Beamforming system

Abstract

Provided in the present application is a beamforming system, which can be applied to the fields of wireless communication systems, autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, etc. Two-dimensional beamforming having a small scale, low power consumption and a fast response can be realized. The system comprises a first optical diffraction module and a second optical diffraction module array, wherein the first optical diffraction module comprises at least one input port and a plurality of output ports, and each second optical diffraction module in the second optical diffraction module array comprises an input port and a plurality of output ports; the first optical diffraction module is used for receiving at least one path of first signal light and generating, on the basis of the at least one path of first signal light, multiple paths of second signal light having different phases; and each second optical diffraction module is used for receiving one path of second signal light among the multiple paths of second signal light and generating, on the basis of one path of second signal light, multiple paths of third signal light having different phases, and the multiple paths of third signal light are used for generating multiple paths of first radio frequency signals.

Description

A beamforming system

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on September 4, 2023, application number 202311138995.3, and application name “A Beamforming System”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of optical communication technology, and more specifically, to a beamforming system. Background Art

[0003] Beamforming technology uses numerous miniature, millimeter-scale antenna sensors in a rectangular array. Through human intervention, the parameters of the antenna elements within the array and the varying transmission times of each antenna sensor signal are adjusted to create a concentrated, directional, and highly powerful electromagnetic beam transmission, optimizing the signal received by the receiver. This technology has become a key technology in wireless communications. As wireless frequency bands gradually shift toward higher frequencies, the limited transmission range of radio waves and the expansion of signal capacity have led to a dramatic increase in the number of antennas required. Traditional beamforming schemes based on molecular array designs struggle to achieve high-quality beams due to their high power consumption and the limited number of antennas allocated to each subarray. Currently, full connectivity has become an effective means of reducing the number of antennas and improving beam quality. However, since electrical full connectivity is largely unattainable, optical full connectivity has become a research hotspot. Current optical full connectivity schemes suffer from the drawbacks of excessive loss, large system components, and an inability to implement two-dimensional beamforming.

[0004] Therefore, how to achieve two-dimensional beamforming with small device size and low system power consumption is a problem that needs to be solved.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides a beamforming system that can realize on-chip integrated two-dimensional beamforming, and has the advantages of small device size, low system power consumption, and fast response speed.

[0007] In a first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a beamforming system. The system includes a first optical diffraction module and a second optical diffraction module array, wherein the first optical diffraction module includes at least one input port and multiple output ports, and each second optical diffraction module in the second optical diffraction module array includes one input port and multiple output ports, wherein: the first optical diffraction module is configured to receive at least one first signal light and generate multiple second signal lights with different phases based on the at least one first signal light; and each second optical diffraction module is configured to receive one second signal light from the multiple second signal lights and generate multiple third signal lights with different phases based on the one second signal light, wherein the multiple third signal lights are used to generate multiple first radio frequency signals.

[0008] Based on the solution of this application, by cascading two-stage optical diffraction modules, the phase of the input signal can be changed in two directions, thereby achieving two-dimensional beamforming. In addition, when the optical diffraction module provided by this application is integrated on a chip, the two-dimensional beamforming system can be miniaturized.

[0009] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first optical diffraction module includes a first optical switch and a first optical diffraction device, the second optical diffraction module array includes a second optical switch array and a second optical diffraction device array, each of the second optical diffraction modules includes a second optical switch and a second optical diffraction device, the multiple output ports of the first optical switch correspond one-to-one to the multiple input ports of the first optical diffraction device, the multiple output ports of the first optical diffraction device correspond one-to-one to the input ports of the multiple second optical switches in the second optical switch array, and the multiple output ports of each second optical switch correspond one-to-one to the multiple input ports of the corresponding second optical diffraction device. Wherein: the first optical switch is used to receive the at least one first signal light and output the at least one first signal light to at least one input port of the first optical diffraction device; the first optical diffraction device generates the multiple second signal lights with different phases based on the at least one first signal light received by the at least one input port, and outputs the multiple second signal lights to the input ports of multiple second optical switches of multiple second diffraction modules; each of the second optical switches is used to receive the second signal light and output the second signal light to the multiple input ports of the corresponding second optical diffraction device; each of the second optical diffraction devices generates multiple third signal lights with different phases based on the multiple second signal lights received by the multiple input ports.

[0010] It should be noted that in the present application, the optical diffraction device may be a Rotman lens or a Blass lens, etc. The optical diffraction device in the present application includes at least one input port and multiple output ports, and is configured to generate multiple output lights based on at least one input light. For example, if the optical diffraction device has a single input port, the optical diffraction device can use the input light inputted into the single input port to generate multiple output lights with different phases, and output them from the multiple output ports. If the optical diffraction device has multiple input ports, the optical diffraction device can use the multiple input lights inputted into the multiple input ports to generate multiple output lights with different phases, and output them from the multiple output ports.

[0011] Based on the above-mentioned solution provided by this application, two-dimensional beamforming is achieved through the cascade connection of an optical switch and an optical diffraction device. The optical switch enables rapid path switching, enabling system scanning speeds in the nanosecond range, improving system response speed and reducing system power consumption. Furthermore, compared to the prior art method of using separate modulators and phase shifters for each wavelength, the use of a single optical diffraction device can meet the phase shift requirements of multiple channels and multiple beams, thereby significantly reducing the system component size.

[0012] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the system further includes a first mixer array. Each mixer in the first mixer array generates a first mixed signal light channel based on a third signal light channel from a corresponding second optical diffraction device and a local oscillator light channel, where the first mixed signal light channel is used to generate the first radio frequency signal channel.

[0013] It should be noted that the present application does not limit the mixing scheme of the mixer, and homodyne mixing or heterodyne mixing can be selected for the system according to the usage scenario and application requirements of the system.

[0014] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the multiple output ports of each second optical diffraction device correspond one-to-one to the input ports of multiple first mixers in the first mixer array, and each first mixer is specifically used to: receive the third signal light from the corresponding second optical diffraction device, and mix the third signal light with the local oscillator light to generate the first mixed signal light.

[0015] In the embodiment of the present application, the output of the first mixer can be directly connected to the input port of the second optical diffraction device, thereby receiving a third signal light from the corresponding second optical diffraction device and performing a mixing operation.

[0016] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first optical switch is a wavelength selective switch, and the second optical switch array is a wavelength selective switch array.

[0017] It should be noted that in the present application, when the first optical switch receives multiple first signal light paths, if the wavelengths of the multiple first signal light paths are the same, the first optical switch and the second optical switch may be optical switches without a wavelength selection function, or may be wavelength selective switches with a wavelength selection function. The first optical switch and the second optical switch may be optical switches of different types. For example, the first optical switch may be an optical switch without a wavelength selection function, while the second optical switch may be a wavelength selective switch. If the wavelengths of the multiple first signal light paths are different, the first optical switch and the second optical switch are wavelength selective switches.

[0018] Based on the above solution, when the input of the system is a plurality of first signal lights with different wavelengths, the wavelength selective switch can be used to enable the plurality of wavelength signal lights to share the first optical diffraction device, thereby reducing the scale of system components.

[0019] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the system further includes: a wavelength division multiplexer array, the wavelength division multiplexer array being located between the second optical diffraction device array and the first mixer array, the multiple output ports of each second optical diffraction device corresponding one-to-one to the input ports of the multiple wavelength division multiplexers in the wavelength division multiplexer array, the multiple output ports of each wavelength division multiplexer in the wavelength division multiplexer array corresponding one-to-one to the input ports of the multiple second mixers in the first mixer array, each wavelength division multiplexer being configured to receive the third signal light from the corresponding second optical diffraction device and demultiplex the third signal light into multiple fourth signal lights with different wavelengths; and each second mixer being specifically configured to receive the fourth signal light from the corresponding wavelength division multiplexer and mix the fourth signal light with the local oscillator light to generate the first mixed signal light.

[0020] In an embodiment of the present application, when the input of the system is a plurality of first signal lights of different wavelengths, a wavelength division multiplexer can be arranged between the mixer and the optical diffraction device, and the signal lights of different wavelengths can be separated by the wavelength division multiplexer, so that the signal lights of different wavelengths are input into the corresponding mixer for mixing, thereby ensuring that the system can operate normally when the input is a plurality of signal lights of different wavelengths.

[0021] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the system further includes: a first photodetector array, wherein the input port of each first photodetector in the first photodetector array corresponds one-to-one to the output ports of the multiple second mixers, and each first photodetector is used to receive the multiple first mixing signal lights output by the multiple second mixers through a space-division optical fiber, and convert the multiple first mixing signal lights into multiple first electrical signals; or, each first photodetector is a segmented photodetector, used to receive the multiple first mixing signal lights output by the multiple second mixers, and convert the multiple first mixing signal lights into multiple first electrical signals.

[0022] It is understood that in the present application, the space-dividing optical fiber can be a multi-core optical fiber, a few-mode optical fiber, a multi-core few-mode optical fiber, etc., and this application does not limit this. Through the space-dividing optical fiber or a segmented photodetector, each wavelength after each mixing can be input to the corresponding detector separately, ensuring the normal operation of the system.

[0023] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the system further includes: a first wavelength division multiplexer array, wherein an input port of each first wavelength division multiplexer in the first wavelength division multiplexer array corresponds one-to-one to an output port of the plurality of second mixers, and each first wavelength division multiplexer is configured to receive multiple channels of the first frequency mixing signal light from the corresponding plurality of second mixers, and generate one channel of the first wavelength division multiplexed signal light based on the multiple channels of the first frequency mixing signal light.

[0024] Based on the above solution, by introducing a wavelength division multiplexer after the second mixer, the transmission capacity and efficiency of the optical fiber can be greatly improved, and the use cost of the optical fiber can be reduced.

[0025] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the system further includes: a second photodetector array, wherein the input port of each second photodetector in the second photodetector array corresponds one-to-one to the output port of each first wavelength division multiplexer, and each second photodetector is used to receive the first wavelength division multiplexing signal light from the corresponding first wavelength division multiplexer and convert the first wavelength division multiplexing signal light into a second electrical signal.

[0026] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first optical diffraction module is used to receive a first signal light, and the system further includes: a third optical diffraction module and a fourth optical diffraction module array, the third optical diffraction module includes at least one input port and multiple output ports, and each fourth optical diffraction module in the fourth optical diffraction module array includes one input port and multiple output ports, wherein:

[0027] The third optical diffraction module is configured to receive one path of fifth signal light and generate multiple paths of sixth signal light with different phases based on the one path of fifth signal light;

[0028] Each of the fourth optical diffraction modules is configured to receive one of the multiple sixth signal lights and generate multiple seventh signal lights with different phases based on the one sixth signal light, wherein the multiple seventh signal lights are used to generate multiple second radio frequency signals.

[0029] It should be noted that when the first optical switch is a single-input multi-output optical switch, by introducing a third optical diffraction module and a fourth optical diffraction module array into the system, the two-dimensional shaping of a single beam can be expanded to a two-dimensional shaping of a dual beam. It is understandable that based on this solution, the two-dimensional shaping of a single beam can be expanded to any number of multi-beam shapings (i.e., not limited to dual beams) according to the application scenario and application requirements of the system, thereby increasing the flexibility of the beamforming system provided by the present application and improving its applicability. That is, based on the above solution, the present application can not only be used for single-beam shaping, but can also be expanded to multi-beam shaping, ensuring its application in multi-beam forming scenarios.

[0030] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the third optical diffraction module includes a third optical switch and a third optical diffraction device, the fourth optical diffraction module array includes a fourth optical switch array and a fourth optical diffraction device array, each of the fourth optical diffraction modules includes a fourth optical switch and a fourth optical diffraction device, the multiple output ports of the third optical switch correspond one-to-one to the multiple input ports of the third optical diffraction device, the multiple output ports of the third optical diffraction device correspond one-to-one to the input ports of the multiple fourth optical switches in the fourth optical switch array, and the multiple output ports of each fourth optical switch correspond one-to-one to the multiple input ports of the corresponding fourth optical diffraction device. The third optical switch is configured to receive the fifth signal light and output the fifth signal light to at least one input port of the third optical diffraction device; the third optical diffraction device generates the multiple sixth signal lights with different phases based on the at least one fifth signal light received by at least one input port, and outputs the multiple sixth signal lights to the input ports of multiple fourth optical switches of the multiple fourth diffraction modules; each of the fourth optical switches is configured to receive the sixth signal light and output the sixth signal light to the multiple input ports of the corresponding third optical diffraction device; and each of the fourth optical diffraction devices generates the multiple seventh signal lights with different phases based on the multiple sixth signal lights received by the multiple input ports.

[0031] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the system further includes a second mixer array, wherein the multiple output ports of each fourth optical diffraction device correspond one-to-one to the input ports of multiple mixers in the second mixer array. Each mixer in the second mixer array receives the seventh light signal from the corresponding fourth optical diffraction device and mixes the seventh light signal with local oscillator light to generate a second mixed light signal, which is used to generate the second radio frequency signal.

[0032] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the system further includes: a third photodetector array, wherein an input port of each third photodetector in the third photodetector array corresponds one-to-one to an output port of a mixer in the first mixer array, and at the same time, an input port of each third photodetector corresponds one-to-one to an output port of a mixer in the second mixer array. Each third photodetector is configured to receive one channel of the first mixed light signal and one channel of the second mixed light signal via a space-division optical fiber, and convert the first mixed light signal into a third electrical signal, and convert the second mixed light signal into a fourth electrical signal; or each third photodetector is a segmented photodetector, configured to receive one channel of the first mixed light signal and one channel of the second mixed light signal, and convert the first mixed light signal into a third electrical signal, and convert the second mixed light signal into a fourth electrical signal.

[0033] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the system further includes a second wavelength division multiplexer array, wherein an input port of each second wavelength division multiplexer in the second wavelength division multiplexer array corresponds one-to-one with an output port of a mixer in the first mixer array, and further, an input port of each second wavelength division multiplexer corresponds one-to-one with an output port of a mixer in the second mixer array. Each second wavelength division multiplexer is configured to receive one channel of the first mixed light signal and one channel of the second mixed light signal, and convert the first mixed light signal and the second mixed light signal into one channel of the second wavelength division multiplexed light signal.

[0034] Based on the above solution, the transmission capacity and efficiency of the optical fiber can also be greatly improved and the cost of using the optical fiber can be reduced by using the second wavelength division multiplexer.

[0035] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the system further includes a fourth photodetector array, wherein input ports of the plurality of photodetectors in the fourth photodetector array correspond one-to-one to output ports of the plurality of second wavelength division multiplexers in the second wavelength division multiplexer array. Each of the fourth photodetectors is configured to receive the second wavelength division multiplexed optical signal from the corresponding second wavelength division multiplexer and convert the second wavelength division multiplexed optical signal into a fifth electrical signal.

[0036] In conjunction with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first optical diffraction device includes a first Rotman lens, and the second optical diffraction device array includes a second Rotman lens array. It will be appreciated that when the system further includes at least one third optical diffraction device and at least one fourth optical diffraction device array, the third optical diffraction device and the at least one fourth optical diffraction device array may include a third Rotman lens and a fourth Rotman lens array.

[0037] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a wireless communication base station, comprising: an active antenna unit (AAU), wherein the AAU comprises the beamforming system provided in the above-mentioned first aspect and any one of the implementations of the first aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] FIG1 is a schematic structural diagram of a beamforming device integrated with an optical waveguide.

[0039] FIG2 is a schematic structural diagram of a beamforming device based on an optical frequency comb light source and a wavelength division multiplexing architecture.

[0040] FIG3 is a schematic structural diagram of a beamforming system 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0041] FIG4 is a schematic structural diagram of a beamforming system 400 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0042] FIG5 is a schematic structural diagram of a first signal light generating device 500 applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0043] FIG6 is a schematic structural diagram of another first signal light generating device 600 applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0044] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency signal generating device 700 applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0045] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of a beamforming system 800 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0046] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of a beamforming system 900 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0047] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a beamforming system 1000 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0048] FIG11 is a schematic cross-sectional view of several space division optical fibers applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0049] FIG12 is a schematic structural diagram of a segmented detector applicable to an embodiment of the present application.

[0050] FIG13 is a schematic structural diagram of a beamforming system 1300 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0051] FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of a beamforming system 1400 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0052] FIG15 is a schematic structural diagram of a beamforming system 1500 provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0053] FIG16 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a base station provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0055] In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following explanations are provided.

[0056] First, the terms "first," "second," "third," and various numbers in the following descriptions or drawings of the embodiments of the present application are merely for convenience of description and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence, and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. For example, they may be used to distinguish between different optical switches, different Rotman lenses, or different mixers.

[0057] Second, the term "comprising" and any variations in the embodiments of the present application shown below are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units clearly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not clearly listed or are inherent to these processes, methods, products or apparatuses.

[0058] Third, in the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplarily" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. An embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. The use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner to facilitate understanding.

[0059] For ease of understanding, the technical terms involved in this application are first briefly explained and illustrated.

[0060] 1. Beamforming

[0061] Beamforming, also known as beamforming or spatial filtering, is a signal processing technology that uses a sensor array to transmit and receive signals in a directional manner. Beamforming adjusts the parameters of the basic elements of a phased array so that signals at certain angles achieve constructive interference, while signals at other angles achieve destructive interference. Beamforming can be used for both signal transmission and reception. On the transmitter side, the beamformer controls the phase and signal amplitude of each transmitting device to achieve the desired constructive and destructive interference pattern in the transmitted signal wave array. On the receiver side, the signals received by different receivers are appropriately combined to achieve the desired signal radiation pattern.

[0062] 2. Rotman lens

[0063] A commonly used multi-beamforming network uses the optical path difference between the beam port and each element in the antenna array to determine beam pointing. This is a true time delay (TTD) beamformer. Theoretically, beam pointing is independent of operating frequency; it remains fixed even when the frequency changes, enabling wide bandwidth coverage. This network offers advantages such as stable multi-beam pointing, easy wide-angle coverage, and a simple structure.

[0064] Rotman lenses can be applied to microwave and millimeter-wave beamforming networks and multi-beam antenna systems. The substrate-integrated waveguide multi-beam antenna constructed from them can be applied to microwave and millimeter-wave multi-beam systems and smart antennas, offering advantages such as improved communication channel quality, reduced transmit power and bit error rate, and reduced multipath interference. Reprints must retain the address of this article: https: / / baike.86580.cn / article / 115437.html

[0065] 3. Optical switch

[0066] An optical device with one or more selectable transmission ports that physically switches or logically operates on optical signals in an optical transmission line or integrated optical circuit. It is an optical path controller that switches optical paths.

[0067] 4. Mixing scheme

[0068] The mixing scheme in this application can be divided into a homodyne scheme or a heterodyne scheme, depending on whether the local oscillator frequency is equal to or different from the signal frequency. In the homodyne scheme, the optical signal is converted into an intermediate frequency signal after photoelectric conversion, which requires secondary demodulation before it can be converted into a baseband signal. In the heterodyne scheme, the optical signal is directly converted into a baseband signal after photoelectric conversion without secondary demodulation, but it requires that the local oscillator frequency strictly matches the signal frequency and that the local oscillator and signal light are phase-locked.

[0069] 5. Active Antenna Processing Unit (AAU)

[0070] In 5G communication systems, the remote radio unit (RRU) in 4G and the original passive antenna are integrated into an AAU, which simplifies site deployment, reduces feeder complexity, reduces transmission loss, and improves network performance.

[0071] The beamforming system provided in this application can be applied to the AAU in the network equipment of the wireless communication system. In addition, it can also be applied to phased array radar, satellite navigation positioning, laser surgery, autonomous driving, image imaging and geographic exploration, artificial intelligence and other fields and industries.

[0072] In wireless communication networks, beamforming has become a critical technology for improving link signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and transmission distance. With the development of 5G+ and, in the future, 6G technologies, wireless frequency bands are shifting towards higher frequencies. To effectively reduce the number of antennas and improve beam quality, the currently adopted solution is full connectivity, which is categorized as electrical and optical. Electrical connectivity is challenging to implement due to significant crosstalk when circuits intersect and the large scale of the system. Compared to electrical connectivity, optical connectivity effectively leverages the polarization, wavelength, and mode multiplexing characteristics of light to expand traffic channels, making it a hot topic of research.

[0073] Among current optical full connectivity solutions, one uses a tunable laser as the light source. By writing multiple Bragg gratings with different center wavelengths onto a waveguide delay line, and placing Bragg gratings with the same center wavelength at different locations in adjacent waveguide delay lines, the laser's output wavelength is selected to control the optical signal's transmission delay, achieving beamforming for the microwave signal. This process is illustrated in Figure 1. However, because this solution uses different wavelengths corresponding to different delay combinations to achieve beamforming, it cannot achieve simultaneous operation of multiple beams; only a single beam can be emitted, and a single chip cannot achieve full connectivity. Another solution, shown in Figure 2, uses a laser to emit a frequency comb laser with equally spaced wavelengths. This laser then passes through a distribution unit, splitting one or more wavelengths into branches. Each wavelength is then downloaded to a modulator and phase shifter in a reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) device for signal modulation and phase shifting. The signal is then input to a detector, which uses heterodyne detection to output a radio frequency signal of the corresponding frequency, which is then transmitted through an antenna unit. However, this solution introduces the RF source generated by an optical frequency comb into the beamforming design, resulting in an increased number of modulators and high system complexity. In addition, there are beamforming solutions based on the Blass matrix. This employs an optical Mach-Zehnder interferometer network to adjust the phase relationship between each path. Then, through coherent detection, the optical phase is transferred to the RF signal, achieving a phase change in the RF signal and thus achieving the purpose of beamforming. However, the phase change in the Blass matrix is ​​achieved through heating, and the beam scanning speed is difficult to meet product specification requirements. Furthermore, the system contains a large number of heaters, resulting in a large system size.

[0074] In view of this, the present application proposes a beamforming solution that can reduce the device scale in the beamforming system, reduce system power consumption, improve system response speed, and have good system performance.

[0075] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a beamforming system 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 3, the beamforming system includes a first optical diffraction module 10 and a second optical diffraction module array 20. The first optical diffraction module 10 has at least one input port and multiple output ports, and the second optical diffraction module array 20 includes multiple second optical diffraction modules, each of which has one input port and multiple output ports. Specifically, the first optical diffraction module 10 is configured to receive at least one first light signal and, based on the at least one first light signal, generate multiple second light signals with different phases. Each second optical diffraction module in the second optical diffraction module array 20 is configured to receive one second light signal from the multiple second light signals output by the first optical diffraction module 10 and, based on the received second light signal, generate multiple third light signals with different phases, wherein the multiple third light signals are used to generate multiple first radio frequency signals. In Figure 3, the first optical diffraction module 10 has M input ports and K output ports, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and K is an integer greater than 1. The second optical diffraction module array 20 includes K second optical diffraction modules, and each second optical diffraction module has one input port and T output ports, where T is an integer greater than 1.

[0076] It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, the first optical diffraction module 10 is capable of generating multiple paths of second signal light with different phases based on the incident light. Therefore, the first optical diffraction module 10 is used to achieve beamforming of the incident light in the first direction. At the same time, each second diffraction module in the second optical diffraction module array 20 continues to generate multiple paths of third signal light with different phases based on the second signal light emitted by the first optical diffraction module 10, thereby achieving beamforming of the incident light in the second direction.

[0077] It should also be noted that when the first optical diffraction module 10 receives multiple first signal lights, the wavelengths of the multiple first signal lights can be the same or different, and this application does not limit this. That is, the beamforming system provided by this application can be used to perform two-dimensional beamforming on multiple incident signal lights of the same wavelength, and can also be used to perform two-dimensional beamforming on multiple incident signal lights of different wavelengths. In addition, this application does not limit the frequency or signal format of the signals carried by the multiple first signal lights, that is, the frequency or format of the multiple first signal lights can be the same, partially the same, or completely different.

[0078] It can be understood that the number of second optical diffraction modules in the second optical diffraction module array 20 is at least the same as the number of output ports of the first optical diffraction module, that is, the number of second optical diffraction modules in the second optical diffraction module array 20 is not less than the number of output ports of the first optical diffraction module, so that the multi-path second signal light emitted from the first optical diffraction module 10 can be received by the corresponding multiple second optical diffraction modules.

[0079] It should be noted that, in the present application, the first optical diffraction module and the second optical diffraction module can be integrated into two chips respectively, or can be integrated into the same chip to achieve two-dimensional beamforming through on-chip cascading.

[0080] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a beamforming system 400 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 4, the beamforming system 400 includes a first optical switch 421, a first optical diffraction device 422, a second optical switch array 423, and a second optical diffraction device array 424. The first optical switch 421 and the first optical diffraction device 422 constitute the first optical diffraction module 10 shown in Figure 3. The second optical switch array 423 and the second optical diffraction device array 424 constitute the second optical diffraction module array 20, each of which is composed of a second optical switch and a second optical diffraction device. The first optical switch 421 has M input ports and N output ports. The N output ports of the first optical switch 421 correspond one-to-one with the N input ports of the first optical diffraction device 422, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1. The K output ports of the first optical diffraction device 422 correspond one-to-one to the input ports of the K second optical switches in the second optical switch array 423. At the same time, the P output ports of each of the K second optical switches correspond one-to-one to the input ports of the K second optical diffraction devices in the second optical diffraction device array 424, where K is an integer greater than 1 and P is an integer greater than 1.

[0081] Specifically, the first optical switch 421 is configured to receive at least one first light signal and output the at least one first light signal to at least one of the N input ports of the first optical diffraction device 422. The first optical diffraction device 422 is configured to change the phase of the at least one first light signal and then input K second light signals with different phases to K second optical switches. Each of the K second optical switches outputs the received second light signal to the P input ports of the corresponding second optical diffraction device. Each of the K second optical diffraction devices changes the phase of the P received second light signals and outputs T third light signals. The T third light signals are used to generate T radio frequency signals.

[0082] In one achievable manner, T radio frequency signals are generated by T mixers. In this case, the system 400 further includes a mixer array 425, and the T output ports of each of the K second optical diffraction devices correspond one-to-one to the input ports of the T mixers in the mixer array 425, where T is an integer greater than 1. Specifically, after each of the K second optical diffraction devices generates T third signal lights, it outputs T third signal lights with different phases to the corresponding T mixers. Each of the K*T mixers mixes the third signal light received from the corresponding second optical diffraction device with the local oscillator light and outputs a mixed signal. At this time, the K*T mixers generate K*T mixed signals, which are used to generate K*T radio frequency signals, thereby realizing the scanning of K*T two-dimensional scanning beams.

[0083] Specifically, the first optical switch 421 controls one or all of the N output ports based on the required number of beam scanning angles in the first direction. That is, the first optical switch 421 inputs at least one first signal light into at least one input port of the first optical diffraction device 422 as required. Subsequently, the first optical diffraction device 422 generates, based on the at least one port to which the first signal light is input, multiple second signal lights with different phases, the same number as the output ports of the first optical diffraction device 422. That is, the first optical diffraction device 422 generates K second signal lights with different phase differences and outputs these K second signal lights to the K second optical switches in the second optical switch array 423. Then, the K second optical switches each control at least one of the P output ports based on the required number of beam scanning angles in the second direction, inputting the at least one second signal light into the corresponding at least one input port of the second optical diffraction device. After each of the K second optical diffraction devices receives at least one second signal light from the corresponding second optical switch, it generates T third signal lights with different phases based on at least one port of the second signal light input. These T third signal lights with different phases are then input into T mixers. Subsequently, each of the K*T mixers mixes the received third signal lights with different phases with the local oscillator light to generate K*T mixed signal lights. These K*T mixed signals are used to generate K*T two-dimensional scanning beams that can scan both vertically and horizontally.

[0084] It should be noted that the number of input signals of the optical diffraction device determines the angle and number of beam scans in one dimension. This is because different input ports of the optical diffraction device can correspond to different phases of the output signal, and the combination of different input ports can correspond to different phase combinations in the output signal light. For example, when the same input signal light is input from different input ports of the optical diffraction device, due to the change of the input port, the phase of the signal light output from all output ports of the optical diffraction device changes each time. When multiple input signal lights are input from multiple different input ports of the optical diffraction device, the phase of the signal light output from all output ports of the optical diffraction device each time also varies. Therefore, the input port of the signal light input to the optical diffraction device in the system can be controlled according to the number and angle requirements of the final scanning beam. Since the beamforming system provided by the present application has two-stage optical diffraction devices (for example, the first optical diffraction device 422 and the second optical diffraction device array 424 in Figure 4), the two-dimensional shaping of the transmitted beam is achieved by controlling the input of the lens of each stage.

[0085] Optionally, the first optical switch 421 is a single-input single-output optical switch, or a single-input multi-output optical switch, or a multi-input multi-output optical switch, which is not limited in this application. For example, when the first optical switch 421 is a single-input single-output optical switch or a single-input multi-output optical switch, the scheme is a shaping scheme for a single beam (the embodiment shown in Figure 9 below). At this time, the first optical switch 421 receives a first signal light and selects an output port for the first signal light according to the angle of the scanning beam in a one-dimensional direction as required, so that the first signal light enters an input port of the first optical diffraction device along the output port, thereby realizing the configuration of the scanning beam in the one-dimensional direction. Subsequently, a second optical diffraction device is used to realize the angle of the scanning beam in another one-dimensional direction, thereby completing the beamforming effect in the two-dimensional direction. Similarly, when the first optical switch 421 is a single-input multiple-output optical switch or a multiple-input multiple-output optical switch, the multiple output ports of the first optical switch 421 determine the multiple input ports of the first optical diffraction device, and the multiple input ports of the first optical diffraction device determine the configuration of a scanning beam in one one-dimensional direction. Simultaneously, the multiple input ports of the second optical diffraction device determine the configuration of a scanning beam in another one-dimensional direction.

[0086] It can be understood that if the first optical switch 421 is a single-input optical switch (including single-input single-output and single-input multiple-output), in order to realize the multi-beam shaping scheme, multiple structures shown in Figure 4 can be introduced into the system to make the input wavelength of each single-beam system the same (as shown in the embodiment of Figure 10 below, in this case, the M-way first signal light comes from the same laser, or from a laser with the same wavelength) or different (as shown in the embodiment of Figure 13 below, in this case, the M-way first signal light comes from M lasers with different wavelengths), thereby expanding the single-multiple-beam shaping scheme to a multi-beam shaping scheme.

[0087] Alternatively, if the first optical switch 421 is a multi-input multi-output optical switch, the first optical switch 421 can input up to M first signal lights. When the wavelengths of the M first signal lights are the same, M paths can be separated from the light beam emitted by the same laser through a power divider (or a splitter, a beam splitter, etc.) (as shown in the embodiment of Figure 8 below), and then modulated by M modulators to generate M first signal lights. Among them, the modulation frequencies of the M modulators can be the same or different, that is, the same radio frequency signal can be loaded on the M light beams of the same wavelength, or different radio frequency signals can be loaded. When the loaded radio frequency signals are different, the frequencies of the M radio frequency signals can be different, or the formats of the M radio frequency signals can be different, which is not limited in this application. Alternatively, when the wavelengths of the M first signal lights are different, M light beams can be generated by M lasers that emit different wavelengths, and then modulated by M modulators to generate M first signal lights (as shown in the embodiments of Figures 14 and 15 below). The modulation frequencies of the M modulators may be the same or different, that is, the M light beams of the same wavelength may be loaded with the same radio frequency signal or different radio frequency signals.

[0088] Optionally, the first optical switch 421 and the second optical switch array 423 are optical switches without a wavelength selection function. In this case, the wavelength of at least one first signal light received by the first optical switch 421 is the same. At the same time, the wavelengths of the N second signal lights output by the first optical diffraction device 422 are the same. That is, the wavelength of the second signal light received by each second optical switch is the same, so that the wavelength of the third signal light received by each second optical diffraction device is the same as the wavelength of the at least one first signal light.

[0089] Alternatively, the first optical switch 421 and the second optical switch array 423 are wavelength selection switches (WSS). In this case, the wavelengths of the multiple signals received by the first optical switch 421 are different. At the same time, each of the N second signal light paths output by the first optical diffraction device 422 includes all wavelengths. That is, each second optical switch receives a second signal light path that includes all wavelengths, so that the input of each second optical diffraction device includes all wavelengths.

[0090] Optionally, when the wavelengths of the multiple first signal lights input by the first optical switch 421 are different, the system shown in FIG4 may further include a wavelength division multiplexer array (such as the embodiment shown in FIG14 below). The wavelength division multiplexer array is located between the second optical diffraction device array 424 and the mixer array 425. The multiple output ports of each second optical diffraction device correspond to the input ports of multiple wavelength division multiplexers in the wavelength division multiplexer array 426. The multiple output ports of each wavelength division multiplexer are connected to the input ports of multiple mixers. Each wavelength division multiplexer is configured to demultiplex each third signal light into multiple fourth signal lights having different wavelengths. That is, before entering each mixer, each third signal light output by the second Rotman optical system first passes through the wavelength division multiplexer to obtain signal lights corresponding to different wavelengths, and then is input into the corresponding mixer for mixing with the local oscillator light.

[0091] When the system shown in FIG4 includes a wavelength division multiplexer array, the system may optionally further include a wavelength division multiplexer array (such as the embodiment shown in FIG15 below), wherein one input port of each wavelength division multiplexer in the wavelength division multiplexer array is connected to the output ports of multiple mixers, and each wavelength division multiplexer is used to generate one wavelength division multiplexed signal light from the multiple mixed signal lights output by the multiple mixers, and the generated one wavelength division multiplexed signal light is used to generate one radio frequency signal.

[0092] Optionally, in the solution of the present application, the mixing mode of each mixer in the mixer array 425 is a homodyne scheme or a heterodyne scheme. The homodyne scheme means that the wavelength of the local oscillator light input to the mixer is the same as the wavelength of the signal light received by the mixer from the corresponding second optical diffraction device. At this time, the frequency of the radio frequency signal of the beam emitted by the system is the same as the frequency of the radio frequency signal carried by at least one first signal light input to the first optical switch 421. Since the frequency of the radio frequency signal carried by at least one first signal light input to the first optical switch 421 is determined by the frequency of the radio frequency signal of the modulator that generates the at least one first signal light, under the homodyne scheme, the frequency of the radio frequency signal of the beam emitted by the system is consistent with the frequency of the radio frequency signal of the modulator. Exemplarily, the local oscillator light under the homodyne scheme can be separated from the output light of the laser that generates the first signal light by a splitter. The heterodyne scheme means that the wavelength of the local oscillator light input to the mixer is different from the wavelength of the signal light received by the mixer from the corresponding second optical diffraction device. In this case, the frequency of the RF signal of the beam emitted by the system is related to the frequency of the RF signal of the modulator that generates the first signal light, the frequency difference between the laser that generates the first signal light and the frequency of the local oscillator signal light. For example, the local oscillator light under the heterodyne scheme can be generated by reintroducing a new light source that generates heterodyne local oscillator light. It can be understood that when the wavelength of the heterodyne local oscillator light in the heterodyne scheme is the same as the wavelength of the laser that generates at least one first signal, it can be understood as a homodyne scheme.

[0093] Based on the above scheme, the present invention achieves two-dimensional beamforming through a two-layer optical switch and lens cascade solution. Because the present invention uses optical switches to switch paths, the system switching rate is improved. In addition, the present invention's solution uses a single optical diffraction device to meet the phase shift requirements of multiple channels and multiple beams, thereby significantly reducing the system's device size.

[0094] When the wavelengths of at least one first signal light beam received by the first optical switch 421 are the same, FIG5 is a schematic structural diagram of a first signal light generating device 500 applicable to embodiments of the present application. Specifically, as shown in FIG5 , the first signal light generating device 500 includes a laser 510, a 1-to-M power splitter 520, and M modulators 530. The laser 510 is configured to generate a laser beam and output the laser beam to the 1-to-M power splitter 520. The 1-to-M power splitter 520 splits the received laser beam into M laser beams, which are then output to the M modulators. The M modulators modulate the received laser beams and output them to the input port of the first optical switch 421 shown in FIG4 .

[0095] It should be noted that the M modulators can modulate the received light beam using electro-optical modulation, acousto-optical modulation, magneto-optical modulation, or other methods, which are not limited in this application. For example, when the M modulators use electro-optical modulation, a voltage of a radio frequency (RF) signal is applied to the modulator, causing certain physical properties of the modulator to change. When the laser passes through it, certain parameters of the light wave are modulated, thereby generating a light wave carrying the RF signal, i.e., generating signal light. In addition, the frequencies of the electrical signals applied to the light waves by the M modulators can be the same or different, and the formats of the electrical signals can be the same or different, which are not limited in this application.

[0096] It should be noted that, when the first signal light generating device 500 is used to generate one channel of first signal light, the 1:M power splitter 520 may not be provided in the first signal light generating device 500 .

[0097] When the wavelengths of at least one first signal light beam received by the first optical switch 421 are different, illustratively, FIG6 is a schematic structural diagram of another first signal light generating device 600 applicable to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG6 , the signal light generating device includes M lasers 610 (i.e., laser #1 to laser #M in FIG6 ) and M modulators 620 (i.e., modulator #1 to modulator #M in FIG6 ), with the output port of each laser corresponding to the input port of a modulator. Each of the M lasers 610 is used to generate a laser beam and output the laser beam to the corresponding modulator. The M modulators modulate the received laser beams and output the modulated laser beams to the input port of the first optical switch 421 shown in FIG4 .

[0098] Similarly, the M modulators can modulate the received light beam using electro-optical modulation, acousto-optical modulation, magneto-optical modulation, etc., which is not limited in this application. The frequencies of the electrical signals loaded on the light waves by the M modulators can be the same or different, and the formats of the electrical signals can be the same or different, which is not limited in this application.

[0099] It should be noted that when the signal light generating device 600 is used to generate one channel of first signal light, the signal device 600 only has one channel of laser and modulator.

[0100] It is understandable that the first signal light generating device 600 can also be used to generate M first signal lights with the same wavelength. In this case, the M lasers 610 are used to generate M first signal lights with the same wavelength.

[0101] In addition, the first signal light generating device in the beamforming system provided in the present application is not limited to the form of Figure 5 or Figure 6 above. That is, Figure 5 and Figure 6 above are only exemplary embodiments of the first signal light generating device applicable to the beamforming system provided in the present application. The first signal light generating device applicable to the beamforming system provided in the present application can also be in other forms, which are not enumerated in the present application.

[0102] Figure 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency signal generating device 700 applicable to an embodiment of the present application. The radio frequency signal generating device 700 includes a photodetector array 710, a radio frequency amplifier array 720, and an antenna array 730. When the beam generating device 700 is used in the beamforming system shown in Figure 4, the input ports of the K*T photodetectors in the photodetector array 730 are correspondingly connected to the output ports of the K*T mixers, the output ports of the K*T photodetectors are correspondingly connected to the input ports of the K*T radio frequency amplifiers in the radio frequency amplifier array 720, and the output ports of the K*T radio frequency amplifiers are correspondingly connected to the K*T antenna units in the antenna array 730. Specifically, after each mixer outputs the generated mixing signal to the corresponding photodetector, each photodetector converts the received mixing signal into an electrical signal and outputs the converted electrical signal to the corresponding radio frequency amplifier. Subsequently, each radio frequency amplifier amplifies the received electrical signal and outputs the amplified electrical signal to the corresponding antenna unit. After receiving the electrical signal, the antenna unit radiates the electrical signal outward.

[0103] It should be noted that Figure 7 is only an exemplary embodiment of a radio frequency signal generating device applicable to the beamforming system provided in the present application. The beam generating device applicable to the present application is not limited to Figure 7. In other embodiments, the beam generating device may also include other structures, such as filters, etc., which are all within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0104] It should also be noted that in the present application, the optical diffraction device can be a Rotman lens or a Blass lens, etc., and this application does not limit this. In the following Figures 8 to 10 and Figures 13 to 15 of the present application's various beamforming system embodiments, the optical diffraction device is described in detail as a Rotman lens. At the same time, in the various beamforming system embodiments provided by the present application in Figures 8 to 10 and Figures 13 to 15, the mixing operation is achieved by a mixer.

[0105] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of a beamforming system 800 provided in an embodiment of the present application (including FIG8(a), FIG8(b), and FIG8(c)). It should be noted that the beamforming system 800 is suitable for scenarios where the wavelength of the incident light is the same and the first signal light incident on the first optical switch 840 is multi-path. That is, in the beamforming system 800, the wavelengths of the multi-path first signal light received by the first optical switch 840 are the same. As shown in FIG8, the beamforming system 800 is sequentially arranged along the transmission direction of the signal light with a laser 810, a 1:M power splitter 820, a modulator array 830, a first optical switch 840 with M input and N output, a first Rotman lens 850 with N input and K output, a second optical switch array 860 with 1 input and P output, a second Rotman lens array 870 with P input and T output, and a mixer array 880. Wherein, M is an integer greater than 1, N is an integer greater than 1, K is an integer greater than 1, P is an integer greater than 1, and T is an integer greater than 1. Specifically, the laser 810 generates one path of incident light and emits it toward the 1:M power splitter 820. After receiving the incident light, the 1:M power splitter 820 splits the one path of incident light into M paths of incident light with the same power, and respectively inputs them into the M modulators of the modulator array 830. The M modulators respectively perform spatial shaping on the M paths of incident light by changing the RF frequency or signal format of the received one path of incident light, thereby modulating and generating M paths of first signal light, and outputting them to the M input ports of the first optical switch 840. After receiving the M paths of first signal light, the first optical switch 840 outputs the M paths of first signal light to the M input ports of the first Rotman lens 850. After the first Rotman lens 850 shifts the phase of the M first light signals, it generates K second light signals with different phases, which are then output to the K second optical switches in the second optical switch array 860. Each of the K second optical switches uses one second light signal to output P second light signals. Simultaneously, each of the K second optical switches generates P second light signals and outputs the generated P second light signals to the K second Rotman lenses in the second Rotman lens array 870. Each of the K second Rotman lenses shifts the phase of the received P second light signals and outputs T third light signals to the T mixers in the mixer array 880. The K*T mixers in the mixer array 880 each mix the third light signal with the local oscillator light to generate one mixed light signal. It will be appreciated that the mixed signal generated by each mixer can be converted into an electrical signal by the RF signal generator shown in FIG. 7 , thereby achieving two-dimensional beamforming.

[0106] It is understood that each mixer can use a homodyne scheme or a heterodyne scheme to mix the received third signal light with the local oscillator light, and this application does not limit this. For example, when each mixer uses a homodyne scheme to mix the third signal light with the local oscillator light, in some embodiments, the homodyne local oscillator light can be a low-power incident light separated from the incident light emitted by the laser 810 by a beam splitter (not shown in the figure), as shown in (a) in Figure 8. Or in other embodiments, the homodyne local oscillator light can also be achieved by using a laser 811 to generate a heterodyne local oscillator light with the same wavelength as the incident light. In this case, the system also includes a heterodyne laser 811, which is used to generate a homodyne local oscillator light with the same wavelength as the laser 810, as shown in (b) in Figure 8. In some other embodiments, when each mixer uses a heterodyne scheme to mix the third signal light with the local oscillator light, the system also includes a laser 812, and the heterodyne local oscillator light is generated by the laser 812, as shown in (c) in Figure 8.

[0107] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a beamforming system 900 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 9, the beamforming system 900 is sequentially arranged along the transmission direction of the signal light, including a laser 910 with sequentially connected inputs and outputs, a modulator 930, a first optical switch 940 with 1 input and N outputs, a first Rotman lens 950 with N inputs and K outputs, a second optical switch array 960 with 1 input and P outputs, a second Rotman lens array 970 with P inputs and T outputs, and a mixer array 980. Where N is an integer greater than 1, K is an integer greater than 1, P is an integer greater than 1, and T is an integer greater than 1.

[0108] It can be understood that, compared to the system shown in FIG8 , beamforming system 900 is more suitable for single-beam two-dimensional scanning scenarios. Specifically, in beamforming system 900 , first optical switch 940 receives a first signal light. For simplicity, the functions of each component can be found in FIG8 . Other system-related descriptions can also be found in FIG8 , and will not be repeated here.

[0109] Furthermore, system 900 can also employ a homodyne or heterodyne solution. FIG9 illustrates the homodyne solution as an example. When a heterodyne solution is employed, the system also includes a heterodyne laser for generating heterodyne local oscillator light. This description can be found in the relevant portion of FIG8 above and will not be repeated here.

[0110] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a beamforming system 1000 provided in an embodiment of the present application. Compared with the system 900 shown in FIG9 , the beamforming system 1000 is suitable for multi-beam two-dimensional scanning scenarios. It can be understood that the system 1000 shown in FIG10 can be regarded as a multi-beam system generated when the system 900 in FIG9 is extended to M beams. Therefore, the specific functions of each component, the mixing scheme (only the homodyne mixing scheme is shown in FIG10 , and the heterodyne mixing scheme is not shown), and other related descriptions can also refer to FIG8 or FIG9 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0111] It can be seen from the above description that the mixing signal emitted by the mixer needs to be input into the radio frequency signal generating device as shown in Figure 7. When the beamforming system adopts the system 1000 shown in Figure 10, the mixing signal emitted by M groups of K*T mixers needs to be input into the detector for photoelectric conversion to generate an electrical signal. In order to reduce the device scale of the system, as shown in Figure 10, M groups of K*T mixers can share K*T detectors. In some embodiments, M-channel mixing signal lights output by M mixers can be received by several space-division optical fibers as shown in Figure 11, and the M-channel mixing signal lights can be converted into M-channel electrical signals. For example, in Figure 11, (a) in Figure 11 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of a multi-core optical fiber, (b) in Figure 11 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of a few-mode optical fiber, and (c) in Figure 11 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of a multi-core few-mode optical fiber. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the K*T detectors are segmented photodetectors, configured to receive M mixed signal lights output by the M mixers and convert the M mixed signal lights into M electrical signals, as shown in FIG12 . Alternatively, in other embodiments, a wavelength division multiplexer array 1310 consisting of K*T wavelength division multiplexers may be arranged in the system, where the mixed signal lights output by M groups of K*T mixers are first generated into wavelength division multiplexed signal lights, which are then converted into electrical signals by the detectors for photoelectric conversion. In this case, the system is shown in FIG13 .

[0112] It should be noted that the beamforming system 1000 shown in FIG10 can be used in scenarios where the M channels of first optical signals have the same wavelength, or in scenarios where the M channels of first optical signals have different wavelengths. When the M channels of first optical signals have different wavelengths, the M channels of third signals received by each detector via a space-divided optical fiber or a segmented detector have different wavelengths.

[0113] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of a beamforming system 1300 according to an embodiment of the present application. It can be understood that system 1300 is based on system 1000 shown in Figure 10 but incorporates a wavelength division multiplexer array 1310. Specifically, the input port of each wavelength division multiplexer in wavelength division multiplexer array 1310 corresponds one-to-one with the output ports of M mixers. Furthermore, each wavelength division multiplexer output port corresponds one-to-one with an input port of K*T detectors. This system is used to convert the M mixed signal lights of different wavelengths output by the M mixers into one wavelength division multiplexed signal light, which is then transmitted to the corresponding detector.

[0114] It is understandable that in system 1300, the mixing scheme can still adopt a homodyne scheme or a heterodyne scheme. Figure 13 shows a homodyne scheme. For related explanations, please refer to the above embodiment (such as the embodiment of Figure 8), which will not be repeated here.

[0115] FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of a beamforming system 1400 provided in an embodiment of the present application. It should be noted that the beamforming system 1400 is applicable to scenarios with multiple incident light wavelengths of different wavelengths. That is, in the beamforming system 1400, the wavelengths of the multiple first signal lights received by the first WSS 1440 are different. As shown in FIG14 , the beamforming system 1400 is sequentially arranged along the transmission direction of the signal light with a laser array 1410, a modulator array 1430, a first WSS 1440 with M inputs and N outputs, a first Rotman lens 1450 with N inputs and K outputs, a second WSS array 1460 with 1 input and P outputs, a second Rotman lens array 1470 with P input and T outputs, a wavelength division multiplexer array 1420, and a mixer array 1480. Wherein, M is an integer greater than 1, N is an integer greater than 1, K is an integer greater than 1, P is an integer greater than 1, and T is an integer greater than 1. Laser array 1410 includes M lasers, each corresponding to the M modulators in modulator array 1430. First WSS 1440 can select different output ports (i.e., different input ports of first Rotman lens 1450) for first light signals of different wavelengths based on the wavelength of the received incident light. Each second WSS in 1-input, P-output second WSS array 1460 can select a corresponding output port for the second light signal based on the wavelength of the received second light signal. WDM array 1420 includes K*T WDMs, each input port of which is configured to receive one of the K*T third light signals emitted by the K*T second Rotman multiplexers. Mixer array 1480 includes M groups of mixers, each group of which contains K*T mixers. Each mixer group is configured to receive fourth light signals of the same wavelength output from the K*T WDMs. In other words, the M output ports of each WDM correspond to the input port of one mixer in the M groups. For example, for the wavelength division multiplexer #1 in Figure 14, the wavelength division multiplexer #1 includes M output ports, each of which is used to output a fourth signal light of a wavelength. Therefore, the wavelength division multiplexer #1 can output fourth signal lights of λ1-λM and output the fourth signal lights of λ1-λM respectively to the mixer #1 of each group in the M groups of mixers.

[0116] It is understandable that each mixer can use a homodyne scheme or a heterodyne scheme to mix the received fourth signal light with the local oscillator light, and this application does not limit this. For example, when each mixer uses a homodyne scheme to mix the fourth signal light with the local oscillator light, the homodyne local oscillator light can be a low-power incident light separated from the incident light emitted by each laser in the laser array 1410 by an optical splitter, or it can be achieved by using a heterodyne laser to generate a heterodyne local oscillator light with the same wavelength as the incident light. When each mixer uses a heterodyne scheme to mix the fourth signal light with the local oscillator light, the system also includes a heterodyne laser array 1411. Among them, the heterodyne laser array 1411 includes M heterodyne lasers (such as heterodyne laser #1 and heterodyne laser #M in Figure 14). When each group of mixers uses a heterodyne scheme for mixing, heterodyne local oscillator light can be obtained from a corresponding heterodyne laser. Exemplarily, for mixer group #1, when a heterodyne scheme is adopted, heterodyne laser #1 generates heterodyne local oscillator light, and inputs the heterodyne local oscillator light into K*T mixers in mixer group #1, so that the K*T mixers in mixer group #1 generate K*T mixing signals.

[0117] It can also be understood that the mixing signals emitted by the M groups of mixers can also be input into the photodetector through at least one of the space-division optical fibers shown in Figure 11 to complete the conversion of optical signals into electrical signals. Alternatively, K*T segmented photodetectors can be used in the system to complete the conversion of mixed optical signals into electrical signals. Alternatively, a wavelength division multiplexer array 1510 composed of K*T wavelength division multiplexers can be arranged in the system (as shown in Figure 15), and the mixing signals of λ1-λM are first generated into wavelength division multiplexed signals, and then input into the detector (not shown in Figure 15, refer to Figure 13). For example, in Figure 15, the wavelength division multiplexer array 1510 includes M wavelength division multiplexers, each wavelength division multiplexer has M input ports, and each port is used to receive one mixing signal from each group of the M groups of mixers. Exemplarily, for wavelength division multiplexer #1, its M input ports may respectively correspond to mixer #1 in each of the M groups of mixers, and receive mixing signals of λ1-λM from the M mixers #1.

[0118] In addition, the functions of the laser array 1410, the modulator array 1430, the N-input K-output first Rotman lens 1450, and the P-input T-output second Rotman lens array 1470 in the system 1400 can be respectively referred to the other embodiments mentioned above, for example, the relevant descriptions in the system 800 shown in Figure 8, and will not be repeated here.

[0119] FIG16 shows a communication device 1600 according to an embodiment of the present application. The device 1600 may be a base station or a chip. The AAU of the device 1600 includes the beamforming system mentioned above.

[0120] When the communication device 1600 is a base station, Figure 16 shows a simplified schematic diagram of the base station structure. The base station includes parts 1610 and 1620. Part 1610 includes an antenna and a radio frequency circuit. The antenna is mainly used for transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals, and the radio frequency circuit is mainly used for converting radio frequency signals into baseband signals. Part 1620 includes a memory and a processor, which are mainly used for baseband processing and controlling network devices. Part 1610 can generally be referred to as a transceiver unit, transceiver, transceiver circuit, or transceiver. Part 1620 is generally the control center of the network device and can generally be referred to as a processing unit, which is used to control the network device to perform the processing operations on the network device side in the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0121] Alternatively, the device for implementing the receiving function in section 1610 may be considered a receiving unit, and the device for implementing the transmitting function may be considered a transmitting unit. That is, section 1610 includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. The receiving unit may also be referred to as a receiver, a receiver, or a receiving circuit, and the transmitting unit may be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit.

[0122] When data needs to be sent, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted and outputs the baseband signal to the RF circuit. The RF circuit then performs RF processing on the baseband signal and transmits it via the antenna as electromagnetic waves. When data is sent to a network device, the RF circuit receives the RF signal via the antenna, converts it into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor, which converts the baseband signal into data and processes it.

[0123] Section 1620 may include one or more boards, each of which may include one or more processors and one or more memories. For ease of illustration, Figure 16 shows only one memory and processor. The processor is used to read and execute programs in the memory to implement baseband processing functions and control network devices. If multiple boards are present, the boards may be interconnected to enhance processing capabilities. As an optional implementation, multiple boards may share one or more processors, or one or more memories.

[0124] It should be understood that FIG16 is merely an example and not a limitation, and the above-mentioned base station including the transceiver unit and the processing unit may not rely on the structure shown in FIG16 .

[0125] When the communication device 1600 is a chip, the chip includes a transceiver unit and a processing unit. The transceiver unit may be an input / output circuit or a communication interface; the processing unit may be a processor, microprocessor, or integrated circuit integrated on the chip.

[0126] The embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, which includes the base station in the above embodiment. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0127] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0128] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed system can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0129] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0130] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A beamforming system, characterized in that: The invention comprises a first optical diffraction module and a second optical diffraction module array, wherein the first optical diffraction module comprises at least one input port and a plurality of output ports, and each second optical diffraction module in the second optical diffraction module array comprises an input port and a plurality of output ports, wherein: The first optical diffraction module is used to receive at least one first signal light and generate multiple second signal lights with different phases based on the at least one first signal light; Each of the second optical diffraction modules is used to receive one of the multiple second signal lights, and generate multiple third signal lights with different phases based on the one second signal light, and the multiple third signal lights are used to generate multiple first radio frequency signals.

2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The first optical diffraction module includes a first optical switch and a first optical diffraction device, the second optical diffraction module array includes a second optical switch array and a second optical diffraction device array, each of the second optical diffraction modules includes a second optical switch and a second optical diffraction device, a plurality of output ports of the first optical switch correspond one-to-one to a plurality of input ports of the first optical diffraction device, a plurality of output ports of the first optical diffraction device correspond one-to-one to a plurality of input ports of second optical switches in the second optical switch array, a plurality of output ports of each second optical switch correspond one-to-one to a plurality of input ports of the corresponding second optical diffraction device, wherein: The first optical switch is used to receive the at least one first signal light and output the at least one first signal light to at least one input port of the first optical diffraction device; The first optical diffraction device generates the multiple second signal lights with different phases based on the at least one first signal light received by at least one input port, and outputs the multiple second signal lights to the input ports of the multiple second optical switches of the multiple second diffraction modules; Each of the second optical switches is used to receive the one-way second signal light and output the one-way second signal light to a plurality of input ports of the corresponding second optical diffraction device; Each of the second optical diffraction devices generates multiple paths of third signal lights with different phases based on the multiple paths of second signal lights received by the multiple input ports.

3. The system according to claim 2, characterized in that The system also includes a first mixer array, Each mixer in the first mixer array generates a first mixing signal light based on a third signal light from the corresponding second optical diffraction device and the local oscillator light, and the first mixing signal light is used to generate the first radio frequency signal.

4. The system according to claim 3, characterized in that The multiple output ports of each second optical diffraction device correspond one-to-one to the input ports of multiple first mixers in the first mixer array, and each of the first mixers is specifically used for: The third signal light is received from the corresponding second optical diffraction device, and the third signal light is mixed with the local oscillator light to generate the first mixed signal light.

5. The system according to claim 3, characterized in that The first optical switch is a wavelength selective switch, and the second optical switch array is a wavelength selective switch array.

6. The system according to claim 5, characterized in that The system further comprises: a wave division multiplexer array, wherein the wave division multiplexer array is located between the second optical diffraction device array and the first mixer array, wherein a plurality of output ports of each second optical diffraction device correspond one-to-one to input ports of a plurality of wave division multiplexers in the wave division multiplexer array, and a plurality of output ports of each wave division multiplexer in the wave division multiplexer array correspond one-to-one to input ports of a plurality of second mixers in the first mixer array, Each wavelength division multiplexer is used to receive the third signal light from the corresponding second optical diffraction device, and demultiplex the third signal light into multiple fourth signal lights with different wavelengths; Each of the second mixers is specifically configured to: The fourth signal light is received from the corresponding wavelength division multiplexer, and the fourth signal light is mixed with the local oscillator light to generate the first mixed signal light.

7. The system according to claim 6, characterized in that The system further comprises: a first photodetector array, wherein an input port of each first photodetector in the first photodetector array corresponds one-to-one to an output port of the plurality of second mixers, Each of the first photoelectric detectors is used to receive the multiple first mixing signal lights output by the multiple second mixers through the space division optical fiber, and convert the multiple first mixing signal lights into multiple first electrical signals; or, Each of the first photodetectors is a segmented photodetector, which is used to receive the multiple first mixing signal lights output by the multiple second mixers and convert the multiple first mixing signal lights into multiple first electrical signals.

8. The system according to claim 6, characterized in that The system further comprises: a first wavelength division multiplexer array, wherein an input port of each first wavelength division multiplexer in the first wavelength division multiplexer array corresponds one-to-one to output ports of the plurality of second mixers, Each of the first wavelength division multiplexers is used to receive multiple channels of the first frequency mixing signal lights from the corresponding multiple second frequency mixers, and generate one channel of the first wavelength division multiplexed signal light based on the multiple channels of the first frequency mixing signal lights.

9. The system according to claim 8, characterized in that The system further comprises: a second photodetector array, wherein an input port of each second photodetector in the second photodetector array corresponds one-to-one to an output port of each first wavelength division multiplexer, Each of the second photodetectors is used to receive the first wavelength division multiplexing signal light from the corresponding first wavelength division multiplexer, and convert the first wavelength division multiplexing signal light into a second electrical signal.

10. The system according to claim 3, characterized in that The first optical diffraction module is used to receive a first signal light, and the system further includes: a third optical diffraction module and a fourth optical diffraction module array, the third optical diffraction module includes at least one input port and multiple output ports, and each fourth optical diffraction module in the fourth optical diffraction module array includes an input port and multiple output ports, wherein: The third optical diffraction module is used to receive one path of fifth signal light, and generate multiple paths of sixth signal light with different phases based on the one path of fifth signal light; Each of the fourth optical diffraction modules is used to receive one of the multiple sixth signal lights, and generate multiple seventh signal lights with different phases based on the one sixth signal light, and the multiple seventh signal lights are used to generate multiple second radio frequency signals.

11. The system according to claim 10, characterized in that The third optical diffraction module includes a third optical switch and a third optical diffraction device, the fourth optical diffraction module array includes a fourth optical switch array and a fourth optical diffraction device array, each of the fourth optical diffraction modules includes a fourth optical switch and a fourth optical diffraction device, a plurality of output ports of the third optical switch correspond one-to-one to a plurality of input ports of the third optical diffraction device, a plurality of output ports of the third optical diffraction device correspond one-to-one to a plurality of input ports of fourth optical switches in the fourth optical switch array, a plurality of output ports of each fourth optical switch correspond one-to-one to a plurality of input ports of the corresponding fourth optical diffraction device, wherein: The third optical switch is used to receive the fifth signal light and output the fifth signal light to at least one input port of the third optical diffraction device; The third optical diffraction device generates the multiple sixth signal lights with different phases based on the at least one fifth signal light received by at least one input port, and outputs the multiple sixth signal lights to the input ports of the multiple fourth optical switches of the multiple fourth diffraction modules; Each of the fourth optical switches is used to receive the sixth signal light and output the sixth signal light to a plurality of input ports of the corresponding third optical diffraction device; Each of the fourth optical diffraction devices generates multiple paths of seventh signal lights with different phases based on the multiple paths of sixth signal lights received by the multiple input ports.

12. The system according to claim 11, characterized in that The system further comprises a second mixer array, wherein the plurality of output ports of each fourth optical diffraction device correspond one-to-one to the input ports of the plurality of mixers in the second mixer array, Each mixer in the second mixer array receives one of the seventh signal lights from the corresponding fourth optical diffraction device, and mixes the one of the seventh signal lights with the local oscillator light to generate one of the second mixed signal lights, and the one of the second mixed signal lights is used to generate one of the second radio frequency signals.

13. The system according to claim 12, characterized in that The system further comprises: a third photodetector array, wherein an input port of each third photodetector in the third photodetector array corresponds one-to-one to an output port of a mixer in the first mixer array, and at the same time, an input port of each third photodetector corresponds one-to-one to an output port of a mixer in the second mixer array, Each of the third photodetectors is used to receive one channel of the first mixing signal light and one channel of the second mixing signal light through the space division optical fiber, and convert the one channel of the first mixing signal light into one channel of the third electrical signal, and convert the one channel of the second mixing signal light into one channel of the fourth electrical signal; or, Each of the third photodetectors is a segmented photodetector, configured to receive one channel of the first mixed signal light and one channel of the second mixed signal light. Mixing signal light, and converting the first mixing signal light into a third electrical signal, and converting the second mixing signal light into a fourth electrical signal.

14. The system according to claim 12, characterized in that The system further comprises a second wavelength division multiplexer array, wherein an input port of each second wavelength division multiplexer in the second wavelength division multiplexer array corresponds one-to-one to an output port of a mixer in the first mixer array, and at the same time, an input port of each second wavelength division multiplexer corresponds one-to-one to an output port of a mixer in the second mixer array, Each of the second wavelength division multiplexers is used to receive one of the first frequency mixing signal lights and one of the second frequency mixing signal lights, and convert the one of the first frequency mixing signal lights and the one of the second frequency mixing signal lights into one of the second wavelength division multiplexed signal lights.

15. The system according to claim 14, characterized in that The system further comprises a fourth photodetector array, wherein input ports of a plurality of photodetectors in the fourth photodetector array correspond one-to-one to output ports of a plurality of second wavelength division multiplexers in the second wavelength division multiplexer array, Each of the fourth photodetectors is used to receive the one-way second wavelength division multiplexing signal light from the corresponding second wavelength division multiplexer, and convert the one-way second wavelength division multiplexing signal light into one-way fifth electrical signal.

16. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that The first optical diffraction device includes a first Rotman lens, and the second optical diffraction device array includes a second Rotman lens array.

17. A wireless communication base station, characterized in that: The base station comprises: an active antenna processing unit AAU, and the AAU comprises the beamforming system according to any one of claims 1 to 16.

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