How to operate a phased array antenna system

Abstract

To provide a method of operating a phased array antenna system.SOLUTION: A method includes a step of communicating a beam signal 236-a and a control signal 231-a using a composite multiplexed signal 241-a. The control signal is associated with a first control circuit 1 of a plurality of control circuits 1 to N, and the beam signal and the control signal occupy non-overlapping frequency ranges. The method also includes: a step of using a beam forming network to convert the composite multiplexed signal to a composite multiplexed signal and a plurality of individual signals at each of a plurality of element signal ports 245-a, 245-b; and communicating the plurality of individual signals through a plurality of element signal ports corresponding to one or more control circuits of a plurality of control circuits connected to the beam forming network. Each individual signal of the plurality of individual signals includes each element beam signal of a plurality of element signals and each element control signal of a plurality of element control signals.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Background technology]

[0001] Phased array antennas can be used in several wireless communication systems. A phased array antenna can be configured to direct one or more beams in different directions by manipulating the phase and / or amplitude relationships of each individual antenna element. For example, a phased array antenna can be configured to direct one or more beams towards a target during operation. In some cases, phased array antennas may be mounted on mobile systems, such as vehicles. However, in some cases, it is desirable to keep the overall cost of the antenna system relatively low. In these cases, a cost-effective and relatively compact architecture of a phased array antenna that maintains robust performance may be desirable. [Overview of the project]

[0002] A phased array antenna system is described. The phased array antenna system may include a beamforming network for converting one or more element signals at one or more element signal ports to beam signals at a common signal port of the beamforming network. The beamforming network may be located on one or more layers of a printed circuit board (PCB).

[0003] A phased array antenna system may include a first signal routing circuit (e.g., a diplexer) for providing control signals from a controller to element signal ports, and a beamforming network may distribute the control signals to each of one or more element signal ports. A phased array antenna system may include one or more control circuits located in a first layer of the PCB, each control circuit including a first port connected to a corresponding element signal port of one or more element signal ports and a second port connected to a corresponding antenna element. Each antenna element may correspond to a control circuit located in a second layer of the PCB.

[0004] Each of the one or more control circuits may include a second signal routing circuit (e.g., a second diplexer) connected to the first port. The second signal routing circuit can establish an element signal path for corresponding element signals among one or more element signals transmitted between the first port and the second port. The second signal routing circuit can further establish a control signal path for control signals received via the first port. Each of the one or more control circuits may further include a signal conditioning circuit along the element signal path and the control signal path. The signal conditioning circuit can adjust the corresponding element signals (e.g., with respect to phase or amplitude) based on the control signals.

[0005] Further scope of applicability of the described methods and apparatus will become apparent from the following detailed description, claims, and drawings. Since various changes and modifications within the scope of the description will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the detailed description and specific examples are given merely as illustrations. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0006] A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure can be achieved by reference to the following drawings. In the accompanying drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference labels. Furthermore, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following reference labels with a dash and a second label to distinguish among similar components. Where only the first reference label is used herein, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label regardless of the second reference label.

[0007] [Figure 1] shows a diagram of a satellite communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure.

[0008] [Figure 2] illustrates an exemplary diagram of a circuit architecture for distributed multiplexed control and element signals for a phased array antenna in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.

[0009] [Figure 3] illustrates an exemplary diagram of a beamforming network for a circuit architecture for distributed multiplexed control and element signals for a phased array antenna in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.

[0010] [Figure 4] illustrates an exemplary diagram of a circuit architecture for distributed multiplexed control and element signals for a phased array antenna in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] illustrates an exemplary diagram of a circuit architecture for distributed multiplexed control and element signals for a phased array antenna in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] illustrates an exemplary diagram of a circuit architecture for distributed multiplexed control and element signals for a phased array antenna in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.

[0011] [Figure 7]An illustrative diagram of a multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) for a distributed multiplexing control and element signaling circuit architecture for a phased array antenna according to an aspect of this disclosure is shown.

[0012] [Figure 8] An exemplary diagram of an address decoder for a distributed multiplexing control and element signaling circuit architecture for a phased array antenna, according to an aspect of this disclosure, is shown. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0013] The features described generally relate to the circuit architecture for distributed multiplexing control and elemental signals for phased array antennas. A phased array antenna can be configured to direct one or more beams in different directions by manipulating the phase and / or amplitude relationships of each individual antenna element of the phased array antenna. For example, a phased array antenna can be configured to direct one or more beams towards a satellite during operation (e.g., to actively track a satellite). In some such applications, a relatively low-cost architecture of a phased array antenna that maintains robustness is desirable. For example, a cost-effective phased array antenna facilitates economical integration in applications such as satellite user home terminals, commercial and personal automobiles. Furthermore, in some applications such as UAVs and relatively small manned aircraft (e.g., local and business jets), a relatively small and more compact phased array antenna architecture facilitates relatively small, lighter, and / or more cost-effective products.

[0014] One way to reduce the size and manufacturing cost of such phased array antennas is to reduce the size and manufacturing cost of the control circuit architecture for the phased array antenna. Phased array antenna control circuits can be manufactured across one or more layers of a printed circuit board (PCB). As the complexity of the control circuit architecture and the number of printed layers on the PCB increase, the overall manufacturing cost of the phased array antenna generally increases as well. A distributed control circuit architecture can provide multiple distributed control circuits and corresponding signal paths to antenna elements, with one signal path used to transmit control signals to the control circuits, multiplexed by element signals to or from the antenna elements. This architecture can, for example, use a relatively small number of PCB layers, reducing the overall complexity and manufacturing cost of such a PCB-based phased array antenna system.

[0015] The techniques described herein can provide a distributed control circuit architecture that uses a shared signal path to transmit both control signals and element signals to each of one or more control circuits distributed along the signal path between the beamforming network and each of the individual antenna elements of the phased array antenna. In some cases, the phased array antenna may be a transmitting phased array antenna, a receiving phased array antenna, or perform both operations. The beamforming network can convert the beam signal at a common signal port to one or more element signals at the respective element signal ports corresponding to specific antenna elements of the phased array antenna. For example, in the case of a transmitting phased array antenna, the beamforming network can convert the transmitting beam signal into multiple transmitting element signals transmitted by each of the antenna elements of the antenna array. Additionally or alternatively, in the case of a receiving phased array antenna, the beamforming network can convert multiple receiving element signals received by each of the antenna elements of the antenna array into a received beam signal.

[0016] The beamforming network can further distribute the control signals, multiplexed by the beam signals at a common signal port, to the respective element signal ports corresponding to specific antenna elements of the phased array antenna. The control signals can be routed by the beamforming network to the control circuits at each element signal port via their respective signal paths. Each control circuit has a first port connected to each element signal port of the beamforming network via a signal path, and a second port connected to each antenna element of the antenna array via a signal path. In some cases, the control signals may be multiplexed with element signals, for example, on signals received at the first port of the control circuit from the element ports of the beamforming network. Each control circuit may be configured to extract the control signals multiplexed by the element signals and apply adjustments to the element signals. Specifically, a control circuit may include routing circuits for establishing signal paths for the corresponding element signals and signal paths for the corresponding control signals received, respectively, via the first port of the control circuit. The control circuit may further include signal adjustment circuits along one or both paths to adjust the element signals based on their respective control signals. Thus, a single signal path from the beamforming network through one corresponding control circuit can be used for both the control signals and element signals of each antenna element. Therefore, the complexity of PCBs containing numerous PCB layers can be reduced, thereby lowering the manufacturing cost of phased array antennas.

[0017] This description provides examples and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of embodiments of the principle described herein. Rather, the following description will provide those skilled in the art with an explanation that will enable them to carry out embodiments of the principle described herein. Various modifications may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements.

[0018] Therefore, various embodiments may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, the method may be performed in a different order than described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Also, the aspects and elements described in relation to a particular embodiment may be combined in various other embodiments. Furthermore, the following systems, methods, devices, and software may be components of a larger system, individually or collectively, and other procedures may take precedence over their applications or modify their applications in other ways.

[0019] Figure 1 shows a diagram of a satellite communication system 100 according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The satellite communication system 100 includes a satellite 105, a gateway 115, a gateway antenna system 110, and an aircraft 130. The gateway 115 communicates with one or more networks 120. When in operation, the satellite communication system 100 provides bidirectional communication between the aircraft 130 and the networks 120 through the satellite 105 and the gateway 115.

[0020] Satellite 105 may be any suitable type of communications satellite. In some embodiments, satellite 105 may be in geostationary orbit (GEO). In other embodiments, any suitable orbit (e.g., low earth orbit (LEO), medium earth orbit (MEO), etc.) may be used for satellite 105. Satellite 105 may be a multibeam satellite configured to provide service to multiple service beam coverage areas within a given geographical service area. In some embodiments, the satellite communications system 100 includes multiple satellites 105.

[0021] The gateway antenna system 110 is capable of bidirectional communication and is designed with appropriate transmit power and receive sensitivity to reliably communicate with the satellite communication system 100. The satellite communication system 100 can communicate with the gateway antenna system 110 by sending and receiving signals through one or more beams 150. The gateway 115 sends and receives signals to and from the satellite communication system 100 using the gateway antenna system 110. The gateway 115 is connected to one or more networks 120. The networks 120 may include a local area network (LAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a wide area network (WAN), or any other suitable public or private network, and may be connected to other communication networks such as the Internet, telephone networks (e.g., Public Switched Telephone Network, PSTN), etc.).

[0022] The aircraft 130 includes an in-flight communication system, which includes an antenna array 140, for example, an array of patch antennas. The in-flight communication system of the aircraft 130 can provide communication services to communication devices of the aircraft 130 via a modem (not shown). Communication devices can connect to and access network 120 via the modem. For example, a mobile device can communicate with one or more networks 120 via a network connection to a modem, which may be wired or wireless. The wireless connection may be a wireless local area network (WLAN) technology, such as IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), or other wireless communication technology.

[0023] The aircraft 130 can communicate with satellite 105 via one or more beams 160 using an antenna array 140. The antenna array 140 may be mounted on the outside of the aircraft 130. In some cases, the antenna array 140 is a phased array antenna. A phased array antenna can be configured to direct one or more beams 160 in a specific direction by manipulating the phase and / or amplitude relationships of the individual antennas of the phased array antenna. For example, the antenna array 140 can be configured to direct one or more beams 160 toward a satellite (e.g., to actively track a satellite) during operation. The antenna array 140 can be used for receiving communication signals from satellite 105, transmitting communication signals to satellite 105, or for bidirectional communication with satellite 105 (i.e., sending and receiving communication signals). The antenna array 140 can operate in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Ku, K, or Ka bands, for example, about 17–31 gigahertz (GHz). Alternatively, the antenna array 140 may operate in other frequency bands such as the C-band, X-band, S-band, and L-band. Although a single antenna array 140 is illustrated, two or more antenna arrays 140 may be used for communication in some cases.

[0024] The antenna array 140 may be housed in a housing or enclosure, which can be made of a material or combination of materials that can protect the antenna array 140 from environmental factors and do not substantially attenuate communication signals. In addition, the antenna array 140 may be used in applications other than in the aircraft 130, such as in ships, vehicles, or ground-based stationary systems. In some such applications, a relatively low-cost architecture of a phased array antenna that maintains robustness may be desirable. For example, a cost-effective phased array antenna facilitates economical integration in applications such as satellite residential user terminals and commercial and personal automobiles. Furthermore, in some applications, such as UAVs and relatively small manned aircraft (e.g., local and business jets), a relatively small and more compact phased array antenna architecture facilitates relatively small, lighter, and / or more cost-effective products. For example, a housing for a phased array antenna can be substantially smaller than a radome used for mechanically gimbaled passive antenna arrays.

[0025] One way to reduce the size and manufacturing cost of such phased array antennas is to reduce the size and manufacturing cost of the control circuit architecture for the phased array antenna. Phased array antenna control circuits can be manufactured across one or more layers of a PCB. As the complexity of the control circuit architecture and the number of printed layers on the PCB increase, the overall manufacturing cost of the phased array antenna generally increases as well. Distributed multiplexed control and element signal architectures can multiplex control signals for multiple distributed control circuits and corresponding antenna elements with element signals for transmission or reception via the antenna elements on the same signal path. This architecture can, for example, use a relatively small number of PCB layers, which can reduce the overall complexity and manufacturing cost of such PCB-based phased array antenna systems.

[0026] The techniques described herein provide a distributed multiplexed control and element signal architecture using a shared signal path. This shared signal path transmits both control signals and element signals to each of one or more control circuits distributed along a signal path between the beamforming network and each individual antenna element of a phased array antenna. In the distributed multiplexed control and element signal architecture described, the signal path can transmit control signals containing control data for the control circuits, which are multiplexed (e.g., via frequency-domain multiplexing, FDM, etc.) with element signals (i.e., radio frequency (RF) signals) for transmission or reception through each antenna element. In this way, a single signal path can be used for both control signals and element signals for each antenna element, eliminating the need for, for example, separate dedicated control signal paths and element signal paths. For example, as further described below, a single signal path can transmit control information multiplexed with element signals transmitted to or from a corresponding antenna element. For example, control signals can be multiplexed with transmitted element signals from the beamforming network in the same direction. Alternatively, the control signals may be multiplexed with receiving element signals combined within the beamforming network. The described technique can reduce the complexity of PCBs containing numerous PCB layers and lower the manufacturing cost of phased array antennas.

[0027] Figure 2 shows an exemplary circuit architecture for distributed multiplexing control and elemental signaling for a phased array antenna according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The phased array antenna is one or more antenna arrays 140, as described with reference to Figure 1. The phased array antenna in Figure 2 may be an example of a transmitting phased array antenna for transmitting communication signals to a satellite 105, as described with reference to Figure 1.

[0028] As shown in Figure 2, the circuit architecture includes a first routing circuit 205-a, a beamforming network 210-a, a plurality of control circuits 215, and a plurality of antenna elements 220. In the example in Figure 2, a first control circuit 215-a and a corresponding first antenna element 220-a, a second control circuit 215-b and a corresponding second antenna element 220-b are shown. However, it should be understood that any number N of control circuits 215 can be similarly implemented for the antenna elements 220. Therefore, the first control circuit 215-a may be referred to as "control circuit 1", and the second control circuit 215-b may be referred to as "control circuit N". The element signals transmitted through the antenna elements 220 can be configured to form an antenna beam with desired characteristics (for example, the individual element signals transmitted through each antenna element 220 can be configured to have a specific phase and / or amplitude with respect to the individual element signals transmitted through other antenna elements 220 in order to direct the antenna beam in a desired direction). As shown in Figure 2, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the control circuit 215 and the antenna elements 220 (i.e., each antenna element 220 is connected to a different control circuit 215). However, it should be understood that in some cases, one control circuit 215 may be shared among multiple antenna elements 220 (i.e., one control circuit 215 may be connected to multiple antenna elements 220 and provide signals to each of them).

[0029] As described above, a phased array antenna may be a PCB-based antenna system in which the phased array antenna and the corresponding control architecture are printed on or otherwise formed on one or more layers of a PCB. The PCB may include signal paths (e.g., conductive wires, traces, vias connecting traces on different PCB layers, or planes) across one or more PCB layers. For example, a signal path may include a PCB transmission line consisting of one or more conductive wires and a ground plane or ground wire. As described herein, a layer may refer to a single layer of conductive material (which may include conductive wires and / or one or more ground planes and / or one or more ground wires). For example, a "two-layer PCB" includes two layers of conductive material separated by dielectric substrates, and a "four-layer PCB" includes four layers of conductive material separated by three dielectric substrates, etc. The number of layers of conductive signal lines and ground wires or planes forming a transmission line within the PCB may vary depending on the type of transmission line (e.g., microstrip, stripline, coplanar waveguide, etc.). For example, a transmission line within a PCB may include one conductive wire layer and one or more grounding wires or planes within the same layer as the conductive wire layer or in different layers. A signal path can transmit signals such as control signals, beam signals, or element signals between connected components or ports, and a signal path may include one or more PCB transmission lines in the same or different layers.

[0030] When configured as a transmitting phased array antenna, the phased array antenna can be configured to transmit a beam in a desired scanning angle direction relative to the boresight (e.g., the direction in which the target satellite is tracked). A first routing circuit 205-a (e.g., a diplexer or other multiplexer, or other type of signal routing circuit) can receive a transmit beam signal 236-a from, for example, a transmit processor, which is transmitted as a transmit beam by the phased array antenna. The first routing circuit 205-a can also receive control data 226-a from a controller 225-a. The control data 226-a can specify adjustment values ​​(e.g., amplitude and / or phase) for one or more of the N control circuits 215 applied by each control circuit (as described later) in order to transmit the transmit beam in a desired scanning angle direction.

[0031] The phased array antenna may include a modulator 230-a (e.g., an amplitude shift keying (ASK) or phase shift keying (PSK) modulator) that modulates control data 226-a to form a control signal 231-a. The modulator 230-a can modulate the control data 226-a received from the controller 225-a and pass the modulated control signal 231-a to the first routing circuit 205-a. In some cases, the modulator 230-a may be implemented inside the controller 225-a or as a component thereof. In some cases, the control signal 231-a and the transmit beam signal 236-a may occupy different non-overlapping frequency ranges. The multiplexer of the first routing circuit 205-a may use, for example, an FDM to transmit the transmit beam signal 236-a (center frequency f tx (having) and control signal 231-a (center frequency f cThe signals (having) can be multiplexed to form a composite multiplexed signal 241-a including a transmit beam signal 236-a and a control signal 231-a. Another possible implementation may be used as the first routing circuit 205-a. For example, in Figure 2, the first routing circuit 205-a is a diplexer (i.e., a multiplexer with two input terminals) including two band-pass filters 235, one for each input. The first band-pass filter 235-a allows signals of a first frequency range to pass through, the first frequency range corresponding to at least the frequency range of the transmit beam signal 236-a. The transmit beam signal 236-a may be, for example, a modulated transmit beam signal, and the modulated transmit beam signal has a carrier frequency f as the transmit beam signal. tx It is modulated by f. tx Although it is shown to have a center frequency equal to f, the center frequency of the first bandpass filter is equal to the carrier frequency f of the transmitted beam signal, insofar as the first frequency range allows the transmission beam signal 236-a to pass through (e.g., excluding the control signal 231-a). tx It does not have to be the same. The second bandpass filter 235-b allows signals in a second frequency range to pass through, and the second frequency range corresponds to at least the frequency range of the control signal 231-a. The control signal 231-a may be, for example, a modulated control signal, and the control data 226-a is the control signal at the carrier frequency f c It is modulated by and the carrier frequency of the control signal is different from the carrier frequency of the transmitted beam signal. c Although it is shown to have a center frequency equal to f, the center frequency of the second bandpass filter is equal to the carrier frequency f of the control signal, insofar as the second frequency range allows the control signal 231-a to pass through (e.g., excluding the transmitted beam signal 236-a). c It doesn't have to be the same.

[0032] Alternatively, in other embodiments where the carrier of the control signal 231-a has a lower frequency than the carrier of the transmit beam signal 236-a, a high-pass signal path may be formed instead of the first band-pass filter 235-a, and a low-pass signal path may be used instead of the second band-pass filter 235-b. The high-pass signal path may be formed, for example, using PCB traces, and allows signals in a high-frequency range to pass through, where this high-frequency range is sufficient for the transmit beam signal 236-a (e.g., a modulated transmit beam signal). The low-pass signal path may be formed, for example, using components such as capacitors and inductors, and allows signals in a low-frequency range to pass through, where this low-frequency range is sufficient for the control signal 231-a (e.g., a modulated control signal).

[0033] The first routing circuit 205-a can provide a composite multiplexed signal 241-a, which includes a transmit beam signal 236-a multiplexed with a control signal 231-a, to a common signal port 240-a of the beamforming network 210-a. The beamforming network 210-a may include one or more PCB divider stages (e.g., evenly and / or unevenly, in phase and / or out of phase, or a combination thereof), which divide the composite multiplexed signal 241-a to form individual output signals 246 (e.g., output signals 246-a and output signals 246-b) at the corresponding output element signal ports 245 (e.g., element signal port 245-a and element signal port 245-b) of the beamforming network 210-a. That is, the beamforming network 210-a can divide the composite multiplexed signal 241-a into individual output signals 246, each individual output signal 246 containing individual element signals and individual control signals, which are copies of the transmit beam signal 236-a and control signals 231-a, respectively. One or more PCB divider stages can provide relative amplitude and / or phase shifts between the individual element signals of the individual output signals 246 as part of the overall beamforming of the phased array antenna. In such cases, the individual control signals of the individual output signals 246 also undergo relative amplitude and / or phase shifts by one or more PCB divider stages. However, such relative shifts in amplitude and / or phase shifts do not affect the control data 226-a because they are applied to the carriers of the individual control signals. In addition, these shifts may not affect the restoration of the carriers of the individual control signals for synchronization because the required precision may be significantly lower than that required for the individual element signals (discussed below). The control data 226-a may include information about each of the control circuits 215 (e.g., serial data), and the beamforming network 210-a can copy the control data 226-a to each of the element signal ports 245 corresponding to each of the antenna elements 220 (e.g., by splitting a composite multiplexed signal 241-a that includes a control signal 231-a carrying the control data 226-a).The individual element signals contained in each individual output signal 246 at each element signal port 245 are then adjusted by the corresponding control circuit 215 connected to the corresponding element signal port 245 and transmitted by the corresponding antenna element 220.

[0034] Each of the individual output signals 246 at the element signal port 245 may include an individual control signal (e.g., a copy of control signal 231-a) and a multiplexed individual element signal (e.g., a copy of the transmit beam signal 236-a). The individual control signals are used by the corresponding control circuits 215 to apply appropriate adjustments (e.g., amplitude and / or phase) to the corresponding individual element signals. That is, the beamforming network 210-a can divide the composite multiplexed signal 241-a to form individual output signals 246 at each element signal port 245, each containing an individual control signal and an individual element signal. By multiplexing the beam signals and control signals, the beamforming network 210-a can be used to form and distribute control signals indicating control data for the element signals and the corresponding element signals for each control circuit 215. In this way, a single signal path can be used for both the control signals and element signals for each antenna element in the beamforming network 210-a, eliminating the need for, for example, separate dedicated control lines and element lines. This reduces the complexity of PCBs, which contain numerous PCB layers, and lowers the manufacturing cost of phased array antennas.

[0035] Each control circuit 215 includes a first port 248 connected to a corresponding element signal port 245 of a beamforming network 210-a (e.g., first port 248-a and first port 248-b) and a second port 249 connected to a corresponding antenna element 220 (or, in some cases, a plurality of antenna elements 220) (e.g., second port 249-a and second port 249-b). Each control circuit 215 may include a second routing circuit 250 (e.g., a diplexer, other multiplexer, or other type of signal routing circuit), and the second routing circuit 250 establishes an element signal path 251 between the first port 248 and the second port 249 of the control circuit 215 (e.g., element signal path 251-a and element signal path 251-b) and a control signal path 252 between the first port 248 of the control circuit 215 and an adjustment circuit 265 (e.g., control signal path 252-a and control signal path 252-b).

[0036] As shown in FIG. 2, each second routing circuit 250 is a diplexer that demultiplexes received individual output signals into corresponding individual element signals and control signals (e.g., via frequency demultiplexing). As correspondingly described with reference to the first routing circuit 205-a that multiplexes signals, the second routing circuit 250 may use similar components to perform similar reverse operations to demultiplex signals. For example, the second routing circuit 250-a may include a first bandpass filter 235-c and a second bandpass filter 235-d for element signals and control signals, respectively. That is, the first bandpass filter 235-c allows signals in a first frequency range to pass through, and the first frequency range corresponds to at least the frequency range of an element signal (e.g., a modulated transmit beam signal). f tx although it is shown as having a center frequency equal to , as long as the first frequency range allows passage of element signals (e.g., excluding control signal 231-a), the center frequency of the first bandpass filter 235-c is the carrier frequency f of the element signal txIt does not have to be the same. The second bandpass filter 235-d allows signals within a second frequency range to pass through, and the second frequency range corresponds to at least the frequency range of the control signal 231-a (e.g., the modulation control signal). c Although it is shown to have a center frequency equal to f, the center frequency of the second bandpass filter 235-d is equal to the carrier frequency f of the control signal, insofar as the second frequency range allows the control signal 231-a to pass through (e.g., excluding the element signal). c It does not have to be the same as the first. Similarly, the second routing circuit 250-b may include a first band-pass filter 235-e and a second band-pass filter 235-f for the element signal and control signal, respectively. Other potential realizations may be used, including the use of other PCB traces, components including high-pass and low-pass filters, capacitors, inductors, etc., as described above with reference to the first routing circuit 205.

[0037] In the first control circuit 215-a, the control signal path 252-a can provide control signals to the demodulator 255-a and the address decoder 260-a. The demodulator 255-a can demodulate the control signals transmitted via the control signal path 252-a to obtain control information. The control information may include commands for each of the control circuits 215, which are distributed to each of the control circuits 215 by the beamforming network 210-a. Commands for various control circuits 215 may be transmitted sequentially within the control information. That is, in addition to receiving its own control data, the control circuit 215-a may receive and demodulate control information for each of the other control circuits 215 (for example, for control circuit 215-b). The control information may include address information (for example, in the header) that identifies the address of the specific control circuit 215 for which the corresponding control information is intended. The address decoder 260-a can compare the known address of the control circuit 215-a (discussed further below) with the address information of the control data 226-a to identify the control information intended for a particular control circuit 215-a, and can provide the identified control information to the corresponding adjustment circuit 265-a via the signal path 253-a. The second control circuit 215-b can operate similarly to the first control circuit 215-a, and similarly includes a demodulator 255-b, an address decoder 260-b, and an adjustment circuit 265-b (for example, to similarly provide the identified control information to the adjustment circuit 265-b via the signal path 253-b).

[0038] Each of the adjustment circuits 265 (e.g., adjustment circuit 265-a and adjustment circuit 265-b) can provide appropriate amplitude and / or phase adjustments to the corresponding element signal based on identified control information (e.g., beam coefficient) by including one or more circuit elements (e.g., one or more phase shifters 270, one or more amplifiers 275, etc.). Figure 2 shows details of adjustment circuit 265-a. In the illustrated example, adjustment circuit 265-a includes a phase shifter 270-a that applies a phase shift to the corresponding element signal as indicated by the control information. In the illustrated embodiment, adjustment circuit 265-a further includes an amplifier 275-a that amplifies the signal from the phase shifter, which has been phase-shifted as indicated by the control information, to form an adjusted element signal. The adjusted element signal can be provided to the corresponding antenna element 220 for transmission via a second port 249 of the control circuit 215. Adjustment circuit 265-a can similarly operate to adjust the element signal and provide it to a second antenna element 220-b. By transmitting the adjusted element signals through each of the antenna elements 220 of the phase array antenna, a transmit beam is formed that is transmitted in the desired scanning angle direction (for example, the direction of the target satellite or the direction of another receiving device).

[0039] Various techniques for assigning addresses, and techniques by which each address decoder 260 of a control circuit 215 can determine the correspondingly assigned address, are described. In one exemplary implementation, each of the control circuits 215 may be identical across the antenna array. Therefore, a particular control circuit 215 may not have pre-configured information or other distinguishable information or features, but this information or features can be used to determine the correspondingly assigned address before they are installed in their respective locations on the antenna array PCB. In this case, different locations on the array antenna PCB may include different features that indicate the addressing scheme across the array. These features may be used by the address decoder 260 to determine the address assigned to the corresponding control circuit 215.

[0040] In one exemplary implementation, the address of the control circuit 215 can be set using pull-up / down or open / short address strapping. For example, a particular control circuit 215 may include multiple address pins and may be located at a specific location on the antenna array PCB. In some cases, the default configuration of the address pins may be pulled up (e.g., via the internal resistors of the control circuit 215), and a unique combination of ground vias may pull down a particular address pin, depending on its location on the PCB. For example, a first set of address pins may correspond to the row address of the control circuit 215, and a second set of pins may correspond to the column address of the control circuit 215. The resulting sequence of pulled-up and pulled-down address pins can then indicate a unique address for that control circuit 215.

[0041] Additionally or alternatively, each control circuit 215 can identify its own address by reading the address voltage level, for example, using an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). For example, as further illustrated with reference to Figure 8, each row and column voltage divider element (e.g., a resistor divider) can divide the supply voltage, and the corresponding row and column voltages can be read by the ADC in the control circuit 215. The antenna array PCB may include one voltage divider element per row that divides the supply voltage into corresponding row voltages indicating a particular row, and one voltage divider element per column that divides the supply voltage into corresponding column voltages indicating a particular column. Each control circuit 215 can then include a row address pin to receive the corresponding row voltage and a column address pin to receive the corresponding column voltage. These voltages can then be read at the row and column address pins using the ADC. Doing so can reduce the number of resistors used compared to some other techniques. In addition, this described implementation can use relatively fewer pins compared to using pull-up / down or open / short address strapping, which can reduce the PCB area or cost for each control circuit 215.

[0042] In some cases, the address of control circuit 215 may be selected (e.g., using consecutive row and column addresses) such that the control circuit applies control information (e.g., specific beam adjustment coefficients for amplitude and / or phase) to an incorrectly decoded address, but this control information applied by the control circuit is often intended for one of the adjacent control circuits 215. In some cases, row and column addressing may ensure that consecutive row or column addresses do not differ by more than two bits (e.g., the Hamming distance is equal to 1(1)), and that any two non-consecutive rows or columns do not have more than two different bits (e.g., the Hamming distance is greater than 1(1)). In this case, if control circuit 215 incorrectly decodes an address as a result of a single-bit error, control circuit 215 applies the intended adjustments (e.g., phase and / or amplitude) to the nearest adjacent control circuit 215 for each row and / or column, which does not substantially degrade the RF beamforming performance of some antenna arrays. For example, this can result in performance similar to that of a group of antenna elements in an antenna array twice the size, provided that no incorrect addresses are used for the antenna array. In some cases, the control data address may be encoded with one or more error correction bits to reduce the probability of incorrect address decoding. For example, the control data address may be transmitted according to a linear block code such as Hamming code or Reed-Solomon code.

[0043] In some cases, the control circuits 215 and controller 225-a may support bidirectional communication. For example, each of the control circuits 215 may also have a modulator (not shown), which may be part of the demodulator 255 or a separate component. Controller 225-a may send a command to read a configuration value (e.g., control information) from one of the control circuits 215, and the addressed control circuit 215 can then respond by modulating the signal with the response (e.g., configuration value) and multiplexing the modulated signal onto individual output signals 246 at each element signal port 245. The modulated signal can then be transmitted to controller 225-a via beamforming network 210-a and first routing circuit 205-a, which can then demodulate the signal and decode the response. Thus, bidirectional communication allows checking the configuration of the control circuits 215 or reading other state information from the control circuits 215 for testing or debugging purposes.

[0044] In some cases, demodulator 255 may reconstruct a carrier wave (e.g., a carrier wave for control signals) to form a clock signal for synchronizing another control circuit 215. For example, demodulator 255-a can use a carrier reconstruction loop or other carrier reconstruction techniques (e.g., compensating for frequency and / or phase differences between the control signal carrier and the local oscillator). Demodulator 255-a can then set a clock signal based on the reconstructed waveform. In this way, the clock signal can be synchronized between each of the control circuits 215 of the phased array antenna. Thus, the control signals can use coherent modulation, and the synchronized clock signal in demodulator 255 can demodulate control signal 231-a using coherent demodulation.

[0045] Figure 3 shows an exemplary beamforming network 305 of a circuit architecture for distributed multiplexing control and element signals for a phased array antenna according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The beamforming network shown in Figure 3 is an example of a beamforming network described with reference to at least Figures 2 and 4-7.

[0046] The beamforming network 305 shows a common port 310, which may be an example of a common input signal port as described with reference to Figure 2. The beamforming network 305 also shows a number of element ports 315 labeled "element port 1" to "element port N". These element ports correspond to a number of control circuits 1 to N, as described with reference to Figure 2. Element ports 315 are examples of element signal ports as described with reference to Figure 2.

[0047] Figure 300, an illustrative example of the beamforming network 305, shows three stages of combiners / dividers (e.g., a PCB combiner / divider formed within a PCB). That is, an input signal received at the common port 310 can first be split into two signals, and then each signal can be split two more times consecutively to form an output signal at the eight element ports 315 shown. Conversely, signals received at the eight element ports 315 can be combined by the beamforming network 305 to form a composite signal at the common port 310. In some cases, these combiners / dividers may be arranged in an equal and / or unequal manner, in phase and / or out of phase, or any combination. However, it should be understood that this is only one example of a PCB combiner / divider network, and the beamforming network 305 may contain fewer or more such combiners / dividers in various configurations.

[0048] Figure 4 shows an exemplary circuit architecture for distributed multiplexing control and element signaling for a phased array antenna according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The phased array antenna is one or more examples of antenna arrays 140 as described with reference to Figure 1, and the circuit architecture for distributed multiplexing control and element signaling for the phased array antenna is as described with reference to Figure 2. The phased array antenna in Figure 4 is an example of a transmitting phased array antenna for transmitting communication signals to satellite 105 as described with reference to Figure 1, and the circuit architecture for distributed multiplexing control and element signaling for the phased array antenna is as described with reference to Figure 2.

[0049] The circuit architecture for the phased array antenna in Figure 4 can operate in substantially the same manner as similar or corresponding components described with reference to Figure 2, unless otherwise specified herein. In Figure 4, the phased array antenna includes a power supply 405 in addition to transmitting beam signals, element signals, and control signals. This power supply 405 generates a power signal 408, which is transmitted along the signal path and can be multiplexed with beam signals, element signals, and control signals.

[0050] As shown in Figure 4, the circuit architecture includes a first routing circuit 205-b, a beamforming network 210-b, multiple control circuits 215, and multiple antenna elements 220. In the example in Figure 4, a first control circuit 215-c and its corresponding first antenna element 220-c, and a second control circuit 215-d and its corresponding second antenna element 220-d are shown. However, it should be understood that any number N of control circuits 215 for the antenna elements 220 can be implemented similarly. As illustrated in Figure 4, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the control circuits 215 and the antenna elements 220 (i.e., each antenna element 220 is connected to a different control circuit 215). However, it should be understood that in some cases, one control circuit 215 may be shared among multiple antenna elements 220 (i.e., one control circuit 215 may be connected to multiple antenna elements 220 and provide their respective signals to the multiple antenna elements 220). Each component can be connected via a signal path.

[0051] A first routing circuit 205-b (e.g., a diplexer or other multiplexer, or other type of signal routing circuit) can receive, for example, a transmit beam signal 236-b from a transmit processor and transmit it as a transmit beam by a phased array antenna. The first routing circuit 205-b can further receive control data 226-b from a controller 225-a. The control data 226-b can instruct adjustment values ​​(e.g., amplitude and / or phase) to one or more of the N control circuits 215 applied by each control circuit in order to transmit the transmit beam in a desired scanning angle direction.

[0052] The phased array antenna may include a modulator 230-b that modulates control data 226-b to form a control signal 231-b. The modulator 230-b can modulate the control data 226-b received from the controller 225-b and pass the modulated control signal 231-b to the first routing circuit 205-b. In some cases, the modulator 230-b may be implemented inside the controller 225-b or as a component thereof. The multiplexer of the first routing circuit 205-b transmits the beam signal 236-b (center frequency f tx (having) and control signal 231-b (center frequency f c The signals (having) can be multiplexed to form a composite multiplexed signal 241-b including the transmit beam signal 236-b and the control signal 231-b. In Figure 4, the first routing circuit 205-b is a diplexer including two band-pass filters 235-1, one for each input. The first band-pass filter 235-g allows signals of a first frequency range to pass through, the first frequency range corresponding to at least the frequency range of the transmit beam signal 236-b (e.g., the modulated transmit beam signal). tx Although it is shown to have a center frequency equal to f, the center frequency of the first bandpass filter 235-g is equal to the carrier frequency f of the transmitted beam signal, insofar as the first frequency range allows the transmission beam signal 236-b to pass through (e.g., excluding the control signal 231-b). tx It does not have to be the same. The second bandpass filter 235-h allows signals within a second frequency range to pass through, and the second frequency range corresponds to at least the frequency range of the control signal 231-b (e.g., the modulation control signal). c Although it is shown to have a center frequency equal to f, the center frequency of the second bandpass filter 235-h is equal to the carrier frequency f of the control signal, insofar as the second frequency range allows the control signal 231-b to pass through (e.g., excluding the transmit beam signal 236-b). c It does not have to be the same as above. As described above, another possible implementation may be used as the first routing circuit 205-b.

[0053] The first routing circuit 205-b can further receive the power signal 408 from the power supply 405. In Figure 4, the power supply 405 (e.g., a DC power supply, or another voltage or current source) generates the power signal 408 (e.g., a DC signal). The power signal 408 can pass through the inductor 410-a (or another type of choke element) in the first routing circuit 205-b. The inductor prevents the control signal 231-b and the transmit beam signal 236-b from flowing through the signal path to the power supply 405. The first routing circuit 205-b may further include a blocking capacitor 415-a that blocks the power signal 408 from the signal paths of the beam signal 236-b and the control signal 231-b. The first routing circuit 205-b outputs a composite multiplexed signal 241-b, which includes each of the transmit beam signal 236-b, the control signal 231-b, and the power signal 408.

[0054] The first routing circuit 205-b can provide a composite multiplexed signal 241-b, which includes the transmit beam signal 236-b multiplexed with the control signal 231-b, to the common signal port 240-b of the beamforming network 210-b. The beamforming network 210-b may include one or more PCB divider stages that divide the composite multiplexed signal 241-b to form individual output signals 246 (e.g., output signals 246-c and output signals 246-d) at the corresponding output element signal ports 245 (e.g., element signal ports 245-c and element signal ports 245-d) of the beamforming network 210-b. That is, the beamforming network 210-b can divide the composite multiplexed signal 241-b into individual output signals 246, each individual output signal 246 including an individual element signal and an individual control signal, which are copies of the transmit beam signal 236-b and the control signal 231-b, respectively. One or more PCB divider stages may provide relative amplitude and / or phase shifts between the individual element signals of the individual output signals 246 as part of the overall beamforming of the phased array antenna. In such cases, the individual control signals of the individual output signals 246 are also subjected to relative amplitude and / or phase shifts by the one or more PCB divider stages. However, such relative shifts in amplitude and / or phase shifts do not affect the control data 226-b because they are applied to the carriers of the individual control signals. In addition, these shifts may not affect the restoration of the carriers of the individual control signals for synchronization because the required precision may be significantly lower than that required for the individual element signals (discussed below). The control data 226-b may include information about each of the control circuits 215 (e.g., serial data), and the beamforming network 210-b can copy the control data 226-b received at the common signal port 240-b to each of the element signal ports 245 corresponding to each of the antenna elements 220 (e.g., by splitting a composite multiplexed signal 241-b containing the control signal 231-a that transmits the control data 226-b).The individual element signals contained in each individual output signal 246 at each element signal port 245 are then adjusted by the corresponding control circuit 215 connected to the corresponding element signal port 245 and can be transmitted by the corresponding antenna element 220.

[0055] Each of the individual output signals 246 at the element signal port 245 may include an individual control signal (e.g., a copy of control signal 231-b) and a multiplexed individual element signal (e.g., a copy of the transmit beam signal 236-b), and a power signal 408. The control signals can be used by the corresponding control circuits 215 to apply appropriate adjustments (e.g., amplitude and / or phase) to the corresponding element signals. That is, the beamforming network 210-b can divide the composite multiplexed signal 241-b to form individual control signals and individual element signals at each element signal port 245. The individual control signals can be multiplexed with the corresponding element signals to form the multiplexed individual output signals 246. By multiplexing the beam signals and control signals, the beamforming network 210-b can be used to form and distribute control signals that instruct control data for the element signals and the corresponding element signals of each control circuit 215.

[0056] Each control circuit 215 may include a first port 248 (e.g., first port 248-c and first port 248-d) connected to the corresponding element signal port 245 of the beamforming network 210-b, and a second port 249 (e.g., second port 249-c and second port 249-d) connected to the corresponding antenna element 220. Each control circuit 215 may include a second routing circuit 250 (e.g., a diplexer or other multiplexer, or other type of signal routing circuit), which establishes element signal paths 251 (e.g., element signal paths 251-c and element signal paths 251-d) between the first port 248 and the second port 249 of the control circuit 215, and a control signal path 252 (e.g., control signal paths 252-c and control signal paths 252-d) between the first port 248 of the control circuit 215 and the adjustment circuit 265.

[0057] As shown in Figure 4, each of the second routing circuits 250 is a diplexer that multiplexes and separates the individual output signals received into corresponding individual element and control signals. As described in correspondence with reference to the first routing circuit 205-b which multiplexes the signals, the second routing circuits 250 can perform similar inverse operations using similar components to multiplex and separate signals. For example, the second routing circuit 250-c may include a first band-pass filter 235-i and a second band-pass filter 235-j for the element signals and control signals, respectively. Similarly, the second routing circuit 250-d may include a first band-pass filter 235-k and a second band-pass filter 235-l for the element signals and control signals, respectively. tx Although it is shown to have a center frequency equal to f, the center frequencies of the first bandpass filters 235-i and 235-k are equal to the carrier frequency f of the transmitted beam signal, insofar as they allow the element signal to pass through (except for control signals). tx It does not have to be the same as. Similarly, the center frequencies of the second band-pass filters 235-j and 235-l are f cIt is shown as being equal to, but insofar as it allows the control signal to pass through (e.g., excluding the element signal), the carrier frequency f of the control signal. c It does not have to be the same. As mentioned above, another possible implementation may be used for the second routing circuit 250, including, for example, the use of other PCB traces, components including high-pass and low-pass filters, capacitors, inductors, etc.

[0058] In some cases, each of the control circuits 215 may include a decapluster that separates the multiplexed power signals in order to obtain a power signal for supplying power to the control circuits 215 and other components. The second routing circuit 250 within each control circuit 215 may include an inductor 410 (e.g., inductor 410-b and inductor 410-c) or another type of choke element that allows the power signal to pass through, which is then supplied to various other components of the control circuit 215, supplying power to the other components. The second routing circuit 250 may further include blocking capacitors 415 (e.g., capacitors 415-b and capacitors 415-c) that block the power signal 408 from the signal path to each of the antenna elements 220.

[0059] For example, in the first control circuit 215-c, the control signal path 252-c can provide control signals to the demodulator 255-c and the address decoder 260-c. The demodulator 255-c can demodulate the control signals transmitted on the control signal path 252-c to obtain control information. The control information may include commands for each of the control circuits 215, which are distributed to each of the control circuits 215 by the beamforming network 210-b. Commands for different control circuits 215 can be transmitted sequentially in the control information. That is, in addition to receiving its own control data, control circuit 215-c may receive and demodulate control information for each of the other control circuits 215 (e.g., for control circuit 215-d). The control information may include address information (e.g., in the header) that identifies the address of the specific control circuit 215 for which the corresponding control information is intended. The address decoder 260-c can compare the known address of the control circuit 215-c (discussed further below) with the address information of the control data 226-b to identify the control information intended for a particular control circuit 215-c, and provide the identified control information to the corresponding adjustment circuit 265-c via the signal path 253-c. The second control circuit 215-d can operate similarly to the first control circuit 215-c, and the second control circuit 215-b similarly includes a demodulator 255-d, an address decoder 260-d, and an adjustment circuit 265-d (for example, to similarly provide the identified control information to the adjustment circuit 265-d via the signal path 253-d).

[0060] Each of the adjustment circuits 265 (e.g., adjustment circuits 265-c and 265-d) can provide appropriate amplitude and / or phase adjustments to the corresponding element signal based on identified control information by including one or more circuit elements (e.g., one or more phase shifters 270, one or more amplifiers 275, etc.). Figure 4 shows a detailed diagram of adjustment circuit 265-c. In the illustrated example, adjustment circuit 265-c includes a phase shifter 270-b that applies a phase shift indicated by the control information to the corresponding element signal. In the illustrated embodiment, adjustment circuit 265-c further includes an amplifier 275-b that amplifies the signal from the phase shifter, which has been phase-shifted as indicated by the control information, to form the adjusted element signal. The adjusted element signal can be provided to the corresponding antenna element 220 for transmission via a second port 249 of the control circuit 215. The transmission of the adjusted element signal by each of the antenna elements 220 of the phase array antenna together forms a transmit beam that is transmitted in the desired scanning angle direction.

[0061] In some cases, each of the control circuits 215 may include a set of multiple beamforming registers. In some embodiments, each of the control circuits 215 includes a dual-buffer beamforming register, thereby allowing the next adjustment value (i.e., the next beam direction for the transmit beam) to be loaded for the next beam pointing state while operating in the current state. This allows the phased array antenna to change the pointing direction relatively quickly, for example, in situations where the phased array antenna switches pointing directions between two different receiving devices (e.g., for satellite handover). Furthermore, this facilitates the phased array antenna maintaining the tracking direction of the receiving device when the beamforming coefficients are frequency-dependent, and frequency hopping is performed to maintain the beam direction, for example, while switching between two different frequency bands. In some embodiments, each of the control circuits may include a set of multiple registers to store beam coefficients used for mispointing correction (e.g., via step track, cone scanning, monopulse tracking). For example, each of the control circuits may store a set of coefficients associated with a cone scanning operation for the current beam. Cone scanning allows the antenna beam to be intentionally directed away from the target direction according to different angular offsets, and signal attributes can be measured (e.g., via a received signal or feedback indicating the signal strength of the transmitted signal). If improved signal attributes are found at the scanning offset, the antenna beam can be adjusted to a new target direction. After each mispointing correction operation is performed and a new beam directed towards the target is selected as a result of the cone scanning, the set of coefficients can be updated with a new set of coefficients for the next cone scanning operation. In some cases, a portion of the address header (e.g., 10 bits) may be reserved for use as global commands such as "transmit enable / disable" and / or "receive enable / disable," commands to enable weighting of buffered beams from specific registers (e.g., registers A and B for the dual-buffer beamforming register), and other commands for phased array antennas.

[0062] In some cases, the control circuits 215 and controller 225-b may support bidirectional communication. For example, each of the control circuits 215 may also have a modulator (not shown), which may be part of the modulator or a separate component. Controller 225-b can send a command to read a configuration value (e.g., control information) from one of the control circuits 215, and the addressed control circuit 215 can then respond by modulating the signal with the response (e.g., configuration value) and multiplexing the modulated signal into individual output signals 246 at each element signal port 245. The modulated signal can then be transmitted to controller 225-b via beamforming network 210-b and first routing circuit 205-b, and the controller can then demodulate the signal and decode the response. Thus, bidirectional communication allows checking the configuration of the control circuits 215 or reading other state information from the control circuits 215 for testing or debugging purposes.

[0063] In some cases, demodulator 255 may reconstruct a carrier wave (e.g., a carrier wave for control signals) to form a clock signal for synchronizing different control circuits 215. For example, demodulator 255-e can use a carrier reconstruction loop or other carrier reconstruction techniques (e.g., compensating for frequency and / or phase differences between the control signal carrier and the local oscillator). Demodulator 255-e can then set a clock signal based on the reconstructed waveform. In this way, the clock signal can be synchronized between each of the control circuits 215 of the phased array antenna. Thus, the control signals can use coherent modulation, and the synchronized clock signal in demodulator 255 can demodulate control signal 231-b using coherent demodulation.

[0064] Figure 5 shows an exemplary circuit architecture for distributed multiplexed control signals and element signals for a phased array antenna according to an aspect of the present disclosure. This phased array antenna is one or more examples of antenna arrays 140 as described with reference to Figure 1. The phased array antenna in Figure 5 is an example of a receiving phased array antenna for receiving communication signals from satellite 105, as described with reference to Figure 1.

[0065] The circuit architecture for the phased array antenna in Figure 5 can operate in a manner substantially similar to that of similar or corresponding components described with reference to Figures 2 to 4, unless otherwise specified herein. Although not shown, the phased array antenna in Figure 5 may, in some cases, form and transmit power signals, for example, as similarly described with reference to Figure 4. The phased array antenna in Figure 5 is an example of a receiving phased array antenna, rather than a transmitting phased array antenna described in Figures 2 and 4. In a receiving phased array antenna, element signals are received by antenna element 220 and propagate through a signal path in the opposite direction to the transmitting signal. That is, antenna element 220 can receive corresponding receiving element signals 266 (e.g., receiving element signals 266-a and receiving element signals 266-b) from a transmitting device (e.g., a satellite), which are provided to the beamforming network 210-c through the corresponding control circuit 215. The beamforming network 210-c can combine these element signals to form a received beam signal, which is then passed through the first routing circuit 205-c to the processor and other devices of the aircraft (or other vehicle) equipped with the phase array antenna.

[0066] As shown in Figure 5, the circuit architecture includes a first routing circuit 205-c, a beamforming network 210-c, multiple control circuits 215, and multiple antenna elements 220. In the example in Figure 5, a first control circuit 215-e is shown with a corresponding first antenna element 220-e, and a second control circuit 215-f is shown with a corresponding second antenna element 220-f. However, it should be understood that any number N of control circuits 215 can be similarly implemented for the antenna elements 220. As illustrated in Figure 5, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the control circuits 215 and the antenna elements 220 (i.e., each antenna element 220 is connected to a different control circuit 215). However, it should be understood that in some cases, one control circuit 215 may be shared among multiple antenna elements 220 (i.e., one control circuit 215 can be connected to multiple antenna elements 220 and receive signals from each of the multiple antenna elements). Each component is connected via a signal path.

[0067] As described herein, each of the control circuits 215, beamforming network 210-c, first routing circuit 205-c, controller 225-a, and other components and signal paths can support bidirectional communication. For example, as described above, each of the control circuits 215 may also include a modulator (not shown), which may be part of the demodulator 255 or a separate component. Controller 225-c may send a command to read configuration values ​​(e.g., control information) from one of the control circuits 215, and the addressed control circuit 215 can then respond by modulating the signal with the response (e.g., configuration values) and multiplexing the modulated signal into individual output signals at each element signal port 245 of the beamforming network 510-c. The modulated signal can then be transmitted to controller 225-a via beamforming network 210-c and first routing circuit 205-c, which can then demodulate the signal and decode the response. Therefore, bidirectional communication allows checking the configuration of the control circuit 215 or reading other state information from the control circuit 215 for testing or debugging purposes. In addition, in the case of a receiving phased array antenna, bidirectional communication can support a signal path that transmits control signals in one direction and provides receiving element signals in the opposite direction.

[0068] In a receiving phased array antenna, the antenna elements 220 can receive their respective receiving element signals 266 from a transmitting device (e.g., a satellite) and provide the receiving element signals to the control circuit 215. As described above, each control circuit 215 may include a first port 248 (e.g., first port 248-e and first port 248-f) connected to the corresponding element signal port 245 of the beamforming network 210-c, and a second port 249 (e.g., second port 249-e and second port 249-f) connected to the corresponding antenna element 220. Each control circuit 215 may include a second routing circuit 250 (e.g., a diplexer or other multiplexer, or other type of signal routing circuit) which establishes element signal paths 251 (e.g., element signal paths 251-e and 251-f) between the first port 248 and the second port 249 of the control circuit 215 and a control signal path 252 (e.g., control signal paths 252-e and 252-f) between the first port 248 of the control circuit 215 and the adjustment circuit 265.

[0069] As described below, the adjustment circuit 265 can apply adjustment to the received element signal to form an adjusted element signal. Each second routing circuit 250 sends the corresponding adjusted element signal (center frequency f) from the corresponding adjustment circuit 265 to the corresponding first port 248. rx It provides a control signal (center frequency f) from the corresponding first port 248 to the corresponding control signal path 252. cIt is possible to provide (having). Therefore, the signal path between the corresponding first port 248 and the corresponding element signal port 245 of the beamforming network 210-c includes a multiplexed signal including the tuned element signal and the control signal. In Figure 5, each of the second routing circuits 250 is a diplexer including two band-pass filters 235, one for each signal. For example, in the second routing circuit 250-e, the first band-pass filter 235-o allows signals of a first frequency range to pass through, and the first frequency range corresponds to at least the frequency range of the received element signal. For example, the received element signal has a carrier frequency f rx This is a modulated received signal that includes a modulated signal modulated by f. rx Although it is shown to have a center frequency equal to f, the center frequency of the first bandpass filter 235-o is equal to the carrier frequency f of the receiving element signal, insofar as the first frequency range allows the receiving element signal to pass through (except for control signals, for example). rx It does not have to be the same. The second bandpass filter 235-p allows a second frequency range to pass through, and the second frequency range corresponds to at least the frequency range of the control signal (e.g., the modulation control signal). c Although it is shown to have a center frequency equal to f, the center frequency of the second bandpass filter 235-p is equal to the carrier frequency f of the control signal, insofar as the second frequency range allows the control signal to pass through (e.g., excluding the receiving element signal). c It does not have to be the same as the previous one. Similarly, the second routing circuit 250-f may include a first band-pass filter 235-q and a second band-pass filter 235-r for the element signal and control signal, respectively.

[0070] For example, in the first control circuit 215-e, the control signal path 252-e can provide control signals to the demodulator 255-e and the address decoder 260-e. The demodulator 255-e can demodulate the control signals transmitted on the control signal path 252-e to obtain control information. The control information may include commands (e.g., serial data) for each of the control circuits 215, which are copied to each of the control circuits 215 by the beamforming network 210-c. That is, in addition to receiving its own control data, the control circuit 215-e may receive and demodulate control information for each of the other control circuits 215 (e.g., for control circuit 215-f). The control information may include address information (e.g., in the header) that identifies the address of the specific control circuit 215 for which the corresponding control information is intended. The address decoder 260-e can compare the known address of the control circuit 215-e (discussed further below) with the address information of the control data 226-c to identify the control information intended for a particular control circuit 215-e, and can provide the identified control information to the corresponding adjustment circuit 265-e via the signal path 253-e. A second control circuit 215-f can operate similarly to the first control circuit 215-e, and similarly includes a demodulator 255-f, an address decoder 260-f, and an adjustment circuit 265-f (for example, to similarly provide the identified control information to the adjustment circuit 265-f via the signal path 253-f).

[0071] Each of the adjustment circuits 265 (e.g., adjustment circuits 265-e and 265-f) can form individual adjusted element signals by including one or more circuit elements (e.g., one or more phase shifters 270, one or more amplifiers 275, etc.) to provide appropriate amplitude and / or phase adjustments to the corresponding individual received element signals based on identified control information. Figure 5 shows details of adjustment circuit 265-e. In the illustrated example, adjustment circuit 265-e includes a phase shifter 270-c, which applies a phase shift to the corresponding received element signal as instructed by the control information. In the illustrated example, adjustment circuit 265-e further includes an amplifier 275-e that first amplifies the individual received element signal before the phase shifter applies the phase shift as instructed by the control information. The adjustment can be applied to the received element signal 266-a to form an adjusted element signal. The adjusted element signal can be provided to the second routing circuit 250-e as described above.

[0072] The second routing circuit 250 can provide the coordinated element signals, bidirectionally multiplexed with the control signals, to the element signal ports 245 of the beamforming network 210-c (in this case, input ports for element signals and output ports for control signals). The beamforming network 210-a may include one or more PCB combiner / divider stages that combine the individual element signals to provide the received beam signal to the common signal port 240-c. In the other direction, the first routing circuit 205-a can provide the control signals 231-c to the common signal port 240-c of the beamforming network 210-c. The beamforming network 210-c can copy the control signals 231-c, including the control data 226-c received at the common signal port 240-c, to each of the element signal ports 245 corresponding to each of the antenna elements 220. The beamforming network 210-c can, accordingly, form individual control signals in the individual combined (or multiplexed) signals 247 (e.g., combined signal 247-a and combined signal 247-b) at the element signal ports 245 of the beamforming network 210-c (e.g., element signal ports 245-e and 245-f).

[0073] In short, each bidirectional combined signal 247 at each element signal port 245 can include individual received element signals as inputs from the control circuit 215 to the beamforming network 210-c, and individual control signals (e.g., a copy of control signal 231-c) as outputs from the beamforming network 210-c to the control circuit 215. The bidirectional combined signal at the common signal port 240-c can include a composite received beam signal as an output of the beamforming network 210-c to the first routing circuit 205-c, and a copy of control signal 231-c as an output from the first routing circuit 205-c to the beamforming network 210-c.

[0074] The first routing circuit 205-c can receive the received beam signal from the beamforming network 210-c. The first routing circuit 205-a can further receive control data 226-c from the controller 225-c. The control data 226-a can indicate adjustment values ​​(e.g., amplitude and / or phase) to be applied by the adjustment circuit 265 to receive the received beam as desired, as described herein.

[0075] The phased array antenna may include a modulator 230-c that modulates control data 226-c to form a control signal 231-c. The modulator 230-c can modulate the control data 226-c received from the controller 225-c and pass the modulated control signal 231-c to the first routing circuit 205-c. In some cases, the modulator 230-c may be implemented in or as a component of the controller 225-c. The multiplexer of the first routing circuit 205-c can receive the received beam signal from the beamforming network 210-c and receive the control signal 231-c (with a center frequency fc) from the modulator 230-c. Thus, the signal path between the first routing circuit 205-c and the beamforming network 210-c includes a composite multiplexed signal 241-c containing the received beam signal and the control signal 231-c. Next, the first routing circuit 205-c transmits the received beam signal 237-a to a receiving processor, for example, in order to process the information received by the phased array antenna.

[0076] As shown in Figure 5, the first routing circuit 205-c is implemented as a diplexer including two band-pass filters 235. The first band-pass filter 235-m allows signals of a first frequency range to pass through, the first frequency range corresponding to at least the frequency range of the received beam signal. For example, the received beam signal has a carrier frequency f rx This is a modulated received beam signal that includes a modulated signal modulated by f. rxAlthough it is shown to have a center frequency equal to f, the center frequency of the first bandpass filter 235-m is equal to the carrier frequency f of the received beam signal, insofar as the first frequency range allows the received beam signal to pass through (e.g., excluding control signals). rx It does not have to be the same. The second bandpass filter 235-n allows signals of a second frequency range to pass through, and the second frequency range corresponds to at least the frequency range of the control signal 231-c (e.g., the modulation control signal). c Although it is shown to have a center frequency equal to f, the center frequency of the second bandpass filter 235-n is equal to the carrier frequency f of the control signal, insofar as the second frequency range allows the control signal to pass through (e.g., excluding the received beam signal). c It does not have to be the same as above. As mentioned above, another possible implementation may be used as the first routing circuit 205-c.

[0077] Figure 6 shows an exemplary circuit architecture for distributed multiplexing control and elemental signaling for a phased array antenna according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The phased array antenna is one or more examples of antenna arrays 140, as described with reference to Figure 1. The phased array antenna in Figure 6 is an example of a transmit / receive phased array antenna capable of transmitting and receiving communication signals to and from satellite 105, as described with reference to Figure 1.

[0078] The architecture for the phased array antenna shown in Figure 6 may operate in a manner substantially similar to that of similar or corresponding components described with reference to Figures 2 to 5, unless otherwise specified herein. Although Figure 6 shows only one control circuit 215-g, it should be understood that any number N of control circuits 215 may exist, as in Figures 2 to 5.

[0079] As shown in Figure 6, antenna element 220-g is a receiving antenna element 220 having a signal path connected to the receiving adjustment circuit 265-g. Antenna element 220-h is a transmitting antenna element 220 having a signal path connected to the transmitting adjustment circuit 265-h. Although Figure 6 shows separate transmitting and receiving antenna elements 220, it should be understood that a single antenna element 220 can be used for both transmission and reception.

[0080] As shown in Figure 6, the circuit architecture includes a first routing circuit 205-d, a beamforming network 210-d, a control circuit 215-g, and multiple antenna elements 220. In the example in Figure 6, control circuit 215-a and its corresponding receiving antenna element 220-g and transmitting antenna element 220-h are shown. However, it should be understood that any number N of control circuits 215 for the antenna elements 220 can be implemented similarly. As illustrated in Figure 6, there is a one-to-two correspondence between the control circuits 215 and the antenna elements 220. However, it should be understood that in some cases, one control circuit 215 may be shared by multiple receiving and transmitting antenna elements 220 (i.e., one control circuit 215 can be connected to multiple receiving antenna elements 220 and receive signals from each of the multiple receiving antenna elements 220, or provide signals to multiple transmitting antenna elements 220). Each component is connected via a signal path.

[0081] A first routing circuit 205-d (e.g., a diplexer or other multiplexer, or other type of signal routing circuit) can receive, for example, a transmit beam signal 236-c from a transmit processor and transmit it as a transmit beam by a phased array antenna. The first routing circuit 205-d can receive a received beam signal from a beamforming network 210-d, which has been received by the phased array antenna, as described herein. The first routing circuit 205-d can further receive a control signal 231-d from a modulator 230-d, which includes control data 226-d from a controller 225-d. The control data 226-d can specify adjustment values ​​(e.g., amplitude and / or phase) for one or more of the N control circuits 215, which are applied by each control circuit to transmit the transmit beam signal and receive the received beam signal in the desired scanning angle direction.

[0082] The phased array antenna may include a modulator 230-d that modulates control data 226-d to form a control signal 231-d. The modulator 230-d can modulate control data 226-a received from the controller 225-d and pass the modulated control signal 231-d to the first routing circuit 205-d. In some cases, the modulator 230-d may be implemented inside the controller 225-d or as a component thereof. As described above, the input to the first routing circuit 205-d is the transmit beam signal 236-c (center frequency f tx (having), composite received beam signal (center frequency f rx (having), and control signal 231-d (center frequency f c It may include (having ). Therefore, as shown in Figure 6, the composite multiplexed signal 241-d is a bidirectional signal, with the control signal and the transmitted beam signal in one direction (from the first routing circuit 205-d to the beamforming network 210-d) and the received beam signal in the opposite direction (from the beamforming network 210-d to the first routing circuit 205-d).

[0083] The first routing circuit 205-d can form the components of a composite multiplexed signal 241-d, which includes a transmit beam signal 236-c and a control signal 231-d. The composite multiplexed signal 241-d can be multiplexed over a composite received beam signal propagating along the signal path in the other direction from the beamforming network 210-d to the first routing circuit 205-d. The first routing circuit 205-d can further transmit a received beam signal 237-b to, for example, a receiving processor for processing the information received by the phased array antenna.

[0084] As shown in Figure 6, the first routing circuit 205-d is a triplexer (or combination of diplexers) containing a total of three bandpass filters 235, one for each respective signal. The first bandpass filter 235-s allows signals in a first frequency range to pass through, and the first frequency range corresponds to at least the frequency range of the transmit beam signal 236-c (e.g., the modulated transmit beam signal). tx Although it is shown to have a center frequency equal to f, the center frequency of the first bandpass filter 235-s is equal to the carrier frequency f of the transmitted beam signal, insofar as the first frequency range allows the transmission beam signal 236-c to pass through (e.g., excluding the control signals 231-d and the modulated received beam signal). tx It does not have to be the same. The second band-pass filter 235-t allows a second frequency range to pass through, and the second frequency range corresponds to at least the frequency range of the received beam signal 237-b (e.g., the modulated received beam signal). rx Although it is shown to have a center frequency equal to f, the center frequency of the second bandpass filter 235-t is equal to the carrier frequency f of the received beam signal, insofar as the second frequency range allows the received beam signal 236-a to pass through (e.g., excluding the control signal and the transmitted beam signal). rx It does not have to be the same. The third bandpass filter 235-u allows signals in a third frequency range to pass through, and the third frequency range corresponds to at least the frequency range of the control signal 231-d (e.g., the modulation control signal). cAlthough it is shown to have a center frequency equal to f, the center frequency of the third bandpass filter 235-u is equal to the carrier frequency f of the control signal, insofar as the third frequency range allows the control signal to pass through (e.g., excluding the transmit beam signal and the receive beam signal). c It does not have to be the same as above. As mentioned above, another possible implementation may be used as the first routing circuit 205-d.

[0085] The first routing circuit 205-d can provide the transmit beam signal 236-c, multiplexed with the control signal 231-d, to the common signal port 240-d of the beamforming network 210-d. Conversely, the received beam signal 237-b can also be multiplexed with the composite multiplexed signal 241-d and received by the first routing circuit 205-d. The beamforming network 210-d may include one or more PCB combiner / divider stages, which divide the transmit components of the composite multiplexed signal 241-c to form individual output signals 246 at the output element signal port 245 of the beamforming network 210-d. That is, the beamforming network 210-d can divide the composite multiplexed signal 241-d into individual output signals 246 (e.g., individual output signals 246-g), each output signal 246 containing an individual transmitting element signal (e.g., a copy of the transmitting beam signal 236-c) and an individual control signal (e.g., a copy of the control signal 231-d). One or more PCB divider stages can provide relative amplitude and / or phase shifts between the individual element signals of the individual output signals 246. This is done as part of the overall beamforming of the phased array antenna. In such a case, the individual control signals of the individual output signals 246 also undergo relative amplitude and / or phase shifts by one or more PCB divider stages. However, such relative shifts in amplitude and / or phase shifts do not affect the control data 226-d because they are applied to the carriers of the individual control signals. In addition, these shifts may not affect the restoration of the carriers of the individual control signals for synchronization because the required precision may be significantly lower than that required for the individual element signals (discussed below). The control data 226-d may include information about each of the control circuits 215 (e.g., serial data), and the beamforming network 210-d can copy the control signals 231-d received at the common signal port 240-d to the element signal port 245.Each individual transmitting element signal contained in each individual output signal 246 at each element signal port 245 is then adjusted by the corresponding control circuit 215 connected to the corresponding element signal port 245 and transmitted by the corresponding antenna element 220. Similarly, in the reverse direction, the beamforming network 210-d combines the individual adjusted element signals received at the element signal ports 245 to provide the received beam signal 237-b at the common signal port 240-d.

[0086] The individual transmit and receive output signals 246-g at element signal ports 245-g include individual element signals (e.g., transmit and receive element signals) multiplexed with individual control signals (e.g., copies of control signals 231-d). The control signals are used by the corresponding control circuits 215 to apply appropriate adjustments (e.g., amplitude and / or phase) to the corresponding transmit and receive element signals. That is, the beamforming network 210-c divides the composite multiplexed signal 241-c to form individual control signals and individual transmit element signals at element signal ports 245-g. Conversely, using the same stage of the PCB combiner / divider that divides the composite multiplexed signal 241-d, the beamforming network 210-d combines the individual receive element signals at element signal ports 245 to provide a composite receive beam signal 237-b at the common signal port 240-d. The individual control signals are multiplexed with the corresponding receive and transmit element signals to form the multiplexed individual output signals 246-g. By multiplexing element signals and control signals, the beamforming network 210-d can be used to form and distribute the transmitting element signal and the control signal that instructs the control data for each of the corresponding element signals of each antenna element 220 in the control circuit 215-g.

[0087] The control circuit 215-g includes a first port 248-g connected to the corresponding element signal port 245-g of the beamforming network 210-d, a second port 249-g connected to the receiving antenna element 220-g, and a third port 254 connected to the transmitting antenna element 220-h. The control circuit 215-g also includes a second routing circuit 250-g (e.g., a triplexer or other multiplexer, or other type of signal routing circuit) that establishes a receiving element signal path 251-g between the first port 248-g and the second port 249-g of the control circuit 215-g, a transmitting element signal path 251-h between the first port 248-g and the third port 254 of the control circuit 215-g, and a control signal path 252-g between the first port 248-g of the control circuit 215-g and the adjustment circuit 265 (e.g., a receiving adjustment circuit 265-g and a transmitting adjustment circuit 265-h).

[0088] As shown in Figure 6, the second routing circuit 250-g is a triplexer that multiplexes (e.g., by frequency multiplexing) the transmitting element signals and control signals into corresponding individual element and control signals. The second routing circuit 250-g can perform a similar inverse operation using similar components to multiplex the signals, as described in relation to the first routing circuit 205-d which multiplexes the signals. The second routing circuit 250-g can further receive a tuned receiving element signal from the receiving antenna element 220-g via the receiving tuned circuit 265-g. The second routing circuit 250-g includes a first bandpass filter 235-v, which allows signals of a first frequency range to pass through, the first frequency range corresponding to at least the frequency range of the transmitting element signal (e.g., the modulated transmitting beam signal). tx Although it is shown to have a center frequency equal to f, the center frequency of the first bandpass filter 235-v is equal to the carrier frequency f of the transmitted beam signal, insofar as the first frequency range allows the transmission element signal to pass through (except for control signals and modulated received beam signals). txIt does not have to be the same. The second bandpass filter 235-w allows frequencies in a second frequency range to pass through, and the second frequency range corresponds to at least the frequency range of the receiving element signal (e.g., the modulated receiving beam signal). rx Although it is shown to have a center frequency equal to f, the center frequency of the second bandpass filter 235-w is equal to the carrier frequency f of the receiving element signal, insofar as the second frequency range allows the receiving element signal to pass through (except for control signals and transmitting beam signals). rx It does not have to be the same. The third bandpass filter 235-x allows signals in a third frequency range to pass through, and the third frequency range corresponds to at least the frequency range of a control signal (e.g., a modulation control signal). c Although it is shown to have a center frequency equal to f, the center frequency of the third bandpass filter 235-x is equal to the carrier frequency f of the control signal, insofar as the third frequency range allows the control signal to pass through (e.g., excluding the transmit beam signal and the receive beam signal). c It does not have to be the same. The second routing circuit 250-g provides the tuned receiving element signals in the opposite direction to the output element signal port 245-g of the beamforming network 210-d, using the individual output signals 246-g. Other potential realizations may be used, including the use of other PCB traces, components including high-pass and low-pass filters, capacitors, inductors, etc.

[0089] In control circuit 215-g, the control signal path 252-g passes through demodulator 255-g, address decoder 260-g, and their respective receive and transmit adjustment circuits 265. Demodulator 255-g can obtain control information by demodulating the control signals transmitted on control signal path 252-g. The control information may include commands to each of the control circuits 215, which are distributed to each of the control circuits 215 by beamforming network 210-d. That is, in addition to receiving its own control data, control circuit 215-g may receive and demodulate control information for each of the other control circuits 215. The control information may include address information (for example, in the header) that identifies the address of the specific control circuit 215 for which the corresponding control information is intended. The address decoder 260-g compares the known address of the control circuit 215-g (discussed further below) with the address information in the control data 226-d to identify the control information intended for a particular control circuit 215-g and its corresponding receiving antenna element 220-g and transmitting antenna element 220-h. The address decoder 260-g provides the identified control information to the corresponding adjustment circuit 265 via the signal path 253. For example, the address decoder 260-g provides control information for receiving beam adjustment to the receiving adjustment circuit 265-g via the signal path 253-g and control information for transmitting beam adjustment to the transmitting adjustment circuit 265-h via the signal path 253-h. As described herein, the adjustment circuit 265 may include one or more circuit elements (e.g., one or more phase shifters 270, one or more amplifiers 275, etc.) to provide appropriate amplitude and / or phase adjustments to the corresponding element signals based on the identified control information. By applying adjustments to the element signals of each of the antenna elements 220 of the phase array antenna, transmit and receive beams are formed in the desired scanning angle direction.

[0090] In some cases, the control circuit 215-g and the controller 225-d may support further bidirectional communication (e.g., bidirectional communication of control information in addition to bidirectional communication of element signals). For example, the control circuit 215-g may also have a modulator (not shown), which may be part of the demodulator 255-g or a separate component. The controller 225-d may send a command to read a configuration value (e.g., control information) from one of the control circuits 215 (e.g., control circuit 215-g), and the addressed control circuit 215 may respond by modulating the signal with the response (e.g., configuration value) and multiplexing the modulated signal into individual output signals 246-g at each element signal port 245-g. The modulated signal is then transmitted to the controller 225-d via the beamforming network 210-d and the first routing circuit 205-d, which then demodulates the signal and decodes the response. Therefore, further bidirectional communication allows for checking the configuration of the control circuit 215-g, or for reading other state information from the control circuit 215 for testing or debugging purposes.

[0091] Figure 7 shows an exemplary multilayer PCB 705 of a circuit architecture for distributed multiplexing control and element signals for a phased array antenna according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The phased array antenna is one or more examples of antenna arrays 140 as described with reference to Figure 1, and the circuit architecture for distributed multiplexing control and element signals for the phased array antenna is as described with reference to Figures 2 and 4-6. The phased array antenna in Figure 7 is an example of a transmitting phased array antenna for transmitting communication signals to satellite 105 as described with reference to Figure 1, and an example of a circuit architecture for distributed multiplexing control and element signals for the phased array antenna is as described with reference to Figures 2, 4, and 6. The circuit architecture for the phased array antenna in Figure 7 operates in substantially the same manner as similar or corresponding components as described with reference to Figures 2, 4, and / or 6. Furthermore, although Figure 7 shows the transmitting operation of the phased array antenna, the phased array antenna may be configured for receiving, as described with reference to Figure 5.

[0092] As shown in Figure 7, the multilayer PCB 705 may include one or more sections 710, which include a first section 710-a containing a control circuit, a second section 710-b containing a beamforming network, and a third section 710-c containing an antenna element 220. Each section 710 may include one or more PCB layers. These three sections are just one example of an implementation of the multilayer PCB 705 for the described circuit architecture, and it should be understood that other implementations may be used, for example, having different components on different PCB layers in different sections 710.

[0093] In the embodiment shown in Figure 7, the first routing circuit 205-e and the control circuit 215 are each located on the bottom side of the bottom layer of the multilayer PCB 705. A signal path 708 (e.g., signal path 1) is shown as a dashed line from the first routing circuit 205-e to the antenna element 220-i. The first routing circuit 205-e outputs a composite multiplexed signal 715 (including the transmit beam signal and control signal) to via 720-a, which is connected to a conductive trace on layer 725. The signal path 708 carries the composite multiplexed signal 715 and inputs it into a beamforming network which includes a series of PCB divider stages 730 that divide the composite multiplexed signal 715 to form individual multiplexed signals at each element signal port 245. For example, the first PCB divider 730-a of the beamforming network provides first multiplexing control and element signals to the first element signal port 245-h via the first control circuit 215-h for the first antenna element 220-i, and the second PCB divider 730-b of the beamforming network provides second multiplexing control and element signals to the second element signal port 245-i via the second control circuit 215-i for the second antenna element 220-j.

[0094] As shown in the exemplary implementation in Figure 7, at the element signal port 245-h (i.e., output port 1), individual multiplexed signals 718 can carry multiplexed individual control and element signals intended for the antenna element 220-i. Via 720-b is connected to the element signal port 245-h of the beamforming network and transmits individual multiplexed signals 718 (i.e., individual multiplexed signals 1 including element signals 1 and corresponding control signals) to the input terminal of control circuit 215-h (i.e., control circuit 1). As described above, control circuit 215-h can demodulate the control signals and identify the control information addressed thereto. Control circuit 215-h can provide the identified control information to the corresponding tuning circuit. This tuning circuit adjusts the phase and / or amplitude of element signals 1 based on the control information to form tuned individual element signals 722. The tuned individual element signals 722 are provided to via 720-c at the output terminal of control circuit 215-h and transmitted to the antenna element 220-i for transmission.

[0095] Figure 8 shows an exemplary Figure 800 of an addressing architecture for distributed multiplexing control and element signals for a phased array antenna according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The addressing architecture is an example of an addressing architecture for one or more address decoders 260, as described with reference to Figures 2 and 4-6. Exemplary Figure 800 illustrates a plurality of control circuits 215-j arranged in rows and columns on the PCB of the antenna array.

[0096] Each control circuit 215-j of the antenna array can recognize its own address by, for example, reading the address voltage level using an ADC. As shown in Figure 8, the addressing architecture includes a column divider 805 and a row divider 810. The column divider 805 may include one or more columns 815 from the supply voltage 820-a to voltage ground 825. The column divider 805 may also include several m column divider elements 830 (e.g., resistive dividers), and the combination of column divider elements 830 can divide the supply voltage to obtain the resulting column voltage 850 for each column 815. The row divider 810 may also include several n rows 835 from the supply voltage 820-b to voltage ground 825. The row divider 810 may include one or more row divider elements 840 (e.g., resistive dividers), and the combination of row divider elements 840 can divide the supply voltage to obtain the resulting row voltage 855 for each row 835.

[0097] Each control circuit 215-j can be positioned at one of the positions in column 815 connected to one of the column voltages 850. Similarly, each address element 845 is positioned at one of the positions in row 835 connected to one of the row voltages 855. In this way, each control circuit 215-j can be positioned at a unique combination of row addresses and column addresses. Each control circuit 215-j may include a row address pin that receives a corresponding row voltage and a column address pin that receives a corresponding column voltage. These voltages can then be read at the row and column address pins using an ADC to identify specific control information intended for the corresponding antenna element (e.g., specific beam adjustment coefficients for amplitude and / or phase). The illustrated addressing architecture can use a relatively small number of pins compared to using pull-up / down or open / short address striping, which reduces the PCB area and cost for each control circuit.

[0098] As described above, in some cases, the address of a control circuit may be selected (for example, using consecutive row and column addresses) in such a way that the control circuit applies control information to a misdecoded address, but this control information applied by the control circuit is likely intended for one of the adjacent control circuits (i.e., the control circuit at (m,n) may apply control information intended for the antenna element at (m,n+1) or (m,n-1)). Furthermore, when row and column voltage levels are used for addressing control circuits, errors in reading row or column address voltages may be applied to control information intended for adjacent or nearby control circuits. In these cases, for example, adjustments indicated by the control information of an adjacent control circuit 215 may not be substantially different from adjustments indicated for the actual location of the control circuit 215. For example, if one control circuit 215 applies adjustments (e.g., phase and / or amplitude) intended for the nearest adjacent control circuit 215, row and / or column by row, this may not substantially degrade the RF beamforming performance of some antenna arrays.

[0099] In some cases, as described above, control signals and beam signals may be provided simultaneously to the beamforming network. However, in some cases, the controller does not need to provide control signals continuously and / or simultaneously with beam signals. Rather, in some cases, the controller may provide control information as needed and in a timely manner to reconstruct the phased array antenna and change the desired scanning angle direction.

[0100] Various exemplary blocks and components described in connection with the disclosure herein (e.g., controller 225, modulator 230, and / or each of the various components of the first routing circuit 205 and control circuit 215) may be implemented or run using a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, a microprocessor combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0101] The detailed description above, in relation to the accompanying drawings, describes exemplary embodiments and does not represent the only embodiments that may be practiced or that fall within the claims. The term “example” as used herein means “serving as an example, illustration, or demonstrative,” and does not mean “preferred” or “advantageous over other embodiments.” The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques. However, these techniques may be practiced without these specific details. In some examples, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring the concepts of the embodiments described.

[0102] Information and signals can be represented using any of the various different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips, which may be referenced throughout the above description, may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0103] The functions described herein may be implemented in various ways using different materials, features, shapes, sizes, etc. Other examples and implementation forms are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims. The feature portion implementing the function may also be physically positioned in various locations, including being distributed so that the parts of the function are implemented in different physical locations. Also, as used herein, including in the claims, "or" in a list of items (e.g., a list of items preceded by a phrase such as "at least one" or "one or more") indicates a disjunct list, such as the list "at least one A, B, or C" meaning A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C).

[0104] The prior description is provided to enable those skilled in the art to construct or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the disclosure should not be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but rather given the broadest scope that is consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A beamforming network configured to mutually convert between multiple element signals in multiple element signal ports and a beam signal in a common signal port, A first signal routing circuit configured to provide a control signal from a controller to the common signal port, wherein the beamforming network is configured to distribute the control signal to each of the plurality of element signal ports, A plurality of control circuits, each having a first port connected to a corresponding element signal port among the plurality of element signal ports, and a second port connected to a corresponding antenna element, wherein each of the plurality of control circuits is A second signal routing circuit connected to the first port, configured to establish an element signal path for corresponding element signals among the plurality of element signals communicated between the first port and the second port, and to establish a control signal path for the control signals received through the first port, A demodulator configured to synchronize the control circuit with other control circuits of the plurality of control circuits based at least partially on a control signal received via the first port, A first signal adjustment circuit provided along the element signal path and the control signal path, the first signal adjustment circuit configured to adjust the corresponding element signal at least partially based on the control signal, Multiple control circuits equipped with, Equipped with, The control signal includes control information used by each of the plurality of control circuits to adjust the corresponding element signal, and a carrier wave for the control information, wherein the carrier wave is used to form a synchronization signal for synchronizing the plurality of control circuits. Phased array antenna system.

2. In order to synchronize the control circuits, the demodulators of the plurality of control circuits are configured to generate synchronized clock signals between the control circuits. The phased array antenna system according to claim 1.

3. To generate the synchronized clock signals, the demodulator is configured to restore the carrier wave for the control signals. The phased array antenna system according to claim 2.

4. The aforementioned control signal uses coherent modulation, The demodulator is configured to use coherent demodulation with respect to the control signal to obtain the synchronized clock signal. The phased array antenna system according to claim 2.

5. The first signal routing circuit described above, The system includes a multiplexer configured to multiplex the control signal and the beam signal to generate a composite multiplexed signal including the control signal and the beam signal. The phased array antenna system according to claim 1.

6. The first signal routing circuit is configured to provide power signals to the common signal port, The beamforming network is configured to distribute the power signal to each of the plurality of element signal ports, The phased array antenna system according to claim 1.

7. The beam signal includes the received beam signal. The control signal is multiplexed with the received beam signal. The phased array antenna system according to claim 6.

8. The second signal routing circuit includes a multiplexer configured to multiplex each control signal transmitted from the first port of each control circuit to the first signal adjustment circuit and each element signal transmitted from the second port of each control circuit to the first port of each control circuit. The phased array antenna system according to claim 1.

9. The beamforming network is configured to convert the control signal at the common signal port into a plurality of individual control signals at the plurality of element signal ports, and to convert the plurality of individual multiplexed signals at the plurality of element signal ports into a composite multiplexed signal at the common signal port. The phased array antenna system according to claim 8.

10. The first signal routing circuit is configured to acquire the beam signal by multiplexing and separating the composite multiplexed signal. The phased array antenna system according to claim 9.

11. The first signal adjustment circuit of the plurality of control circuits is configured to apply each first signal adjustment to each element signal to acquire each of the plurality of adjusted element signals. The phased array antenna system according to claim 1.

12. The beam signal includes the received beam signal. The beamforming network is configured to acquire the received beam signal by combining the multiple coordinated element signals. The phased array antenna system according to claim 11.

13. The beam signal includes the transmitted beam signal, The beamforming network is configured to divide the transmitted beam signal and acquire the multiple element signals. The phased array antenna system according to claim 11.

14. The first signal adjustment circuit of the plurality of control circuits includes a receiving adjustment circuit configured to adjust each receiving element signal received via the corresponding antenna element, Each of the plurality of control circuits includes a transmit signal adjustment circuit configured to adjust the transmit element signal transmitted via the corresponding antenna element. The phased array antenna system according to claim 1.

15. Each of the corresponding antenna elements comprises a first antenna element corresponding to the receiving element signal and a second antenna element corresponding to the transmitting element signal. The phased array antenna system according to claim 14.

16. A plurality of control circuits, each having a first port configured to receive a common control signal and a second port configured to communicate a corresponding element signal with a corresponding antenna element, Each of the aforementioned plurality of control circuits, A signal routing circuit connected to the first port, configured to establish an element signal path for corresponding element signals communicated between the first port and the second port, and to establish a control signal path for the common control signal received via the first port, A demodulator configured to synchronize the control circuit with other control circuits of the plurality of control circuits based at least partially on the common control signal received through the first port, A signal adjustment circuit connected to the element signal path and the control signal path, configured to adjust the corresponding element signal at least partially based on the control signal, Equipped with multiple control circuits, The control signal includes control information used by each of the plurality of control circuits to adjust the corresponding element signal, and a carrier wave for the control information, wherein the carrier wave is used to form a synchronization signal for synchronizing the plurality of control circuits. Phased array antenna system.

17. For each of the plurality of control circuits, the signal routing circuit is configured to multiplex one of the plurality of individual multiplexed signals received via the first port to obtain the common control signal and the corresponding element signal. The phased array antenna system according to claim 16.

18. Each of the plurality of control circuits is provided with a multiplexer configured to multiplex the control signal received via the first port and the element signals received via the second port. The phased array antenna system according to claim 16.

19. For each of the aforementioned plurality of control circuits, the signal adjustment circuit is: An amplifier configured to apply amplitude adjustment, A phase shifter configured to apply phase adjustment, These combinations, A phased array antenna system according to claim 16, comprising any of the above.

20. For each of the aforementioned plurality of control circuits, the signal adjustment circuit is: A receiving adjustment circuit configured to adjust the receiving element signal received from the antenna element via the second port, A transmit signal adjustment circuit configured to adjust the transmit element signal transmitted to the antenna element via the second port, A phased array antenna system according to claim 16, comprising:

21. A beamforming network having a plurality of element signal ports corresponding to a first port of each of the plurality of control circuits, further comprising a beamforming network configured to mutually convert between a plurality of element signals in the plurality of element signal ports and a beam signal in a common signal port, according to claim 16.

22. A control circuit for a phased array antenna system, A first port configured to receive control signals, A second port configured to communicate element signals via an antenna element, A signal routing circuit connected to the first port, configured to establish an element signal path for element signals communicated between the first port and the second port, and to establish a control signal path for the control signals received via the first port, A demodulator configured to synchronize the control circuit with other control circuits of the phased array antenna system based at least partially on the control signal received via the first port, A signal adjustment circuit connected to the element signal path and the control signal path, configured to adjust the element signal at least partially based on the control signal, Equipped with, The control signal includes control information used to adjust the element signal and a carrier wave for the control information, wherein the carrier wave is used to form a synchronization signal for synchronizing the control circuit with other control circuits of the phased array antenna system. Control circuit for a phased array antenna system.

23. The signal routing circuit is configured to multiplex and separate the composite multiplexed signal received through the first port to obtain the control signal and the element signal. The control circuit according to claim 22.

24. The signal routing circuit includes a multiplexer configured to multiplex the control signal from the first port and the element signal received via the second port. The control circuit according to claim 22.

25. The aforementioned signal adjustment circuit An amplifier configured to apply amplitude adjustment to the element signal, A phase shifter configured to apply phase adjustment to the element signal, These combinations, The control circuit according to claim 22, comprising any of the following.

26. The aforementioned signal adjustment circuit A receiving adjustment circuit configured to adjust the receiving element signal received from the antenna element via the second port, A transmit signal adjustment circuit configured to adjust the transmit element signal transmitted to the antenna element via the second port, The control circuit according to claim 22, comprising:

27. A method for operating a phased array antenna system, A process of generating a control signal that includes control data associated with multiple control circuits, A beamforming network is used to convert a composite signal between the composite signal and a plurality of individual signals, A step of communicating the multiple individual signals, each containing the beam signal of each element of the multiple element beam signals, to the corresponding control circuit among the multiple control circuits connected to the beamforming network, The process of communicating the control signal to the plurality of control circuits via a single channel, In each of the plurality of control circuits, the step of acquiring each element control signal associated with the control circuit based on the portion of the control signal that includes the control data associated with the control circuit, A step of adjusting each of the plurality of element beam signals in each of the plurality of control circuits to obtain each element beam signal that has been adjusted at least partially based on each of the element control signals, The process of communicating the adjusted element beam signals in each of the plurality of control circuits, A step of synchronizing the plurality of control circuits using the element control signals, based on the generation of a clock signal in each control circuit based at least partially on the carrier frequency of the control signal, Includes, The control data included in the control signal is control information used by each of the plurality of control circuits to adjust the corresponding element signal, the carrier wave is a carrier wave for the control information, and the carrier wave is used to form a synchronization signal for synchronizing the plurality of control circuits. How to operate.

28. In each of the plurality of control circuits, the step of obtaining address information including an address associated with the control circuit, wherein each address corresponds to the control circuit for which the control data included in the control signal is intended; Each of the plurality of control circuits further includes the step of comparing the address associated with the control circuit with the address associated with the control data included in the control signal, The process of each of the plurality of control circuits acquiring the respective element control signals associated with that control circuit is based on the comparison, The operating method according to claim 27.

29. The acquisition step is a step of identifying, during the comparison, that in the first control circuit of the plurality of control circuits, the address associated with the control data included in the control signal matches the address associated with the first control circuit, and the acquisition of an element control signal associated with the first control circuit based on the portion of the control signal including the control data associated with the first control circuit is a step based on the identification. The operating method according to claim 28.

30. The operating method according to claim 27, wherein the control signal includes control information for each of the plurality of control circuits.

31. The operating method according to claim 30, wherein the control information includes commands corresponding to each of the plurality of control circuits.

32. The operating method according to claim 31, wherein a command corresponding to each of the plurality of control circuits is transmitted serially in the control information.

33. The operating method according to claim 30, further comprising the step of demodulating the control information of each of the plurality of control circuits from the element control signals of each of the plurality of control circuits.

34. The operating method according to claim 27, further comprising the step of determining one or more adjustment values ​​corresponding to the control circuit for a beam, wherein the control data indicates each adjustment value applied by one or more of the plurality of control circuits.

35. The operating method according to claim 34, wherein each of the aforementioned adjustment values ​​includes either amplitude adjustment or phase adjustment, or both.

36. A step of acquiring the control signal by modulating a plurality of commands, wherein the plurality of commands include a first command that includes control information of a first control circuit among the plurality of control circuits, The first control circuit includes the steps of demodulating each element control signal to obtain the plurality of commands, A step of acquiring control information from a first command, at least partially based on the demodulated address of the first command that matches the address of the first control circuit, wherein the adjustment of the element beam signals corresponding to the first control circuit in the first control circuit for acquiring the adjusted element beam signals corresponding to the first control circuit is at least partially based on the control information, The operating method according to claim 27, further comprising:

37. A beamforming network configured to mutually convert between multiple element signals in multiple element signal ports and a beam signal in a common signal port, A first signal routing circuit configured to provide a control signal from a controller and distribute the control signal over a single channel, wherein the control signal includes a plurality of parts of control information, each including address information indicating each destination control circuit, A plurality of control circuits each having a first port connected to a corresponding element signal port among the plurality of element signal ports, and a second port connected to a corresponding antenna element, wherein each of the plurality of control circuits is A second signal routing circuit connected to the first port, configured to establish an element signal path for corresponding element signals among the plurality of element signals communicated between the first port and the second port, and to establish a control signal path for control information obtained from the control signals received via the single channel in accordance with the address information, A demodulator configured to synchronize the control circuit with other control circuits of the plurality of control circuits, at least partially based on a control signal received through the single channel, A signal adjustment circuit provided along the element signal path and the control signal path, configured to adjust the corresponding element signal at least partially based on the control information, Multiple control circuits equipped with, Equipped with, The control signal includes control information used to adjust the element signal and a carrier wave for the control information, wherein the carrier wave is used to form a synchronization signal for synchronizing the control circuit with other control circuits of the phased array antenna system. Phased array antenna system.

38. Each of the aforementioned plurality of control circuits, The address information obtained from each of the plurality of parts of the control information includes each address relating to each of the plurality of parts and each of the parts corresponding to the control circuit intended for that part. The system is configured to compare the address associated with the control circuit with the address associated with each of the parts to determine which of the plurality of parts is intended for the control circuit. The phased array antenna system according to claim 37.

39. The phased array antenna system according to claim 37, wherein the control information includes commands for each of the plurality of control circuits.

40. The phased array antenna system according to claim 37, wherein the first signal routing circuit is configured to serially transmit the plurality of portions of the control information in the control signal.

41. The phased array antenna system according to claim 37, wherein, in order to synchronize the control circuits, the demodulators of the plurality of control circuits are configured to generate synchronized clock signals between the control circuits.

42. The phased array antenna system according to claim 37, wherein the second signal routing circuit comprises a multiplexer configured to multiplex the corresponding control signals of each control circuit to the signal adjustment circuit and the element signals from the second port of each control circuit to the first port of each control circuit.

43. The phased array antenna system according to claim 42, wherein the beamforming network is configured to convert the control signal into a plurality of individual control signals.

44. The phased array antenna system according to claim 37, wherein the signal adjustment circuit of the plurality of control circuits is configured to apply each signal adjustment to each element signal based on the control data of each part of the control information, and to acquire each element signal from the plurality of adjusted element signals.

45. The signal adjustment circuits of the plurality of control circuits include a receiving adjustment circuit configured to adjust each receiving element signal received via the corresponding antenna element, Each of the plurality of control circuits includes a transmit signal adjustment circuit configured to adjust the transmit element signal transmitted via the corresponding antenna element based on the control data of each part of the control information. The phased array antenna system according to claim 37.

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