Optical signal output module, output method, antenna transmitting module, and radio frequency system

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide an optical signal output module, an output method, an antenna transmitting module, and a radio frequency system. The optical signal output module comprises: a frequency mixing circuit, provided with a frequency mixer and a change-over switch, wherein the change-over switch is connected to the frequency mixer and determines a frequency mixing mode of the frequency mixer, and the frequency mixer carries out frequency mixing processing on the basis of the frequency mixing mode to obtain a modulation signal; a modulation circuit, provided with an electro-optic modulator and used for modulating the modulation signal and a carrier optical signal into a target optical signal; and a transmission circuit, connected to the modulation circuit and an antenna transmitting module and used for transmitting the target optical signal to the antenna transmitting module, so that the antenna transmitting module generates a radio frequency signal on the basis of the target optical signal.

Description

Optical signal output module, output method, antenna transmission module and radio frequency system

[0001] Cross-references

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on October 25, 2023, with application number 202311394538.0 and titled “Optical signal output module, output method, antenna transmission module and radio frequency system”. The entire contents of that application are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The present application relates to the field of communication equipment, and in particular to an optical signal output module, an output method, an antenna transmission module and a radio frequency system. Background Art

[0004] For radio frequency systems, lower frequency bands do not have sufficient bandwidth allocation to create the large-bandwidth carriers required for 5G / 6G, and the signal propagation conditions in ultra-high frequency bands are harsh, making the cost of applying them for wide-area coverage very high. Therefore, the mid-band spectrum (7-15GHz) in the Sub-15G band is the best choice for providing both extreme capacity and competitive coverage.

[0005] For traditional base station architecture, to achieve high-quality wireless communication in the Sub-15GHz frequency band, multiple RF systems usually need to be superimposed and used. Due to the narrowband characteristics of traditional electronic devices, when realizing 7-15GHz multi-frequency fusion, each frequency point needs to be equipped with an independent set of RF transceiver equipment, RF power amplifier devices, etc., which makes the RF system larger in size, weight and power consumption.

[0006] On the other hand, since traditional mixers are difficult to handle the frequency conversion requirements of high-frequency RF signals, problems such as inter-band crosstalk, image interference and local oscillator leakage are prone to occur. Generally, multi-stage frequency conversion and multi-stage filtering are required in the RF system, which will seriously reduce the dynamic range and frequency conversion efficiency of the system; and a large number of RF devices such as local oscillator sources and mixers are required, which makes the size, weight, power consumption and electromagnetic interference of the RF system unsatisfactory.

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] The main purpose of the embodiments of the present application is to provide an optical signal output module, an output method, an antenna transmission module and a radio frequency system, aiming to output optical signals of different frequencies in a compatible manner with a small-volume optical signal output module structure, and realize multi-frequency fusion of optical signals across frequency bands.

[0009] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an optical signal output module for adapting to an antenna transmitting module, the optical signal output module including: a mixing circuit, provided with a mixer and a switching switch connected to the mixer, the switching switch being connected to the mixer and determining a mixing mode corresponding to the mixer, the mixer mixing a switching oscillation signal and / or an analog signal transmitted by the switching switch based on the mixing mode to obtain a modulated signal; a modulation circuit, provided with an electro-optical modulator, the electro-optical modulator being connected to the mixer, for modulating the modulated signal output by the mixer and the received carrier optical signal into a target optical signal; a transmission circuit, connected between the modulation circuit and the antenna transmitting module, for transmitting the target optical signal to the antenna transmitting module, so that the antenna transmitting module performs photoelectric detection on the target optical signal to generate a radio frequency signal.

[0010] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides an optical signal output method, which is applied to any optical signal output module provided in the specification of this application, and the method includes: obtaining a target RF frequency and a frequency of an oscillation signal, wherein the target RF frequency is the expected frequency of the RF signal generated by the antenna transmitting module in response to the target optical signal output by the optical signal output module; controlling a switching switch in the optical signal output module to switch a mixing mode of the mixer according to the target RF frequency and the frequency of the oscillation signal; controlling the optical signal output module to generate a target optical signal based on the mixing mode of the mixer, and transmitting the target optical signal to the antenna transmitting module.

[0011] On the third aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides an antenna transmitting module for adapting to any optical signal output module provided in the specification of this application, and the antenna transmitting module is used to perform photoelectric detection on the target optical signal output by the optical signal output module to generate a radio frequency signal, and the frequency of the radio frequency signal is related to the frequency characteristics of the target optical signal.

[0012] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a radio frequency system, which includes: any one of the optical signal output modules provided in the specification of this application; an antenna transmitting module, connected to the optical signal output module, for performing photoelectric detection on the target optical signal output by the optical signal output module to generate a radio frequency signal, wherein the frequency of the radio frequency signal is related to the frequency characteristics of the target optical signal. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative work.

[0014] FIG1 is a block diagram of a structure of an optical signal output module provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0015] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a circuit structure of an optical signal output module provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0016] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the circuit structure of a mixing circuit in an optical signal output module provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0017] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the circuit structure of an electro-optical modulator in an optical signal output module provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0018] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of frequency characteristics of a target optical signal output by a modulation circuit in an optical signal output module and a radio frequency signal acquired by an antenna transmission module provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0019] FIG6 is a schematic flow chart of an optical signal output method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0020] FIG7 is a schematic block diagram of the structure of a radio frequency system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0021] Reference numerals:

[0022] 1. RF system; 100. Optical signal output module; 200. Antenna transmission module; 110. Mixing circuit; 111. Mixer; 1111. First input port; 1112. Second input port; 1113. First output port; 1114. Second output port; 112. Switch; 120. Modulation circuit; 121. Electro-optical modulator; 1211. First sub-modulator; 1212. Second sub-modulator; 1213. Branching unit; 1214. Combiner unit; 1215. Phase shifter; 130. Transmission circuit; 140. Amplification circuit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of this application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the embodiments described are part of the embodiments of this application, not all of them. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0024] The flowcharts shown in the accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and do not necessarily include all contents and operations / steps, nor must they be executed in the order described. For example, some operations / steps may be decomposed, combined, or partially merged, so the actual execution order may vary depending on the actual situation.

[0025] It should be understood that the terms used in this specification are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present application. As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0026] The present application provides an optical signal output module, output method, antenna transmission module, and radio frequency system. The following describes some embodiments of the present application in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiments and features thereof may be combined with each other unless they conflict.

[0027] Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2. Figure 1 is a structural block diagram of an optical signal output module provided in an embodiment of the present application, and Figure 2 is a circuit structural diagram of an optical signal output module provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0028] As shown in Figures 1 to 2, an embodiment of the present application provides an optical signal output module 100, which is adapted to an antenna transmitting module 200. The optical signal output module 100 is used to generate a target optical signal and transmit the target optical signal to the antenna transmitting module 200, and the antenna transmitting module 200 is used to perform photoelectric detection on the target optical signal output by the optical signal output module 100 to generate a radio frequency signal, the frequency of the radio frequency signal being related to the frequency characteristics of the target optical signal.

[0029] For example, the optical signal output module 100 provided in this application can be applied to the baseband processing unit (BBU) side transmitter in a communication device. Correspondingly, the antenna transmission module 200 is, for example, the active antenna unit (AAU) side receiver in the communication device. Specifically, the BBU side transmitter and the AAU side receiver in the communication device are adapted to each other. The BBU side transmitter is used to generate a target optical signal and transmit it to the AAU side receiver. The AAU side receiver is used to perform photoelectric detection on the target optical signal output by the optical signal output module 100 to generate a radio frequency signal related to the frequency characteristics of the target optical signal.

[0030] Specifically, the optical signal output module 100 provided in the embodiment of the present application includes: a mixing circuit 110, a modulation circuit 120 and a transmission circuit 130. The specific structure and operation principle of each circuit are described in detail below.

[0031] Specifically, the mixing circuit 110 is provided with a mixer 111 and a switching switch 112 connected to the mixer 111. The switching switch 112 is connected to the mixer 111 and determines the mixing mode corresponding to the mixer 111. The mixer 111 mixes the switching oscillation signal and / or analog signal transmitted by the switching switch 112 based on the mixing mode to obtain a modulated signal.

[0032] The modulation circuit 120 includes an electro-optical modulator 121, which is connected to the mixer 111 and corresponds to a preset laser light source. The laser light source is used to output a carrier optical signal to the electro-optical modulator 121. The electro-optical modulator 121 is used to modulate the modulated signal output by the mixer 111 and the received carrier optical signal into a target optical signal. The transmission circuit 130 is connected between the modulation circuit 120 and the antenna transmission module 200 and is used to transmit the target optical signal to the antenna transmission module 200.

[0033] It should be noted that the electro-optical modulator 121 modulates the frequency characteristics of the carrier optical signal according to the modulation signal to obtain the target optical signal. Therefore, the frequency characteristics of the target optical signal are related to the modulation signal.

[0034] Furthermore, the antenna transmission module 200 is used to perform photoelectric detection on the target optical signal output by the optical signal output module 100 to generate a radio frequency signal, and the frequency of the radio frequency signal is related to the frequency characteristics of the target optical signal.

[0035] It should be noted that, based on the connection between the switching switch 112 and the mixer 111 and the determination of the mixing mode corresponding to the mixer 111, so that the mixer 111 performs mixing processing on the oscillation signal and the analog signal under the mixing mode, when using the optical signal output module 100 provided in the embodiment of the present application, without adjusting the oscillation signal and the analog signal, the switching switch can be directly controlled to control the mixing processing performed by the mixing circuit, thereby obtaining a target optical signal with a frequency characteristic that meets the desired requirements, and further generating the required radio frequency signal at the antenna transmitting module 200.

[0036] Therefore, the optical signal output module 100 in the embodiment of the present application can switch the mixing mode of the mixer 111 by switching the switch 112, and quickly, directly and easily adjust the frequency characteristics of the target optical signal output by the optical signal output module 100 and the radio frequency signal detected by the antenna transmission module 200. The small-volume optical signal output module 100 structure is compatible with the output of optical signals of different frequencies, effectively realizing cross-band multi-frequency fusion of optical signals while taking into account the size, weight and power (SWaP) challenges faced by the communication system.

[0037] In some embodiments, the oscillation signal received by the mixing circuit 110 is provided by a local oscillator. For example, for the Sub-15G frequency band, the local oscillator is set to provide an oscillation signal with a fixed frequency of 10 GHz.

[0038] In some embodiments, the frequency of the analog signal received by the mixing circuit 110 is adjustable.

[0039] For example, the analog signal received by the mixing circuit 110 is directly generated by the RF sampling of the Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) on the BBU side, such as an intermediate frequency Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signal with a carrier frequency of 0-5 GHz as the analog signal.

[0040] In some embodiments, the optical signal output module 100 further includes an analog signal output circuit, which is connected to the mixing circuit 110 and configured to output an analog signal to the mixing circuit 110. The frequency of the analog signal is adjustable. Exemplarily, the analog signal output circuit includes a DAC, and the frequency of the analog signal can be adjusted by controlling the DAC to directly sample RF signals of different frequencies.

[0041] It should be noted that, based on the adjustable analog signal, in addition to adjusting the mixing mode of the mixing circuit 110, the frequency characteristics of the target optical signal can also be adjusted by adjusting the analog signal, thereby increasing the flexibility of optical signal adjustment. Thus, the optical signal output module 100 with a small volume can output optical signals of different frequencies compatibly, effectively realizing cross-band multi-frequency fusion of optical signals.

[0042] As shown in FIG2 , in some embodiments, the mixer 111 has a first input port 1111 and a second input port 1112 , and the switch 112 is connected to the first input port 1111 and the second input port 1112 and is used to switch the oscillation signal and / or analog signal input to the input port of the mixer 111 .

[0043] When the oscillation signal and the analog signal are input to the mixer 111 from the same input port, the mixer 111 mixes the oscillation signal and the analog signal in a first mixing mode to obtain a first type of modulated signal; when the oscillation signal and the analog signal are input to the mixer 111 from different input ports, the mixer 111 mixes the oscillation signal and the analog signal in a second mixing mode to obtain a second type of modulated signal.

[0044] It should be noted that, for the same oscillation signal and the same analog signal, the frequency characteristics of the first type of modulation signal obtained based on the first mixing mode and the second type of modulation signal obtained based on the second mixing mode are different.

[0045] Specifically, the first mixing mode is an up-conversion process for the oscillating signal, and the second mixing mode is a down-conversion process for the oscillating signal. It should be noted that up-conversion of the oscillating signal means that the frequency of the first type of modulated signal obtained after mixing is greater than the frequency of the oscillating signal. Conversely, down-conversion of the oscillating signal means that the frequency of the second type of modulated signal obtained after mixing is less than the frequency of the oscillating signal.

[0046] Furthermore, based on the different frequency characteristics of the first type of modulation signal and the second type of modulation signal, the electro-optical modulator 121 modulates the frequency characteristics of the carrier optical signal according to the frequency characteristics of the modulation signal to obtain the target optical signal. Therefore, by switching the oscillation signal and / or analog signal input to the input port of the mixer 111 through the switching switch 112, the frequency characteristics of the target optical signal can be adjusted.

[0047] Specifically, the mixer 111 is used to receive an oscillation signal and an analog signal through a first input port 1111 and a second input port 1112, and perform mixing operations on the oscillation signal and the analog signal. Different input ports of the mixer 111 to which the oscillation signal and the analog signal are input correspond to different mixing modes.

[0048] Exemplarily, when the oscillation signal and the analog signal are both input into the mixer 111 from the first input port 1111, the mixing circuit 110 switches to the first mixing mode; when the oscillation signal and the analog signal are both input into the mixer 111 from the second input port 1112, the mixing circuit 110 switches to the first mixing mode; when the oscillation signal and the analog signal are respectively input into the mixer 111 from the first input port 1111 and the second input port 1112, the mixing circuit 110 switches to the second mixing mode.

[0049] The input ports of the oscillation signal and the analog signal are switched by switching switch 112, and the switching switch 112 determines the mixing mode corresponding to the mixer 111. The mixer 111 mixes the oscillation signal and the analog signal based on the mixing mode to generate a corresponding modulation signal, and outputs the modulation signal to the modulation circuit 120, so that the modulation circuit 120 modulates the frequency characteristics of the carrier optical signal output by the preset light source according to the modulation signal to obtain the target optical signal.

[0050] As shown in FIG2 , in some embodiments, the switch 112 has an input end, a first output end, and a second output end. The first output end of the switch 112 is connected to the first input port 1111 of the mixer 111, and the second output end of the switch 112 is connected to the second input port 1112 of the mixer 111. The input end of the switch 112 is used to receive an oscillation signal, and the switch 112 is used to switch the connection between its input end and the first output end or the second output end.

[0051] The mixer 111 is configured to receive an analog signal through one of the first input port 1111 and the second input port 1112 .

[0052] Specifically, the switch 112 can control the oscillation signal to be input to the first input port 1111 or the second input port of the mixer 111. It should be understood that when the mixer 111 is fixedly receiving the modulated signal through the first input port 1111 or the second input port, the switch 112 switches the input port of the oscillation signal to be input to the mixer 111, so that the oscillation signal and the analog signal can be input to the mixer 111 from the same input port, or the oscillation signal and the analog signal can be input to the mixer 111 from different input ports, thereby quickly switching the corresponding mixing mode.

[0053] It should be noted that when the frequencies of the oscillation signal and the analog signal are the same, the mixer 111 adopts the two mixing modes mentioned above to obtain different mixing modes, and the generated modulation signals are also different.

[0054] As shown in Figure 3, in some embodiments, the mixer 111 includes a first output port 1113 and a second output port 1114, and the modulated signal is composed of a first modulated sub-signal and a second modulated sub-signal, and the first output end of the mixer 111 is used to output the first modulated sub-signal, and the second output end of the mixer 111 is used to output the second modulated sub-signal.

[0055] Please refer to FIG3 , which is a schematic diagram of the circuit structure of a mixing circuit in an optical signal output module provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0056] As shown in FIG3 , the mixer 111 is exemplarily a 90-degree phase-shifted bridge (90° Hybrid), wherein the 90° Hybrid consists of four electrical ports, including a first input port, a second input port, a first output port, and a second output port. Due to the phase-shifting function of the bridge, the signals of the first input port, the second input port, the first output port, and the second output port are in a 90° orthogonal coupling relationship.

[0057] For example, the oscillation signal input to the mixer 111 is E LO =V LO sinω L t, the analog signal input to the mixer 111 is E IF =V IF sinω I t, where V LO is the amplitude of the oscillation signal, V IF is the amplitude of the analog signal, ω L is the frequency of the oscillation signal, ω I is the frequency of the analog signal.

[0058] If the oscillation signal and the analog signal are simultaneously input to the mixer 111 from the first input port, and the mixer 111 performs up-conversion processing on the oscillation signal, the signals output from the first output terminal and the second output terminal of the mixer 111 are E3 and E4 respectively, where:

[0059] E1=E LO +E IF =V LO sinω L t+V IF sinω I t

[0060] E2=j(E LO +E IF )=j(V LO sinω L t+V IF sinω I t)=V LO cosω L t+V IF cosω I t

[0061] It should be noted that E1 and E2 serve as modulation signals, and at this time the frequency of the modulation signal is greater than the frequency of the oscillation signal, and E1 and E2 serve as the first modulation sub-signal and the second modulation sub-signal respectively to drive the modulation circuit 120 to modulate the frequency characteristics of the carrier light signal output by the preset light source to obtain the target light signal.

[0062] On the other hand, if the oscillating signal is input to the mixer 111 from the first input port and the analog signal is input to the mixer 111 from the second input port, the signals output from the first output terminal and the second output terminal of the mixer 111 are E3 and E4 respectively, where:

[0063] E3=jE LO +E IF =V LO cosω L t+V IF sinω I t

[0064] E4=E LO +jE IF =V LO sinω L t+V IF cosω I t

[0065] It should be noted that E3 and E4 serve as modulation signals, and at this time the frequency of the modulation signal is less than the frequency of the oscillation signal, and E3 and E4 serve as the first modulation sub-signal and the second modulation sub-signal respectively to drive the modulation circuit 120 to modulate the frequency characteristics of the carrier light signal output by the preset light source to obtain the target light signal.

[0066] In the optical signal output module provided in the embodiment of the present application, the electro-optical modulator 121 is used to obtain a carrier optical signal and modulate the carrier optical signal according to a modulation signal to obtain a target optical signal.

[0067] Exemplarily, the electro-optical modulator 121 is an IQ Mach-Zehnder modulator (In-phase / Quadrature Mach-Zehnder Modulator). The electro-optical modulator 121 corresponds to a preset light source setting and is used to modulate the carrier optical signal output by the preset light source into a target optical signal. It should be understood that for the same carrier optical signal, using modulation signals with different signal characteristics for modulation can obtain target optical signals with different frequencies.

[0068] Please refer to FIG4 , which is a schematic diagram of the circuit structure of an electro-optical modulator in an optical signal output module provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0069] As shown in Figures 3 and 4, in some embodiments, the mixer 111 has a first output port 1113 and a second output port 1114, the modulated signal includes a first modulated sub-signal and a second modulated sub-signal, and the mixer 111 is used to output the first modulated sub-signal through the first output port 1113 and output the second modulated sub-signal through the second output port 1114.

[0070] Accordingly, in some embodiments, the electro-optical modulator 121 includes a branching unit 1213, a first sub-modulator 1211, a second sub-modulator 1212, and a combining unit 1214. The specific connection structure and function of each unit in the electro-optical modulator 121 are described below:

[0071] The branching unit 1213 corresponds to a preset laser light source setting and is used to receive the carrier optical signal output by the laser light source and decompose the carrier optical signal into a first branch optical signal and a second branch optical signal. The first sub-modulator 1211 is connected to the branching unit 1213 and the first output port 1113 of the mixer 111 and is used to modulate the first branch optical signal according to the first modulated sub-signal to obtain a first modulated optical signal. The second sub-modulator 1212 is connected to the branching unit 1213 and the second output port 1114 of the mixer 111 and is used to modulate the second branch optical signal according to the second modulated sub-signal to obtain a second modulated optical signal. The combining unit 1214 is connected to the first sub-modulator 1211 and the second sub-modulator 1212 and is used to combine the first modulated optical signal and the second modulated optical signal to obtain a target optical signal.

[0072] Exemplarily, the electro-optical modulator 121 is a dual-parallel IQ Mach-Zehnder modulator (In-phase / Quadrature Mach-Zehnder Modulator), then the electro-optical modulator 121 includes parallel upper and lower arms, and the electro-optical modulator 121 includes two sub-modulators, namely a first sub-modulator 1211 and a second sub-modulator 1212, the two sub-modulators are respectively embedded in the upper and lower arms, wherein the first sub-modulator 1211 is used to modulate the first branch optical signal according to the first modulation sub-signal to obtain a first modulated optical signal, and the second sub-modulator 1212 is used to modulate the second branch optical signal according to the second modulation sub-signal to obtain a second modulated optical signal.

[0073] In some embodiments, the electro-optical modulator 121 further includes a phase shifter 1215, which is disposed on the branch where the first sub-modulator 1211 or the second sub-modulator 1212 is located, and is used to adjust the phases of the optical signals on the two branches so that the phase difference between the optical signals on the two branches remains at 90°.

[0074] For example, in the scenario where both the oscillation signal and the analog signal are input to the mixer circuit 110 from the first input port, it can be obtained from the above description that: E1 = V LO sinω L t+V IF sinω I t, E2 = V LO cosω L t+V IF cosω I t, E1 and E2 are used as the first modulation sub-signal and the second adjustment sub-signal to drive the electro-optic modulator. At the same time, the frequency of the carrier optical signal input to the electro-optic modulator is set to ω cThe branching unit equally divides the carrier optical signal to obtain a first branch optical signal and a second branch optical signal. After the first branch optical signal and the second branch optical signal are modulated by the first sub-modulator and the second sub-modulator, respectively, the obtained first modulated optical signal and the second modulated optical signal can be expressed as:

[0075] in, E c 、ω c are the amplitude and frequency of the carrier optical signal, φ DC1 、φ DC2 are the phase terms introduced by the bias voltages of the first and second sub-modulators, respectively. Applying the Bessel expansion, J n Represents the nth-order first-kind Bessel function, where β1=πV LO / V π-1 β2=πV IF / V π-1 β'1=πV LO / V π-2 β2'=πV IF / V π-2 are the modulation depths of the oscillating signal and the analog signal in the first sub-modulator and the second sub-modulator, respectively. π-1 、V π-2 are the half-wave voltages of the first and second sub-modulators respectively. By adjusting the DC bias voltages of the first and second sub-modulators to make them work at the minimum transmission point, we have φ DC1 =φ DC2 =π, then the target optical signal output by the modulation circuit 120 can be expressed as:

[0076] Considering small signal modulation, the high-order sidebands can be ignored, so the above formula can be simplified to:

[0077] Please refer to FIG5 , which is a schematic diagram of frequency characteristics of a target optical signal output by a modulation circuit in an optical signal output module and a radio frequency signal acquired by an antenna transmission module provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0078] 5 (a) and the expression of the target optical signal, when the oscillation signal and the analog signal are input from the first input port of the mixing circuit 110, the target optical signal output by the modulation circuit 120 includes a frequency of ω c +ω I The first sideband signal and the frequency are ω c +ω L The second sideband signal.

[0079] It can be seen that the spectrum of the target optical signal output by the modulation circuit 120 at this time consists of the carrier optical signal and the first-order sidebands symmetrically distributed on both sides of the carrier optical signal. Among them, the -1-order sidebands of the carrier optical signal, the oscillation signal, and the analog signal are greatly suppressed by the target optical signal, and only the +1-order sidebands of the analog signal and the oscillation signal are included. Therefore, the modulation circuit 120 completes the carrier-suppressed single-sideband modulation on the same side. The target optical signal output by the modulation circuit 120 is a carrier-suppressed single-sideband signal.

[0080] Similarly, in the scenario where the oscillation signal is inputted from the first input port to the mixer circuit 110 and the analog signal is inputted from the second input port to the mixer circuit 110, it can be obtained from the above description that if E3=V LO cosω L t+V IF sinω I t, E4 = V LO sinω L t+V IF cosω I t, the target optical signal output by the modulation circuit 120 can be expressed as:

[0081] 5 (b) and the expression of the target optical signal, when the oscillation signal and the analog signal are input from the first input port of the mixing circuit 110, the target optical signal output by the modulation circuit 120 includes a frequency of ω c +ω I The third sideband signal and the frequency are ω c -ω L The fourth sideband signal.

[0082] It can be seen that the spectrum of the carrier optical signal output by the modulation circuit 120 at this time consists of the carrier optical signal and the first-order sidebands symmetrically distributed on both sides of the carrier optical signal. Among them, the carrier optical signal, the +1-order sideband of the oscillation signal, and the -1-order sideband of the analog signal are significantly suppressed. The target optical signal only contains the analog signal and the +1-order sideband of the oscillation signal. Therefore, the modulation circuit 120 completes carrier-suppressed single-sideband modulation on different sides. The target optical signal output by the modulation circuit 120 is a carrier-suppressed single-sideband signal.

[0083] Furthermore, the antenna transmitting module 200 includes a Uni Traveling Carrier Photo Diode (UTC-PD), and the transmission circuit 130 acquires the target optical signal and transmits the target optical signal to the antenna transmitting module 200, and the UTC-PD of the antenna transmitting module 200 performs photoelectric detection on the target optical signal.

[0084] Exemplarily, when the oscillation signal and the analog signal are simultaneously input to the mixer 111 from the first input port (ie, the first mixing mode), the target optical signal output by the modulation circuit 120 includes a frequency of ω c +ω I The first sideband signal and the frequency are c +ω L Due to the frequency beat between the first sideband signal and the second sideband signal, the antenna transmitting module 200 performs photoelectric detection to generate a frequency of ω L -ω I The lower sideband (LSB) signal.

[0085] On the contrary, when the oscillation signal is input to the mixer 111 from the first input port and the analog signal is input to the mixer 111 from the second input port (ie, the second mixing mode), the target optical signal output by the modulation circuit 120 includes a frequency of ω c +ω I The third sideband signal and the frequency are ω c -ω L Due to the frequency beat between the third sideband signal and the fourth sideband signal, the antenna transmitting module 200 performs photoelectric detection to generate a frequency of ω L +ω I Upper side band (USB) signal.

[0086] It can be seen from the above two different target optical signals that by switching the oscillation signal input to the input port of the mixer 111, the modulation sideband (+1 order / -1 order) of the oscillation signal in the optical domain can be freely selected, thereby realizing optical up or down conversion of the microwave frequency, thereby quickly, directly and easily adjusting the frequency characteristics of the target optical signal output by the optical signal output module 100, and the optical signal output module 100 structure with a small volume is compatible with the output of optical signals of different frequencies, effectively realizing cross-band multi-frequency fusion of optical signals.

[0087] As shown in FIG. 2 , in some embodiments, the optical signal output module 100 further includes an amplifying circuit 140 , which is connected between the modulation circuit 120 and the transmission circuit 130 , and is configured to amplify the target optical signal and transmit the amplified target optical signal to the transmission circuit 130 .

[0088] It should be noted that an amplifier circuit 140 is provided on one side of the optical signal output module 100 to amplify the target optical signal, in order to ensure that the target optical signal has sufficient optical power to pass through the transmission circuit 130 and be transmitted to the antenna transmission module 200 for further processing.

[0089] For example, antenna transmission module 200 includes a Uni Traveling Carrier Photo Diode (UTC-PD), which is used to photoelectrically detect the incoming target optical signal and obtain a radio frequency signal. By providing an amplifier circuit 140 on the optical signal output module 100, the signal entering the UTC-PD is guaranteed to have sufficient optical power to generate a high-power radio frequency signal. Therefore, the obtained radio frequency signal does not require additional digital signal processing (DSP) compensation, and the radio frequency signal does not require power amplification or filtering, and can be directly transmitted through antenna transmission module 200.

[0090] As shown in Figure 2, in some embodiments, the transmission circuit 130 includes a standard single mode fiber (SSMF), wherein one end of the standard single mode fiber is connected to the amplification circuit 140 and the other end is connected to the antenna transmission module 200, for transmitting the target optical signal to the antenna transmission module 200.

[0091] Please refer to FIG. 6 , which is a flow chart of an optical signal output method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0092] As shown in FIG6 , an embodiment of the present application further provides an optical signal output method, which is applied to any optical signal output module 100 provided in the present application specification. The optical signal output method specifically includes S1 to S3:

[0093] S1: Acquire a target radio frequency frequency and a frequency of an oscillation signal, wherein the target radio frequency frequency is an expected frequency of a radio frequency signal generated by the antenna transmitting module in response to the target optical signal output by the optical signal output module;

[0094] S2: Controlling the switch in the optical signal output module to switch the mixing mode of the mixer according to the target RF frequency and the frequency of the oscillation signal;

[0095] S3: Based on the mixing mode of the mixer, the optical signal output module is controlled to generate a target optical signal, and the target optical signal is transmitted to the antenna transmission module.

[0096] Specifically, when executing this method, the optical signal output module 100 first obtains the target RF frequency and the frequency of the oscillation signal, wherein the target RF frequency is the expected frequency of the RF signal generated by the antenna transmitting module 200 in response to the target optical signal output by the optical signal output module 100. Then, according to the target RF frequency and the frequency of the oscillation signal, the switching switch 112 in the optical signal output module 100 is controlled to switch the mixing mode of the mixer 111. Then, based on the mixing mode of the mixer 111, the optical signal output module 100 is controlled to generate the target optical signal and transmit the target optical signal to the antenna transmitting module 200.

[0097] It should be understood that the switching mode of the mixer is switched by controlling the switching switch in the optical signal output module according to the target RF frequency and the frequency of the oscillation signal, so that: after the target optical signal is transmitted to the antenna transmitting module 200, the frequency of the RF signal generated by the antenna transmitting module 200 in response to the target optical signal output by the optical signal output module 100 is equal to the target RF frequency, or the difference between the frequency of the RF signal and the target RF frequency is less than a preset threshold.

[0098] It should be noted that when the frequencies of the oscillation signal and the analog signal are fixed, the switching switch 112 can determine the mixing mode corresponding to the mixer 111. However, for the same oscillation signal and the same analog signal, the signal characteristics of the first type of modulation signal obtained based on the first mixing mode and the second type of modulation signal obtained based on the second mixing mode are different. Therefore, it is necessary to control the switching switch 112 to switch the mixing mode of the mixer 111 according to the target RF frequency and the frequency of the oscillation signal so that the RF signal frequency corresponding to the target optical signal is close to the target RF frequency value, thereby matching the target optical signal with the target RF frequency.

[0099] In some embodiments, the mixer 111 has a first input port 1111 and a second input port 1112 . The switch 112 is connected to the first input port 1111 and the second input port 1112 and is used to switch the input port to which the oscillation signal and / or analog signal is input.

[0100] Accordingly, controlling the switch in the optical signal output module to switch the mixing mode of the mixer according to the target radio frequency and the frequency of the oscillation signal includes:

[0101] If the frequency of the target RF signal is lower than the frequency of the oscillating signal, a first switching operation is performed on the switch 112 so that the oscillating signal and the analog signal are input into the mixer from the same input port;

[0102] If the frequency of the target RF signal is greater than or equal to the frequency of the oscillating signal, a second switching operation is performed on the switch 112 so that the oscillating signal and the analog signal are input into the mixer from different input ports respectively.

[0103] Specifically, if the frequency of the target RF signal is less than the frequency of the oscillating signal, a first switching operation is performed on the switching switch 112 to control the oscillating signal and the analog signal to be input into the mixer from the same input port, and the switching switch 112 switches the mixer 111 to the first mixing mode. Similarly, if the frequency of the target RF signal is greater than or equal to the frequency of the oscillating signal, a second switching operation is performed on the switching switch 112 to control the oscillating signal and the analog signal to be input into the mixer from different input ports, and the switching switch 112 switches the mixer 111 to the second mixing mode. The switching switch 112 is controlled by the above-mentioned determination method to switch the mixer 111 between the two mixing modes, so that the RF signal frequency corresponding to the target optical signal is close to the target RF frequency value.

[0104] In some embodiments, under the condition that the oscillating signal and the analog signal are input to the mixer 111 from the same input port, the frequency of the radio frequency signal generated by the antenna transmitting module 200 is the difference between the frequencies of the oscillating signal and the analog signal;

[0105] Under the condition that the oscillation signal and the analog signal are input into the mixer 111 from different input ports respectively, the frequency of the radio frequency signal generated by the antenna transmission module 200 is the sum of the frequencies of the oscillation signal and the analog signal.

[0106] It should be noted that when the frequency of the oscillation signal input to the mixer 111 is ω L , the frequency of the analog signal input to the mixer 111 is ω I Under the condition of , when the oscillation signal and the analog signal are simultaneously input into the mixer 111 from the first input port 1111 (ie, the first mixing mode), the target optical signal output by the modulation circuit 120 includes a frequency of ω c +ω I The first sideband signal and the frequency are c +ω L The second sideband signal of the antenna transmission module 200 can generate a frequency of ω by photoelectric detection. L -ω I When the oscillation signal is input to the mixer 111 from the first input port 1111 and the analog signal is input to the mixer 111 from the second input port 1112 (i.e., the second mixing mode), the target optical signal output by the modulation circuit 120 includes a frequency of ω c +ω I The third sideband signal and the frequency are ω c -ω L Due to the frequency beat between the third sideband signal and the fourth sideband signal, the antenna transmitting module 200 performs photoelectric detection to generate a frequency of ω L +ω IUpper Sideband (USB) signal.

[0107] Based on this, under the condition that the oscillation signal and the analog signal are input to the mixer 111 from the same input port, the frequency of the radio frequency signal generated by the antenna transmission module 200 is the difference between the frequencies of the oscillation signal and the analog signal;

[0108] Under the condition that the oscillation signal and the analog signal are input into the mixer 111 from different input ports respectively, the frequency of the radio frequency signal generated by the antenna transmission module 200 is the sum of the frequencies of the oscillation signal and the analog signal.

[0109] In some embodiments, before controlling the optical signal output module 100 to generate the target optical signal based on the mixing mode of the mixer 111, the method further includes:

[0110] The frequency of the analog signal is adjusted according to the difference between the frequency of the oscillation signal and the target radio frequency.

[0111] It should be noted that in addition to adjusting the mixing mode of the mixing circuit 110, the frequency characteristics of the target optical signal can also be adjusted by adjusting the analog signal, thereby increasing the flexibility of optical signal adjustment. The small-volume optical signal output module 100 structure is compatible with the output of optical signals of different frequencies, effectively realizing cross-band multi-frequency fusion of optical signals.

[0112] It should also be noted that, in the first mixing mode, the antenna transmitting module 200 generates a frequency of ω L -ω I In the second mixing mode, the antenna transmitting module 200 generates a LSB signal with a frequency of ω L +ω I Therefore, the frequency of the analog signal can be adjusted according to the difference between the frequency of the oscillation signal and the target RF frequency. For example, the frequency of the analog signal can be adjusted to the difference between the frequency of the oscillation signal and the target RF frequency, so that the target optical signal and RF signal match the target RF frequency.

[0113] Please refer to Figure 1. The embodiment of the present application also provides an antenna transmitting module 200, which is used to adapt to any optical signal output module 100 provided in the specification of this application. The antenna transmitting module 200 is used to perform photoelectric detection on the target optical signal output by the optical signal output module 100 to generate a radio frequency signal. The frequency of the radio frequency signal is related to the frequency characteristics of the target optical signal.

[0114] In some embodiments, the antenna transmitting module 200 includes a Uni Traveling Carrier Photo Diode (UTC-PD), the transmission circuit 130 acquires the target optical signal and transmits the target optical signal to the antenna transmitting module 200, and the UTC-PD of the antenna transmitting module 200 performs photoelectric detection on the target optical signal.

[0115] Exemplarily, when the oscillation signal and the analog signal are simultaneously input to the mixer 111 from the first input port (ie, the first mixing mode), the target optical signal output by the modulation circuit 120 includes a frequency of ω c +ω I The first sideband signal and the frequency are c +ω L Due to the frequency beat between the first sideband signal and the second sideband signal, the antenna transmitting module 200 performs photoelectric detection to generate a frequency of ω L -ω I On the contrary, when the oscillation signal is input to the mixer 111 from the first input port and the analog signal is input to the mixer 111 from the second input port (i.e., the second mixing mode), the target optical signal output by the modulation circuit 120 includes a frequency of ω c +ω I The third sideband signal and the frequency are ω c -ω L Due to the frequency beat between the third sideband signal and the fourth sideband signal, the antenna transmitting module 200 performs photoelectric detection to generate a frequency of ω L +ω I USB signal.

[0116] Please refer to FIG. 7 , which is a schematic block diagram of the structure of a radio frequency system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0117] As shown in FIG7 , an embodiment of the present application further provides a radio frequency system 1, comprising an optical signal output module 100 and an antenna transmission module 200 connected to the optical signal output module 100. The optical signal output module 100 is any optical signal output module 100 provided in the specification of this application, and the antenna transmission module 200 is configured to perform photoelectric detection on a target optical signal output by the optical signal output module 100 to generate a radio frequency signal.

[0118] It should be understood that in the radio frequency system 1 provided in the embodiment of the present application, the mutual adaptation and operating principle of the optical signal output module 100 and the antenna transmission module 200 can be found in the description of the above-mentioned optical signal output module 100 and the antenna transmission module 200, and will not be repeated here.

[0119] Those skilled in the art will understand that the structures shown in Figures 1 and 7 are merely block diagrams of partial structures related to the embodiment of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the optical signal output module 100, antenna transmission module 200 and radio frequency system 1 in the embodiment of the present application. The specific optical signal output module 100, antenna transmission module 200 and radio frequency system 1 may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or have a different component arrangement.

[0120] In summary, the embodiments of the present application provide an optical signal output module, an output method, an antenna transmitting module and a radio frequency system. The optical signal output module provided in the embodiments of the present application is used to adapt to the antenna transmitting module, and the optical signal output module includes: a mixing circuit, which is provided with a mixer and a switching switch connected to the mixer, the switching switch is connected to the mixer and determines the mixing mode corresponding to the mixer, and the mixer mixes the switching oscillation signal and / or analog signal transmitted by the switching switch based on the mixing mode to obtain a modulated signal; a modulation circuit, which is provided with an electro-optical modulator, and the electro-optical modulator is connected to the mixer, and is used to modulate the modulated signal output by the mixer and the received carrier optical signal into a target optical signal; a transmission circuit, which is connected between the modulation circuit and the antenna transmitting module, and is used to transmit the target optical signal to the antenna transmitting module, so that the antenna transmitting module performs photoelectric detection on the target optical signal to generate a radio frequency signal. Based on the connection between the switching switch and the mixer and the determination of the corresponding mixing mode of the mixer, so that the mixer mixes the oscillation signal and the analog signal under the mixing mode, the frequency characteristics of the target optical signal output by the optical signal output module and the radio frequency signal detected by the antenna transmission module can be quickly, directly and easily adjusted, thereby outputting optical signals of different frequencies in a small-volume optical signal output module structure, effectively realizing cross-band multi-frequency fusion of optical signals.

[0121] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that all or some of the steps, systems, and functional modules / units in the methods disclosed above may be implemented as software, firmware, hardware, and appropriate combinations thereof. In a hardware embodiment, the division between the functional modules / units mentioned in the above description does not necessarily correspond to the division of physical components; for example, a physical component may have multiple functions, or a function or step may be performed by several physical components in cooperation. Some or all physical components may be implemented as software executed by a processor, such as a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, or a microprocessor, or implemented as hardware, or implemented as an integrated circuit, such as an application-specific integrated circuit. Such software may be distributed on a computer-readable medium, which may include a computer storage medium (or non-transitory medium) and a communication medium (or temporary medium). As is well known to those skilled in the art, the term computer storage medium includes volatile and non-volatile, removable, and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storing information (such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data). Computer storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and can be accessed by a computer. In addition, it is well known to those skilled in the art that communication media generally embodies computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and may include any information delivery media.

[0122] It should be understood that the term "and / or" used in this specification and the appended claims refers to any combination of one or more of the associated listed items and all possible combinations, including these combinations. It should be noted that, in this article, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or system that includes a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also includes other elements that are not explicitly listed, or also includes elements that are inherent to such process, method, article or system. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the sentence "including a..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or system that includes the element.

[0123] The serial numbers of the embodiments of the present application are for description only and do not represent the advantages or disadvantages of the embodiments. The above are only specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of various equivalent modifications or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, and these modifications or replacements should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application shall be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. An optical signal output module, adapted to be compatible with an antenna transmission module, the optical signal output module comprising: A mixing circuit, comprising a mixer and a switching switch connected to the mixer, wherein the switching switch is connected to the mixer and determines a mixing mode corresponding to the mixer, and the mixer performs mixing processing on a switching oscillation signal and / or an analog signal transmitted by the switching switch based on the mixing mode to obtain a modulated signal; a modulation circuit, provided with an electro-optical modulator, the electro-optical modulator being connected to the mixer and being used for modulating the modulation signal output by the mixer and the received carrier optical signal into a target optical signal; The transmission circuit is connected between the modulation circuit and the antenna transmission module, and is used to transmit the target optical signal to the antenna transmission module, so that the antenna transmission module performs photoelectric detection on the target optical signal to generate a radio frequency signal.

2. The optical signal output module according to claim 1, wherein: The mixer has a first input port and a second input port, the switch is connected to the first input port and the second input port, and is used to switch the oscillation signal and / or the analog signal to be input to the input port of the mixer; The switching switch is connected to the mixer and determining the mixing mode corresponding to the mixer includes: When the oscillation signal and the analog signal are input to the mixer from the same input port, the mixer performs mixing processing on the oscillation signal and the analog signal in a first mixing mode, wherein the first mixing mode is an up-conversion processing on the oscillation signal; When the oscillation signal and the analog signal are input to the mixer from different input ports respectively, the mixer mixes the oscillation signal and the analog signal in a second mixing mode, where the second mixing mode is a down-conversion process on the oscillation signal.

3. The optical signal output module according to claim 2, wherein: The switch has an input end, a first output end and a second output end, and the first output end of the switch is connected to the first input port of the mixer, the second output end of the switch is connected to the second input port of the mixer, the input end of the switch is used to receive the oscillation signal, and the switch is used to switch its input end to be connected to the first output end or the second output end; The mixer is used to fix the frequency of the first input port and the second input port. One of them receives the analog signal.

4. The optical signal output module according to claim 1, wherein: The mixer has a first output port and a second output port, the modulated signal includes a first modulated sub-signal and a second modulated sub-signal, and the mixer is used to output the first modulated sub-signal through the first output port and output the second modulated sub-signal through the second output port.

5. The optical signal output module according to claim 4, wherein: The electro-optic modulator comprises: A branching unit, used for receiving the carrier optical signal output by the laser light source, and decomposing the carrier optical signal into a first branch optical signal and a second branch optical signal; A first sub-modulator, the first sub-modulator is connected to the branch unit and the first output port of the mixer, and is used to modulate the first branch optical signal according to the first modulated sub-signal to obtain a first modulated optical signal; A second sub-modulator, the second sub-modulator is connected to the branch unit and the second output port of the mixer, and is used to modulate the second branch optical signal according to the second modulated sub-signal to obtain a second modulated optical signal; A combining unit is connected to the first sub-modulator and the second sub-modulator, and is used to combine the first modulated optical signal and the second modulated optical signal to obtain the target optical signal.

6. The optical signal output module according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: The optical signal output module also includes an amplifier circuit, which is connected between the modulation circuit and the transmission circuit and is used to amplify the target optical signal and transmit the amplified target optical signal to the transmission circuit.

7. The optical signal output module according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: The optical signal output module also includes an analog signal output circuit, which is connected to the frequency mixing circuit and is used to output the analog signal to the frequency mixing circuit, and the frequency of the analog signal is adjustable.

8. An optical signal output method, applied to the optical signal output module according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the method comprising: Acquire a target radio frequency frequency and a frequency of an oscillation signal, wherein the target radio frequency frequency is an expected frequency of a radio frequency signal generated by the antenna transmitting module in response to the optical signal output module outputting a target optical signal; Controlling the optical signal output according to the target radio frequency and the frequency of the oscillation signal The toggle switch in the module switches the mixing mode of the mixer; Based on the mixing mode of the mixer, the optical signal output module is controlled to generate a target optical signal, and the target optical signal is transmitted to the antenna transmission module.

9. The optical signal output method according to claim 8, wherein: The mixer has a first input port and a second input port, the switch is connected to the first input port and the second input port, and is used to switch the oscillation signal and / or the analog signal to be input to the input port; the switching mode of the mixer is switched by controlling the switch in the optical signal output module according to the target RF frequency and the frequency of the oscillation signal, including: If the frequency of the target RF signal is lower than the frequency of the oscillation signal, performing a first switching operation on the switch so that the oscillation signal and the analog signal are input into the mixer from the same input port; If the frequency of the target RF signal is greater than or equal to the frequency of the oscillation signal, a second switching operation is performed on the switch so that the oscillation signal and the analog signal are respectively input into the mixer from different input ports.

10. The optical signal output method according to claim 9, wherein: Under the condition that the oscillation signal and the analog signal are input into the mixer from the same input port, the frequency of the radio frequency signal generated by the antenna transmission module is the difference between the frequencies of the oscillation signal and the analog signal; Under the condition that the oscillation signal and the analog signal are respectively input into the mixer from different input ports, the frequency of the radio frequency signal generated by the antenna transmission module is the sum of the frequencies of the oscillation signal and the analog signal.

11. The optical signal output method according to claim 9, wherein: Before controlling the optical signal output module to generate a target optical signal based on the mixing mode of the mixer, the method further includes: The frequency of the analog signal is adjusted according to the difference between the frequency of the oscillation signal and the target radio frequency.

12. An antenna transmitting module, adapted to be compatible with the optical signal output module as described in any one of claims 1 to 7, the antenna transmitting module being used to perform photoelectric detection on a target optical signal output by the optical signal output module to generate a radio frequency signal, the frequency of the radio frequency signal being related to a frequency characteristic of the target optical signal.

13. A radio frequency system comprising: The optical signal output module according to any one of claims 1 to 7; The antenna transmitting module is connected to the optical signal output module and is used for performing photoelectric detection on the target optical signal output by the optical signal output module to generate a radio frequency signal, wherein the frequency of the radio frequency signal is related to the frequency characteristic of the target optical signal.

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