Phase shift device

Abstract

This application provides a phase shift device comprising a first phase shift module, a second phase shift module, and M combiners, where M is an integer greater than 1. The input interface of the first phase shift module is configured to receive the carrier component of a first signal, and one of the M output interfaces of the first phase shift module is connected to the first input interface of one of the M combiners. The input interface of the second phase shift module is configured to receive the sideband component of the first signal, and one of the M output interfaces of the second phase shift module is connected to the second input interface of one of the M combiners. The output interface of one of the M combiners is configured to connect to the input interface of one of the M antenna elements in an antenna array. The phase shift device provided in this application can improve dispersion efficiency by an order of magnitude compared to conventional phase shift devices, and can be miniaturized or integrated onto a single chip.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This application relates to the field of optical communications, and more specifically, to phase shift devices. [Background technology]

[0002] In fully connected hybrid beamforming (HBF) antenna systems, phase shifters are inserted between any transceiver unit and any antenna element to implement beamforming in the analog domain, and each phase shifter independently weights the signal. In this case, there are a total of N × M weights. For example, if a fully connected HBF antenna system has many antenna elements, the system includes M antenna elements and N transceiver units (where M is greater than N), and a conventional fully connected HBF antenna system would require N × M phase shifters, resulting in an excessively large number of phase shifters and excessively high hardware complexity. A simpler idea is for the fully connected HBF antenna system to implement only steering vector beams, with each beam controlling two directions: horizontal and vertical. In this case, the theoretically minimum number of weights required is 2N. Specifically, how can the number of phase shifters be reduced to the minimum number of weights, 2N? In other words, how can the number of phase shifters be decoupled from the antenna element scale of the HBF antenna system? Regarding The microwave photonics field offers a good direction for implementing the aforementioned requirements. Optical domain dispersion effects may be used to implement a steering vector HBF antenna system. The basic idea is to use a hardware-fixed (purely passive) dispersed phase-shift network, where the phase of the output signal of the dispersed phase-shift network changes with the wavelength of the input microwave photonics signal. After changing the wavelength of the microwave photonics signal, the phase of the output signals of all channels of the entire dispersed phase-shift network is refreshed synchronously, and as a result, the phase shifter can be decoupled from the antenna scale of the HBF antenna system.

[0003] However, the dispersion effect of conventional distributed phase shift devices is too weak, resulting in a lack of miniaturization and integration onto a single chip. Manufacturing costs and scale become bottlenecks, limiting the further application of conventional distributed phase shift devices. [Overview of the project]

[0004] This application provides a phase shift device that can improve dispersion efficiency by an order of magnitude and can be miniaturized or integrated onto a single chip.

[0005] According to the first viewpoint, a phase shift device is provided. This phase shift device includes a first phase shift module, a second phase shift module, and M combiners, where M is an integer greater than 1. The input interface of the first phase shift module is configured to receive the carrier component of a first signal, and one of the M output interfaces of the first phase shift module is connected to the first input interface of one of the M combiners. The input interface of the second phase shift module is configured to receive the sideband component of the first signal, and one of the M output interfaces of the second phase shift module is connected to the second input interface of one of the M combiners. The output interface of one of the M combiners is configured to be connected to the input interface of one of the M antenna elements in an antenna array.

[0006] Based on the aforementioned technical solution, the carrier and sideband components of the first signal are input to the phase shift device from the input interfaces of the two phase shift modules, respectively. The CS (where C stands for carrier and S stands for sideband) separation and dispersion mechanism can improve dispersion efficiency by an order of magnitude compared to conventional phase shift devices, enabling miniaturization of the phase shift device or integration onto a single chip.

[0007] In some implementations, the first phase shift module includes M delay lines, with a first and second end of one of the M delay lines of the first phase shift module connected to the input interface of the first phase shift module and one of the M output interfaces of the first phase shift module, respectively; and the second phase shift module includes M delay lines, with a first and second end of one of the M delay lines of the second phase shift module connected to the input interface of the second phase shift module and one of the M output interfaces of the second phase shift module, respectively.

[0008] In some implementations, the first phase shift ModuleThe M delay lines are included in M1 sets of delay lines, each set of delay lines includes M2 delay lines, where M1 is the number of antenna elements in the horizontal dimension of the antenna array and M2 is the number of antenna elements in the vertical dimension of the antenna array, or M1 is the number of antenna elements in the vertical dimension of the antenna array and M2 is the number of antenna elements in the horizontal dimension of the antenna array, M is equal to the product of M1 and M2, and each of the M delay lines of the first phase shift module includes a first delay line and a second delay line corresponding to the delay line. The lengths of the first delay lines corresponding to the M2 delay lines in the set of delay lines are the same, the lengths of the corresponding second delay lines are sequentially different by a first value, and the lengths of the M1 first delay lines corresponding to the M1 sets of delay lines are sequentially different by a second value. The M delay lines of the second phase shift module are included in M1 sets of delay lines, each set of delay lines includes M2 delay lines, and each of the M delay lines of the second phase shift module includes a first delay line and a second delay line corresponding to the delay line. The lengths of the first delay lines corresponding to the M2 delay lines in the set of delay lines of the second phase shift module are the same, the lengths of the corresponding second delay lines are sequentially different by a third value, and the lengths of the M1 first delay lines corresponding to the M1 sets of delay lines of the second phase shift module are sequentially different by a fourth value. Neither the first difference nor the second difference is zero, and the first difference is not equal to the second difference. The first difference is the absolute value of the difference between the first value and the third value, and the second difference is the absolute value of the difference between the second value and the fourth value.

[0009] For ease of description, for example, the characteristics of the lengths of the M delay lines in this implementation may be referred to as optical path cascade characteristics.

[0010] In the foregoing technical solution, based on the optical path cascade characteristics, the phase of the signal is in two dimensions, i.e., the horizontal dimension and the vertical dimension (dimensio n) It can be adjusted. In addition, the first difference and the second difference can be used to represent the dispersion intensity in the horizontal dimension and the vertical dimension, and it is assumed that there is a difference between the first difference and the second difference. As a result, the central wavelength of the microwave photonic signal based on the first signal can have phase differences with different change tendencies in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, thereby implementing 2D beamforming.

[0011] In some implementations, the lengths of the M delay lines of the first phase shift Module are sequentially different by the first value, and the lengths of the M delay lines of the second phase shift device are sequentially different by the second value.

[0012] According to a second aspect, a phase shift device is provided. The phase shift device includes a first phase shift module. The first phase shift module includes M delay lines. One first end and a second end of one of the M delay lines are respectively connected to the input interface of the first phase shift module and one of the M output interfaces of the first phase shift module. The M output interfaces of the first phase shift module are connected to M antenna elements in the antenna array, and M is an integer greater than 1. The M delay lines of the first phase shift device are included in M1 sets of delay lines. Each set of delay lines includes M2 delay lines. M1 is the number of antenna elements in the horizontal dimension of the antenna array, and M2 is the number of antenna elements in the vertical dimension of the antenna array, or M1 is the number of antenna elements in the vertical dimension of the antenna array, and M2 is the number of antenna elements in the horizontal dimension of the antenna array. M is equal to the product of M1 and M2. Each of the M delay lines of the first phase shift module includes a first delay line and a second delay line corresponding to the delay line. The lengths of the first delay lines corresponding to the M2 delay lines in the set of delay lines are the same, and the lengths of the corresponding second delay lines are sequentially different by the first value. The lengths of the M1 first delay lines corresponding to the M1 sets of delay lines are sequentially different by the second value. Neither the first value nor the second value is 0, and the first value is not equal to the second value.

[0013] In the aforementioned technical solution, the phase of the signal can be adjusted in two dimensions (horizontal and vertical) based on the optical path cascade characteristics. In addition, the first and second values ​​can be used to represent the dispersion intensity in the horizontal and vertical dimensions, and a difference exists between the first and second values. As a result, the center wavelength of the microwave photonics signal based on the first signal can have a phase difference with different changing trends in the horizontal and vertical directions, thereby implementing 2D beamforming.

[0014] In some implementations, the phase shift device further includes a second phase shift module. The input interface of the second phase shift module is configured to receive the sideband component of the first signal. The input interface of the first phase shift module is configured to receive the carrier component of the first signal. The second phase shift module includes M delay lines, the first and second ends of one of the M delay lines being connected to the input interface of the second phase shift module and one of the M output interfaces of the second phase shift module, respectively. The M delay lines are comprised of M1 delay line sets, each delay line set containing M2 delay lines, and each of the M delay lines of the second phase shift module includes a first delay line and a second delay line corresponding to the delay line. In the delay line set of the second phase shift module, the lengths of the first delay lines corresponding to M2 delay lines are the same, the lengths of the corresponding second delay lines differ sequentially by a third value, and the lengths of the M1 first delay lines corresponding to the M1 delay line set of the second phase shift module differ sequentially by a fourth value. Neither the first difference nor the second difference is zero, and the first difference is not equal to the second difference. The first difference is the absolute value of the difference between the first value and the third value, and the second difference is the absolute value of the difference between the second value and the fourth value. The phase shift device further includes M combiners. One of the M output interfaces of the first phase shift module is connected to the input interface of one of the M combiners. One of the M output interfaces of the second phase shift module is connected to the input interface of one of the M combiners. The output interface of one of the M combiners is configured to be connected to the input interface of one of the M antenna elements.

[0015] In the aforementioned technical solution, the carrier component and sideband component of the first signal are input to the phase shift device from the input interfaces of the two phase shift modules of the phase shift device, respectively. The CS separation and dispersion mechanism can improve the dispersion efficiency of the phase shift device by an order of magnitude compared to conventional phase shift devices, and enables miniaturization of the phase shift device or integration onto a single chip.

[0016] In some implementations, the first and third values ​​have opposite signs, and / or the second and fourth values ​​have opposite signs.

[0017] In the aforementioned technical solution, the dispersion efficiency can be doubled compared to a dispersion phase shift performed on a single component, i.e., the carrier component or the sideband component.

[0018] In some implementations, the first delay line corresponding to each of the M1 delay line sets in the third phase shift module is a common delay line for the corresponding delay line sets, and the third phase shift module is either the first phase shift module or the second phase shift module.

[0019] For example, in this implementation, the topology structure corresponding to M delay lines may be called a purely parallel feed topology structure. Based on this topology structure, the distributors connected to all delay lines in the phase shift device can be equal, simplifying the network design.

[0020] In some implementations, the first delay line of each of the M delay lines of the third phase shift module includes the third and fourth delay lines contained within the delay line, the third delay line in the first delay line in at least two delay line sets out of the M delay line sets of the third phase shift module is a common delay line of at least two delay line sets, and / or the second delay line of each of the M delay lines of the third phase shift module includes the fifth and sixth delay lines contained within the delay line, the fifth delay line in the second delay line in at least two delay line sets out of the M1 delay line sets of the third phase shift module is a common delay line of at least two delay line sets.

[0021] For example, in this implementation, the topology structure corresponding to M delay lines may be called a cascaded parallel feed topology structure. In this topology structure, it will be understood that some of the adjacent delay lines in the purely parallel feed structure are multiplexed, significantly reducing the chip size.

[0022] In some implementations, the phase shift device includes a first chip and M1 second chips. Both the first delay line of each of the M delay lines of the first phase shift module and the first delay line of each of the M delay lines of the second phase shift module are located on the first chip. Both the second delay line of M2 delay lines in one of the M1 delay line sets of the first phase shift module and the second delay line of M2 delay lines in one of the M1 delay line sets of the second phase shift module are located on one of the M1 second chips.

[0023] The aforementioned technical solution has the advantage of significantly reducing the specification requirements of the optical chip and allowing for flexible placement of the output port. For example, when the M paths of the first and second phase shift modules are purely parallel feeds, the following beneficial effects can be specifically achieved. Firstly, the position of the M1 second chips can be flexibly adjusted to accommodate large backend modules such as antennas. Secondly, the structure of the M1 second chips is exactly the same, and the phase shift device can be implemented using only two types of optical chips. Thirdly, each optical chip channel has an M1 or M2 scale. Compared to a single chip that needs to be implemented at an M1*M2 scale, the specification requirements for a single chip are significantly reduced, implementation is easier, and yield can be controlled well. Fourthly, the minimum number of connections required between the first chip and the M1 second chips is only 2*M1, resulting in lower packaging difficulty and cost. In addition, if it is necessary to add optical amplifiers between the first and second chips, the number of optical amplifiers required is also small.

[0024] In some implementations, the first phase shift module includes a first distributor, the first distributor includes M1 power branch paths, the first ends of the M1 power branch paths in the first distributor are connected to the input interface of the first phase shift module, the second end of one of the M1 power branch paths in the first distributor is individually connected to the first end of one of the M1 common first delay lines of the first phase shift module, the first end of one of the first first delay lines in the first phase shift module is the same as the first end of any one of the M2 delay lines in the delay line set corresponding to the first delay line. The first ends of the M1 power branch paths in the second distributor are connected to the input interface of the second phase shift module.

[0025] In some implementations, the second phase shift module includes a second distributor, the second distributor includes M1 power branch paths, the first ends of the M1 power branch paths in the second distributor are connected to the input interface of the second phase shift module, the second end of one of the M1 power branch paths in the second distributor is individually connected to the first end of one of the M1 common first delay lines in the second phase shift module, and the first end of one of the first delay lines in the second phase shift module is the same as the first end of any one of the M2 delay lines in the delay line set corresponding to the first delay line.

[0026] In some implementations, the deviation between the length of M1 power branch paths in the first phase-shift module and the first length, and the deviation between the length of M1 power branch paths in the second phase-shift module and the first length, are both smaller than the first threshold.

[0027] In the aforementioned technical solution, M in the first distributor and the second distributor 1 It can be assumed that all of these power branch paths are wired to be of equal length.

[0028] In some implementations, the deviation between the length of M1 power branch paths in the first phase shift module and the length of the second is less than the second threshold, and the deviation between the length of M1 delay lines in the second phase shift module and the length of the third is less than the third threshold.

[0029] In the aforementioned technical solution, it can be assumed that the M power branch paths in the first distributor are wired to be of equal length, and the M power branch paths in the second distributor are wired to be of equal length. For example, the lengths of the first and second distributors may be the same or different.

[0030] In some implementations, the deviation between the distance between N% of the path length of the first power branch path and N% of the path length of the second power branch path and the fourth length is less than the fourth threshold, N is greater than 0, the first power branch path is the power branch path used for transmitting the second signal among the M power branch paths of the first phase shift module, the second power branch path is the power branch path used for transmitting the third signal among the M power branch paths of the second phase shift module, and the second and third signals are the sideband and carrier components of the first signal output to the same combiner of the M combiners, respectively.

[0031] According to the aforementioned technical solution, the first power branch path and the second power branch path in the first and second distributors are as close together as possible in terms of physical location, and as a result, the initial phase error of signals transmitted on different delay lines can be reduced.

[0032] According to a third aspect, an antenna device is provided. The antenna device includes a phase shift device in any one of the first or second embodiments or an implementation of the first or second embodiment.

[0033] For example, the antenna device may be an active antenna unit (AAU) or a remote radio unit (RRU).

[0034] From a fourth perspective, a method for phase shifting is provided. This method involves separating a first signal to generate a carrier component and a sideband component of the first signal, inputting the carrier component of the first signal to the input interface of a first phase shift module of a phase shift device, and the sideband component of the first signal minutes This includes inputting to the input interface of the second phase shift module of the phase shift device. The phase shift device includes a phase shift device in any one of the first or second embodiments or an implementation of the first or second embodiment. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0035] [Figure 1] This is a diagram of a fully coupled HBF antenna system.

[0036] [Figure 2] This is a diagram of a conventional optical dispersive phase shift device.

[0037] [Figure 3] This is a diagram showing the structure of yet another phase shift device according to one embodiment of the present application.

[0038] [Figure 4] This is a diagram showing the structure of another phase shift device according to one embodiment of this application.

[0039] [Figure 5] This is a diagram showing the structure of yet another phase shift device according to one embodiment of the present application.

[0040] [Figure 6] This is a diagram of a purely parallel feed type topology structure with M delay lines according to one embodiment of this application.

[0041] [Figure 7] This is a diagram of a cascaded parallel feed type topology structure with M delay lines according to one embodiment of this application.

[0042] [Figure 8] This is a diagram of a series feed and parallel feed type topology structure of M delay lines according to one embodiment of this application.

[0043] [Figure 9] This is a diagram of a purely serial feed type topology structure with M delay lines according to one embodiment of this application.

[0044] [Figure 10] This is a diagram showing the structure of a specific phase shift device according to one embodiment of this application.

[0045] [Figure 11] Figure 10 shows the structure of the phase shift device after fragmentation processing.

[0046] [Figure 12] This figure shows possible arrangements of the first power branch path and the second power branch path in the first and second distributors according to one embodiment of the present application.

[0047] [Figure 13] This figure shows another possible arrangement of the first power branch path and the second power branch path in the first and second distributors according to one embodiment of the present application. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0048] The technical solution of this application is described below with reference to the attached drawings.

[0049] In the descriptions of the embodiments of this application, “plural” means two or more, and “at least one” and “one or more” mean one, two, or three or more. The singular forms, “one,” “a,” “said,” “foregoing,” “the,” and “this,” are intended to include expressions such as “one or more,” unless the context explicitly indicates the opposite.

[0050] References to “one embodiment,” “several embodiments,” etc., in this specification indicate that one or more embodiments of this application include certain features, structures, or characteristics described in relation to the embodiments. Therefore, phrases such as “in one embodiment,” “several embodiments,” “several other embodiments,” and “other embodiments” appearing in different parts of this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Instead, unless otherwise specifically emphasized, the phrases mean “one or more embodiments, but not all embodiments.” Unless otherwise specifically emphasized, the terms “include,” “contain,” “have,” and their variations all mean “include, but not limited to.”

[0051] In the following embodiments of this application, terms such as “includes,” “has,” and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device including a list of steps or units is not necessarily limited to the explicitly listed steps or units and may include other steps or units that are not explicitly listed or are not specific to such process, method, product, or device.

[0052] In embodiments of this application, terms such as “example” or “for example” are used to indicate that an example, illustration, or description is being provided. Any embodiment or design scheme described with “example” or “for example” should not be described as being preferable to or having more advantages than another embodiment or design scheme. Terms such as “example” or “for example” are used to present relevant concepts in a particular manner for ease of understanding.

[0053] The portions of the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of this application are not drawn to scale. The dimensions and sizes of the portions shown in the drawings are illustrative and should not be construed as limitations of this application.

[0054] In the embodiments of this application, "corresponding" and "corresponding" may sometimes be used interchangeably. Note that when the difference in expression is not emphasized, the meanings expressed by the expressions are consistent.

[0055] The technical solution of this application may be applied to multiple scenarios, for example, hybrid beamforming (HBF) networks in wireless base station communication systems, phased array radar, satellite networks, and the like.

[0056] The architectures and scenarios described in the embodiments of this application are intended to more clearly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application. Those skilled in the art may know that, with the development of network architectures and the emergence of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application may also be applicable to similar technical problems.

[0057] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, the concepts and related procedures described herein are first outlined.

[0058] 1. HBF: In a base station antenna system, a phase shifter is inserted between several transceiver modules and antenna elements. This phase shifter is used to implement beamforming in the analog domain, and this beamforming, along with the original beamforming in the digital domain, is called HBF.

[0059] 2. Microwave Signals: Microwave signals are electromagnetic signals with frequencies in the range of 300 MHz to 300 GHz. Microwave signals are the foundation for the development and growth of fields such as telecommunications, national defense, sensing, medicine, and aerospace.

[0060] 3. Microwave Photonics (MWP): Microwave photonics is currently an important research field. The core idea of ​​microwave photonics is to generate microwave photonic signals by transmitting microwave signals to the optical frequency band, thereby shifting the processing of microwave signals (electrical signals) to optical signals. Most components of microwave photonics systems include optical components, which can enjoy the advantages of optical components such as ultra-small size, low power consumption, ultra-low insertion loss, ultra-wide bandwidth, flexible adjustment of the microwave signal frequency band, electromagnetic interference countermeasures, simple processing, and low cost.

[0061] 4. Steering Vector Beam: The beam is obtained by weighting the radiant energies of a linear-phase group of radiation sources. The beam direction is adjusted by adjusting the linear phase gradient, i.e., the phase difference between adjacent radiation sources. control It may also be used.

[0062] 5. Optical Dispersion Effect: The optical dispersion effect is a phenomenon in which the phase change of an optical signal after it has passed through a medium is related to the wavelength of the signal.

[0063] In wireless communications, beamforming is a signal processing technique that uses antenna arrays to implement directional signal transmission or reception. Beamforming enables antenna systems to achieve spatial selectivity. Compared to omnidirectional antennas, this antenna system can acquire a directional coefficient gain and avoid spatial interference.

[0064] The principle of beamforming is to weight the signal transmitted to or from an antenna array unit (i.e., adjust the amplitude and phase of the signal). In this way, the signal is subjected to constructive interference in one direction in space and destructive interference in another, thereby implementing spatial selectivity. When the weighting procedure is implemented in the digital domain, the weighting procedure is beamforming in the digital domain. When the weighting procedure is implemented in the analog domain, the weighting procedure is beamforming in the analog domain. In analog domain beamforming, a phase shifter is inserted between the transceiver and the antenna element to implement beamforming in the analog domain. When the weighting procedure exists in both the digital and analog domains, the weighting procedure is hybrid beamforming. The advantage of beamforming in the digital domain is that it can carry multiple data streams, which is key to implementing multiple inputs and multiple outputs (MIMO). The disadvantage is that the number of transceiver units must match the number of antenna array units. In many antenna element scenarios (e.g., high frequencies), having too many transceiver units results in excessively high system cost and complexity. Beamforming in the analog domain is the opposite of beamforming in the digital domain. The advantage of beamforming in the analog domain is that a single transceiver unit can drive and control multiple antenna array units based on an analog weighting device. The disadvantage is that it cannot carry multiple data streams. Hybrid beamforming combines the advantages of both analog and digital beamforming. Therefore, in an HBF antenna system, the number of transceiver modules does not have to be equal to the number of antenna elements.

[0065] Figure 1 shows a diagram of a fully connected HBF antenna system. This system includes M antenna elements and N transceiver units. The radio frequency (RF) module in Figure 1 can be considered a transceiver unit, where M is greater than N. In a fully connected HBF antenna system, to achieve beamforming in the analog domain, phase shifters may be inserted between any transceiver unit and any antenna element, and any phase shifter may independently weight the signal. In this case, there are a total of N*M weights, where * represents multiplication. For large antenna systems, conventional fully connected HBF antenna systems require N*M phase shifters, and the number of phase shifters is too large, resulting in excessive hardware complexity and weighting algorithm complexity. A simpler idea is for the fully connected HBF antenna system to implement only steering vector beams, with each beam controlling two directions: horizontal and vertical. In this case, the theoretically minimum number of weights required is 2N. Specifically, how to reduce the number of phase shifters to the minimum number of weights 2N, or in other words, how to decouple the number of phase shifters from the antenna element scale of an HBF antenna system, the field of microwave photonics offers a good direction for implementing the aforementioned requirements.

[0066] To simplify the steering vector HBF antenna system, optical domain dispersion effects may be used. The basic idea is to use a hardware-fixed (purely passive) dispersed phase-shift network, where the phase of the output signal of the dispersed phase-shift network changes with the wavelength of the input light source. After changing the wavelength of the light source, the phase of the output signal of all channels in the entire dispersed phase-shift network can be refreshed synchronously, and the phase shifter can be isolated from the antenna element scale of the HBF antenna system.

[0067] Figure 2 shows a diagram of a conventional optical domain dispersed phase shift device. The input light is a microwave photonics signal, which contains two signal components: a carrier component (wavelength λc) and a sideband component (wavelength λs = λc + Δλcs, where Δλcs determines the antenna output RF frequency). The microwave photonics signal is input to a passive dispersed phase shift device. A distributor splits the microwave photonics signal into M signals, each of which is transmitted via M delay lines. In the diagram, the difference in length between two adjacent delay lines is ΔL. The M signals are then converted to the electrical domain and transmitted via antennas. The phase difference of the signals output by antenna elements connected to any delay line with a transmission distance difference of ΔL is Δφ, where Δφ satisfies the following relationship.

number

[0068] λ = (λC + λS) / 2. That is, λ represents the center wavelength of the input microwave photonics signal.

[0069] From the aforementioned equation, it can be seen that because Δλcs is too small (e.g., 0.224 nm), the dispersion effect of conventional dispersed phase-shift devices is too weak when the signal is transmitted along its path. A weak dispersion effect can be understood as Δλcs being too small, so if a certain determined Δφ needs to be obtained, the required length of ΔL is too large (for example, ΔL could be on the order of 200 m multiplied by M squared). As a result, it is not possible to miniaturize dispersed phase-shift devices or integrate them onto a single chip, and manufacturing costs and production scale become bottlenecks, limiting the further application of conventional dispersed phase-shift devices.

[0070] Furthermore, from the aforementioned equation, it can be seen that conventional distributed phase shift devices can only implement one-dimensional distributed tuning, that is, they can only adjust the phase of the signal in one direction, and cannot individually adjust the phase of the signal in two dimensions (horizontal and vertical), meaning they cannot implement two-dimensional beamforming.

[0071] Based on this, this application provides a phase shift device for effectively solving the aforementioned technical problems. The phase shift device provided in this application will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings.

[0072] Figure 3 is a diagram of the structure of a phase shift device according to one embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 3, the phase shift device includes a first phase shift module, a second phase shift module, and M combiners, where M is an integer greater than 1. The input interface of the first phase shift module is configured to receive the carrier component of a first signal, and one of the M output interfaces of the first phase shift module is connected to the first input interface of one of the M combiners. The input interface of the second phase shift module is configured to receive the sideband component of the first signal, and one of the M output interfaces of the second phase shift module is connected to the second input interface of one of the M combiners. The output interface of one of the M combiners is configured to be connected to the input interface of one of the M antenna elements in an antenna array.

[0073] For example, the phase shift device is a distributed phase shift device. This is not limited to the present application.

[0074] For example, the first signal may be a microwave photonics signal. The carrier component is generally a continuous-wavelength (CW) optical signal component in a microwave photonics signal that does not carry data signals, and may also be called the (optical) local oscillator component. The sideband component is generally an optical signal component in a microwave photonics signal that carries signals of a specific bandwidth, and may also be called the signal component. If a microwave photonics signal contains two CW optical signal components of different frequencies, and neither of the two components carries signals of a specific bandwidth, one component may be called the carrier component or the sideband component, and the other component may be called the sideband component or the carrier component. In addition, there are multiple ways to acquire a microwave photonics signal. For example, the carrier component may be acquired directly via the light source output signal, or it may be acquired by performing frequency shift modulation on the light source output signal. The sideband component may be acquired directly via the light source output signal, or it may be acquired by performing frequency shift modulation on the light source output signal. A microwave photonics signal is acquired when the center frequency difference between the carrier component and the sideband component is within the microwave frequency band.

[0075] In possible implementations, in the description of this embodiment of the present application, the connection of one of M elements A (e.g., a combiner) to one of M elements B (e.g., an antenna element) means that one of M elements A is connected to one of M elements B in a one-to-one relationship, that is, all M elements A Mset Element B, which is connected to M elements A, may be understood as being different from each other.

[0076] In Figure 3, the carrier and sideband components of the first signal are input to the device through the input interfaces of the two phase shift modules of the phase shift device, respectively. The CS (C stands for carrier, S for sideband) separation and dispersion mechanism can improve the dispersion efficiency of the phase shift device by an order of magnitude compared to conventional phase shift devices, enabling miniaturization of the phase shift device or integration onto a single chip. The specific reasons are described below with reference to Figure 10, so details are not described here.

[0077] Optionally, as shown in Figure 4, the first phase shift module and the second phase shift module each include M delay lines. The first and second ends of one of the M delay lines of the first phase shift module (i.e., both ends of the delay line) are connected to the input interface of the first phase shift module and to one of the M output interfaces of the first phase shift module, respectively. Similarly, the first and second ends of one of the M delay lines of the second phase shift module are connected to the input interface of the second phase shift module and to one of the M output interfaces of the second phase shift module, respectively. Optionally, as shown in Figure 5, the first phase shift module may further include a first distributor, and the second phase shift module may further include a second distributor. The input interface of the first distributor is connected to the input interface of the first phase shift module, and the first distributor includes M output interfaces, each of which is connected to the first end of M delay lines. Similarly, the input interface of the second distributor is connected to the input interface of the second phase shift module, and the second distributor includes M output interfaces, each of which is connected to the first end of M delay lines. As an example, we will use the first distributor. The connection relationship of the first distributor will be understood as follows: The first distributor is configured to split the carrier component of the first signal received from the input interface of the first phase shift module into M branches, and to output these M-branched carrier components individually to the first ends of M delay lines via M output interfaces.

[0078] It should be noted that the first and second distributors actually have M output interfaces. Figure 5 shows only one output interface as an example, but this should not be construed as a limitation to this application.

[0079] The following describes the first phase shift module and the second phase This document specifically describes the relationship between the lengths of the M delay lines used for distribution in the shift module. For example, this application provides two possible length relationships between the M delay lines.

[0080] Implementation 1

[0081] The lengths of the M delay lines in the first phase shift module differ by a first value in sequence, and the lengths of the M delay lines in the second phase shift module differ by a second value in sequence.

[0082] In this implementation, if the first phase shift module has M delay lines whose lengths differ sequentially by a first value, and the second phase shift module has M delay lines whose lengths differ sequentially by a second value, it should be noted that the specific arrangement order of the M delay lines in the two phase shift modules is not limited to the embodiments of this application. For example, the arrangement order of the M delay lines in the first or second phase shift module is as shown in Figure 2. delay The order of the lines is the same.

[0083] Implementation 2

[0084] The M delay lines of the first phase shift module are contained in M1 delay line sets, each delay line set containing M2 delay lines, and each of the M delay lines contains a first delay line and a second delay line corresponding to the delay line. The lengths of the first delay lines corresponding to the M2 delay lines in the delay line set are the same, and the lengths of the corresponding second delay lines differ sequentially by a first value (for example, L2 is used below), and the lengths of the M1 first delay lines corresponding to the M1 delay line sets differ sequentially by a second value (for example, L1 is used below). M1 is the number of antenna elements in the horizontal dimension of the antenna array and M2 is the number of antenna elements in the vertical dimension of the antenna array unit, or M1 is the number of antenna elements in the vertical dimension of the antenna array unit and M2 is the number of antenna elements in the horizontal dimension of the antenna array unit, and M is equal to the product of M1 and M2. Similarly, the M delay lines of the second phase-shift module are contained in M1 delay line sets, each delay line set containing M2 delay lines, and each of the M delay lines of the second phase-shift module contains a first delay line and a second delay line corresponding to the delay line. The lengths of the first delay lines corresponding to the M2 delay lines in the delay line set of the second phase-shift module are the same, the lengths of the corresponding second delay lines differ sequentially by a third value (for example, L3 is used below), and the lengths of the M1 first delay lines corresponding to the M1 delay line sets of the second phase-shift module differ sequentially by a fourth value (for example, L4 is used below). For ease of description, in the embodiments of this application, the length feature of the M delay lines in implementation 2 may be called the optical path cascade feature.

[0085] In this embodiment, it should be noted that |L1-L4| (the absolute difference between the second and fourth values) and |L2-L3| (the absolute difference between the first and third values) are not zero, and |L1-L4| and |L2-L3| are not equal. For the sake of clarity, in the embodiments of this application, the feature may be called a dispersion intensity cascade feature.

[0086] In implementation 2, the first phase shift module and the second phase shift module have M lengths that satisfy the above length characteristics. delay It should also be noted that, if lines are present, the specific arrangement order of the M delay lines in the two phase shift modules is not limited.

[0087] Based on the optical path cascade features and dispersion intensity cascade features in Implementation 2, two-dimensional dispersion tuning may be implemented, i.e., 2D beamforming may be implemented. The specific reasons are described below with reference to Figure 10, so the details are not described here.

[0088] The CS dispersion separation mechanism and the optical path cascade feature are two independent mechanisms, and it should be understood that these two features may be applied independently or in combination. This is not limited to the present application. Implementation 2 may be considered as applying the two features in combination. When the optical path cascade feature is applied independently, in Implementation 2, the dispersed phase shift module includes a first phase shift module or a second phase shift module, and the input interface of the first phase shift module or the second phase shift module is configured to receive the first signal, that is, the first signal may be input from the input interface of only one phase shift module without CS separation. For example, when the optical path cascade feature is applied independently, the dispersed phase shift... module This can also be done as shown in Figure 2, and the M book in Figure 2 delay The length of the line is, implementation It is sufficient to satisfy the optical path cascade features provided in 2.

[0089] In Implementation 2, only the optical path cascade features of the M delay lines within the first and second phase-shift modules are provided. The optical path cascade features may be implemented by using different logical topology structures for the M delay lines. Several possible logical topology structures for the M delay lines are provided below. For the sake of clarity, the M delay lines of the first phase-shift module are used here as an example for illustrative purposes.

[0090] Logical topology structure 1: Purely parallel feed

[0091] In this topological structure, the first delay line corresponding to each of the M1 delay line sets in the first phase shift module is the common delay line of the corresponding delay line set.

[0092] For example, as shown in Figure 6, the first phase shift module includes M delay lines, and these M delay lines are included in delay line sets #1 to #M1. S1, S1+L1, ..., and S1+(M1-1)*L1 are M2 lines in delay line sets #1 to #M1, respectively, corresponding to the first phase shift module. delay The first common delay line corresponds to the line, and S2, S2+L2, ..., and S2+(M2-1)*L2 are the second delay lines of M2 delay lines in any of the M delay line sets of the first phase shift module.

[0093] In this topology, the number of distributors connected to all delay lines is equal, and therefore the network design is simple, and the power distributors tend to be of the equal-division type, making them easy to design.

[0094] In embodiments of this application, it should be understood that the number of output interfaces of a distributor connected to a delay line in different topological structures may differ. In actual manufacturing, the corresponding distributors may be selected for connection based on the number of signals actually to be distributed. This is not limited to this application. For example, as shown in Figure 6, the number of output interfaces of a distributor connected to a first delay line may be M1 or more, and the number of output interfaces of a distributor connected to a second delay line may be M2 or more.

[0095] Logical Topology Structure 2: Cascaded Parallel Feed

[0096] In this topological structure, each of the M1 common first delay lines in the M1 delay line sets of the first phase shift module (i.e., the M1 common first delay lines corresponding to the M1 delay line sets in Figure 6) includes a third delay line and a fourth delay line, where the third delay line in the first delay line in at least two of the M1 delay line sets of the first phase shift module is a common delay line of those at least two delay line sets, and / or the second delay line in each of the M delay lines of the first phase shift module includes a fifth delay line and a sixth delay line contained within that delay line, where the fourth delay line in the second delay line in at least two of the M1 delay line sets of the first phase shift module is a common delay line of those at least two delay line sets.

[0097] For example, as shown in Figure 7, each of the M delay lines of the first phase shift module includes a third and a fourth delay line. In delay line set #1, which corresponds to delay lines #1 to #M2, and delay line set #2, which corresponds to delay lines #M2+1 to #2*M2, the common first delay line of delay line set #1 includes the corresponding third delay line (S1) and the corresponding fourth delay line (0), and the common first delay line of delay line set #2 includes the corresponding third delay line (S1) and the corresponding fourth delay line (L1). The third delay line of delay line set #1 and delay line set #2 is the common delay line of the two delay line sets.

[0098] In this topological structure, it will be understood that some of the adjacent delay lines in a purely parallel feed structure are multiplexed, significantly reducing the chip size. In addition, when delay lines in multiple adjacent delay lines are multiplexed, only a single phase shifter is required when performing initial phase error adjustments, for example, between delay line set #1 and delay line set #2, and between other delay line sets (e.g., delay line set #M).

[0099] Logical topology structure 3: Serial feed + Parallel feed

[0100] As shown in Figure 8, in this topology, the M1 common first delay line in the M1 delay line set of the first phase shift module uses a series feed structure, and the M2 second delay lines in the M1 delay line set of the first phase shift module use a parallel feed structure.

[0101] Logical topology structure 4: Pure serial feed

[0102] As shown in Figure 9, in this topology, both the M1 common first delay line in the M1 delay line set of the first phase shift module and the M2 second delay lines in each of the M1 delay line set of the first phase shift module use a series feed structure. In this topology, maximum transmission delay line multiplexing can be achieved, and this topology is theoretically the most compact and smallest in size.

[0103] The M delay lines in the first and second phase-shift modules may use any one or other of the aforementioned topological structures. This is not limited to the present application.

[0104] The phase shift device provided in this application has been described in detail above. Below, the beneficial effects of CS separation and how to implement 2D beamforming based on optical path cascade will be described with reference to a specific phase shift device.

[0105] Figure 10 shows the structure of a specific phase shift device according to this application. The M delay lines in this device use a purely parallel feed logic topology structure, and the antenna array connected to the M combiners in this device contains M antenna elements. For example, M1 = M H This is the number of antenna elements in the horizontal dimension, where M2 = M V This is the number of antenna elements in the vertical dimension, where M = M H *M V That is the case.

[0106] First, the carrier components and sideband components of N microwave photonic signals are separated to generate a first signal channel and a second signal channel, where N is a positive integer. The first input signal includes the carrier components (i.e., C components) of N microwave photonic signals, and the second input signal includes the sideband components (i.e., S components) of N microwave photonic signals. Then, through the first phase shift module and the input interface of the phase shift module, the first signal channel and the second signal channel are respectively input, and the wavelength components of the carrier components of the N microwave photonic signals in the first signal channel are λ C1 ~λ CN whereas the wavelength components of the sideband components of the N microwave photonic signals in the second signal channel are λ S1 ~λ SN .

Number

Number

[0107] Next, two signal channels (respectively denoted as c0(t) and s0(t)) are branched by a distributor in the device into M = M H *M V branches and are each transmitted through a delay line of a specific length. These signals are respectively

Number

Number

Number

number

[0108] The output signal contains signal components of N microwave photonic signals. The nth component of the N microwave photonic signals is:

number

[0109] λn=(λ nC +λ nS ) / 2, which represents the center wavelength of the nth microwave photonic signal.

[0110] Therefore, the phase difference between the transmitted signals corresponding to the nth microwave photonic signal on adjacent horizontal antenna elements in the antenna array is:

number

[0111] Similarly, the phase difference between the transmitted signals corresponding to the nth transmitted microwave photonics signal on adjacent vertical antenna elements in the antenna array is:

number

[0112] λ ref_nH , λ ref_nV These are Δφ, respectively. nH =0, Δφ nV This represents the center wavelength of the nth microwave photonic signal when = 0, and n g This is the refractive index of the delay line for signal transmission.

[0113] Figure 10 shows the corresponding c for ease of description. hv (t) and s hv (t) and are combined, and the antenna element Ant in the antenna element array hv Please note that this is just one example of what can be entered. In reality, c hv (t) and s hv Only one of the M synthesizers that combine (t) is connected to one of the M antenna elements. This is not specifically limited in this application.

[0114] Below, Δφ nV Using this as an example, we will describe the beneficial effects of CS separation. For example, if L2 or L3 is 0, we can see that L3 is set to 0 here.

number

[0115] The phase difference of the conventional phase shift device in Figure 2 is,

number

[0116] By comparing the two phase difference equations mentioned above, in Figures 2 and 9, when the same microwave signal is input, that is, λ n When =λ, if the same Δφ needs to be obtained, in a conventional distributed phase shift network, Δλ csBecause it is too small, the required length of ΔL is too long, but the phase shift device provided in this application performs CS separation at input to determine the parameter for determining Δφ

number

number

number

number

[0117] In addition, based on the optical path cascade characteristics, a corresponding phase difference of the microwave photonics signal between the horizontal-dimensional antenna element and the vertical-dimensional antenna element can be generated. |L1-L4| and |L2-L3| are used to represent the horizontal-dimensional dispersion intensity and the vertical-dimensional dispersion intensity, and the difference between |L1-L4| and |L2-L3| is the same λ n Δφ of different change trends based on nH , Δφ nV This is necessary to obtain (this feature may also be called the dispersion intensity cascade feature). Therefore, 2D beamforming can be implemented based on the dispersion intensity cascade feature and the optical path cascade feature. Below, we provide two possible methods for implementing the dispersion intensity cascade feature.

[0118] Optionally, |L1-L4|=K×|L2-L3|, where K is a relatively large multiplication factor. For example, K=32.

[0119] By choice, |L1-L4| and |L2-L3| are prime numbers of similar order. For example, |L1-L4|=32 and |L2-L3|=31.

[0120] Based on the above explanation, when determining the length differences L1, L2, L3, and L4, the center wavelength λ of the nth microwave photonics signal is determined. n By adjusting this, the phase difference between the horizontal and vertical antenna elements of the nth microwave photonic signal (i.e., Δφ) can be adjusted. nV and Δφ nV It can be seen that the 2D direction of the beam can be changed by changing the )

[0121] When integrating the phase shift device provided in the embodiments of this application onto a single chip, optionally, |L1-L4| and |L2-L3| may be designed based on one or more of the design rules provided below.

[0122] (1) Maximum wavelength tuning range Δλ based on light source performance and chip performance n Determine Δφ based on the phase shift request. nH and Δφ nV Determine the adjustment range and set the lower limits for |L1-L4| and |L2-L3|.

[0123] (2) The greater the difference in delay line lengths, the larger the chip area and the greater the phase shift error. Therefore, the upper limits of |L1-L4| and |L2-L3| are determined based on the acceptable chip phase error performance.

[0124] (3) When it is necessary to improve the dispersion efficiency as much as possible within a limited chip area, L1 and L4 may have opposite signs, and L2 and L3 may have opposite signs. In this way, the dispersion efficiency can be doubled compared to the dispersion efficiency achieved by the dispersion phase shift performed on a single carrier or sideband component. For example, when L1 = -L4, the equation

number

[0125] In addition, another advantage of L1=-L4 and L2=-L3 is that the design of the M delay lines in the first and second phase shift modules is perfectly symmetrical, thereby significantly reducing the complexity of the chip design.

[0126] However, in some scenarios, such as in base station antenna systems, the phase shift device provided in the embodiments of this application is integrated onto a single chip. When the device needs to be connected to an antenna, the size of the antenna is usually much larger than the size of the chip and cannot be accommodated on a small chip. As another example, the scale of the phase shift device provided in the embodiments of this application exceeds the integration capacity of a single chip. In this case, it is necessary to perform a fragmentation process on the phase shift device provided in the embodiments of this application. The core of the fragmentation process is to individually encapsulate the components of the phase shift device provided in the embodiments of this application onto multiple chips. The fragmentation solution provided in this application is described below in detail.

[0127] The phase shift device includes a first chip and M1 second chips. Both the first delay line of each of the M delay lines of the first phase shift module and the first delay line of each of the M delay lines of the second phase shift module are located on the first chip. Both the second delay line of M2 delay lines in one of the M1 delay line sets of the first phase shift module and the second delay line of M2 delay lines in one of the M1 delay line sets of the second phase shift module are located on one of the M1 second chips.

[0128] For example, Figure 11 shows the result of fragmentation on the phase shift device shown in Figure 10 based on the aforementioned fragmentation resolution means, and further details will not be described again in this specification. Specifically, in this implementation, the fragmentation resolution means provided based on this embodiment of the application may have the following beneficial effects. First, the position of M1 second chips can be flexibly adjusted to accommodate large backend modules such as antennas. Second, the structure of M1 second chips is completely identical, and the phase shift device can be implemented using only two types of optical chips. Third, each optical chip channel has an M1 or M2 scale. Compared to a single chip that needs to be implemented on an M1*M2 scale, the specification requirements for a single chip are significantly reduced, implementation is easier, and yield can be controlled well. Fourth, as shown in Figure 11, the minimum number of connections required between the first chip and M1 second chips is only 2*M1, resulting in low packaging difficulty and cost. In addition, if it is necessary to add optical amplifiers between the first chip and the second chips, the number of optical amplifiers required is also small.

[0129] As described above, while the phase shift device provided in the embodiments of this application significantly improves the dispersion efficiency in the CS separation-dispersion method, it is clear that the optical phase is highly susceptible to process errors and environmental disturbances. After CS separation, phase stability deteriorates, and the requirements for chip design increase significantly. Therefore, one embodiment of this application provides several possible solutions for suppressing initial phase errors to solve the initial phase error problem introduced by the CS separation-dispersion mechanism.

[0130] (1) For given parameters L1, L2, L3, and L4, the size of the phase shift device is made as small as possible, resulting in different transmission delay lines becoming more compact and having similar equivalent refractive indices. The implementation idea is that the delay lines in the phase shift device function as both delay line units and routing waveguides.

[0131] (2) If it cannot be guaranteed that the initial phase error performance will meet the requirements for all delay lines, it may be considered that only the initial phase relationships between multiple adjacent delay lines will meet the requirements. Based on the cascading characteristics of the cascaded parallel feed, a single phase shifter is added to adjust the initial phase relationships between multiple delay line sets on which the cascaded parallel feed is performed and one delay line set in another delay line set, thereby significantly reducing the initial phase error requirements of the chip and avoiding overly complex peripheral control of the chip. For example, as shown in Figure 7, a single phase shifter is added to adjust the initial phase relationships when performing initial phase error adjustment between delay line set #1 and delay line set #2 and between other delay line sets (e.g., delay line set #M).

[0132] (3) The carrier component and sideband component should be transmitted via "proximity paths" as much as possible. "Proximity paths" means that, before transmission takes place, the corresponding transmission paths on the delay lines in the corresponding phase shift module, on the carrier component and sideband component output to the same combiner, are as close in physical location as possible, and as a result, the initial phase error between different delay lines can be significantly reduced. For example, in Figure 10, the carrier component output to combiner #1 is transmitted from the input interface of the first distributor. delay From the path to the first end of line (S1+S2) and the input interface of the second distributor through which the sideband component output to combiner #1 is transmitted delay The path to the first end of the line (S3+S4) must be as close as possible in terms of physical location. Below, we provide two specific implementations of transmission along a close path based on the phase shift device shown in Figure 10.

[0133] Implementation 1

[0134] The first phase-shift module includes a first distributor, the first distributor includes M1 power branch paths, and the second phase-shift module includes a second distributor, the second distributor includes M1 power branch paths. The deviation between the length of the M1 power branch paths in the first phase-shift module and the first length, and the deviation between the length of the M1 power branch paths in the second phase-shift module and the first length, are both less than a first threshold. The first ends of the M1 power branch paths in the first distributor are connected to the input interface of the first phase-shift module, and the second end of one of the M1 power branch paths in the first distributor is individually connected to the first end of one of the M1 common first delay lines in the first phase-shift module, and the first end of one of the first delay lines in the first phase-shift module is the same as the first end of any one of the M2 delay lines in the delay line set corresponding to the first delay line. The first end of each of the M1 power branch paths in the second distributor is connected to the input interface of the second phase shift module, and the second end of one of the M1 power branch paths in the second distributor is individually connected to the first end of one of the M1 common first delay lines in the second phase shift module, and the first end of one of the first delay lines in the second phase shift module is the same as the first end of any one of the M2 delay lines in the delay line set corresponding to the first delay line. The deviation between the distance between N% of the path length of the first power branch path and N% of the path length of the second power branch path and the fourth length is smaller than the fourth threshold, the first power branch path is the power branch path used for transmitting the first signal among the M power branch paths of the first phase shift module, the second power branch path is the power branch path used for transmitting the second signal among the M power branch paths of the second phase shift module, the first signal and the second signal are the sideband component and carrier component of the first signal output to the same combiner of the M combiners, respectively, and N is greater than 0.

[0135] The M1 common first delay lines of the first phase shift module will be understood as the M1 first delay lines corresponding to the M1 set of delay lines of the first phase shift module. Similarly, the M1 common first delay lines of the second phase shift module will be understood as the M1 first delay lines corresponding to the M1 set of delay lines of the second phase shift module.

[0136] As an example, M1 power branch paths of the first distributor are used. The first end of the M1 power branch paths of the first distributor may be understood as the input interface of the first distributor, and the second end of the M1 power branch paths of the first distributor may be understood as the M1 output interfaces of the first distributor. In this case, the above description, in which the first end of the M1 power branch paths in the first distributor is connected to the input interface of the first phase shift module, and the second end of one of the M1 power branch paths in the first distributor is individually connected to the first end of one of the M1 common first delay lines of the first phase shift module, will be understood as the first distributor being configured to M1 branch the carrier component of the first signal received from the input interface of the first phase shift module, to transmit the M1 branched components on the M1 power branch paths, and to output the M1 branched components to the first end of the M1 common first delay lines.

[0137] For the connection of the first distributor, the input interface of the first phase shift module, and the common first delay line of M1, refer to the connection of the first distributor in Figure 5. Similarly, for the connection of the second distributor, refer to the connection of the second distributor in Figure 5. Further details are not described again in this specification.

[0138] It should be further understood that the statement that the difference between the length of each M1 power branch path and the first length is less than the first threshold means that, although manufacturing rules expect the lengths of the M1 power branch paths to be the same, in actual manufacturing, due to manufacturing precision, the M1 power branch paths may not be perfectly identical, and therefore it is only necessary that the difference between the length of each M1 power branch path and the first length be less than the first threshold. Similar statements in the embodiments of this application will not be repeated.

[0139] A key feature of Implementation 1 is that all power branch paths (all first power branch paths and all second power branch paths) can be wired to theoretically equal lengths, thereby avoiding extra initial phase errors caused by the uneven length of delay lines.

[0140] Figure 12 shows possible arrangements of the first and second power branch paths in the first and second distributors based on Implementation 1 according to one embodiment of the present application. The light-colored paths are the first power branch paths, and the dark-colored paths are the second power branch paths. The two paths corresponding to any dashed coils are the group of first and second power branch paths that satisfy the requirements of Implementation 1. In addition, the light-colored crossing junctions are optional, and the dark-colored crossing junctions are mandatory. To further ensure that all power branch paths in the figure are theoretically consistent, optional waveguide crossings are introduced. It should be understood that crossing junctions are used to avoid interference caused by the crossing of two different paths.

[0141] Optionally, the first distributor further includes one or more power distributors. For example, the eight first power branch paths of the first distributor within the dashed box in Figure 12 have common paths of different lengths, and power distributors are located at the branching points of any Y-shaped path among the eight first power branch paths. The power distributors are configured to split a signal received on one path into two for separate transmission on two paths.

[0142] Implementation 2

[0143] The first phase shift module includes a first distributor, the first distributor includes M1 power branch paths, the second phase shift module includes a second distributor, the second distributor includes M1 power branch paths. The deviation between the length of the M1 power branch paths in the first phase shift module and the second length is less than a second threshold, and the deviation between the length of the M1 delay line in the second phase shift module and the third length is less than a third threshold. The first ends of the M1 power branch paths in the first distributor are connected to the input interface of the first phase shift module, the second end of one of the M1 power branch paths in the first distributor is individually connected to the first end of one of the M1 common first delay lines in the first phase shift module, and the first end of one of the first delay lines in the first phase shift module is the same as the first end of any one of the M2 delay lines in the delay line set corresponding to the first delay line. The first end of each of the M1 power branch paths in the second distributor is connected to the input interface of the second phase shift module, and the second end of one of the M1 power branch paths in the second distributor is individually connected to the first end of one of the M1 common first delay lines in the second phase shift module, and the first end of one of the first delay lines in the second phase shift module is the same as the first end of any one of the M2 delay lines in the delay line set corresponding to the first delay line. The deviation between the distance between N% of the path length of the first power branch path and N% of the path length of the second power branch path and the fourth length is smaller than the fourth threshold, the first power branch path is the power branch path used for transmitting the first signal among the M power branch paths of the first phase shift module, the second power branch path is the power branch path used for transmitting the second signal among the M power branch paths of the second phase shift module, the first signal and the second signal are the sideband component and carrier component of the first signal output to the same combiner of the M combiners, respectively, and N is greater than 0.

[0144] Figure 13 shows possible arrangements of the first and second power branch paths in the first and second distributors based on Implementation 2 according to one embodiment of the present application. The light-colored paths are the first power branch paths, and the dark-colored paths are the second power branch paths. The two paths corresponding to any dashed coils are groups of first and second power branch paths that satisfy the requirements of Implementation 2. A feature of Implementation 2 is that all first power branch paths can be wired to theoretically equal lengths, and all second power branch paths can be wired to theoretically equal lengths, but the first and second power branch paths are not necessarily of equal length. In addition, the light-colored cross junctions are optional, while the dark-colored cross junctions are mandatory. The main advantage of Implementation 2 is that the number of optional waveguide cross junctions required when all power branch path responses need to be matched is significantly reduced compared to the case of Figure 12.

[0145] For example, in the two implementations described above, specific embodiments in which the two power branch paths are as close as possible in physical location may alternatively be defined as the average distances corresponding to the first and second power branch paths at 1%, 2%, 3%, ..., and 100% of the first and second power branch paths not exceeding a fifth threshold. This is not limited to the present application.

[0146] Optionally, the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth thresholds in Implementation 1 and Implementation 2 may be determined based on a radio frequency link phase error indicator, a directional accuracy indicator and a sidelobe suppression ratio indicator for air interface beamforming beam directivity patterns, or a communication network capacity and coverage performance indicator. This is not limited to the present application.

[0147] For example, a sub-device of a phase shift device corresponding to the phase shift device provided in the embodiments of this application, obtained by removing several components, falls within the scope of protection of this application if it can solve the technical problem proposed in this application. For example, one or more combiners may be removed from the phase shift device of Figure 3, for example, combiner #M in Figure 3 may be removed. For example, one or more delay lines may be removed from the phase shift device corresponding to Figure 4. For example, the M paths in Figure 4 are the M paths in Figure 6. For example, the delay line (S1+S2+L2) in delay line set #1 and the delay line (S1+L1+S2+(M2-1)*L2) in delay line set #2 may be removed. For example, one or more second chips and combiners corresponding to these chips may be removed from the phase shift device corresponding to Figure 11. For example, the second chips corresponding to delay lines S2 and S3 and the combiners connected to the delay lines contained in the second chips may be removed. Examples are not described one by one in this specification.

[0148] One embodiment of this application further provides an antenna device. The antenna device may include a phase shift device as described in the embodiments of this application.

[0149] Optionally, the antenna device may be an active antenna unit (AAU). For example, the active antenna unit may include modules such as a baseband processing unit, an intermediate frequency processing unit, any phase shift device as described in the embodiments of this application, a radio frequency processing unit, and an antenna.

[0150] Optionally, the antenna device may be a radio remote unit (RRU). For example, the radio remote unit may include modules such as a baseband processing unit, an intermediate frequency processing unit, any phase shift device described in the embodiments of this application, a radio frequency processing unit, and an antenna.

[0151] For example, for the sake of convenience and conciseness, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that, for the sake of convenience and conciseness, the detailed working processes of the aforementioned apparatus and modules should be referred to by the corresponding processes in the embodiments of the methods described above. Further details are not described again herein.

[0152] One embodiment of the present application further provides a method for phase shifting. This method includes: separating a first signal to generate a carrier component and a sideband component of the first signal; inputting the carrier component of the first signal to the input interface of a first phase shift module of phase shifting device #1; and inputting the sideband component of the first signal to the input interface of a second phase shift module of phase shifting device #1. Phase shifting device #1 is any phase shifting device described in the embodiments of the present application.

[0153] In some of the implementations provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices may be implemented in other ways. For example, the embodiments of the described devices are merely examples. For example, the division of units is merely a logical functional division, and other divisions may be used in actual implementations. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, and some features may be ignored or not performed. In addition, the mutual coupling, direct coupling, or communication connection indicated or considered may be implemented through some interfaces. Indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units may be implemented electronically, mechanically, or in other ways.

[0154] The foregoing description is merely a specific implementation of this application. Any modifications or substitutions that are readily understandable to a person skilled in the art within the scope of the technical scope disclosed herein shall fall within the scope of protection of this application. Accordingly, the scope of protection of this application shall be subject to the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A phase shift device, It includes a first phase shift module, a second phase shift module, and M combiners, where M is an integer greater than 1. The input interface of the first phase shift module is configured to receive the carrier component of the first signal, and one of the M output interfaces of the first phase shift module is connected to the first input interface of one of the M combiners. The input interface of the second phase shift module is configured to receive the sideband components of the first signal, and one of the M output interfaces of the second phase shift module is connected to the second input interface of one of the M combiners. An apparatus in which one output interface of the M synthesizers is configured to connect to one input interface of the M antenna elements in an antenna array.

2. The first phase shift module includes M delay lines, and the first and second ends of one of the M delay lines of the first phase shift module are connected to the input interface of the first phase shift module and to one of the M output interfaces of the first phase shift module, respectively. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second phase shift module includes M delay lines, and the first and second ends of one of the M delay lines of the second phase shift module are connected to the input interface and one of the M output interfaces of the second phase shift module, respectively.

3. The lengths of the M delay lines of the first phase shift device differ sequentially by a first value, The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the lengths of the M delay lines of the second phase shift apparatus are sequentially different by a second value.

4. The M delay lines of the first phase shift device are composed of M1 delay line sets, each delay line set containing M2 delay lines, where M1 is the number of antenna elements in the horizontal dimension of the antenna array and M2 is the number of antenna elements in the vertical dimension of the antenna array, or M1 is the number of antenna elements in the vertical dimension of the antenna array and M2 is the number of antenna elements in the horizontal dimension of the antenna array, where M is equal to the product of M1 and M2, each of the M delay lines of the first phase shift module contains a first delay line and a second delay line corresponding to the delay line, the lengths of the first delay lines corresponding to the M2 delay lines in the delay line set are the same, the lengths of the corresponding second delay lines differ by a first value in sequence, and the lengths of the M1 first delay lines corresponding to the M1 delay line sets of the first phase shift module differ by a second value in sequence. The M delay lines of the second phase shift device are composed of M1 delay line sets, each delay line set includes M2 delay lines, each of the M delay lines of the second phase shift module includes a first delay line and a second delay line corresponding to the delay line, the lengths of the first delay lines corresponding to the M2 delay lines in the delay line set of the second phase shift module are the same, the lengths of the corresponding second delay lines differ sequentially by a third value, and the lengths of the M1 first delay lines corresponding to the M1 delay line set of the second phase shift module differ sequentially by a fourth value. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein neither the first difference nor the second difference is zero, the first difference is not equal to the second difference, the first difference is the absolute value of the difference between the first value and the third value, and the second difference is the absolute value of the difference between the second value and the fourth value.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first value and the third value have opposite signs, and / or the second value and the fourth value have opposite signs.

6. The apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, wherein each of the M1 delay line sets in the third phase shift module is a first delay line that is a common delay line for the corresponding delay line sets, and the third phase shift module is the first phase shift module or the second phase shift module.

7. Each of the M delay lines of the third phase shift module has a first delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a fourth delay line which is included in the delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a fourth delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a fourth third delay line which includes a fourth delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a fourth delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which includes a third delay line which The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein each of the M delay lines of the third phase shift module includes a fifth and a sixth delay line, and the fifth delay line in the second delay line in at least two delay line sets of the M1 delay line sets of the third phase shift module is a common delay line of the at least two delay line sets.

8. It includes a first chip and M1 second chips, Both the first delay line of each of the M delay lines of the first phase shift module and the first delay line of each of the M delay lines of the second phase shift module are located on the first chip. The apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein both the second delay line of the M2 delay lines in one of the M1 delay line sets of the first phase shift module and the second delay line of the M2 delay lines in one of the M1 delay line sets of the second phase shift module are located on one of the M1 second chips.

9. The apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the first phase shift module includes a first distributor, the first distributor includes M1 power branch paths, the first ends of the M1 power branch paths in the first distributor are connected to the input interface of the first phase shift module, the second end of one of the M1 power branch paths in the first distributor is individually connected to the first end of one of the M1 common first delay lines of the first phase shift module, and the first end of one of the first delay lines in the first phase shift module is the same as the first end of any one of the M2 delay lines in a set of delay lines corresponding to the first delay line.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the second phase shift module includes a second distributor, the second distributor includes M1 power branch paths, the first ends of the M1 power branch paths in the second distributor are connected to the input interface of the second phase shift module, the second end of one of the M1 power branch paths in the second distributor is individually connected to the first end of one of the M1 common first delay lines in the second phase shift module, and the first end of one of the first delay lines in the second phase shift module is the same as the first end of any one of the M2 delay lines in the delay line set corresponding to the first delay line.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the deviation between the length of the M1 power branch paths of the first phase shift module and the first length, and the deviation between the length of the M1 power branch paths of the second phase shift module and the first length are both smaller than the first threshold.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the deviation between the length of the M1 power branch paths of the first phase shift module and the second length is less than a second threshold, and the deviation between the length of the M1 delay lines of the second phase shift module and the third length is less than a third threshold.

13. The apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the deviation between the distance between N% of the path length of the first power branch path and N% of the path length of the second power branch path and the fourth length is less than a fourth threshold, N is greater than 0, the first power branch path is a power branch path used for transmitting a second signal among the M power branch paths of the first phase shift module, the second power branch path is a power branch path used for transmitting a third signal among the M power branch paths of the second phase shift module, and the second signal and the third signal are the sideband component and the carrier component of the first signal output to the same combiner of the M combiners, respectively.

14. An antenna device including a phase shift device according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the antenna device is an active antenna unit (AAU) or a remote radio unit (RRU).

16. A method for phase shifting, comprising splitting a first signal to generate a carrier component and a sideband component of the first signal, The carrier component of the first signal is input to the input interface of the first phase shift module of the phase shift device, wherein the phase shift device is the phase shift device described in any one of claims 1 to 13. A method comprising inputting the sideband component of the first signal to the input interface of the second phase shift module of the phase shift device.

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