Phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable wave beam number and variable polarization

Abstract

The invention discloses a phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable beam number and variable polarization, which relates to the technical field of satellite communication and comprises a filtering signal amplification unit, a polarization conversion unit, a four-channel reconfigurable multi-beam forming unit and a high-integration multi-beam forming network unit which are connected in sequence. According to the invention, the technical bottlenecks of fixed wave beam number, difficult polarization reconstruction and poor out-of-band rejection of the traditional phased array receiving radio frequency front end are broken through, and a solution is further provided for realizing the integrated design of flexible reconstruction, polarization reconstruction and high out-of-band rejection. And moreover, the link noise coefficient can be remarkably reduced, the suppression on other out-of-band frequency bands can be improved, and the problems that a traditional phased array receiving front-end device is poor in link noise, the number of wave beams is difficult to adjust, and blockage is likely to happen are solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of satellite communication technology, and in particular to a phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable beam number and variable polarization. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid deployment and development of low-Earth orbit satellite communication constellations, higher demands are being placed on the capacity, speed, and reliability of satellite-to-ground communication links. Phased array antennas, with their advantages such as beam agility and multi-target tracking, have become a key technology for scenarios such as mobile communication and multi-satellite access. At the receiver, the performance of the phased array receiver RF front-end directly affects the sensitivity, anti-interference capability, and flexibility of the entire system.

[0003] Traditional phased array receiver RF front-end devices typically face the following technical bottlenecks:

[0004] (1) Fixed number of beams, lack of flexibility: Most existing solutions (such as Chinese invention patent with publication number CN110568429A) use a fixed number of power dividers (such as a 1-to-M splitter). Once the hardware design is completed, the number M of receiving beams that can be formed simultaneously is fixed. When facing complex and ever-changing communication scenarios, such as needing to serve different numbers of user terminals at different times or dynamically allocating beam resources during cross-satellite handover, this fixed architecture cannot realize on-demand and dynamic reconfiguration of the number of beams, resulting in low system resource utilization or inability to meet real-time requirements.

[0005] (2) Limited polarization processing leads to degraded noise figure: In satellite communications, circular polarization is widely used to reduce polarization mismatch loss. The traditional approach is to place the linear-to-circular polarization converter (polarizer) near the antenna radiating element. However, the inherent insertion loss of the polarizer is directly superimposed on the front end of the receiver link, significantly increasing the noise figure of the entire receiver link and thus reducing the system's receiver sensitivity. In addition, traditional polarizers typically lack the ability to suppress strong out-of-band interference signals, which can easily lead to saturation of the front-end amplifier or introduce additional noise in complex electromagnetic environments, affecting the reception quality.

[0006] (3) The contradiction between system integration and performance: In order to achieve multi-beam and multi-channel reception, traditional solutions often use a large number of discrete components, resulting in large module size, complex structure, poor consistency and high cost. Although some technologies (such as multilayer printed circuit boards and LTCC process) are committed to improving integration, how to achieve high performance (low noise, high out-of-band rejection) and high flexibility (beam reconfigurability) at the same time within a highly integrated framework is still a technical challenge.

[0007] Therefore, there is an urgent need in this field for a novel phased array receiver RF front-end device that can break through the limitation of fixed number of beams and achieve flexible reconfigurability; at the same time, it can optimize the noise performance of the receiver link and enhance the ability to resist out-of-band interference; and finally, it can achieve a balance between performance and flexibility in a compact integrated design. Summary of the Invention

[0008] To address the problems existing in the prior art, the present invention aims to provide a phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable beam number and variable polarization. Through innovative circuit architecture and unit design, it achieves dynamic and flexible configuration of the number of receiving beams and significantly improves the link noise figure and out-of-band suppression capability.

[0009] To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the present invention provides a phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable beam count and variable polarization, comprising a filter signal amplification unit, a polarization conversion unit, a four-channel reconfigurable multibeamforming unit, and a highly integrated multibeam combining network unit connected in sequence.

[0010] The device has M sets of input ports, each set of input ports including a horizontally polarized H port and a vertically polarized V port, where M is an even number greater than or equal to 2;

[0011] The device has N output ports for outputting N beam signals, where N is a configurable integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0012] The horizontally polarized H and vertically polarized V signals of group M are respectively input to M of the filtered signal amplification units; the output of each of the filtered signal amplification units is connected to the input of a polarization conversion unit; each polarization conversion unit converts the two polarization signals and outputs one left-handed circularly polarized signal and one right-handed circularly polarized signal.

[0013] The two left-handed and two right-handed circularly polarized signals output from each of the two polarization conversion units are input to a four-channel reconfigurable multi-beamforming unit. The four-channel reconfigurable multi-beamforming unit is used to reconfigure the number of beams of the four input circularly polarized signals into 0.5M channels. After reconfiguration, each channel outputs N beam signals, and the amplitude and phase of each signal are controlled before output.

[0014] The signals output by all four-channel reconfigurable multibeamforming units, corresponding to the same beam number, are input to the same highly integrated multibeam combining network unit for combining, and finally output from the N output ports N beam signals.

[0015] According to one technical solution of the present invention, the polarization conversion unit is a 3dB coupler with high emission suppression function;

[0016] The 3dB coupler has a first port, a second port, a third port, and a fourth port; wherein the first port and the second port serve as input terminals to receive the horizontally polarized H signal and the vertically polarized V signal, respectively, and the third port and the fourth port serve as output terminals to output the left-hand circularly polarized signal and the right-hand circularly polarized signal, respectively.

[0017] According to one technical solution of the present invention, the 3dB coupler includes:

[0018] The first transmission line, the second transmission line, the third transmission line, and the fourth transmission line are connected end to end to form a ring structure, forming four connection points; among them, the connection point between the first transmission line and the second transmission line is A, the connection point between the second transmission line and the third transmission line is B, the connection point between the third transmission line and the fourth transmission line is C, and the connection point between the fourth transmission line and the first transmission line is D.

[0019] An adjustable capacitor and / or inductor are connected in parallel to ground at at least one of the four connection points.

[0020] According to one technical solution of the present invention, by adjusting the value of the adjustable capacitor, the 3dB coupler can suppress a preset out-of-band frequency while realizing the linear polarization to circular polarization conversion.

[0021] According to one technical solution of the present invention, the filtered signal amplification unit includes a first filtered amplification branch and a second filtered amplification branch arranged in parallel, which are respectively used to process horizontally polarized H signals and vertically polarized V signals;

[0022] Both the first and second filter amplification branches include a filter and a low-noise amplifier connected in sequence.

[0023] According to one technical solution of the present invention, in the filtering and amplification branch, the filter is located at the input terminal of the low-noise amplifier;

[0024] In the filter amplification branch, the low-noise amplifier is located at the input end of the filter.

[0025] According to one technical solution of the present invention, the four-channel reconfigurable multibeamforming unit includes:

[0026] The amplifier module is used to amplify the four input circularly polarized signals;

[0027] A reconfigurable power divider module is connected to the amplifier module and is used to reconfigure and distribute each amplified signal into N signals, where N is the number of configurable beams.

[0028] Multiple phase-shifting attenuation channels, including phase shifters and attenuators connected in sequence, are used to perform amplitude and phase control on a corresponding signal from the reconfigurable power divider module;

[0029] A power combiner is used to combine N groups of signals from different polarization channels that belong to the same beam number to obtain N combined signals.

[0030] The driver amplifier module is used to amplify the N-channel synthesized signals and output them.

[0031] According to one technical solution of the present invention, the reconfigurable power divider module includes a radio frequency switch network, and the signal distribution path is changed by controlling the state of the radio frequency switch network, thereby realizing the reconstruction of one input signal into N outputs.

[0032] According to one technical solution of the present invention, the number γ of the four-channel reconfigurable multibeamforming units and the number M of the input port groups satisfy the relationship: γ=M / 2.

[0033] According to one technical solution of the present invention, the number of highly integrated multibeam combining network units is N, and each highly integrated multibeam combining network unit is a 0.5M-channel-to-1 power combiner;

[0034] The 0.5M-channel-to-1 power combiner is used to combine 0.5 channels of signals from M / 2 of the four-channel reconfigurable multi-beamforming units, corresponding to the same beam number, into a single beam signal for output.

[0035] Compared with the prior art, the phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable beam number and variable polarization provided by the present invention has the following significant technical effects:

[0036] This invention discloses a phased array receiver RF front-end device with reconfigurable beam number and variable polarization. It features flexible beam number configuration, polarization variation, and high out-of-band rejection, significantly improving system flexibility and link noise figure. This invention overcomes the technical bottlenecks of traditional phased array receiver RF front-end devices, such as fixed beam number, difficult polarization reconfiguration, and poor out-of-band rejection, thus providing a solution for integrated design achieving flexible reconfiguration, polarization reconfiguration, and high out-of-band rejection. This RF front-end device not only allows for beam number adjustment but also significantly reduces link noise figure and improves suppression of other out-of-band frequencies, solving the problems of poor link noise, difficult beam number adjustment, and susceptibility to congestion in traditional phased array receiver front-end devices.

[0037] This invention, by introducing a "reconfigurable power divider module" based on a radio frequency switch network, breaks through the limitations of traditional fixed-number power divider networks. The number of beams can be set and changed dynamically in real time according to system instructions. This allows the same hardware to adapt to different scenario requirements, greatly improving system resource utilization and scenario adaptability.

[0038] This invention creatively integrates a "polarization conversion unit" with high out-of-band suppression into the RF front-end link. It not only completes the conversion from linear to circular polarization (ensuring equal amplitude and a constant 90° phase difference at the output ports), but also provides adjustable out-of-band frequency suppression capability through an adjustable capacitor / inductor network. Placing the polarization conversion after the low-noise amplifier (or tightly integrating it with the low-noise amplifier) ​​avoids the direct degradation of the system noise figure caused by insertion loss of the polarizer at the antenna end, thus achieving better overall receiver sensitivity. Simultaneously, it effectively suppresses strong out-of-band interference signals, protecting downstream active devices such as the low-noise amplifier from saturation or nonlinear distortion, and improving the system's robustness and dynamic range in complex electromagnetic environments.

[0039] This invention integrates the two major objectives of improving performance (through a special polarization conversion circuit) and enhancing flexibility (through a reconfigurable power divider) at the RF front-end level through linear polarization input, integrated out-of-band suppressed polarization conversion, dual-path circular polarization parallel processing, dynamic reconfigurable beamforming, and highly integrated multi-beamforming. The entire device can be highly integrated through advanced MMIC (monolithic microwave integrated circuit) technology, significantly reducing size and weight while maintaining excellent electrical performance. Attached Figure Description

[0040] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly described below. Obviously, the drawings described below are merely some embodiments of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0041] Figure 1 This schematic diagram illustrates the principle architecture of a phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable beam number and variable polarization according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0042] Figure 2(a) schematically illustrates a circuit diagram of a first implementation (filter first) of a filtered signal amplification unit according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 2(b) schematically illustrates a circuit diagram of a second implementation (low noise first) of a filtered signal amplification unit provided according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0044] Figure 3 The schematic diagram illustrates the specific circuit structure of a polarization conversion unit (a 3dB coupler with high out-of-band rejection) provided according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0045] Figure 4 This schematic diagram illustrates the internal functional structure of a four-channel reconfigurable multibeamforming unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0046] Figure 5 The schematic diagram illustrates the circuit principle of a highly integrated multi-beam combining network unit (0.5M-to-1 power combiner) according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0047] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the technical solutions of this invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of this invention. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of this invention without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this invention.

[0048] In the description of the embodiments of this application, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "connected" and "linked" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in the embodiments of this application based on the specific circumstances.

[0049] In the embodiments of this application, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, "above" or "below" the second feature can mean that the first feature is in direct contact with the second feature, or that the first feature is in indirect contact with the second feature through an intermediate medium. Furthermore, "above," "on top of," and "over" the second feature can mean that the first feature is directly above or diagonally above the second feature, or simply that the first feature is at a higher horizontal level than the second feature. "Below," "below," and "under" the second feature can mean that the first feature is directly below or diagonally below the second feature, or simply that the first feature is at a lower horizontal level than the second feature.

[0050] In the description of this specification, the references to terms such as "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "example," "specific example," or "some examples," etc., refer to specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described in connection with that embodiment or example, which are included in at least one embodiment or example of the embodiments of this application. In this specification, the illustrative expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples. Moreover, without contradiction, those skilled in the art can combine and integrate the different embodiments or examples described in this specification, as well as the features of different embodiments or examples.

[0051] like Figure 1 As shown in the figure, this embodiment of the invention provides a phased array receiver RF front-end device with reconfigurable beam count and variable polarization, which is a highly integrated and configurable signal processing device. The device receives M sets of dual-polarized signals from a phased array antenna array (not shown in the figure), each set containing one horizontal linear polarization (H) component and one vertical linear polarization (V) component, where M is an even number greater than or equal to 2. The phased array receiver RF front-end device ultimately outputs N independent receive beam signals, where N is a positive integer that can be set according to system requirements. The entire processing flow sequentially passes through a filtering signal amplification unit, a polarization conversion unit, a four-channel reconfigurable multi-beamforming unit, and a highly integrated multi-beam combining network unit.

[0052] By introducing a polarization conversion unit, an RF front-end device with linear to circular polarization conversion is realized, which can significantly reduce the noise figure of the RF link. Through a four-channel reconfigurable multi-beamforming unit, the number of beams can be arbitrarily configured to meet the needs of dynamic reconfiguration of the number of beams in different scenarios.

[0053] The phased array receiver RF front-end is equipped with M sets of output ports for outputting multi-beam output signals. The M sets of H / V linear polarization signals are respectively fed into M corresponding filter signal amplification units for preliminary filtering and low-noise amplification. The two purified linear polarization signals output from each filter signal amplification unit are fed into a polarization conversion unit. The function of the polarization conversion unit is to combine the two orthogonal linear polarization signals into one left-hand circularly polarized (LHCP) signal and one right-hand circularly polarized (RHCP) signal, and to suppress specific out-of-band interference in the process. The signals output from every two adjacent polarization conversion units (two LHCP signals and two RHCP signals) are combined and input into a four-channel reconfigurable multi-beamforming unit. The four-channel reconfigurable multi-beamforming unit is key to achieving the "reconfigurable beam number" function. Through its internal reconfigurable power divider network, it dynamically divides each input circularly polarized signal into N sub-signals (N being the final beam number), and independently performs precise phase and amplitude (amplitude-phase) control on each sub-signal to shape the beam pointing and form. Finally, all beam signals with the same sequence number output from the four-channel reconfigurable multi-beamforming unit (i.e., all "1st", "2nd", ... "Nth" sub-signals) are fed into the corresponding N highly integrated multi-beam combining network units. Each combining unit combines the M signals from M / 2 forming units belonging to the same beam, ultimately obtaining N independent, fully processed received beam signals at the device's N output ports OUT_1 to OUT_N.

[0054] The input and output ports are located along the outer edge of the phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device body.

[0055] Example 1

[0056] The filtering and amplification unit is used to preprocess the weak signal received by the antenna, mainly to achieve preliminary filtering of out-of-band noise and interference, as well as low-noise amplification of the signal, which helps to reduce the noise figure of the entire link. This invention provides two preferred circuit implementations, which can be selected according to the emphasis of the application scenario.

[0057] The first approach (prioritizing high linearity)

[0058] As shown in Figure 2(a), the filtering signal amplification unit includes two completely symmetrical branches: a first filtering amplification branch and a second filtering amplification branch. Taking the first branch as an example, it includes a filter and a low-noise amplifier connected in series. The horizontally polarized H signal is input from port A1 and first passes through a filter, which can be a surface acoustic wave filter, a ceramic dielectric filter, or an LC lumped parameter filter, etc., whose function is to filter out strong interference signals and noise outside the operating frequency band. The filtered signal then enters the low-noise amplifier for amplification. The low-noise amplifier has an extremely low noise figure and sufficient gain to boost the signal level and introduce as little additional noise as possible. The second branch has the same structure, consisting of a filter and a low-noise amplifier, processing the vertically polarized V signal (input from port B1) and outputting from port V-1.

[0059] The "filter-first" architecture offers high linearity and excellent out-of-band rejection. Because strong interference signals are significantly attenuated before entering the low-noise amplifier (LNOA), the LNOA is less susceptible to nonlinear effects such as gain compression and intermodulation distortion caused by strong interference. This ensures the linearity of the link when processing signals with a large dynamic range, making it particularly suitable for complex electromagnetic environments where ground stations are surrounded by known strong interference sources (such as radar or other communication systems). However, the filter itself has a certain insertion loss, which is directly added to the front end of the link. This results in the noise figure of the entire branch being slightly higher than the sum of the filter's own noise figure and the LNOA's noise figure, thus degrading the system noise figure to some extent.

[0060] Second implementation method (low noise priority)

[0061] As shown in Figure 2(b), the order of the filter and the low-noise amplifier has been adjusted. In the first branch, the low-noise amplifier is located at the front end, directly receiving and amplifying the H signal from port A1. The amplified signal is then filtered by the filter and output from port H-1. The second branch is similar.

[0062] The "low-noise-first" architecture is advantageous for achieving a better system noise figure. Placing the low-noise amplifier at the very beginning, its extremely low noise figure helps improve the main noise performance of the branch, and the impact of the insertion loss of the subsequent filter on the overall noise figure is weakened by the gain of the preceding stage. Therefore, the "low-noise-first" architecture can theoretically achieve a lower system noise figure, thereby improving receiver sensitivity. However, this comes at the cost of postponing the suppression of out-of-band interference. If the input signal contains strong out-of-band interference close to or exceeding the 1dB compression point of the low-noise amplifier's input, it may cause amplifier saturation, resulting in nonlinear distortion, or even damage to the device. Therefore, the "low-noise-first" architecture is more suitable for scenarios with relatively clean electromagnetic environments and extremely high requirements for receiver sensitivity, such as deep space communication or long-distance weak signal reception.

[0063] Both the filter and low-noise amplifier in these two implementations can be built using discrete components, or they can be fabricated as monolithic microwave integrated circuits using semiconductor processes such as GaAs, CMOS, SiGe, or GaN to further improve integration and consistency. The number M of the filter signal amplification units corresponds to the number of antenna array elements.

[0064] Example 2

[0065] The polarization conversion unit not only performs the basic conversion from linear polarization to circular polarization, but also integrates adjustable out-of-band suppression, thereby optimizing performance at the system level.

[0066] like Figure 3 As shown, the polarization conversion unit preferably employs an improved 3dB coupler with high emission suppression. The 3dB coupler has four ports: port J1, port J2, port J3, and port J4. J1 and J2 are input ports, receiving the horizontally polarized H signal and the vertically polarized V signal, respectively, processed by the pre-stage filtering and amplification unit. J3 and J4 are output ports. Ideally, when a matched load is connected to J2, the signal input from J1 will output equal amplitude signals with a 90-degree phase difference at J3 and J4, corresponding to left-hand circularly polarized (LHCP) and right-hand circularly polarized (RHCP) components, respectively.

[0067] To achieve high performance and tunable out-of-band rejection, this embodiment innovatively improves upon traditional 90-degree bridge or branch-line couplers. The specific circuit includes: a first transmission line LN1, a second transmission line LN2, a third transmission line LN3, and a fourth transmission line LN4. These four transmission lines are connected end-to-end to form a closed loop or square structure, thus defining four key nodes: connection point A (LN1 and LN2), connection point B (LN2 and LN3), connection point C (LN3 and LN4), and connection point D (LN4 and LN1). Transmission lines LN1 and LN3 have the same characteristic impedance Z1 and are 90 degrees out of phase at the center frequency; transmission lines LN2 and LN4 have the same characteristic impedance Z2 and are 90 degrees out of phase at the center frequency. The ratio of Z1 to Z2 determines the coupling coefficient of the coupler.

[0068] At at least one of the four connection points A, B, C, and D (preferably all of them), adjustable capacitors (C1, C2, C3, C4) and inductors (L1, L2, L3, L4) are connected in parallel to ground. Inductors L1-L4 are mainly used for coarse adjustment of DC bias or resonant point, while adjustable capacitors C1-C4 are the core components for frequency tuning and suppression characteristic adjustment. The adjustable capacitors can be implemented using varactor diodes, MEMS switched capacitors, or digital adjustable capacitor arrays.

[0069] At the center frequency of the design, by precisely controlling the transmission line parameters and initial tuning, the coupler can ensure that the signal amplitudes of the output ports J3 and J4 are highly balanced and the phase difference is stable at 90 degrees, which is a prerequisite for generating high-quality circularly polarized signals.

[0070] By changing the values ​​of adjustable capacitors C1-C4 through external control voltage or digital signals, the resonant characteristics of the coupler at a specific frequency can be effectively altered. Therefore, the coupler's "stopband" or high-attenuation region can be dynamically aligned with known out-of-band interference frequencies. For example, if a fixed radar interference exists near the system's operating frequency, the coupler can achieve a suppression of up to 20dB or more at the radar frequency by presetting the tuning capacitor values. This suppression process occurs before signal polarization synthesis, effectively preventing strong out-of-band interference signals from entering subsequent low-noise amplification and beamforming channels, thus avoiding saturation and intermodulation products in later circuits.

[0071] Traditional solutions place the polarizer after the antenna and before the first-stage low-noise amplifier (LNOA), and its insertion loss (typically 0.5-1 dB) directly affects the system noise figure. This invention places the polarization conversion unit after the filtering signal amplification unit (including the LNOA). Although the coupler itself also has losses, the signal has already been boosted by the gain of the preceding LNOA, significantly reducing the contribution of the coupler's losses to the overall system noise figure. This significantly reduces the overall impact of polarization processing on the receiver link noise figure, thereby improving the system's receiving sensitivity.

[0072] The tunable nature of this polarization conversion unit enables it to adapt to different satellite communication frequency bands or cope with changing interference environments, increasing the system's flexibility and robustness.

[0073] Example 3

[0074] A four-channel reconfigurable multi-beamforming unit is beneficial for achieving the function of "reconfigurable beam count". For example, Figure 4 As shown, this unit receives four signals from two polarization conversion units: two left-hand circular polarization signals (input ports LC1 and LC2) and two right-hand circular polarization signals (input ports RC1 and RC2).

[0075] The four-channel reconfigurable multibeamforming unit includes an amplifier, a reconfigurable power divider, a phase shifter, an attenuator, a power combiner, and a drive amplifier connected in sequence. Specifically:

[0076] The left-handed signals output from the two polarization conversion units enter the first port LC1 and the second port LC2 of the four-channel reconfigurable multi-beamforming network unit, respectively, while the right-handed signals enter the third port RC1 and the fourth port RC2 of the multi-beamforming unit. After amplification, the left-handed and right-handed signals enter the reconfigurable power divider. The number of beams of the left-handed and right-handed signals is reconfigured to N by the reconfigurable power divider, and its value can be set arbitrarily. The selected signal passes through a phase shifter and an attenuator to control the amplitude and phase of the signal. The power combiner combines the signals with the same beam, and the combined signal enters the input of the driver amplifier. The driver amplifier further amplifies the signal and outputs it at the output port.

[0077] The reconfigurable power divider contains N RF switches, the number of which is equal to the number of beams N; the number of phase shifters, attenuators, and drive amplifiers are each N.

[0078] The number of input ports of the reconfigurable multibeamforming network unit is 4, corresponding to four channels; the number of output ports of the reconfigurable multibeamforming unit is N.

[0079] The number γ of the four-channel reconfigurable multibeamforming units and the number of input signal groups M satisfy the following relationship:

[0080] γ = 0.5M;

[0081] Where M represents the number of input port groups, M≥1, and M is an even number; γ represents the number of four-channel reconfigurable multibeamforming units, and γ is an integer.

[0082] Example 4

[0083] The highly integrated multibeamforming network unit is used to finally synthesize signals corresponding to the same beam number from all four-channel reconfigurable multibeamforming units. For example... Figure 5 As shown, the number of highly integrated multibeam combining network units is N, and each unit is a 0.5M-channel-to-1 power combiner.

[0084] Each 0.5M-to-1 power combiner has N input ports (BM-1 to BM-N) to receive output signals from 1 to 0.5M×N beams from all γ (=M / 2) forming units. The 0.5M-to-1 power combiner performs in-phase power combining of the signals to obtain N high-power beam signals, which are output from the device's output ports.

[0085] like Figure 5 As shown, it can be constructed using multi-stage transmission lines (characteristic impedance ZT1, electrical length θ) and isolation resistors (impedance ZT2).

[0086] Example 5

[0087] The present invention also provides a phased array receiving system. The system includes a phased array antenna array and at least one phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable beam number and variable polarization as described above.

[0088] A phased array antenna consists of M dual-polarized antenna elements (such as microstrip patch antennas), each of which can independently radiate or receive horizontally and vertically polarized waves. The antenna array receives electromagnetic wave signals from space (such as satellites) and decomposes the signals into M sets of horizontally polarized (H) and vertically polarized (V) signals.

[0089] The M groups of H / V signals are directly fed into the corresponding input ports of the RF front-end device. Following the working principle of the above embodiment, the RF front-end device processes the signals and ultimately outputs N beam signals (OUT_1~OUT_N) to the subsequent digital receiver or baseband processing unit.

[0090] The phased array receiver system offers unprecedented flexibility and high performance, capable of simultaneously tracking multiple satellites (multi-beam), with the number of beams dynamically adjustable to optimize resources. Its receiver link features a lower noise figure and stronger resistance to out-of-band interference, improving communication quality and reliability. Thanks to the high integration of the front-end devices, the entire system achieves miniaturization, lightweight design, and low cost, making it highly suitable for satellite communication terminals on mobile platforms such as vehicles, airborne, and shipborne systems (mobile communication), or as a high-performance, reconfigurable receiver module for ground stations.

[0091] This invention provides a phased array receiver RF front-end device with reconfigurable beam count and variable polarization, aiming to solve the problem that the number of beams and polarization modes in traditional phased array receivers are singular and cannot be adjusted. The disclosed phased array receiver RF front-end device consists of a filter signal amplification unit, a polarization conversion unit, a reconfigurable multi-beamforming network unit, and a highly integrated multi-beam combining network unit connected in sequence.

[0092] This invention features a four-channel reconfigurable multi-beamforming unit and introduces a polarization variation unit with harmonic suppression function into the RF front-end, thereby achieving flexible configuration of the number of beams and a low noise figure in the phased array RF front-end. The reconfigurable multi-beamforming unit enables flexible configuration of the number of beams. High-density integration of the beamforming network is achieved through the multi-beam combining network unit.

[0093] This invention effectively solves the problems of low integration and high cost caused by fixed number of beams, single polarization mode, and complex synthesis network in traditional phased array receiver RF front-end devices. It realizes flexible configuration of beam resources and polarization mode, significantly improves system performance and reduces design cost, and provides a complete technical solution for the system-level design of phased array receiver RF front-end devices.

[0094] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and not to limit them; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features; and these modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable beam count and variable polarization, characterized in that, It includes a filtered signal amplification unit, a polarization conversion unit, a four-channel reconfigurable multibeamforming unit, and a highly integrated multibeam synthesis network unit connected in sequence; The device has M sets of input ports, each set of input ports including a horizontally polarized H port and a vertically polarized V port, where M is an even number greater than or equal to 2; The device has N output ports for outputting N beam signals, where N is a configurable integer greater than or equal to 1; The horizontally polarized H and vertically polarized V signals of group M are respectively input to M of the filtered signal amplification units; the output of each of the filtered signal amplification units is connected to the input of a polarization conversion unit; each polarization conversion unit converts the two polarization signals and outputs one left-handed circularly polarized signal and one right-handed circularly polarized signal. The two left-handed and two right-handed circularly polarized signals output from each of the two polarization conversion units are input to a four-channel reconfigurable multi-beamforming unit. The four-channel reconfigurable multi-beamforming unit is used to reconfigure the number of beams of the four input circularly polarized signals into 0.5M channels. After reconfiguration, each channel outputs N beam signals, and the amplitude and phase of each signal are controlled before output. The signals output by all four-channel reconfigurable multibeamforming units, corresponding to the same beam number, are input to the same highly integrated multibeam combining network unit for combining, and finally output from the N output ports N beam signals.

2. The phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable beam number and variable polarization according to claim 1, characterized in that, The polarization conversion unit is a 3dB coupler with high emission suppression function; The 3dB coupler has a first port, a second port, a third port, and a fourth port; wherein the first port and the second port serve as input terminals to receive the horizontally polarized H signal and the vertically polarized V signal, respectively, and the third port and the fourth port serve as output terminals to output the left-hand circularly polarized signal and the right-hand circularly polarized signal, respectively.

3. The phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable beam number and variable polarization according to claim 2, characterized in that, The 3dB coupler includes: The first transmission line, the second transmission line, the third transmission line, and the fourth transmission line are connected end to end to form a ring structure, forming four connection points; among them, the connection point between the first transmission line and the second transmission line is A, the connection point between the second transmission line and the third transmission line is B, the connection point between the third transmission line and the fourth transmission line is C, and the connection point between the fourth transmission line (LN4) and the first transmission line is D. An adjustable capacitor and / or inductor are connected in parallel to ground at at least one of the four connection points.

4. The phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable beam number and variable polarization according to claim 3, characterized in that, By adjusting the value of the adjustable capacitor, the 3dB coupler can suppress the preset out-of-band frequency while achieving the linear-to-circular polarization transition.

5. The phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable beam number and variable polarization according to claim 1, characterized in that, The filtered signal amplification unit includes a first filtered amplification branch and a second filtered amplification branch arranged in parallel, which are used to process horizontally polarized H signals and vertically polarized V signals, respectively. Both the first and second filter amplification branches include a filter and a low-noise amplifier connected in sequence.

6. The phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable beam number and variable polarization according to claim 5, characterized in that, In the filtering and amplification branch, the filter is located at the input terminal of the low-noise amplifier; In the filter amplification branch, the low-noise amplifier is located at the input end of the filter.

7. The phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable beam number and variable polarization according to claim 1, characterized in that, The four-channel reconfigurable multibeamforming unit includes: The amplifier module is used to amplify the four input circularly polarized signals; A reconfigurable power divider module is connected to the amplifier module and is used to reconfigure and distribute each amplified signal into N signals, where N is the number of configurable beams. Multiple phase-shifting attenuation channels, including phase shifters and attenuators connected in sequence, are used to perform amplitude and phase control on a corresponding signal from the reconfigurable power divider module; A power combiner is used to combine N groups of signals from different polarization channels that belong to the same beam number to obtain N combined signals. The driver amplifier module is used to amplify the N-channel synthesized signals and output them.

8. The phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable beam number and variable polarization according to claim 7, characterized in that, The reconfigurable power divider module includes an RF switch network. By controlling the state of the RF switch network, the signal distribution path can be changed, thereby reconfiguring one input signal into N outputs.

9. The phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable beam number and variable polarization according to claim 1, characterized in that, The number of four-channel reconfigurable multibeamforming units γ and the number of input port groups M satisfy the following relationship: γ = M / 2.

10. The phased array receiving radio frequency front-end device with reconfigurable beam number and variable polarization according to claim 1, characterized in that, The number of highly integrated multibeam combining network units is N, and each highly integrated multibeam combining network unit is a 0.5M-channel-to-1 power combiner; The 0.5M-channel-to-1 power combiner is used to combine 0.5 channels of signals from M / 2 of the four-channel reconfigurable multi-beamforming units, corresponding to the same beam number, into a single beam signal for output.

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