Image transmission equipment and unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract

The utility model provides an image transmission device and an unmanned aerial vehicle, the image transmission device is used for the image transmission process of the unmanned aerial vehicle, and the image transmission device comprises an image processing chip and at least four communication links; wherein the communication link comprises a radio frequency transmitting and receiving module, a duplexer and an antenna; antennae corresponding to the communication links are symmetrically arranged on the two sides of a fuselage of the unmanned aerial vehicle; the image transmission equipment at least comprises four communication links, and antennas of the communication links are arranged on the two sides of the unmanned aerial vehicle, so that the shielding of the aerial vehicle body on the antennas is reduced; the communication links are provided with the radio frequency transmitting and receiving modules, so that the power of each antenna can be uniformly received, the image transmission performance is ensured, and the problem of low performance caused by the unreasonable structure of image transmission equipment in the prior art is solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the field of image transmission equipment, in particular to an image transmission equipment and a drone. Background Art

[0002] The image transmission device of the drone is a wireless electronic transmission device that transmits the video captured by the camera to a remote location in real time wirelessly. The video transmission is carried out through the image transmission antenna and the relevant control terminal. At present, the most widely used transmission technologies on drones are OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) technology, WIFI (WIreless Fidelity) technology, Lightbridge (DJI real-time image transmission) high-definition long-distance digital image transmission technology, etc.

[0003] Due to the limited height of the drone body, the antennas used for image transmission are mostly placed on the aircraft's tripod, arm end or fuselage bottom to reduce the shielding of the metal fuselage on the antenna. However, when a drone with a high body and two image transmission antennas is communicating with the control end, one of the image transmission antennas will be blocked by the fuselage itself, causing the image transmission signal to attenuate, resulting in poor image transmission effect or even disconnection.

[0004] In the case of existing drones with four antennas arranged around the fuselage, two of the antennas use one power splitter, and the other two antennas use another power splitter. Due to the insertion loss of the power splitter, it is difficult for the power of each antenna to reach uniformity at the RF port, resulting in a decrease in image transmission performance.

[0005] In summary, the UAV image transmission equipment in the prior art still has the problem of low performance due to the unreasonable structure of the image transmission equipment. Utility Model Content

[0006] In view of this, the purpose of the utility model is to provide an image transmission device and a drone, which reduce the obstruction of the antenna by the body itself through at least four communication links deployed on both sides of the drone; these communication links are all provided with radio frequency transmitting and receiving modules, so that each antenna power can be received uniformly, thereby ensuring the image transmission performance and solving the problem of low performance caused by unreasonable structure of image transmission equipment in the prior art.

[0007] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the utility model provides an image transmission device, which is used in an image transmission process of a drone, and includes: an image processing chip and at least four communication links, wherein the communication links are respectively connected to signal transmission pins of the image processing chip;

[0008] Among them, the communication link includes: a radio frequency transmitting and receiving module, a duplexer and an antenna; the first transmission end of the radio frequency transmitting and receiving module is connected to the signal transmission pin of the image processing chip, and the second transmission end of the radio frequency transmitting and receiving module is connected to the first connection end of the duplexer; the second connection end of the duplexer is connected to the antenna; the antenna corresponding to the communication link is symmetrically arranged on both sides of the fuselage of the drone.

[0009] In one embodiment, optionally, the corresponding four antennas in the communication link are arranged horizontally and spaced 90 degrees apart from each other.

[0010] In one implementation, the signal transmission pins of the image processing chip include: a 5.8G network transmission pin and a 2.4G network transmission pin.

[0011] In one embodiment, the radio frequency transmitting and receiving module includes: a power amplifier, a noise amplifier and a switch component;

[0012] The input end of the power amplifier is connected to the signal transmission pin of the image processing chip; the output end of the power amplifier is connected to the input end of the noise amplifier; and the output end of the noise amplifier is connected to the first connection end of the duplexer through a switch component.

[0013] In one implementation, the radio frequency transmitting and receiving module uses at least a SKY85743 chip and a SKY85331 chip.

[0014] In one embodiment, the first transmission end and the second transmission end corresponding to the SKY85743 chip are both connected to the 5.8G network transmission pin;

[0015] The first transmission end and the second transmission end corresponding to the SKY85331 chip are both connected to the 2.4G network transmission pin.

[0016] In one embodiment, the antenna is one or more of a hard PCB antenna, a flexible circuit board antenna, and a rod antenna including a copper tube and a spring.

[0017] In one embodiment, when the UAV is a cuboid UAV, the antennas are all arranged in the horizontal plane of the UAV;

[0018] When the UAV is a cylindrical UAV, antennas corresponding to at least two communication links are arranged in the horizontal plane of the UAV; and antennas corresponding to the other two communication links are arranged in the vertical plane of the UAV.

[0019] In one embodiment, the distance between the antenna and the metal body of the fuselage shell of the drone is 5 mm-15 cm.

[0020] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present utility model provides a drone, which includes the image transmission device mentioned in the first aspect.

[0021] The utility model provides an image transmission device and a drone, which is used in the image transmission process of the drone, and includes: an image processing chip and at least four communication links, and the communication links are respectively connected to the signal transmission pins of the image processing chip. Among them, the communication link includes: a radio frequency transmitting and receiving module, a duplexer and an antenna; the first transmission end of the radio frequency transmitting and receiving module is connected to the signal transmission pin of the image processing chip, and the second transmission end of the radio frequency transmitting and receiving module is connected to the first connection end of the duplexer; the second connection end of the duplexer is connected to the antenna; the antennas corresponding to the communication link are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the drone body. The image transmission device includes at least four communication links, and the antennas of these communication links are deployed on both sides of the drone, thereby reducing the shielding of the antenna by the body itself; the communication links are all provided with radio frequency transmitting and receiving modules, so that each antenna power can be uniformly received, thereby ensuring the image transmission performance, and solving the problem of low performance caused by unreasonable structure of the image transmission equipment in the prior art.

[0022] Other features and advantages of the utility model will be described in the following description, and partly become apparent from the description, or understood by practicing the utility model. The purpose and other advantages of the utility model are realized and obtained by the structures specifically pointed out in the description, claims and drawings.

[0023] In order to make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, preferred embodiments are given below and described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] In order to more clearly illustrate the specific implementation methods of the utility model or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the specific implementation methods or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some implementation methods of the utility model. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0025] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of an image transmission device provided by an embodiment of the utility model;

[0026] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a radio frequency transmitting and receiving module provided in an embodiment of the utility model;

[0027] Figure 3 A schematic structural diagram of a drone provided in an embodiment of the utility model.

[0028] icon:

[0029] 100-image processing chip; 210-RF transmitting and receiving module; 220-duplexer; 230-antenna;

[0030] 211 - power amplifier; 212 - noise amplifier; 213 - switch component. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the embodiments of the utility model clearer, the technical solution of the utility model will be clearly and completely described in combination with the embodiments below. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the utility model, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the utility model, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the utility model.

[0032] The image transmission device of the drone is a wireless electronic transmission device that transmits the video captured by the camera to a remote location in real time wirelessly. The video transmission is carried out through the image transmission antenna and the relevant control terminal. At present, the most widely used transmission technologies on drones are OFDM technology, WIFI technology, Lightbridge high-definition long-distance digital image transmission technology, etc.

[0033] Due to the limited height of the drone body, the antennas used for image transmission are mostly arranged on the aircraft's tripod, arm end or bottom of the fuselage to reduce the shielding of the antenna by the metal fuselage. However, when a drone with a high body and two image transmission antennas is communicating with the control end, one of the image transmission antennas will be blocked by the fuselage itself, causing the image transmission signal to attenuate, resulting in poor image transmission effect or even disconnection. In the case of existing drones with four antennas arranged around the fuselage, two of the antennas use one power divider and the other two antennas use another power divider. Due to the insertion loss of the power divider, it will be difficult for the power of each antenna to reach uniformity at the RF port, resulting in a decrease in image transmission performance.

[0034] In summary, the image transmission equipment of drones in the prior art still has the problem of low performance due to the unreasonable structure of the image transmission equipment. Based on this, the utility model provides an image transmission device and a drone, which reduces the shielding of the antenna by the body itself through at least four communication links deployed on both sides of the drone. These communication links are all equipped with radio frequency transmitting and receiving modules, so that each antenna power can be uniformly received, thereby ensuring the image transmission performance and solving the problem of low performance due to the unreasonable structure of the image transmission equipment in the prior art.

[0035] To facilitate understanding of this embodiment, an image transmission device disclosed in the embodiment of the utility model is first described in detail. The image transmission device is used in the image transmission process of a drone, such as Figure 1 As shown, the image transmission device comprises: an image processing chip 100 and at least four communication links, wherein each communication link is respectively connected to a signal transmission pin of the image processing chip 100 .

[0036] Specifically, each communication link includes: a radio frequency transmitting and receiving module 210, a duplexer 220 and an antenna 230. The first transmission end of the radio frequency transmitting and receiving module 210 is connected to the signal transmission pin of the image processing chip 100, and the second transmission end of the radio frequency transmitting and receiving module 210 is connected to the first connection end of the duplexer 220; the second connection end of the duplexer 220 is connected to the antenna 230; the antennas corresponding to the communication link are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the fuselage of the drone. For the convenience of description, the corresponding antennas 230 in the four communication links are respectively recorded as: A1, B1, C1, and C2. Among them, A1 and B1 are a group, and C1 and C2 are a group. These two groups of antennas are respectively arranged on both sides of the fuselage of the drone. The four antennas A1, B1, C1, and C2 corresponding to the communication link are arranged horizontally and are 90° apart from each other.

[0037] Taking WIFI image transmission as an example, since the image transmission device in this application is equipped with at least four links, it is necessary to use WIFI transmission with 4T4R. Therefore, in one embodiment, the image processing chip is Broadcom BCM43684 chip. This chip is a 4T4R processing chip supporting dual bands (2.4G / 5.8G), with 284 pins and a package size of 13mm*13mm.

[0038] In one embodiment, the signal transmission pins of the image processing chip include: a 5.8G network transmission pin and a 2.4G network transmission pin. Specifically, the Broadcom BCM43684 chip can separate four signals, each of which includes 2.4G / 5.8G input / output. These four communication links are connected through the following pins:

[0039] The pins of the first route are: RF5G_IN_C0 and RF5G_OUT_C0, representing 5.8G input / output; RF2G_IN_C0 and RF2G_OUT_C0, representing 2.4G input / output.

[0040] The pins of the second route are: RF5G_IN_C1 and RF5G_OUT_C1, representing 5.8G input / output; RF2G_IN_C1 and RF2G_OUT_C1, representing 2.4G input / output.

[0041] The pins of the third route are: RF5G_IN_C2 and RF5G_OUT_C2, representing 5.8G input / output; RF2G_IN_C2 and RF2G_OUT_C2, representing 2.4G input / output.

[0042] The pins of the fourth route are: RF5G_IN_C3 and RF5G_OUT_C3, representing 5.8G input / output; RF2G_IN_C3 and RF2G_OUT_C3, representing 2.4G input / output.

[0043] like Figure 2 As shown, in one embodiment, the RF transmitting and receiving module 210 includes: a power amplifier 211, a noise amplifier 212 and a switch component 213. The input end of the power amplifier 211 is connected to the signal transmission pin of the image processing chip 100; the output end of the power amplifier 211 is connected to the input end of the noise amplifier 212; the output end of the noise amplifier 212 is connected to the first connection end of the duplexer 220 through the switch component 213.

[0044] Specifically, each RF transmitting and receiving module 210 includes a power amplifier 211, a noise amplifier 212 and a switch component 213. Each antenna 230 is connected to a duplexer 220, and the function of the duplexer 220 is to isolate the transmitting and receiving signals to ensure that both the receiving and transmitting can work normally at the same time. Each antenna 230 is responsible for the transmission and reception of RF signals in the radiation direction of the antenna. Specifically, in one embodiment, the RF transmitting and receiving module uses at least the SKY85743 chip and the SKY85331 chip. SKYWORKS's SKY85743 is a RF chip unit that integrates 5.8G transmission and reception, while SKYWORKS's SKY85331 is a RF chip unit that integrates 2.4G transmission and reception.

[0045] In one embodiment, the first transmission end and the second transmission end corresponding to the SKY85743 chip are both connected to the 5.8G network transmission pin; the first transmission end and the second transmission end corresponding to the SKY85331 chip are both connected to the 2.4G network transmission pin.

[0046] In each communication channel, SKY85743 is connected to one of the RF5G_IN_C0 / 1 / 2 / 3 pins and RF5G_OUT_C0 / 1 / 2 / 3 pins in the Broadcom BCM43684 chip.

[0047] SKY85331 is connected to one of the RF2.4G_IN_C0 / 1 / 2 / 3 pins and RF2.4G_OUT_C0 / 1 / 2 / 3 pins in the Broadcom BCM43684 chip.

[0048] In one embodiment, the antenna is one or more of a hard PCB antenna, a flexible circuit board antenna, and a rod antenna including a copper tube and a spring.

[0049] In one embodiment, when the drone is a rectangular drone, the antennas are all arranged in the horizontal plane of the drone; when the drone is a cylindrical drone, at least two antennas corresponding to the communication links are arranged in the horizontal plane of the drone; and the antennas corresponding to the other two communication links are arranged in the vertical plane of the drone.

[0050] In one embodiment, the distance between the antenna and the metal body of the fuselage shell of the drone is 5 mm-15 cm.

[0051] It can be seen from the image transmission device mentioned in the above embodiment that the at least four communication links deployed on both sides of the drone can reduce the obstruction of the antenna by the body itself; these communication links are all provided with radio frequency transmitting and receiving modules, so that each antenna power can be received uniformly, thereby ensuring the image transmission performance and solving the problem of low performance caused by unreasonable structure of image transmission equipment in the prior art.

[0052] The utility model embodiment provides a drone, such as Figure 3 As shown, the UAV includes the image transmission device mentioned in the above embodiment. Four antennas are arranged near the fuselage of the UAV. The antenna board can be a hard PCB board antenna, a flexible board antenna, or a rod antenna composed of a copper tube and a spring. The shell of the antenna board can be processed into a cylindrical, square or conical shape. Antennas A1, C1, B1 and C2 are arranged on four faces (rectangular UAV) or four 90-degree directions (cylindrical UAV), respectively, where A1 and B1 are located on opposite sides of the fuselage, and C1 and C2 are on opposite sides of the fuselage. The antenna can be arranged on the upper, middle or lower part of the UAV.

[0053] The image transmission antenna in the drone can be built-in and fixed on the non-metallic structure of the fuselage, or it can be external and kept at a certain distance from the fuselage. The distance between the image transmission antenna and the outer metal body of the fuselage is 5mm to 15cm.

[0054] The communication link in this drone is suitable for drone structures with a fuselage height of 6cm to 100cm; the image transmission antenna operating frequency band supports 840-960MHz, 1.4GHz, 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz.

[0055] The image transmission device in the drone provided by the embodiment of the utility model has the same implementation principle and technical effects as those of the aforementioned image transmission device embodiment. For the sake of brief description, for matters not mentioned in the device embodiment, reference can be made to the corresponding contents in the aforementioned embodiment.

[0056] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems and devices can be implemented in other ways. The device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some communication interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0057] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0058] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present utility model may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0059] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium that is executable by a processor. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the utility model can essentially or in other words, the part that contributes to the prior art or the part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including several instructions to enable a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the utility model. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM, Read-Only Memory), random access memory (RAM, Random Access Memory), disk or optical disk and other media that can store program codes.

[0060] Finally, it should be noted that the above-described embodiments are only specific implementation methods of the utility model, which are used to illustrate the technical solution of the utility model, rather than to limit it. The protection scope of the utility model is not limited thereto. Although the utility model is described in detail with reference to the above-mentioned embodiments, ordinary technicians in this field should understand that any technician familiar with the technical field can still modify the technical solution recorded in the above-mentioned embodiments within the technical scope disclosed by the utility model, or can easily think of changes, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein; and these modifications, changes or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solution deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solution of the embodiment of the utility model, and should be included in the protection scope of the utility model. Therefore, the protection scope of the utility model shall be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An image transmission device, characterized in that: The image transmission device is used in the image transmission process of the drone, and comprises: an image processing chip and at least four communication links, wherein the communication links are respectively connected to the signal transmission pins of the image processing chip; Among them, the communication link includes: a radio frequency transmitting and receiving module, a duplexer and an antenna; the first transmission end of the radio frequency transmitting and receiving module is connected to the signal transmission pin of the image processing chip, and the second transmission end of the radio frequency transmitting and receiving module is connected to the first connection end of the duplexer; the second connection end of the duplexer is connected to the antenna; the antenna corresponding to the communication link is symmetrically arranged on both sides of the fuselage of the drone.

2. The image transmission device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The four antennas corresponding to the communication link are arranged horizontally and spaced 90 degrees apart from each other.

3. The image transmission device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The signal transmission pins of the image processing chip include: a 5.8G network transmission pin and a 2.4G network transmission pin.

4. The image transmission device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The radio frequency transmitting and receiving module includes: a power amplifier, a noise amplifier and a switch component; Among them, the input end of the power amplifier is connected to the signal transmission pin of the image processing chip; the output end of the power amplifier is connected to the input end of the noise amplifier; the output end of the noise amplifier is connected to the first connection end of the duplexer through the switch component.

5. The image transmission device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The radio frequency transmitting and receiving module uses at least a SKY85743 chip and a SKY85331 chip.

6. The image transmission device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The first transmission end and the second transmission end corresponding to the SKY85743 chip are both connected to the 5.8G network transmission pin; The first transmission end and the second transmission end corresponding to the SKY85331 chip are both connected to the 2.4G network transmission pin.

7. The image transmission device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The antenna is one or more of a hard PCB antenna, a flexible circuit board antenna, and a rod antenna including a copper tube and a spring.

8. The image transmission device according to claim 2, characterized in that: When the UAV is a rectangular UAV, the antennas are all arranged in the horizontal plane of the UAV; When the drone is a cylindrical drone, at least two of the antennas corresponding to the communication links are arranged in the horizontal plane of the drone; and the other two antennas corresponding to the communication links are arranged in the vertical plane of the drone.

9. The image transmission device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The distance between the antenna and the metal body of the fuselage shell of the drone is 5mm-15cm.

10. A drone, characterized in that: The drone comprises the image transmission device according to any one of claims 1 to 9 above.

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