device performs phase measurement on the multi-tone signals, and determines the angle of the signal from the first device based on the acquired measurement values. Compared with the traditional phase measurement of single-tone signals, using multi-tone signals to determine the angle can quickly obtain phase values, improve measurement efficiency, and achieve rapid angle measurement.

[0034] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, when the first device is a receiving device, the angle of the signal of the first device is the arrival angle of the receiving device; or, when the first device is a transmitting device, the angle of the signal of the first device is the departure angle of the transmitting device.

[0035] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the transmitting device includes N1 digital local oscillators (LOs), each of which corresponds to one of N1 frequency points. The transmitting device generates a first baseband multi-tone signal by adding the signals of the N1 digital LOs together to obtain the first baseband multi-tone signal.

[0036] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the transmitting device further includes a radio frequency (RF) LO. The transmitting device performs up-conversion processing on the first baseband multi-tone signal to obtain a first radio frequency (RF) multi-tone signal, including: the transmitting device performs mixing processing on the first baseband multi-tone signal and the RF LO signal to obtain the first RF multi-tone signal.

[0037] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the frequency interval between any two adjacent frequency points among the N1 frequency points is the same.

[0038] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the transmitting device generates a second multi-tone signal, which includes N2 frequency points, and there are M common frequency points between the N2 frequency points and the N1 frequency points, where N2 is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than the minimum value of N1 and N2; the transmitting device transmits the second multi-tone signal.

[0039] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the time interval between the transmission times of the first multi-tone signal and the second multi-tone signal, and the time interval between the reception times of the first multi-tone signal and the second multi-tone signal are the same.

[0040] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the N1 digital LOs have the same initial phase when they are turned on, and the i-th digital LO has the same initial phase at the first time and the second time, where i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N1; wherein, the first time is the time when the first multi-tone signal is transmitted, and the second time is the time when the second multi-tone signal is transmitted; or, the first time is the time when the first multi-tone signal is received, and the second time is the time when the second multi-tone signal is received.

[0041] Thirdly, an angle determination device is provided, comprising: a transceiver unit for receiving a first multi-tone signal, the first multi-tone signal including N1 frequency points, N1 being an integer greater than or equal to 2; a processing unit for performing phase measurement on the first multi-tone signal and acquiring first phase values ​​corresponding to k antennas of a first device at the N1 frequency points; the processing unit is further configured to determine the angle of the signal of the first device based on the acquired first phase values.

[0042] The transceiver unit can perform the receiving and transmitting processes described in the first aspect above, and the processing unit can perform other processes described in the first aspect above besides receiving and transmitting.

[0043] Fourthly, an angle determining device is provided, comprising: a processing unit for generating a first multi-tone signal, the first multi-tone signal including N1 frequency points, where N1 is an integer greater than or equal to 2; and a transmitting unit for transmitting the first multi-tone signal.

[0044] The transceiver unit can perform the receiving and sending processes described in the second aspect above, and the processing unit can perform other processes described in the second aspect above besides receiving and sending.

[0045] Fifthly, an angle determining device is provided, including a processor and a memory. Optionally, a transceiver may also be included. The memory stores a computer program, the processor calls and runs the computer program stored in the memory, and controls the transceiver to transmit and receive signals, so that the angle measuring device performs a method as described in either the first or second aspect.

[0046] A sixth aspect provides an angle determining device, including a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface being used to receive data and / or information and transmit the received data and / or information to the processor, the processor processing the data and / or information, and the communication interface also being used to output the processed data and / or information so that the method as in any possible implementation of the first or second aspect is executed.

[0047] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein computer instructions are stored therein, which, when executed on a computer, cause a method as described in any possible implementation of the first or second aspect to be performed.

[0048] Eighthly, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising computer program code that, when run on a computer, causes a method as described in any possible implementation of the first or second aspect to be executed.

[0049] Ninthly, a communication system is provided, including the aforementioned transmitting device and receiving device. Attached Figure Description

[0050] Figure 1 is a structural diagram of an angle-of-arrival positioning system applicable to this application.

[0051] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an arrival angle measurement applicable to this application.

[0052] Figure 3 is a structural diagram of a departure angle positioning system applicable to this application.

[0053] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating an angle determination method provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0054] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of an AoA angle measurement based on a traditional single-tone signal provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0055] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of AoA angle measurement based on multi-tone signals provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a baseband multi-tone signal provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0056] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of upconversion processing of a baseband multi-tone signal provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0057] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of phase measurement of a baseband multi-tone signal provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0058] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of two-dimensional (frequency dimension - antenna dimension) energy provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0059] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of one-dimensional (antenna dimension) energy provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0060] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of splicing angle measurement values ​​based on multi-tone signals provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0061] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of an angle determining device provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0062] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of another angle determining device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0063] The technical solutions in this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0064] The technical solution of this application can be applied to wireless personal area networks (WPANs). Currently, WPANs adopt the IEEE 802.15 standard. WPANs can be used for communication between digital auxiliary devices such as telephones, computers, and peripherals within a small range. Technologies supporting wireless personal area networks include Bluetooth, ZigBee, Ultra Wideband (UWB), Infrared Data Association (IrDA) connectivity, and Home Radio Frequency (HomeRF). From a network architecture perspective, WPANs are located at the bottom layer of the overall network architecture, used for wireless connections between devices within a small range, i.e., point-to-point short-range connections, and can be considered short-range wireless communication networks. Depending on the application scenario, WPANs are further divided into high-rate (HR) WPANs and low-rate (LR) WPANs. HR-WPANs can be used to support various high-rate multimedia applications, including high-quality audio and video delivery, multi-megabyte music and image document transmission, etc. LR-WPAN can be used for general business in daily life.

[0065] In WPAN, devices are categorized into full-function devices (FFDs) and reduced-function devices (RFDs) based on their communication capabilities. FFDs can communicate with each other and with each other. RFDs cannot communicate directly; they can only communicate with FFDs or forward data through an FFD. The FFD associated with an RFD is called its coordinator. RFDs are primarily used for simple control applications, such as light switches and passive infrared sensors. They transmit relatively little data, consume minimal transmission and communication resources, and have low cost. The coordinator can also be called a personal area network (PAN) coordinator or central control node. The PAN coordinator is the master control node of the entire network, and there is typically only one PAN coordinator in each ad hoc network. It has functions such as membership management, link information management, and packet forwarding.

[0066] Optionally, the device (e.g., a transmitting device or a receiving device) in the embodiments of this application can be a device that supports the 802.15 series, such as a device that supports 802.15.4a and 802.15.4z, as well as a device that supports various WPAN standards, such as those currently under discussion or subsequent versions.

[0067] In the embodiments of this application, the aforementioned devices may be communication servers, routers, switches, bridges, computers or mobile phones, smart home devices, vehicle communication devices, etc.

[0068] In the embodiments of this application, the aforementioned device can be a wireless communication chip, a wireless sensor, or a wireless communication terminal. For example, it can be a user terminal, user equipment, access device, subscriber station, subscriber unit, mobile station, user agent, or user equipment that supports Wi-Fi communication. The user terminal can include various handheld devices, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, computing devices, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, as well as various forms of user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), terminal, terminal equipment, portable communication devices, handheld devices, portable computing devices, entertainment devices, gaming devices or systems, GPS devices, or any other suitable device configured for network communication via wireless media. Furthermore, the device can support the 802.15.4ab standard or its next-generation standard. The device also supports multiple standards such as 802.15.4a, 802.15.4-2011, 802.15.4-2015, and 802.15.4z. Furthermore, it supports various wireless local area networks (WLANs) from the 802.11 family, including 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11a, and 802.11be next-generation.

[0069] In this embodiment, the device includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on top of the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also called main memory). The operating system can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as Linux, Unix, Android, iOS, or Windows. The application layer includes applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, and instant messaging software. Furthermore, this embodiment does not specifically limit the structure of the execution entity of the method provided in this embodiment, as long as it can communicate according to the method provided in this embodiment by running a program that records the code of the method provided in this embodiment. For example, the execution entity of the method provided in this embodiment can be an FFD or an RFD, or a functional module in an FFD or RFD that can call and execute a program.

[0070] Furthermore, various aspects or features of this application can be implemented as methods, apparatus, or articles of manufacture using standard programming and / or engineering techniques. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein encompasses a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or medium. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to: magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, or magnetic tapes), optical discs (e.g., compact discs (CDs), digital versatile discs (DVDs), etc.), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMs), cards, sticks, or key drives, etc.). Additionally, the various storage media described herein may represent one or more devices and / or other machine-readable media for storing information. The term "machine-readable medium" may include, but is not limited to, wireless channels and various other media capable of storing, containing, and / or carrying instructions and / or data.

[0071] The technical solutions of this application can also be applied to wireless local area network systems such as Internet of Things (IoT) networks or Vehicle-to-X (V2X) networks. Of course, the embodiments of this application can also be applied to other possible communication systems, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) systems, 5th Generation (5G) systems, and future 6th Generation (6G) systems.

[0072] It should be understood that AoA / AoD has already been applied in low-power narrowband wireless technology, and the technical solution provided in this application is applicable to Bluetooth indoor positioning systems. This Bluetooth indoor positioning system can be applied to indoor navigation devices, such as using a Bluetooth wristband as a navigation terminal, to effectively solve the problem that blind people cannot quickly, safely, and conveniently reach their target location from their current location when moving indoors, especially in public places such as hospitals, subway stations, and shopping malls. The basic principle of AoA / AoD is explained below using Bluetooth BLEAoA / AoD as an example.

[0073] Figure 1 is a structural diagram of an AoA positioning system applicable to this application. As shown in Figure 1, it includes a transmitting device and a receiving device. The transmitting device has one antenna, and the receiving device has two or more antennas (e.g., four antennas).

[0074] For example, when measuring the AoA angle using Bluetooth BLE, the transmitting device sends a single-tone signal, a special Bluetooth signal with a sine wave baseband, which the Bluetooth protocol calls (Constant Tone Extension, CTE). During the reception of the CTE signal, the receiving device continuously switches between antennas, simultaneously sampling the baseband signal of each antenna (containing phase information), i.e., measuring the phase of the signal corresponding to each antenna. The processor in the receiving device calculates the AoA angle by comparing the phase differences between the antennas.

[0075] Specifically, Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of AoA angle measurement. As shown in Figure 2, taking a scenario with two antennas as an example, The distance between the two antennas. It is the wavelength of the CTE signal. If the phase difference of the signal obtained by the angle measurement between the two antennas is... ,So and angle of incidence The relationship satisfies: Then the angle of incidence can be calculated. That is, the orientation of the transmitting device relative to the receiving device.

[0076] Figure 3 is a structural diagram of an AoD positioning system applicable to this application. As shown in Figure 3, it includes a transmitting device and a receiving device. The receiving device has one antenna, and the transmitting device has two or more antennas (e.g., four antennas).

[0077] For example, during Bluetooth BLE AoD angle measurement, the transmitting device sends a CTE signal while continuously switching between various antennas. While receiving the CTE single-tone signal, the receiving device identifies the transmitting antenna corresponding to each part of the CTE signal and samples the baseband signal corresponding to each antenna. The processor in the receiving device then calculates the angle based on the sampled baseband signal from each antenna.

[0078] It should be understood that the AoA / AoD positioning systems shown in Figures 1 and 3 above are merely illustrative examples, and this application does not impose any specific limitations on them. The system is not limited to including other devices, such as other receiving devices.

[0079] It should also be understood that Bluetooth BLE has 37 channels available for AoA / AoD angle measurement, covering approximately 80MHz of bandwidth in the 2.4GHz Industrial Scientific Medical band (ISM), with a 2MHz spacing between adjacent channels. It should be noted that the frequency band available for BLE AoA / AoD is 2.404~2.478GHz. Other details regarding Bluetooth BLE AoA / AoD can be found in the existing Bluetooth 5.1 protocol; for simplicity, they will not be elaborated upon here.

[0080] Currently, low-power narrowband wireless technologies (such as Bluetooth and Zigbee) are increasingly widely used in daily life. Compared with other wireless technologies such as 5G and WiFi, the advantages of low-power narrowband wireless technologies are: (1) very low power consumption, which means longer device usage time; (2) relatively simpler design and lower device cost. This makes low-power narrowband wireless technologies widely used not only in consumer devices (such as mobile phones, wearables and smart homes), but also in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Low-power narrowband wireless technologies not only have device connection functions, but also the function of measuring the direction between devices (i.e., measuring AoA / AoD), which can be used to realize device positioning. Among them, Bluetooth AoA / AoD features, as a representative AoA / AoD protocol in low-power narrowband wireless technologies, have made Bluetooth AoA / AoD indoor positioning systems increasingly popular.

[0081] It should be understood that in ideal environments (such as without multipath reflection), the phase difference between AoA antennas does not vary significantly with the channel. For example, the signal wavelengths of the leftmost and rightmost channels in Bluetooth BLE differ by approximately 3%. Therefore, according to the formula for phase difference and angle of incidence mentioned above... It is known that the phase difference measured by the leftmost channel differs from the phase difference of the rightmost channel by approximately 3%. Furthermore, the more channels (or frequencies) used for BLE AoA / AoD angle measurement, the greater the amount of AoA / AoD information, and the more accurate the final angle estimate should be. However, multipath reflection exists in actual indoor environments, causing different channels (or different frequencies) to have different frequency responses. Because the phase difference fluctuates with the channel, the phase difference between multiple antennas in the actual BLE AoA / AoD angle measurement varies with the channel (i.e., frequency), meaning the amplitude of the phase difference variation with the channel is much greater than the 3% variation in an ideal environment. Additionally, for Bluetooth BLE AoA / AoD, each AoA / AoD signal transmission can only be used to measure the AoA / AoD information of one frequency. If angle measurement of the entire ISM band is required, then all 37 channels of BLE need to be measured, which requires a long overall angle measurement time. This leads to increased device power consumption, reduced system capacity, or low refresh rate of device AoA / AoD angle measurement, making it unable to support angle measurement of fast-moving devices.

[0082] In summary, compared with the current AoA / AoD measurement schemes of narrowband wireless technology, how to achieve fast and accurate AoA / AoD angle measurement is a technical problem that urgently needs to be solved.

[0083] In view of this, this application provides an angle determination method and apparatus, which uses a multi-tone signal as the reference signal for AoA / AoD measurement, and employs a shared frequency point to stitch together the measured phase values ​​in two adjacent AoA / AoD measurements. Compared with the traditional method of AoA measurement using a single-tone signal, the method disclosed in this application can reduce the overall time for completing AoA / AoD measurements at all frequencies, achieving fast and accurate AoA / AoD measurement.

[0084] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, the terms or technologies involved in this application will be briefly explained.

[0085] 1. Angle of Arrival (AoA) transmits direction-finding data packets using a single antenna, enabling low-energy (LE) devices to make their direction available to a peer device. This peer device comprises an RF switch and an antenna array that switches antennas and acquires IQ samples while receiving partial data packets. The IQ samples can be used to calculate the phase difference of the radio signals received by different elements of the antenna array, which can then be used to estimate the Angle of Arrival (AoA).

[0086] 2. AoD (Aspect-of-Depth) uses multiple antennas to transmit data packets with direction-finding capabilities. The antennas are switched during data transmission, allowing the LE device to make its direction available to a peer device. This peer device includes an RF switch and a single antenna, receives data packets transmitted by each antenna, acquires IQ samples, calculates the phase difference between the antennas based on the IQ of each antenna, and then uses this to estimate the AoD.

[0087] 3. Narrowband signal In this application, "narrowband signal" is relative to "ultra-wideband signal". The bandwidth of ultra-wideband signal is generally at least 500MHz. Signals with a bandwidth smaller than that of ultra-wideband signal are narrowband signals.

[0088] Optionally, narrowband signals include, but are not limited to, signals provided by the following wireless technologies: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, technologies based on the 802.15.4 standard (such as Thread technology), and WiFi (including various 802.11 standards). Additionally, it may include cellular systems' narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), Long Term Evolution-Machine to Machine (LTE-M), LoRa, and Sigfox, as well as other future wireless technologies that can provide narrowband signals, without limitation.

[0089] 4. Line-of-sight (LOS): LOS refers to the distance between the transmitting and receiving antennas where they can "see each other." This can be understood as the absence of any obstacles between the two antennas that would affect signal propagation, allowing for complete signal transmission.

[0090] 5. Up-conversion and down-conversion: Up-conversion refers to shifting the spectrum of a baseband signal to a higher carrier frequency. In other words, up-conversion modulates the baseband signal onto a single carrier, or converts a signal modulated on a low-frequency carrier to a high-frequency carrier. Specifically, the frequency-converted signal is mixed with a sinusoidal signal (local oscillator) generated by a local oscillator (LO) to change the signal's frequency band. The upper sideband signal after mixing is up-converted, i.e., increasing the frequency; the lower sideband signal after mixing is down-converted, i.e., decreasing the frequency.

[0091] 6. Single-tone signals and multi-tone signals: A single-tone signal is a sine wave of a single frequency, meaning it has only one spectral line. A multi-tone signal is generated by superimposing multiple independent sine wave waveforms, meaning it has multiple spectral lines.

[0092] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, the following points are made: First, in this application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0093] Second, in this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more than one" means two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, and c can mean: a, or, b, or, c, or, a and b, or, a and c, or, b and c, or, a, b, and c. Here, a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0094] Third, in this application, the terms "first," "second," and various numerical designations (e.g., #1, #2, etc.) indicate distinctions made for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. For example, they distinguish different messages, rather than describing a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such descriptions can be interchanged where appropriate to describe solutions other than those in the embodiments of this application.

[0095] Fourth, in this application, descriptions such as "when," "under the circumstances," and "if" all refer to the device making corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, and are not time-limited, nor do they require the device to make a judgment action when implementing it, nor do they imply any other limitations.

[0096] Fifth, in this application, the terms “comprising” and “having” and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, for example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units that are explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not explicitly listed or that are inherent to such process, method, product or device.

[0097] Sixth, in this application, "protocol" may refer to standard protocols in the field of communications, such as 5G protocols, Bluetooth protocols, and related protocols applied in future communication systems, and this application does not limit this term.

[0098] Seventh, in this application, a frequency point refers to a specific absolute frequency value, generally the center frequency of the modulated signal. It should be understood that a frequency point is a number assigned to a fixed frequency. A frequency band refers to the range from one frequency point to another.

[0099] The technical solution provided in this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Taking Bluetooth AoA as an example, the method for quickly and accurately measuring angles will be explained in detail.

[0100] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating the first angle determination method provided in this application embodiment. As shown in Figure 4, the method includes the following steps.

[0101] S410, the transmitting device generates the first multi-tone signal.

[0102] It should be understood that the first multi-tone signal includes N1 frequency points, where N1 is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0103] For example, N1=4, meaning the first multi-tone signal includes a first frequency point, a second frequency point, a third frequency point, and a fourth frequency point. For instance, the first frequency point is -1.5 MHz, the second frequency point is -0.5 MHz, the third frequency point is 0.5 MHz, and the fourth frequency point is 1.5 MHz. The four frequency points are all different from each other.

[0104] In one possible implementation, the transmitting device includes N1 digital local oscillators (LOs) and radio frequency (RF) LOs. Each of the N1 digital LOs corresponds one-to-one with one of the N1 frequency points. The transmitting device adds the signals of the N1 digital LOs to obtain a first baseband multi-tone signal. The first baseband multi-tone signal is then mixed with the RF LO signal; that is, the transmitting device up-converts the first baseband multi-tone signal to obtain a first radio frequency multi-tone signal.

[0105] In one possible implementation, the frequency spacing between any two adjacent frequency points among the N1 frequency points is the same.

[0106] For example, the frequency interval between any two adjacent frequency points is 1 MHz or 2 MHz, etc. For instance, the first multi-tone signal includes a first frequency point, a second frequency point, and a third frequency point. The first frequency point is 0 MHz, the second frequency point is 1 MHz, and the third frequency point is 2 MHz. Then, the frequency interval between the first frequency point and the second frequency point, as well as the frequency interval between the second frequency point and the third frequency point, is the same, which is 1 MHz.

[0107] Optionally, the frequency interval between any two adjacent frequency points among the N1 frequency points of the first multi-tone signal can also be different, and there is no specific limitation on this.

[0108] S420, the transmitting device sends the first multi-tone signal.

[0109] Correspondingly, the receiving device receives the first multi-tone signal.

[0110] For example, the transmitting device refers to the AoA / AoD transmitting device, and the receiving device refers to the AoA / AoD receiving device.

[0111] Optionally, the transmitting and receiving devices can have various possible application scenarios. For example, in the following embodiments, the transmitting device can be an initiating site and the receiving device a responding site; or, the transmitting device can be a responding site and the receiving device a initiating site. Optionally, the transmitting device can also be a positioning device, and the second device can be a mobile tag; or, the transmitting device can be a mobile tag and the receiving device can be a positioning device.

[0112] For example, for AoA angle measurement, the transmitting device continuously transmits a first multi-tone signal through a single antenna, and the receiving device receives the first multi-tone signal through k antennas.

[0113] For example, for AoD angle measurement, the transmitting device continuously transmits a first multi-tone signal through k antennas, and the receiving device receives the first multi-tone signal through a single antenna.

[0114] In one possible implementation, the receiving device receives a first radio frequency multi-tone signal via an antenna. The first radio frequency multi-tone signal is obtained by up-converting a first baseband multi-tone signal. The receiving device then down-converts the first radio frequency multi-tone signal and acquires the first baseband multi-tone signal. For example, the N1 frequency points of the first radio frequency multi-tone signal are obtained by adding a frequency fc to the N1 frequency points of the first baseband multi-tone signal, where fc is the frequency of the RF LO, so that the frequency band of the up-converted first baseband multi-tone signal, i.e., the first radio frequency multi-tone signal, covers the entire BLE AoA frequency band, for example, 2.404~2.478 GHz.

[0115] It should be noted that in this implementation, the first radio frequency multi-tone signal is the same as the first multi-tone signal. For example, when determining the angle of arrival of a signal, it is necessary to measure the phase difference of the radio frequency signals between the two antennas. Considering that the frequency of the radio frequency signal changes too rapidly, it is difficult to directly measure the phase of the radio frequency signal. Therefore, in engineering implementation, the phase of the radio frequency signal is indirectly obtained by down-converting the radio frequency signal to a lower frequency baseband signal and then measuring the phase of the baseband signal. The phase of the RF LO during down-conversion will affect the phase value of the baseband signal. However, since the RF LO has the same effect on the phase of all k antennas, its influence on the phase can be canceled out when calculating the phase difference between the k antennas.

[0116] In one possible implementation, the N1 digital LOs have the same initial phase when they are turned on, and the i-th digital LO has the same initial phase at the first time and the second time; wherein the first time is the time when the first multi-tone signal is transmitted, and the second time is the time when the second multi-tone signal is transmitted; or, the first time is the time when the first multi-tone signal is received, and the second time is the time when the second multi-tone signal is received.

[0117] Based on this implementation, it is ensured that the initial phases of the multiple digital LOs of the transmitting device are the same when they are turned on, and the initial phase value of the same digital LO must also be the same during each angle measurement. Similarly, the initial phases of the multiple digital LOs of the receiving device are the same when they are turned on, and the initial phase value of the same digital LO must also be the same during each angle measurement. This avoids introducing additional phase errors and improves the accuracy of angle measurement.

[0118] It should be noted that the multiple RF LOs and digital LOs of the receiving device remain in a non-loose state.

[0119] In other words, this implementation requires switching antennas to obtain the phase values ​​of each antenna at different frequency points. To avoid introducing additional phase into the LO (including RF LO and digital LO), during antenna switching, such as when measuring the signal's angle of arrival, the RF LO and multiple digital LOs of the receiving device are kept rotating, and the multiple digital LOs and RF LO of the transmitting device are also kept rotating, i.e., continuously transmitting multi-tone signals.

[0120] In one possible implementation, the transmitting device transmits a second signal; correspondingly, the receiving device receives a second multi-tone signal, which includes N2 frequency points, and there are M common frequency points between the N2 frequency points and the N1 frequency points, where N2 is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than the minimum value of N1 and N2.

[0121] For example, N2=3, meaning the second multi-tone signal includes a first frequency point, a second frequency point, and a third frequency point. For instance, the first frequency point is 1.5 MHz, the second frequency point is 2.5 MHz, and the third frequency point is 3.5 MHz, and the three frequency points are different from each other. The fourth frequency point of the first multi-tone signal is 1.5 MHz, meaning the first and second multi-tone signals share a common frequency point, 1.5 MHz.

[0122] S430, the receiving device performs phase measurement on the first multi-tone signal.

[0123] S440, The receiving device acquires the first phase values ​​of the k antennas of the first device at N1 frequency points.

[0124] Where k is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0125] It should be understood that the first phase value can be viewed as a phase matrix with k columns and N1 rows. The number of phase values ​​in the phase matrix can be greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to k multiplied by N1. For example, if N1 equals 4 and k equals 2, then the first phase value represents a phase matrix with 2 columns and 4 rows, including the phase values ​​corresponding to the two antennas at 4 frequency points, i.e., 8 phase values. Of course, there may be situations where interference from other signals causes the first multi-tone signal to fail to collect a phase value or have a large phase value error at a certain frequency point during angle measurement. This application does not specifically limit this.

[0126] In one possible implementation, the receiving device includes N1 digital LOs, each corresponding to one of N1 frequency points. The receiving device performs phase measurement on the first multi-tone signal and obtains the first phase values ​​of the k antennas of the first device at the N1 frequency points. This includes: the i-th digital LO of the receiving device performs digital down-conversion processing on the first multi-tone signal, performs IQ averaging processing on the digitally down-converted first multi-tone signal, and obtains the first phase value of the k antennas of the first device at the i-th frequency point, where i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N1.

[0127] In this implementation, the receiving device obtains the average IQ of a signal at a specific frequency on a specific antenna by averaging the IQ values ​​(the IQ values ​​of other frequencies are canceled out). Based on this average IQ, the phase value of the signal at that frequency on that antenna can be calculated. Similarly, the phase value of the signal at that frequency on another antenna can be obtained, and thus the phase difference between the two antennas can be calculated to determine the angle of arrival. It should be understood that the above process applies to the processing of all other frequency signals.

[0128] In one possible implementation, when the first device is a receiving device, the angle of the signal from the first device is the angle of arrival of the receiving device.

[0129] For example, if the first device is a receiving device, the transmitting device transmits the first multi-tone signal through a single antenna, and the receiving device receives the first multi-tone signal through k antennas. During the antenna switching process, the phase value of each antenna at N1 frequency points is obtained. By comparing the difference in phase values ​​of two antennas at the same frequency point, and using the formula for phase difference and signal incidence angle: The angle of arrival can then be determined, i.e. .

[0130] In another possible implementation, when the first device is a transmitting device, the angle of the signal from the first device is the departure angle of the transmitting device.

[0131] For example, if the first device is a transmitting device, the transmitting device transmits the first multi-tone signal through multiple antennas, and the receiving device receives the first multi-tone signal through a single antenna. During the process of the transmitting device switching antennas to continuously transmit the first multi-tone signal, the phase value of each antenna at N1 frequency points is obtained respectively. The departure angle can be determined by comparing the difference between the phase values ​​of the two antennas of the transmitting device at the same frequency point.

[0132] In one possible implementation, the receiving device performs phase measurement on the second multi-tone signal and acquires the second phase values ​​corresponding to the k antennas of the first device at N2 frequency points; the receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device based on the acquired second phase values; or, the receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device based on the acquired first phase values ​​and second phase values.

[0133] In other words, the angle of the signal of the first device can be determined by measuring the phase corresponding to the second multi-tone signal; or, the angle of the signal of the first device can also be determined by combining the phase value of the first multi-tone signal with the phase value of the second multi-tone signal.

[0134] It should be understood that the second phase value can be viewed as a phase matrix with k columns and N2 rows. The number of phase values ​​in the phase matrix can be greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to k multiplied by N2. For example, if N2 equals 3 and k equals 2, then the second phase value represents a phase matrix with 2 columns and 3 rows, including the phase values ​​corresponding to the two antennas at 3 frequency points, i.e., 6 phase values. Of course, there may be situations where interference from other signals causes the second multi-tone signal to fail to collect a phase value or have a large phase value error at a certain frequency point during angle measurement. This application does not specifically limit this.

[0135] In one possible implementation, the receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device based on the acquired first phase value and second phase value, including: the receiving device determining a phase compensation value based on the acquired first phase value and second phase value; the receiving device compensating the first phase value based on the phase compensation value; and the receiving device determining the angle of the signal of the first device based on the compensated first phase value and second phase value.

[0136] Optionally, the receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device based on the acquired first phase value and second phase value, including: the receiving device determining a phase compensation value based on the acquired first phase value and second phase value; the receiving device compensating the second phase value based on the phase compensation value; and the receiving device determining the angle of the signal of the first device based on the compensated second phase value and the first phase value.

[0137] For example, N1=4, the four frequencies of the first multi-tone signal are -1.5 MHz, -0.5 MHz, 0.5 MHz, and 1.5 MHz; N2=3, the three frequencies of the second multi-tone signal are 1.5 MHz, 2.5 MHz, and 3.5 MHz, i.e., M=1, with a common frequency of 1.5 MHz. For instance, when switching to a certain antenna, the phase value of the first multi-tone signal measured at -1.5 MHz is... The second multi-tone signal was measured at -1.5 MHz, and the phase value was... Then based on the difference in phase values Can be Compensation is performed so that the phase values ​​measured at -1.5 MHz for the first multi-tone signal and the second multi-tone signal are the same. This allows for the stitching of phase values ​​to obtain phase values ​​corresponding to a larger frequency band. For example, the stitched target phase matrix includes phase values ​​corresponding to k antennas at 6 (N1+N2-M) frequency points.

[0138] It should be noted that when splicing the phase values ​​corresponding to the first and second multi-tone signals, the initial phase of the RF LO in the two measurement processes can be any value. By using a shared frequency point (or channel) method, the difference between the initial phases of the RF LO in the two angle measurements can be calculated, and compensation for the initial phase value of the RF LO can be performed. Therefore, the influence of errors on the angle measurement results can be avoided or reduced, and this implementation method can improve the accuracy of angle measurement.

[0139] In one possible implementation, the time interval between the transmission times of the first multi-tone signal and the second multi-tone signal, and the time interval between the reception times of the first multi-tone signal and the second multi-tone signal are the same.

[0140] Based on this implementation method, the flight time of the signal can remain constant throughout the entire measurement process, avoiding the introduction of unnecessary errors.

[0141] S450, the receiving device determines the angle of the signal from the first device based on the acquired first phase value.

[0142] In one possible implementation, the receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device based on the acquired first phase value, including: the receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device based on the difference between the phase value of the first antenna at the i-th frequency point and the phase value of the second antenna at the i-th frequency point; wherein the first antenna and the second antenna are any two different antennas among k antennas, and i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N1.

[0143] For example, when measuring the angle of arrival AoA, the receiving device switches antennas to acquire the phase values ​​of k antennas at N1 frequency points. The angle of arrival is determined by comparing the difference between the phase values ​​of two antennas at the same frequency point. For example, the phase value of the first antenna at frequency point f1... The phase value of the second antenna at frequency point f1 Then the difference in phase values ​​of the two antennas at the same frequency point f1 is: Then the AoA angle of the signal from the receiving device is The distance between the two antennas is... , It is the wavelength of the signal.

[0144] It should be understood that the arrival or departure angle of a signal can be determined by the difference in phase values ​​between any two of the k antennas at the same frequency. By switching between the k antennas, multiple sets of phase value differences can be obtained; for example, averaging these differences can achieve accurate measurement of the signal's angle.

[0145] According to the solution provided in this application, by receiving multi-tone signals and performing phase measurements on the multi-tone signals, the angle of the signal from the first device is determined based on the acquired measurement values. Compared with the traditional phase measurement of single-tone signals, using multi-tone signals to determine the angle can quickly obtain phase values, improve measurement efficiency, and achieve rapid angle measurement.

[0146] It should be understood that although narrowband wireless devices have narrower bandwidth than other wireless devices, they generally still have a bandwidth of several MHz. This application's technical solution utilizes this bandwidth of several MHz to perform AoA / AoD angle measurements using multi-tone signals, enabling faster AoA / AoD angle measurements at multiple frequency points. The following uses AoA angle measurement as an example, and with reference to Figures 5 to 12, specifically illustrates how phase values ​​are measured by transmitting and receiving multi-tone signals to determine the angle of arrival; and how, based on the phase value splicing of the multi-tone signals, the angle of arrival corresponding to the LOS signal is quickly and accurately identified and determined. It should be noted that this technical solution is also applicable to determining the departure angle, and the specific implementation method is similar to that for determining the angle of arrival. For simplicity, this application will not elaborate further on this.

[0147] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of AoA angle measurement based on traditional single-tone signals according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 5, the horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents frequency. Taking k antennas as an example, in AoA angle measurement based on single-tone signals, only the phase of a certain antenna at a certain frequency can be measured at any given time. For example, at time t1, the receiving device can measure the phase φ1 of antenna 1 at frequency f11; then, switching to antenna 2 for AoA angle measurement, at time t2, the receiving device can measure the phase φ2 of antenna 2 at frequency f11; and so on, switching to antenna k for measurement, at time tk, the receiving device can measure the phase φ2 of antenna k at frequency f11. k In other words, during the AoA angle measurement process, after k-1 antenna switching, the receiving device can obtain all phases of the k antennas at the same frequency point f11, that is, a phase array of size k.

[0148] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of AoA angle measurement based on multi-tone signals provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 6, the horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents frequency. Taking k antennas and N=4 tones as an example, in AoA angle measurement based on multi-tone signals, the phase of a certain antenna at multiple frequency points can be measured simultaneously at one time. For example, at time t1, the receiving device can simultaneously measure the phase φ1~φ4 of antenna 1 at frequencies f11~f44; then switch to antenna 2 for AoA angle measurement, and at time t2, the receiving device can simultaneously measure the phase φ5~φ8 of antenna 2 at frequencies f11~f44; and so on, switching to antenna k for AoA angle measurement, and at time tk, the receiving device can simultaneously measure the phase φ5~φ8 of antenna k at frequencies f11~f44. 4k-3 ~φ 4k In other words, during the AoA angle measurement process, after k-1 antenna switching, the receiving device can obtain the phase of k antennas at multiple frequency points (such as f11~f44), which is a 4 x k phase matrix.

[0149] It should be understood that the frequency f11 shown in Figure 5 is the frequency of the radio frequency signal, that is, the frequency of the radio frequency signal after up-converting the baseband signal at frequency point f1, for example, 2.450 GHz. Similarly, the frequency points f11~f44 shown in Figure 6 are also the frequencies of the radio frequency signal, that is, the frequencies of the radio frequency signal after up-converting the baseband signal at frequency points f1~f4, for example, 2.450 GHz~2.480 GHz.

[0150] It should be noted that f11 shown in Figure 5 and f11~f44 shown in Figure 6 are merely examples for the purpose of understanding the scheme. This application does not impose any specific limitations on the number of frequency points or the specific values ​​of the frequency points.

[0151] Based on the AoA angle measurement methods shown in Figures 5 and 6, for N adjacent frequency points, the traditional AoA method requires N AoA angle measurements to achieve full coverage. However, using the multi-tone AoA method (setting N tones), only one AoA angle measurement is needed for full coverage. That is, the multi-tone AoA method can reduce the single-tone AoA angle measurement time to one-Nth. For example, for the four tones shown in Figure 6, the overall time for the single-tone AoA angle measurement shown in Figure 5 can be reduced to 25%.

[0152] It should be noted that the number N=4 of the multi-tone signal shown in Figure 6 above is merely an example for ease of understanding the technical solution. This application does not specifically limit the number N of the multi-tone signal or the frequency interval between each tone. Optionally, in order to perform uniform AoA angle measurement across the entire frequency band, this embodiment of the application can be illustrated by using the same frequency interval between each tone. For example, the frequency interval between f1~f4 is the same.

[0153] The following sections, using Figures 7 to 9, explain the transmission and reception of multi-tone signals and the specific implementation of phase measurement.

[0154] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a baseband multi-tone signal provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 7, assuming N=4 tones, the frequency points of each tone correspond to f1, f2, f3, and f4. For example, f1 is -1.5MHz, f2 is -0.5MHz, f3 is +0.5MHz, and f4 is +1.5MHz. The intervals between frequency points f1 to f4 can be the same or different; this application does not specifically limit this. Optionally, in order to achieve uniform AoA measurement across the entire frequency band, the frequency intervals between f1 and f4 in this embodiment can be set to be the same. It should be noted that the frequency band from f1 to f4 should not exceed the bandwidth supported by the device.

[0155] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of up-conversion processing of a multi-tone signal provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 8, it includes a radio frequency local oscillator (RF LO) and multiple digital LOs (the four digital LOs shown in the figure). The digital LOs can be implemented using a lookup table storing cosine waveforms, and the four digital LOs correspond to N=4 tones. For example, the frequencies of the four tones corresponding to the four digital LOs are f1, f2, f3, and f4, respectively. In other words, the frequencies of the digital LOs correspond one-to-one with the frequencies of the baseband multi-tone signal. This application does not specifically limit the values ​​of f1, f2, f3, and f4; for example, f1 is -1.5MHz, f2 is -0.5MHz, f3 is +0.5MHz, and f4 is +1.5MHz. The frequency of the RF LO is fc; taking BLE AoA angle measurement as an example, fc can be in the 2.404~2.478GHz band.

[0156] When transmitting multi-tone signals, the transmitting device first sums the signals from multiple digital LOs to form a baseband multi-tone signal (as shown in Figure 8). Then, it sends this signal to the RF LO via a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), or performs up-conversion processing via an all-digital phase-locked loop (ADPLL), and finally transmits it through the antenna. For example, during the up-conversion process, the frequencies f1~f4 of the four tones in the baseband multi-tone signal can be uniformly increased by 2.402 GHz to correspond to the Bluetooth channel frequency band of 2.404~2.478 GHz. In other words, based on this implementation, the frequencies of the four tones in the baseband multi-tone signal shown in Figure 7 are uniformly shifted to the right by 2.402 GHz.

[0157] When receiving a multi-tone signal, the receiving device first performs down-conversion processing on the signal through the RF LO to obtain the baseband multi-tone signal. Then, the baseband multi-tone signal is sent to four digital LOs for "digital down-conversion" processing, that is, the signals corresponding to the frequencies of the four digital LOs are converted into direct current (DC) signals (which can be understood as having a frequency of 0), and then phase measurement is performed.

[0158] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of phase measurement of a baseband multi-tone signal provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 9, the multi-tone signal includes four frequency points (e.g., f1~f4), where f1 to f4 are the frequencies of the tones corresponding to the four digital LOs. For example, the phase measurement of the third signal f3 will be used as a specific example. After digital down-conversion processing, the frequencies of the four signals are respectively... , 0 and And they are mixed together. To obtain the phase of the third signal f3, the signals after "digital downconversion" can be averaged in-phase / quadrature (IQ). The IQ accumulation periods used are as follows: , and The phase of the third signal (f3) is determined by finding the least common multiple of the phase of the other three signals. This cancels out the influence of the other three signals on the third signal (f3), ensuring that the final average IQ contains the phase of the third signal (f3). Similarly, the phases of the other three signals can be obtained.

[0159] It should be noted that in multi-tone AoA angle measurement, the receiving device needs to switch antennas, and the angle measurement must capture the phase value corresponding to each antenna. When switching to a particular antenna, the receiving device can use the method described above to measure the phase of each tone. To avoid introducing additional phase into the LO (including RF LO and digital LO), the RF LO and digital LO of the receiving device need to be continuously rotated during antenna switching. Similarly, the RF LO and digital LO of the transmitting device also need to be continuously rotated, i.e., to continuously transmit multi-tone signals.

[0160] According to the technical solution of this application, using multi-tone signals as reference signals for AoA / AoD angle measurement enables faster AoA / AoD angle measurement at all frequencies. This means that AoA / AoD requires lower power consumption, which can increase the standby time of battery-powered devices; higher system capacity allows for AoA / AoD angle measurement of more devices; and a faster angle refresh rate enables positioning of faster devices.

[0161] Based on the above method 400, a single angle measurement of the multi-tone signal AoA / AoD can obtain an N x k phase matrix. In other words, the multi-tone signal AoA / AoD angle measurement can obtain information in two dimensions: one is the antenna (or spatial) dimension (i.e., k antennas), and the other is the frequency dimension (i.e., N frequency points). The frequency dimension information can be used to assist in identifying the line-of-sight (LOS) signal in a multipath reflection environment. In a multipath reflection environment, each path obtained through angle measurement will have a corresponding AoA / AoD; however, only the AoA / AoD corresponding to the LOS of the line-of-sight is the target angle of arrival, which can be used as the final AoA / AoD estimate, improving angle accuracy. Therefore, this application uses a phase value stitching method of multiple arrival or departure angles to obtain a phase value matrix with more frequency points for multipath signal time-of-flight analysis, thereby obtaining the AoA / AoD estimate and improving angle accuracy.

[0162] The following section provides the specific analytical principles for determining LOS and its corresponding AoA.

[0163] Specifically, the signal transmitted by the transmitting device is: .

[0164] in, The carrier frequency, which is the frequency of RF LO. It is the first in the baseband multi-tone signal The frequencies of each note, such as f1, f2, f3, and f4 as shown in Figure 7, where t is time. It is the initial phase of the transmitting device's RF LO. It is the first The initial phase of the digital LO corresponding to each tone in the transmitting device.

[0165] The RF LO signal of the receiving device is: The receiving device's first The digital LO signal corresponding to each tone is: .

[0166] Among them, the RF LO signal It can be used in mixers in RF circuits to perform RF down-conversion processing on received signals. (Digital LO signal) It can be used to perform digital down-conversion processing on baseband multi-tone signals to obtain DC signals for phase measurement.

[0167] Assumption The time-of-flight (ToF) of a multi-tone signal from the transmitting device to the receiving device is defined as the time difference between the two devices due to the clocks being out of sync. Therefore, for the RF LO signal and digital LO signal of the aforementioned receiving device, assuming only the scenario of one antenna of the receiving device is considered, the signal received by the receiving device is as follows: Therefore, after RF and digital down-conversion, the phase obtained by the receiving device through angle measurement is: .

[0168] If the initial phases of the digital LOs of the transmitting device are the same (i.e., For different The values ​​of all are the same), and the initial phases of all digital LOs of the receiving device are the same (i.e., For different (If all values ​​are the same), then, according to the phase formula... It can be seen that the phase difference between each note can be used to calculate time. ).For example, and The phase difference measured between the angles and The relationship satisfies: It should be noted that, due to the fixed time deviation... Unknown, therefore unobtainable The absolute value.

[0169] Optionally, if the initial phases of each digital LO in both the transmitting and receiving devices are arbitrary, to make the digital LO configuration more flexible, the transmitting and receiving devices can each send their respective initial digital LO phases to the device running the angle algorithm to compensate for the phase measurements. This allows the influence of the initial digital LO phases to be canceled when calculating the phase difference between the two frequency points fi and fj, thus satisfying the formula. It should be noted that this application does not limit the specific transmission method by which the transmitting and receiving devices send their respective digital LO initial phases to the device running the angle algorithm.

[0170] Assume the multi-tone signal undergoes one multipath reflection during transmission, and the flight time of the signal along this reflection path is... ,So Based on the phase differences between the aforementioned notes, existing algorithms can be used to analyze them. and The relative value. For simplicity, the specific algorithm and analysis method will not be elaborated further. It should be understood that the obtained value is... and Although the relative values ​​are not absolute values, the relative relationships between them can be used to determine which is the line of sight. Combining this with information from the frequency and antenna dimensions (i.e., using the entire N x k matrix), existing algorithms can be used to obtain the two-dimensional energy map shown in Figure 10 below.

[0171] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of two-dimensional (frequency dimension - antenna dimension) energy provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 10, the horizontal axis is the time of flight (TOF) (ns) of the multi-tone signal from the transmitting device to the receiving device, and the vertical axis is the angle of arrival (AoA). Based on the relative values ​​of the TOF on the horizontal axis, it can be seen that the TOF of the peak on the right is approximately 20 ns, corresponding to an AoA angle of approximately 60°. The TOF of the peak on the left is approximately 10 ns, corresponding to an AoA angle of approximately -10°. Clearly, the TOF on the left is less than that on the right, therefore it can be determined that the peak on the left (indicated by the arrow) is the line of sight.

[0172] If we disregard frequency-dimensional information and only consider antenna-dimensional information, i.e. in a single-tone AoA scenario, we can obtain the one-dimensional energy map shown in Figure 11 below.

[0173] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of one-dimensional (antenna dimension) energy provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 11, the horizontal axis represents the AoA angle, and the vertical axis represents the corresponding Bartlett spectrum. It can be seen that the energies of the left and right peaks are equal, approximately 5.8 x 10⁻⁶. 4This implementation method cannot be used to determine which peak is the direct line of sight, and therefore cannot determine which (-10° and 60°) can be used as the final AoA estimate.

[0174] In summary, using frequency-dimensional information to analyze Time-of-Flight (TOF) can further assist in resolving the line-of-sight path. The resolving power of this method depends on the size of the frequency dimension. It should be understood that the wider the frequency band, the stronger the resolving power of TOF, meaning it can resolve two signals that are closer in chronological order.

[0175] For low-power narrowband wireless technology, where the bandwidth is only a few MHz, this application proposes to stitch together multiple multi-tone AoA angle measurements to increase the bandwidth, i.e., increase the N value in the N x k matrix, thereby improving the resolution capability of multipath signals at time of flight (TOF). It should be understood that the phase difference between the two stitched frequency points fi and fj still satisfies the above formula. It can be used for the analysis of multipath signals using Time-of-Flight (TOF).

[0176] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of splicing AoA angle measurement values ​​based on multi-tone signals according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 12, the horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents frequency.

[0177] In order to make It remains unchanged throughout the entire angle measurement process, that is... It is the fixed time deviation between the starting points of the digital LO in each AoA angle measurement between the transmitting and receiving devices. The time interval between the digital LO activation times of the transmitting device in two adjacent AoA angle measurements is T, and the time interval between the digital LO activation times of the receiving device in two adjacent AoA angle measurements is T; that is, the two time intervals need to be the same.

[0178] Furthermore, when the transmitting device enables digital LO, the initial phase of each digital LO of the transmitting device is the same (i.e., For different All are the same), and the same initial phase value (i.e., the phase value when digital LO is enabled) is used for each AoA angle measurement; similarly, when the receiving device enables digital LO, the initial phase of each digital LO of the receiving device is the same (i.e., For different (They are all the same), and the same initial phase value (i.e., the phase value when the digital LO is turned on) is used for each AoA angle measurement.

[0179] It should be noted that each time a new AoA angle measurement begins, the phase lock loop (PLL) of the RF circuit is relocked, which will cause the initial phase of the RF LO (e.g., and is an arbitrary value that is unknown. Therefore, in order to achieve better phase value splicing, this application needs to ensure that there is one or more common frequency points in any two adjacent AoA angle measurements. For example, there is a common frequency point f1 (or a common channel) in the first and second AoA angle measurements shown in FIG. 13.

[0180] By comparing the phase measurement values of the same frequency point in two AoA angle measurements (i.e., the difference between them ), the initial phase of the RF LO of the transmitting device and the influence of the initial phase of the RF LO of the receiving device on the phase measurement value can be obtained, and then this phase difference is used to compensate one set of AoA angle measurement values, so that the two AoA angle measurement values can be spliced to form a larger phase matrix. For example, assuming that the number of common frequency points between two adjacent AoA angle measurements is M (M < N), then the spliced phase matrix is (2N - M) x k. In this implementation, the phase values of multiple AoA angle measurements can be spliced to obtain a phase matrix with a larger vertical axis.

[0181] Exemplarily, as shown in FIG. 12, N = 4. In two adjacent AoA angle measurements at a common frequency point f1 (i.e., M = 1), the corresponding phase measurement values are φ' and φ'', respectively. The difference between φ' and φ'' is used to compensate one set of AoA angle measurement values and perform normalization processing, so as to complete the splicing of phase values at the common frequency point f1. At this time, a phase matrix containing 7 x k phase values can be obtained by two AoA angle measurements.

[0182] According to the technical solution of this application, the method of using common frequency points is adopted for two adjacent AoA / AoD angle measurements to achieve the splicing of the phase values of the two angle measurements. A phase value matrix with more frequency points can be obtained, and then a better multi-path signal analysis ability can be obtained, and the accuracy of angle estimation can be improved.

[0183] In the above, in combination with FIGS. 1 to 12, the method-side embodiments of the angle determination method of this application have been described in detail. Next, in combination with FIGS. 13 and 14, the device-side embodiments of this application will be described in detail. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments. Therefore, the parts not described in detail can be referred to the previous method embodiments.

[0184] FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of an angle determination device provided by an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 13, the device 2000 may include a transceiver unit 2010 and a processing unit 2020. The transceiver unit 2010 can communicate with the outside, and the processing unit 2020 is used for data processing. The transceiver unit 2010 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a transceiver unit.

[0185] In one possible design, the device 2000 can implement the steps or processes corresponding to those performed by the transmitting device in the above method embodiments, wherein the processing unit 2020 is used to perform processing-related operations of the transmitting device in the above method embodiments, and the transceiver unit 2010 is used to perform transceiver-related operations of the transmitting device in the above method embodiments.

[0186] In another possible design, the device 2000 can implement the steps or processes corresponding to those performed by the receiving device in the above method embodiments, wherein the transceiver unit 2010 is used to perform the transceiver-related operations of the receiving device in the above method embodiments, and the processing unit 2020 is used to perform the processing-related operations of the receiving device in the above method embodiments.

[0187] It should be understood that the device 2000 here is embodied in the form of a functional unit. The term "unit" here can refer to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), electronic circuitry, a processor (e.g., a shared processor, a proprietary processor, or a group processor, etc.) and memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, integrated logic circuitry, and / or other suitable components supporting the described functions. In an alternative example, those skilled in the art will understand that the device 2000 may specifically be the transmitting end in the above embodiments, and may be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the transmitting end in the above method embodiments; or, the device 2000 may specifically be the receiving end in the above embodiments, and may be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the receiving end in the above method embodiments. To avoid repetition, further details are omitted here.

[0188] The apparatus 2000 of each of the above-described schemes has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the transmitting end in the above-described method, or the apparatus 2000 of each of the above-described schemes has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the receiving end in the above-described method. The function can be implemented by hardware or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions; for example, the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transceiver (e.g., the transmitting unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving unit in the transceiver unit can be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as processing units, can be replaced by processors, respectively executing the transceiver operations and related processing operations in each method embodiment.

[0189] Furthermore, the aforementioned transceiver unit can also be a transceiver circuit (e.g., it may include a receiving circuit and a transmitting circuit), and the processing unit can be a processing circuit. In the embodiments of this application, the device in FIG13 can be the receiving end or transmitting end in the foregoing embodiments, or it can be a chip or a chip system, such as a system on chip (SoC). The transceiver unit can be an input / output circuit or a communication interface. The processing unit is a processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit integrated on the chip. No limitation is made here.

[0190] Figure 14 illustrates an angle determination device 3000 provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 14, the device 3000 includes a processor 3010 and a transceiver 3020. The processor 3010 and the transceiver 3020 communicate with each other through an internal connection path. The processor 3010 is used to execute instructions to control the transceiver 3020 to send and / or receive signals.

[0191] Optionally, the device 3000 may further include a memory 3030, which communicates with the processor 3010 and the transceiver 3020 via an internal connection path. The memory 3030 is used to store instructions, and the processor 3010 can execute the instructions stored in the memory 3030.

[0192] In one possible implementation, the apparatus 3000 is used to implement the various processes and steps corresponding to the transmitting device in the above method embodiments.

[0193] In another possible implementation, the apparatus 3000 is used to implement the various processes and steps corresponding to the receiving device in the above method embodiments.

[0194] It should be understood that the device 3000 can specifically be the transmitting end or receiving end in the above embodiments, or it can be a chip or chip system. Correspondingly, the transceiver 3020 can be the transceiver circuit of the chip, which is not limited here. Specifically, the device 3000 can be used to execute the various steps and / or processes corresponding to the transmitting end or receiving end in the above method embodiments.

[0195] Optionally, the memory 3030 may include read-only memory and random access memory, and provide instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the memory may also include non-volatile random access memory. For example, the memory may also store device type information. The processor 3010 may be used to execute instructions stored in the memory, and when the processor 3010 executes instructions stored in the memory, the processor 3010 is used to perform the various steps and / or processes of the method embodiments corresponding to the sending end or receiving end described above.

[0196] In implementation, each step of the above method can be completed by integrated logic circuits in the processor's hardware or by instructions in software. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software modules can reside in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, or other mature storage media in the art. This storage medium is located in memory, and the processor reads information from the memory and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the steps of the above method. To avoid repetition, detailed descriptions are omitted here.

[0197] It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of this application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above method embodiments can be completed by the integrated logic circuits in the processor's hardware or by instructions in software form. The processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. The processor in the embodiments of this application can implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this application. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules can be located in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, or other mature storage media in the art. This storage medium is located in memory; the processor reads information from the memory and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the steps of the above methods.

[0198] It is understood that the memory in the embodiments of this application can be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. The volatile memory can be random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous linked dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory used in the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0199] According to the method provided in the embodiments of this application, this application also provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method in the embodiments shown above.

[0200] According to the method provided in the embodiments of this application, this application also provides a computer-readable medium storing program code, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method in the embodiments shown above.

[0201] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0202] Those skilled in the art will understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0203] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0204] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0205] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0206] If the aforementioned functions are implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a portion of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory, random access memory, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0207] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technology disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for determining an angle, characterized in that, include: The receiving device acquires the first phase values ​​of k antennas of the first device at N1 frequency points, where k is an integer greater than or equal to 2 and N1 is an integer greater than or equal to 2; the receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device based on the first phase values; when the first device is the receiving device, the angle of the signal of the first device is the arrival angle of the receiving device; or, when the first device is the transmitting device, the angle of the signal of the first device is the departure angle of the transmitting device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method includes: a receiving device receiving a first multi-tone signal, the first multi-tone signal including the N1 frequency points; and the receiving device performing phase measurement on the first multi-tone signal.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The receiving device includes N1 digital local oscillators (LOs), each of which corresponds one-to-one with one of the N1 frequency points. The receiving device performs phase measurement on the first multi-tone signal and acquires the first phase values ​​of the k antennas of the first device corresponding to the N1 frequency points. This includes: the i-th digital LO of the receiving device performs digital down-conversion processing on the first multi-tone signal, performs IQ averaging processing on the digitally down-converted first multi-tone signal, and acquires the first phase value of the k antennas of the first device corresponding to the i-th frequency point, where i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N1.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device based on the acquired first phase value, including: the receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device based on the difference between the phase value of the first antenna at the i-th frequency point and the phase value of the second antenna at the i-th frequency point; wherein the first antenna and the second antenna are any two antennas among the k antennas, and i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N1.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The frequency interval between any two adjacent frequency points among the N1 frequency points is the same.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The method further includes: the receiving device receiving a second multi-tone signal, the second multi-tone signal including N2 frequency points, the N2 frequency points and the N1 frequency points having M common frequency points, N2 being an integer greater than or equal to 2, and M being an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than the minimum value of N1 and N2.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The method further includes: the receiving device performing phase measurement on the second multi-tone signal; the receiving device acquiring the second phase values ​​of the k antennas of the first device corresponding to the N2 frequency points; and the receiving device determining the angle of the signal of the first device based on the second phase values.

8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The method further includes: the receiving device performing phase measurement on the second multi-tone signal; the receiving device acquiring second phase values ​​of the k antennas of the first device corresponding to the N2 frequency points; the receiving device determining the angle of the signal of the first device based on the first phase value, including: the receiving device determining the angle of the signal of the first device based on the first phase value and the second phase value.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device based on the first phase value and the second phase value, including: the receiving device determining a phase compensation value based on the acquired first phase value and the second phase value; the receiving device compensating the first phase value based on the phase compensation value; and the receiving device determining the angle of the signal of the first device based on the compensated first phase value and the second phase value.

10. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The receiving device determines the angle of the signal of the first device based on the first phase value and the second phase value, including: the receiving device determining a phase compensation value based on the acquired first phase value and the second phase value; the receiving device compensating the second phase value based on the phase compensation value; and the receiving device determining the angle of the signal of the first device based on the compensated second phase value and the first phase value.

11. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 10, characterized in that, The time interval between the transmission times of the first multi-tone signal and the second multi-tone signal, and the time interval between the reception times of the first multi-tone signal and the second multi-tone signal are the same.

12. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 11, characterized in that, The N1 digital LOs have the same initial phase when they are turned on, and the i-th digital LO has the same initial phase at the first time and the second time. The first time is the time when the first multi-tone signal is transmitted, and the second time is the time when the second multi-tone signal is transmitted; or, the first time is the time when the first multi-tone signal is received, and the second time is the time when the second multi-tone signal is received.

13. An angle determining device, characterized in that, include: A unit for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.

14. An angle determining device, characterized in that, include: At least one processor, said at least one processor being coupled to memory; The at least one processor is configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12.

15. A chip, characterized in that, include: At least one processor is configured to retrieve and run a computer program from memory, causing a communication device on which the chip is mounted to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12.

16. A computer program, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by the device, it implements the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12.

17. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, include: The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program that, when executed, causes the computer to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12.

18. A computer program product, characterized in that, When the computer program product is run, the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12 is implemented.

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