Phase shifting apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the embodiments of the present application is a phase shifting apparatus, which can adjust the phase difference between a plurality of signals by adjusting the length of a delay unit, thereby facilitating an improvement in the flexibility of phase adjustment. The apparatus comprises: a first phase shifting module, a first combining module, a first electro-optical modulation module, a second combining module and a wavelength division multiplexing module, wherein the first phase shifting module comprises N delay units, and the length of each delay unit can be adjusted on the basis of a plurality of delay lines; the first combining module is used for receiving output signals of the N delay units, and transmitting an output second signal to the second combining module; the first electro-optical modulation module is used for receiving a second signal component and transmitting an output third signal to the second combining module; the second combining module is used for transmitting to the wavelength division multiplexing module a fourth signal obtained by combining the second signal and the third signal; and the wavelength division multiplexing module is used for decomposing the fourth signal into M fifth signals having different wavelengths and respectively transmitting the M fifth signals to M antenna units.

Description

Phase shifting device

[0001] The present application claims priority from Chinese Patent Application No. 202510242089.0 filed on February 27, 2025, and entitled "Phase Shifting Device", the content of which is incorporated herein in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication, and in particular to a phase shifting device. BACKGROUND

[0003] Hybrid beam forming (HBF) is a kind of beam forming which cascades analog beam forming and digital beam forming, and can perform beam forming in analog domain and digital domain at the same time. Hybrid beam forming antenna systems can be divided into single-connection hybrid beam forming antenna systems, multi-connection hybrid beam forming antenna systems and full-connection hybrid beam forming antenna systems according to the connection mode between antenna arrays and radio frequency links. In the full-connection hybrid beam forming antenna system, each radio frequency link can be connected to all antenna elements in the antenna array through a phase shifter network. This full-connection structure can fully utilize the high directional gain of the antenna array, but the number of phase shifters is the product of the number of radio frequency links and the number of antenna elements, and the excessive number of phase shifters makes the hardware complexity and computational complexity high. In order to simplify the structure of the full-connection hybrid beam forming antenna system, an optical domain dispersion phase shifting network is introduced. This technology uses the dispersion characteristics of the optical domain to replace the traditional electronic phase shifter, and can convert the delay difference of light signals of different wavelengths when transmitted through a dispersion medium into phase difference, thereby realizing the direction control of the beam. In the current optical domain dispersion phase shifting network, if you want to adjust the phase difference between multiple signals, you can use a wavelength-tunable laser to tune the wavelength of the light source to achieve it, but this has high requirements for wavelength adjustment range and precision, and the manufacturing cost is high, and the flexibility is low. SUMMARY

[0004] The present application provides a phase shifting device, which can adjust the phase difference between multiple signals by adjusting the length of the delay unit, and is beneficial to improve the flexibility of phase adjustment.

[0005] In a first aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a phase-shifting device, comprising: a first phase-shifting module, a first combining module, a first electro-optical modulation module, a second combining module, and a wavelength division multiplexing module; wherein the first phase-shifting module comprises N delay units, each of the N delay units comprises a plurality of delay lines, the length of the delay unit n is determined based on the plurality of delay lines comprised by the delay unit n, the delay unit n is any one of the N delay units; the delay unit n is configured to receive 1 / N of a first signal component, and transmit an output signal of the delay unit n to the first combining module; wherein the first signal component is a sideband component of a first signal, the first signal is a signal obtained by combining M optical signals; wherein N is a positive integer, and M is a positive integer greater than 1; the first combining module is configured to receive output signals of the N delay units, and transmit a second signal output by the first combining module to the second combining module; the first electro-optical modulation module is configured to receive a second signal component, and transmit a third signal output by the first electro-optical modulation module to the second combining module; wherein the second signal component is a carrier component of the first signal; the second combining module is configured to combine the second signal and the third signal to obtain a fourth signal, and transmit the fourth signal to the wavelength division multiplexing module; the wavelength division multiplexing module is configured to decompose the fourth signal into M fifth signals, and transmit the M fifth signals to M antenna units respectively; wherein the wavelengths of any two of the M fifth signals are different, and one of the M fifth signals is transmitted to one of the M antenna units.

[0006] In the technical solution, the length of the delay unit in the phase-shifting device can be determined based on the plurality of delay lines, that is, the length of the delay unit is adjustable, and by adjusting the length of the delay unit, the phase difference between the multiple signals can be adjusted, which is beneficial to improve the flexibility of phase adjustment. Compared with the current optical domain dispersion phase-shifting network, a fixed wavelength light source can be used instead of a wavelength adjustable light source, which has the characteristics of easier implementation and easier control of process errors, and is beneficial to reduce the cost.

[0007] In one possible implementation, the aforementioned delay unit n further includes a first switch module, a second switch module, and multiple third switch modules; wherein, one of the multiple third switch modules is located between two adjacent delay lines among the multiple delay lines; the i-th third switch module among the multiple third switch modules is used to receive the output signal of the i-th delay line among the multiple delay lines, or the output signal of the (i-1)-th third switch module among the multiple third switch modules; i is a positive integer; the first switch module is used to receive 1 / N of the first signal component and transmit 1 / N of the first signal component to the first delay line among the multiple delay lines, or the first third switch module among the multiple third switch modules; the second switch module is used to receive the output signal of the last delay line among the multiple delay lines, or the output signal of the last third switch module among the multiple third switch modules, and transmit the output signal of the last delay line or the output signal of the last third switch module to the first combining module.

[0008] In this technical solution, the multiple delay lines in the delay unit can be serially connected via a first switch module, a second switch module, and multiple third switch modules. Thus, by controlling the connection state of each switch module in the delay unit, the number of serially connected delay lines can be controlled, thereby adjusting the length of the delay unit. This approach facilitates more precise phase adjustment.

[0009] In one possible implementation, the delay unit n further includes a fourth switching module and a third combining module; wherein, the fourth switching module is used to receive 1 / N of the first signal component and transmit 1 / N of the first signal component to at least one of the multiple delay lines; the third combining module is used to combine the output signals of at least one delay line to obtain the output signal of the delay unit n, and transmit the output signal of the delay unit n to the first combining module.

[0010] In this technical solution, the multiple delay lines in the delay unit can be implemented in parallel using a fourth switching module and a third combining module. With this parallel structure, one or more delay lines can be selected as the signal transmission path, thereby adjusting the length of the delay unit. This approach facilitates precise adjustment and optimization of the phase-shifting performance of the phase-shifting device.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the phase-shifting device further includes a first splitting module and N second electro-optic modulation modules; wherein, the first splitting module is used to divide the first signal into a first initial signal component and a second signal component, and transmit the first initial signal component to the N second electro-optic modulation modules respectively; one of the N second electro-optic modulation modules is used to receive 1 / N of the first initial signal component, and transmit 1 / N of the first signal component output by one of the second electro-optic modulation modules to one of the N delay units.

[0012] In this technical solution, the first signal can be divided into two parts by a first splitting module. One part (the first initial signal component) can be divided into N parts, each of which is input to a second electro-optic modulation module. Each second electro-optic modulation module can be modulated by a radio frequency signal, and then each second electro-optic modulation module can output 1 / N of the sideband components (the first signal component) and transmit the 1 / N of the sideband components to a delay unit. In this way, the sideband components and carrier components of the first signal can be processed separately, which simplifies the structure of the phase shifting device.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the phase-shifting device further includes a first light source module and a fifth combining module; wherein, the first light source module includes an optical frequency comb and a first filter; the optical frequency comb is used to generate M first initial optical signals and transmit the M first initial optical signals to the first filter; the first filter is used to receive the M first initial optical signals and transmit the M optical signals output by the first filter to the fifth combining module; the fifth combining module is used to combine the M optical signals to obtain a first signal and transmit the first signal to the first splitting module.

[0014] In this technical solution, the optical frequency comb can serve as a light source for generating fixed multi-wavelength signals. Combined with a first filter (such as a gain-flattening filter), it can generate multi-wavelength signals that meet the requirements. Compared to phase-shifting networks that require tunable lasers, this phase-shifting device offers better integration, enabling small-volume integration or single-chip integration.

[0015] In one possible implementation, the phase-shifting device further includes a second light source module and a sixth combining module; wherein, the second light source module includes a broadband light source and a second filter; the broadband light source is used to generate M second initial optical signals and transmit the M second initial optical signals to the second filter; the second filter is used to receive the M second initial optical signals and transmit the M optical signals output by the second filter to the sixth combining module; the sixth combining module is used to combine the M optical signals to obtain a first signal and transmit the first signal to the first splitting module.

[0016] In this technical solution, a broadband light source combined with a second filter (such as a programmable filter) can achieve multi-wavelength signals that meet the requirements. Compared with the wavelength-tunable lasers in current phase-shifting networks, it has better light source stability.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the difference in wavelength between two adjacent optical signals in the M-channel signal is a first value.

[0018] In this technical solution, the wavelength difference between two adjacent signals can be a fixed value, so the phase difference between adjacent antenna elements can be determined by the length of the delay unit. The phase difference of each signal can be controlled by adjusting a delay unit individually, which helps to improve the flexibility of the phase shifting device.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the M optical signals are divided into H signal groups, each of the H signal groups includes V optical signals, where H and V are positive integers and the product of H and V is M; the M antenna elements include vertical antenna elements and horizontal antenna elements, with H being the number of vertical antenna elements and V being the number of horizontal antenna elements.

[0020] In this technical solution, two-dimensional beamforming can be achieved by grouping M multi-wavelength signals, which allows for the reuse of one-dimensional delay arrays. Compared with dispersive networks using hierarchical or complex topologies, this approach helps reduce hardware complexity.

[0021] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide another phase-shifting device, which includes: a second phase-shifting module, a seventh combining module, a third electro-optic modulation module, an eighth combining module, and a wavelength division multiplexing module; wherein, the second phase-shifting module includes a routing module and P delay lines, the routing module includes N input terminals, input terminal n is used to receive 1 / N portions of the first signal component and transmit 1 / N portions of the first signal component to delay line p; input terminal n is any one of the N input terminals, delay line p is any one of the P delay lines, the first signal component is the sideband component of the first signal, and the first signal is the signal obtained by combining M optical signals; wherein, N is a positive integer, P is a positive integer greater than or equal to N, and M is a positive integer greater than 1; delay line p is used to transmit 1 / N portions of the first signal component to the seventh combining module. The system comprises the following modules: a seventh combiner module (which receives the output signals from P delay lines and transmits the sixth signal output from the seventh combiner module to the eighth combiner module); a third electro-optic modulation module (which receives the second signal component and transmits the seventh signal output from the third electro-optic modulation module to the eighth combiner module); wherein the second signal component is the carrier component of the first signal; the eighth combiner module (which combines the sixth and seventh signals to obtain the eighth signal and transmits the eighth signal to the wavelength division multiplexing module); and the wavelength division multiplexing module (which decomposes the eighth signal into M ninth signals and transmits the M ninth signals to M antenna elements respectively); wherein any two of the M ninth signals have different wavelengths, and one of the M ninth signals is transmitted to one of the M antenna elements.

[0022] In this technical solution, different delay paths can be selected through the routing module, thereby adjusting the length of the delay line. By adjusting the length of the delay line, the phase difference between multiple signals can be adjusted, which improves the flexibility of phase adjustment. Compared with current optical domain dispersive phase-shifting networks, a fixed wavelength light source can be used instead of a wavelength-tunable light source. This is easier to implement and easier to control process errors, which helps to reduce costs.

[0023] In one possible implementation, the difference in length between any two adjacent delay lines in the P delay lines is a second value. Thus, the P delay lines can form a one-dimensional arithmetic delay array, which facilitates fine-grained phase adjustment.

[0024] In one possible implementation, the phase-shifting device further includes a second splitting module and N fourth electro-optic modulation modules; wherein, the second splitting module is used to divide the first signal into a first initial signal component and a second signal component, and transmit the first initial signal component to the N fourth electro-optic modulation modules respectively; one of the N fourth electro-optic modulation modules is used to receive 1 / N of the first initial signal component, and transmit 1 / N of the first signal component output by one of the fourth electro-optic modulation modules to one of the N input terminals.

[0025] In this technical solution, the first signal can be divided into two parts by the second splitting module. One part (the first initial signal component) can be divided into N parts, each of which is input to a fourth electro-optic modulation module. Each fourth electro-optic modulation module can be modulated by a radio frequency signal, and then output 1 / N of the sideband components (the first signal component). The 1 / N sideband components are then transmitted to an input terminal, which can be connected to a delay line. In this way, the sideband components and carrier components of the first signal can be processed separately, which simplifies the structure of the phase shifting device.

[0026] In one possible implementation, the phase-shifting device further includes a first light source module and a ninth combining module; wherein, the first light source module includes an optical frequency comb and a first filter; the optical frequency comb is used to generate M first initial optical signals and transmit the M first initial optical signals to the first filter; the first filter is used to receive the M first initial optical signals and transmit the M optical signals output by the first filter to the ninth combining module; the ninth combining module is used to combine the M optical signals to obtain a first signal and transmit the first signal to a second splitting module.

[0027] In this technical solution, the optical frequency comb can serve as a light source for generating fixed multi-wavelength signals. Combined with a first filter (such as a gain-flattening filter), it can generate multi-wavelength signals that meet the requirements. Compared to phase-shifting networks that require tunable lasers, this phase-shifting device offers better integration, enabling small-volume integration or single-chip integration.

[0028] In one possible implementation, the phase-shifting device further includes a second light source module and a tenth combiner module; wherein, the second light source module includes a broadband light source and a second filter; the broadband light source is used to generate M second initial optical signals and transmit the M second initial optical signals to the second filter; the second filter is used to receive the M second initial optical signals and transmit the M optical signals output by the second filter to the tenth combiner module; the tenth combiner module is used to combine the M optical signals to obtain a first signal and transmit the first signal to the second splitter module.

[0029] In this technical solution, a broadband light source combined with a second filter (such as a programmable filter) can achieve multi-wavelength signals that meet the requirements. Compared with the wavelength-tunable lasers in current phase-shifting networks, it has better light source stability.

[0030] In one possible implementation, the difference in wavelength between two adjacent optical signals in the above M optical signals is a first value.

[0031] In this technical solution, the wavelength difference between two adjacent signals can be a fixed value, so the phase difference between adjacent antenna elements can be determined by the length of the delay line. The phase difference of each signal can be controlled by selecting the delay path, which helps to improve the flexibility of the phase shifting device.

[0032] In one possible implementation, the M optical signals are divided into H signal groups, each of the H signal groups includes V optical signals, where H and V are positive integers and the product of H and V is M; the M antenna elements include vertical antenna elements and horizontal antenna elements, with H being the number of vertical antenna elements and V being the number of horizontal antenna elements.

[0033] In this technical solution, two-dimensional beamforming can be achieved by grouping M multi-wavelength signals, which allows for the reuse of one-dimensional delay arrays. Compared with dispersive networks using hierarchical or complex topologies, this approach helps reduce hardware complexity.

[0034] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, which includes the phase shifting device described in the first aspect or any implementation thereof, or the second aspect or any implementation thereof. Attached Figure Description

[0035] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of different types of beamforming structures;

[0036] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a traditional optical domain dispersion phase-shifting network;

[0037] Figure 3 shows an optical domain dispersion phase-shifting network based on CS separation;

[0038] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a phase shifting device based on an adjustable delay unit provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0039] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a delay unit provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0040] Figures 6A and 6B are schematic diagrams of a structure with multiple delay lines in series provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0041] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of another delay unit provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0042] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a structure with multiple delay lines running in parallel according to an embodiment of this application;

[0043] Figures 9A-9D are schematic diagrams of the structure of phase shifting devices with different combinations of light source modules and different delay units provided in the embodiments of this application;

[0044] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of another phase shifting device based on an adjustable delay unit provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0045] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of another phase shifting device based on an adjustable delay unit provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0046] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of a phase shifting device based on a routing module provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0047] Figures 13A and 13B are schematic diagrams of another phase-shifting device based on a routing module provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0048] To better understand the embodiments of this application, the following points are explained before introducing the embodiments of this application.

[0049] In the embodiments of this application, the terms "first," "second," and various numerical designations are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. Those skilled in the art will understand that the terms "first," "second," etc., do not limit the quantity or execution order, and that the terms "first," "second," etc., are not necessarily different.

[0050] In this application embodiment, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "more than one" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A alone, A and B simultaneously, or B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a, b, and c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0051] In this application, the terms "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate that something is an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of terms such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner to facilitate understanding.

[0052] In the embodiments of this application, each module or other component may be described or referred to as "used for" performing one or more tasks. In this context, "used for" is used to imply a structure by indicating that the module / component includes a structure (e.g., a circuit system) that performs one or more tasks during operation. Therefore, even when the specified module / component is currently inoperable (e.g., not turned on), the module / component may be referred to as "used for performing the task." Modules / components used with the term "used for" include hardware, such as circuitry that performs operations.

[0053] Before introducing the embodiments of this application, the relevant technologies involved in this application will be briefly described first.

[0054] I. Beamforming

[0055] Beamforming is a signal preprocessing technique based on antenna arrays. It generates directional beams by adjusting the weighting coefficients of each element (or antenna unit) in the antenna array, thereby achieving significant array gain. Therefore, beamforming technology offers significant advantages in expanding coverage, improving edge throughput, and suppressing interference. The principle of beamforming can be understood as weighting (i.e., adjusting the signal amplitude and phase) the signals transmitted to or from the antenna array elements, causing constructive interference in some spatial directions and destructive interference in others, achieving spatial selectivity. Depending on the processing location and method, beamforming can be categorized into digital beamforming (DBF), analog beamforming (ABF), and hybrid beamforming (HBF). For example, if the signal weighting process is implemented in the digital domain, it is digital beamforming; if it is implemented in the analog domain, it is analog beamforming; and if signal weighting occurs in both the digital and analog domains, it is hybrid beamforming. The following is a brief introduction to digital beamforming, analog beamforming, and hybrid beamforming.

[0056] 1. Digital beamforming

[0057] Digital beamforming typically refers to beamforming in the digital domain, requiring a dedicated radio frequency (RF) link for each data stream. This RF link includes components such as mixers, power amplifiers, and phase shifters. Digital beamforming can carry multiple data streams and is crucial for implementing single-user multiple-input multiple-output (SU-MIMO) and multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). As shown in Figure 1(a), which illustrates a digital beamforming structure where each antenna element is connected to an RF link, it's clear that digital beamforming requires each antenna element to be connected to an RF link. Increasing the number of antenna elements necessitates an increase in the number of RF links, leading to higher system cost and complexity.

[0058] 2. Simulated beamforming

[0059] Analog beamforming typically refers to beamforming implemented in the analog domain. It involves adjusting the amplitude and phase of the antenna array feed using devices such as phase shifters to create the desired highly directional beam. As shown in Figure 1(b), which is a schematic diagram of an analog beamforming structure, the number of RF links can be less than the number of antenna elements, but it requires a large number of phase shifters, and analog beamforming cannot carry multiple data streams.

[0060] 3. Hybrid Beamforming

[0061] Hybrid beamforming is a beamforming technique that cascades analog and digital beamforming, enabling beamforming in both the analog and digital domains simultaneously. It combines the advantages of both digital and analog beamforming, meaning it can carry multiple data streams, and the number of antenna elements can be different from the number of RF links. As shown in Figure 1(c), which is a schematic diagram of a hybrid beamforming structure, the first baseband digital precoding module corresponds to the baseband digital precoding module at the transmitting end, and the second baseband digital precoding module corresponds to the baseband digital precoding module at the receiving end. Taking the transmitting end as an example, the first baseband digital precoding module weights the signal in the digital domain to form the desired beam direction. The digital signal processed by the first baseband digital precoding module can be converted into an analog signal by a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The RF module located after the DAC performs RF processing on the analog signal. A phase shifter can be inserted between each RF module and the antenna unit. The phase shifter can adjust the signal phase in the RF domain to achieve beamforming in the analog domain.

[0062] The topology of a hybrid beamforming antenna system can also be called a hybrid beamforming (HBF) network. HBF networks can be categorized into single-connection HBF networks, multi-connection HBF networks, and fully connected HBF networks based on the connection method between the antenna array and the RF links. In a single-connection HBF network, each RF link connects to only one antenna element. In a multi-connection HBF network, each RF link connects to a subset of the antenna elements in the antenna array. In a fully connected HBF network, each RF link connects to all antenna elements in the antenna array through a phase shifter network. Fully connected HBF networks retain the advantage of fewer digital channels compared to HBF networks, while offering significantly better network performance than single-connection HBF networks.

[0063] For fully connected HBF networks, each RF link can obtain the full antenna array gain, but this also means a large number of phase shifters are required, thus increasing the system's power consumption and hardware cost. For example, consider an N×M fully connected HBF, where N can represent N RF links and M can represent M antenna elements. The fully connected HBF network achieves independent signal weighting by inserting phase shifters between any RF link and any antenna element, resulting in a total of N×M weight variables. For massive MIMO systems, traditional fully connected HBF networks require N×M phase shifters, making both hardware complexity and weighting algorithm complexity excessively high.

[0064] To simplify fully connected HBF networks, one approach is to implement only the steering vector beam, with each beam controlling both the horizontal and vertical directions. Theoretically, this requires a minimum of 2N weights. However, the challenge lies in how to reduce the number of phase shifters to 2N, i.e., how to decouple the number of phase shifters from the antenna element size of the HBF network. The field of microwave photonics offers a promising direction for this.

[0065] II. Microwave Photonics

[0066] The core idea of ​​microwave photonics is to load microwave signals (microwave signals refer to electromagnetic wave signals with frequencies from 300MHz to 300GHz) into the optical frequency band, shifting the processing of microwave (electric) signals to the processing of optical signals. As a result, most of the devices in the system are composed of optical devices, which can enjoy the huge advantages of optical devices, such as ultra-small size, low power consumption, ultra-low insertion loss, ultra-large bandwidth, flexible adjustment of microwave signal frequency band, resistance to electromagnetic interference, simple process, and low cost. In particular, in terms of size, trace loss, and device bandwidth, orders of magnitude improvement can be achieved.

[0067] III. Optical Dispersion Phase-Shifting Network

[0068] Optical domain dispersive phase-shifting networks utilize the optical domain dispersion effect to achieve phase modulation. The core idea is to introduce different phase delays into optical signals of different wavelengths through a dispersive medium. Optical domain dispersive phase-shifting networks can decouple the number of phase shifters from the antenna size of the HBF network. For ease of understanding, two types of optical domain dispersive phase-shifting networks are introduced below:

[0069] 1. Traditional optical domain dispersive phase-shifting network

[0070] Please refer to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of a traditional optical domain dispersive phase-shifting network. As shown in Figure 2, the input light is a microwave photonic signal containing two signal components: a carrier component (wavelength λ). c ) and sideband components (wavelength λ) s =λ c +Δλ cs ,Δλ cs The antenna output RF frequency is determined by this. A microwave photonic signal is input into a passive phase-shifting network, which can split it into M signals via a splitter. Each signal can be transmitted through M delay lines of different lengths, with a length difference of ΔL between adjacent delay lines. After passing through the M delay lines, the M signals are converted from the optical domain to the electrical domain and transmitted through the antenna. The phase difference between the output RF signals of two adjacent antennas is... The following formula (1) can be satisfied:

[0071] Where, n e n represents the effective refractive index of the medium. g Represents the group refractive index of the medium (related to dispersion).

[0072] It can be seen that if the wavelength of the carrier component and the wavelength of the sideband component are spaced Δλ... cs If the wavelength is too small (e.g., 0.224 nm), the dispersion effect will be extremely weak during propagation in traditional optical domain dispersion phase-shifting networks. In other words, if... Fixed, due to Δλ cs If the value is too small, a larger ΔL is required. This makes it impossible to integrate traditional optical domain dispersive phase-shifting networks in a small size or on a single chip, increasing manufacturing costs and the size of the phase-shifting network.

[0073] To enhance the dispersion effect and reduce the size of the phase-shifting network for single-chip integration, one possible approach is to replace the delay line (usually an optical fiber or waveguide) in Figure 2 with a resonant / filtering device. However, this approach has the following problems: 1) During modulation, the resonant / filtering device not only causes a significant change in the output signal phase but also a significant change in the output signal amplitude, resulting in a strong chirp problem. The actual steering vector beam weights do not require random amplitude changes during phase modulation; 2) To achieve phase shifting of microwave photonic signals, the resonant / filtering device requires an extremely high Q value. For example, for microwave frequencies f... RF =1GHz, f c =193.1THz (C-band for optical communication), achieving a filtering isolation of -3dB requires a filter Q value of 9.7×10⁻⁶. 4 For microwave photonic filters with such high Q values, how to design them, how to precisely control the center wavelength of the filter, and how to solve the problems of process errors and significant influence from ambient temperature are all engineering challenges.

[0074] 2. Optical Dispersion Phase-Shifting Network Based on CS (C represents carrier, S represents sideband) Separation

[0075] Please refer to Figure 3, which illustrates an optical domain dispersion phase-shifting network based on CS separation. As shown in Figure 3, different optical wavelengths can carry different data streams and can be divided into an optical carrier component (carrier component) and a signal-carrying component (sideband component). The sideband component can be input from, for example, the first input terminal of the phase-shifting network, and the carrier component can be input from, for example, the second input terminal. Taking the input of the sideband component at the first input terminal as an example, signals of different optical wavelengths can be combined into a single signal at the first input terminal, which can then enter the optical delay network. The optical delay network consists of a set of delay lines with a fixed length difference. For the same optical signal, different phase shifts can be generated by passing through delay lines of different lengths. For the same delay line, different phase shifts can be generated due to the different dispersion effects of different optical wavelengths.

[0076] As can be seen, the optical delay network in Figure 3 is fixed. If the phase difference between the multiple output signals is to be adjusted, one possible approach is to use a wavelength-tunable laser to adjust the optical wavelength. However, this requires a high range and precision in wavelength adjustment, and the manufacturing cost is relatively high. Another possible approach is not to adjust the optical wavelength, but to adjust Δλ in the above formula (1). cs It can also achieve a large range of phase shifts, but this will cause the antenna output RF frequency to fluctuate over a wide range, affecting the air interface transmission performance.

[0077] In addition to utilizing the optical dispersion effect, phase-shifting networks can also be implemented in the optical domain based on tunable light sources and wavelength division multiplexers. Specifically, in this scheme, different input wavelengths can be multiplexed to different output ports, and different output ports can correspond to different phase shifts. Thus, by tuning the wavelength of the light source, physical channels can be switched to achieve different phase shifts. However, the hardware implementation of this scheme is very complex.

[0078] Based on this, embodiments of this application provide a phase-shifting device that can adjust the phase difference between multiple signals by adjusting the length of the delay unit, thereby improving the flexibility of phase adjustment. Compared to current optical domain dispersive phase-shifting networks, a fixed wavelength light source can be used instead of a wavelength-tunable light source, which is easier to implement and easier to control process errors, thus reducing costs.

[0079] The phase-shifting device provided in this application embodiment can be applied to communication equipment, which may include, but is not limited to, macro base stations, micro base stations, NodeBs (NBs), eNBs (eNode Bs), and gNBs (NR Node Bs). Optionally, the communication equipment may also include, but is not limited to, user equipment such as mobile phones, tablets, laptops, computers, ultra-mobile personal computers (UMPCs), netbooks, media players, in-vehicle devices (e.g., cars, bicycles, electric vehicles, airplanes, ships, trains, high-speed trains, etc.), virtual reality (VR) devices, or augmented reality (AR) devices.

[0080] The phase-shifting device provided in the embodiments of this application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0081] Please refer to Figure 4, which is a schematic diagram of a phase-shifting device provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 4, the phase-shifting device may include: a first phase-shifting module, a first combining module, a first electro-optic modulation module, a second combining module, and a wavelength division multiplexing module. The first phase-shifting module may include N delay units, where N is a positive integer. The N delay units can be connected to the first combining module respectively, the first combining module and the first electro-optic modulation module can be connected to the second combining module respectively, and the second combining module can be connected to the wavelength division multiplexing module.

[0082] In this embodiment, the first signal input to the phase-shifting device can be processed in two parts: one part is the sideband component of the first signal (described as the first signal component), and the other part is the carrier component of the first signal (described as the second signal component). Here, the first signal can be a signal obtained by combining M optical signals, where M is a positive integer greater than 1. The first signal component can be divided into N parts and then input into N delay units respectively.

[0083] Each of the N delay units can include multiple delay lines. Different delay units may include the same or different numbers of delay lines. The length of a delay unit can be determined based on the number of delay lines it includes. Alternatively, the length of each of the N delay units can be adjusted. In one possible design, the difference in length between two adjacent delay units in the N delay units can be a fixed value. Since the length of the delay unit determines the length of the dispersive medium transmitting the optical signal, changing the length of the dispersive medium means changing the phase delay of the optical signal as it passes through it. Therefore, with adjustable delay unit lengths, phase modulation can be achieved by adjusting the length of the delay unit without changing the wavelength of the optical signal.

[0084] For any one of the N delay units, it can receive 1 / N of the first signal component. That is, the input signal of each of the N delay units can be the same. Here, the first signal component can refer to the sideband component of the first signal, which can be understood as the portion of the first signal that carries the signal. The output signal of each of the N delay units can be transmitted to the first combining module. Since the lengths of different delay units can be different, the output signals of different delay units can also be different.

[0085] In the embodiments of this application, the multiple delay lines included in a delay unit may have any of the following relationships:

[0086] 1) Multiple delay lines in series

[0087] Multiple delay lines connected in series refer to connecting multiple independent delay lines in a specific order, so that the signal, when passing through these delay lines, sequentially receives the phase delay effect of each delay line. In this structure, the length of a delay unit can be considered as the sum of the lengths of the multiple delay lines connected in series. The lengths of any two delay lines in the series can be the same or different.

[0088] To achieve a serial structure with multiple delay lines, a delay unit may further include: a first switch module, a second switch module, and multiple third switch modules. One third switch module may be located between two adjacent delay lines. The first switch module can be understood as the switch module at the input end of the delay unit. The first switch module can be connected to the first delay line and the first third switch module in the multiple third switch modules. The second switch module can be understood as the switch module at the output end of the delay unit. The second switch module can be connected to the last delay line and the last third switch module in the multiple third switch modules. In one possible design, the first switch module can be a 1×2 switch module, meaning it can have one input and two outputs; the second switch module can be a 2×1 switch module, meaning it can have two inputs and one output; and the third switch module can be a 2×2 switch module, meaning it can have two inputs and two outputs.

[0089] For example, taking a delay unit comprising k (k is a positive integer) delay lines as an example, as shown in Figure 5, Figure 5 is a structural schematic diagram of a delay unit provided in an embodiment of this application. The first switch module 501 can receive the input signal of the delay unit, such as receiving 1 / N of the first signal component. The first switch module 501 can transmit the received input signal to delay line 1 or the third switch module 502, depending on which output terminal the input terminal of the first switch module is connected to. Similarly, the third switch module 502 can transmit the received input signal to delay line 2 or the third switch module 503. The third switch module 504 can transmit the received input signal to delay line k or the second switch module 505. The second switch module 505 can receive the output signal of delay line k or the output signal of the third switch module 504, and use the received signal as the output signal of the delay unit. In this way, a delay unit can achieve multi-level processing of the input signal through a combination of multiple switch modules and delay lines, and the number of connected delay lines can be controlled by the connection status of the switch modules.

[0090] To facilitate understanding, the following examples illustrate the structure of multiple delay lines in a delay unit. Assume a delay unit includes three delay lines (e.g., delay line 1, delay line 2, and delay line 3). Based on the structure shown in Figure 5, the length of this delay unit can be the length of any one of the three delay lines, the combined length of any two delay lines, or the total length of the three delay lines.

[0091] Example 1, as shown in Figure 6A, in the delay unit 60, the input terminal 6011 of the first switch module 601 can be connected to the output terminal 6012, the output terminal 6012 of the first switch module 601 can be connected to the input terminal 6021 of the third switch module 602, the input terminal 6021 of the third switch module 602 can be connected to the output terminal 6022, the output terminal 6022 of the third switch module 602 can be connected to the input terminal of the delay line 2, the output terminal of the delay line 2 can be connected to the input terminal 6031 of the third switch module 603, the input terminal 6031 of the third switch module 603 can be connected to the output terminal 6032 of the third switch module 603, the output terminal 6032 of the third switch module 603 can be connected to the input terminal of the delay line 3, the output terminal of the delay line 3 can be connected to the input terminal 6041 of the second switch module 604, and the input terminal 6041 of the second switch module 604 can be connected to the output terminal 6042.

[0092] In this case, the path of the signal input to the delay unit is: first switch module 601 → third switch module 602 → delay line 2 → third switch module 603 → delay line 3 → second switch module 604. The length of the delay unit can be the combined length of delay line 2 and delay line 3.

[0093] Example 2, as shown in Figure 6B, in the delay unit 61, the input terminal 6111 of the first switch module 611 can be connected to the output terminal 6112, the output terminal 6112 of the first switch module 611 can be connected to the input terminal of the delay line 1, the output terminal of the delay line 1 can be connected to the input terminal 6121 of the third switch module 612, the input terminal 6121 of the third switch module 612 can be connected to the output terminal 6122, the output terminal 6122 of the third switch module 612 can be connected to the input terminal 6131 of the third switch module 613, the input terminal 6131 of the third switch module 613 can be connected to the output terminal 6132, the output terminal 6132 of the third switch module 613 can be connected to the input terminal 6141 of the second switch module 614, and the input terminal 6041 of the second switch module 614 can be connected to the output terminal 6142.

[0094] In this case, the path of the signal input to the delay unit is: first switch module 611 -> delay line 1 -> third switch module 612 -> third switch module 613 -> second switch module 614. The length of the delay unit can be the length of delay line 1.

[0095] 2) Multiple delay lines running in parallel

[0096] Parallel delay lines refer to the simultaneous existence of multiple independent delay lines within a single delay unit, allowing signals to achieve different phase delay effects through different delay lines. In a parallel delay line structure, one or more delay lines can be selected as the signal transmission path. Furthermore, any two delay lines in the parallel structure can have different lengths.

[0097] To achieve a structure with multiple delay lines running in parallel, a delay unit may further include a fourth switching module and a third combining module. The fourth switching module can be understood as the switching module at the input of the delay unit. The fourth switching module can be located before the inputs of the multiple delay lines to facilitate the selection of a delay line from among them. The third combining module can be located after the outputs of the multiple delay lines to facilitate the merging of the output signals of each delay line. In one possible design, assuming the delay unit includes k delay lines (k is a positive integer), the fourth switching module can be, for example, a 1×k switching module, meaning it can have one input and k outputs. In this design, the path traversed by the signal input to the delay unit can include one of the k delay lines. In another possible design, the fourth switching module can also be, for example, a d×k switching module (d is a positive integer greater than 1 and less than or equal to k), meaning it can have d inputs and k outputs. In this design, the path traversed by the signal input to the delay unit can include multiple delay lines from the k delay lines.

[0098] For example, as shown in Figure 7, continuing with the example of a delay unit comprising k (k being a positive integer) delay lines, Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of another delay unit structure provided in this embodiment. The fourth switch module 701 can receive the input signal of the delay unit, such as receiving 1 / N of the first signal component. The fourth switch module 701 can transmit the received input signal to one or more of the k delay lines. The third combining module 702 can receive the output signals of one or more delay lines and combine the received signals into a single output signal as the output signal of the delay unit. In this way, delay lines can be flexibly selected from multiple delay lines to process the signal input to the delay unit, thereby facilitating fine-tuning and optimization of the phase-shifting performance of the phase-shifting device.

[0099] To facilitate understanding, a specific example is used below to illustrate the structure of multiple delay lines running in parallel within a delay unit. As shown in Figure 8, assume that the delay unit 80 includes 5 delay lines (such as delay line 1, delay line 2, delay line 3, delay line 4, and delay line 5). The fourth switch module 801 can be a 1×5 switch module. The input terminal 8011 of the fourth switch module 801 is connected to the output terminal 8012, and the output terminal 8012 of the fourth switch module 801 is connected to the input terminal of delay line 5. The input terminal of the delay line is connected to the third combining module 802. In this case, the signal input to the delay unit can pass through delay line 5.

[0100] Based on the above-mentioned structure of multiple delay lines in series or in parallel, the length of each delay unit in the first phase shifting module can be flexibly adjusted according to requirements, which is conducive to more flexible adjustment of the phase shifting range of the phase shifting device.

[0101] In this embodiment, the first signal component signal input to the first phase shifting module is processed by N delay units, and the output signals of the N delay units can be transmitted to the first combining module.

[0102] The first combining module can be used to combine the output signals of N delay units into a second signal. The second signal can be understood as the signal obtained after the sideband component (first signal component) of the first signal has been delayed by N delay units. In order for the first signal component after delay processing to be combined with the second signal component, the second signal component also needs to be processed accordingly.

[0103] The first electro-optic modulation module can be used to process the second signal component to obtain the third signal. For example, it can perform phase shifting or frequency adjustment on the second signal component so that the third signal (i.e., the processed second signal component) can be aligned with the second signal (i.e., the processed first signal component). The second and third signals can be transmitted to the second combining module respectively.

[0104] The second combining module can be used to combine the second and third signals to obtain the fourth signal. Since the first signal is obtained by combining M optical signals, and the wavelengths of the M optical signals can be different, the fourth signal obtained after the first signal is processed by the phase shifter can also include M signals with different wavelengths. The wavelength division multiplexing module can separate the signals of different wavelengths in the fourth signal.

[0105] The wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) module can decompose the fourth signal into M fifth signals, where any two fifth signals can have different wavelengths. After obtaining the M fifth signals, they can be transmitted to M antenna elements, with each antenna element transmitting one fifth signal. In other words, the M fifth signals correspond one-to-one with the M antenna elements. In one implementation, before transmitting the fifth signals to the antenna elements, the WDM module can first transmit them to a photodetector, allowing the photodetector to convert the optical signal into an electrical signal. Since the M fifth signals correspond one-to-one with the M antenna elements, one photodetector can also correspond to one wavelength of the fifth signal, thus avoiding interference from stray waves during detection.

[0106] The phase shifting device shown in Figure 4 introduces N delay units with adjustable lengths, so that the phase difference between the output multiple signals can be achieved by adjusting the length of the delay units. Compared with the fixed optical delay network scheme, it provides greater flexibility and has lower implementation complexity.

[0107] In this embodiment, since the phase shift of each signal can be adjusted by adjusting the length of N delay units, the wavelength of the M optical signals used to generate the first signal can be fixed.

[0108] In one possible design, the phase-shifting device may further include a first light source module and a fifth combining module. The first light source module can be used to generate M optical signals with fixed wavelengths, and the fifth combining module can be used to combine the M optical signals to obtain a first signal. In one possible implementation, the first light source module may, for example, consist of an optical frequency comb and a first filter. The optical frequency comb is a special type of laser capable of generating a series of equally spaced frequency lines resembling comb teeth. Using an optical frequency comb as a light source allows for the simultaneous generation of optical signals of multiple wavelengths. The first filter can be used to adjust the gain of different wavelength optical signals; for example, it can be a gain-flattening filter. The optical frequency comb, in conjunction with the gain-flattening filter, can generate a flat multi-wavelength signal.

[0109] In another possible design, the phase-shifting device may also include a second light source module and a sixth combining module. The second light source module can be used to generate M optical signals with fixed wavelengths, and the sixth combining module can be used to combine the M optical signals to obtain a first signal. In one possible implementation, the second light source module may, for example, consist of a broadband light source and a second filter. A broadband light source is a light source capable of generating beams containing multiple frequencies and wavelengths, with a wider spectral coverage than a single-wavelength light source, providing rich spectral information. Using a broadband light source, optical signals within a range of wavelengths can be generated. The second filter can be used to select and modulate these optical signals to generate optical signals of specific wavelengths; for example, it can be a programmable filter. The programmable filter can adjust its filtering characteristics as needed. A broadband light source combined with a programmable filter can also achieve the generation of multi-wavelength signals.

[0110] In one possible design, the phase-shifting device may further include a first splitting module and N second electro-optic modulation modules. The first splitting module can be used to divide the first signal into two parts: one part can be an initial component of the first signal, and the other part can be a second signal component. The initial component of the first signal can be divided into N parts and transmitted to the N second electro-optic modulation modules respectively, and the second signal component can be transmitted to the first electro-optic modulation module. Each second electro-optic modulation module can be used to modulate 1 / N parts of the initial component of the first signal to obtain 1 / N parts of the first signal component.

[0111] In this embodiment, the first or second light source module used to generate M optical signals can be combined with the structure of multiple delay lines in series or parallel in the delay unit described above. Taking the first light source module including an optical frequency comb and a gain flattening filter, and the second light source module including a broadband light source and a programmable filter as an example, the phase shifting device can be implemented in any of the following ways:

[0112] Method 1: Combining optical frequency comb and gain flattening filter with multiple delay lines in series

[0113] As shown in Figure 9A, the optical frequency comb can be connected to a gain flattening filter, which is connected to a fifth combining module. The fifth combining module is connected to a first splitting module, which is connected to a first electro-optic modulation module and N second electro-optic modulation modules. One of the N second electro-optic modulation modules can be connected to the input of a delay unit. A delay unit can include multiple delay lines. A serial structure of multiple delay lines can be achieved through a first switching module, a second switching module, and multiple third switches. For details regarding the serial structure of multiple delay lines, please refer to the relevant description in the embodiment shown in Figure 5 above; it will not be repeated here. The length of each delay unit can be adjusted based on the serial structure of multiple delay lines. For example, assuming that each delay line has the same length, the length of the first delay unit in the N delay units can be the same as the length of a single delay line, the length of the second delay unit can be the same as the length of the superimposed two delay lines, and so on. Optionally, the lengths of the N delay units can increase sequentially from bottom to top or from top to bottom; this application does not restrict this order. Furthermore, the outputs of the N delay units can be connected to a first combining module, which can be used to combine the output signals of the N delay units into a single signal. The first combining module and the second electro-optic modulation module can be connected to the second combining module respectively, so that the second combining module can combine the signals from the first combining module and the signals from the second electro-optic modulation module into a single signal. The second combining module, through connection to a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) module, can transmit the combined signal to the WDM module, so that the WDM module can separate signals of different wavelengths and map them to different antenna elements.

[0114] Method 2: Combining optical frequency comb and gain flattening filter with multiple delay lines in parallel

[0115] As shown in Figure 9B, similarly, the optical frequency comb can be connected to a gain-flattening filter, which is connected to a fifth combining module. The fifth combining module is connected to a first splitting module, and the first splitting module is connected to a first electro-optic modulation module and N second electro-optic modulation modules. One of the N second electro-optic modulation modules can be connected to the input of a delay unit. Unlike Figure 9A, a delay unit can include multiple delay lines. These multiple delay lines can be implemented in parallel through a fourth switching module and a third combining module. For details on the parallel structure of multiple delay lines, please refer to the relevant description in the embodiment shown in Figure 5 above; it will not be repeated here. The length of each delay unit can be adjusted based on the parallel structure of multiple delay lines. For example, the length difference between two adjacent delay lines in a delay unit can be a fixed value (let's say 'a'). Taking the lengths of the delay lines in a delay unit increasing sequentially from bottom to top, with the first delay line being the shortest, the length of the first delay line could be L, the length of the second delay line could be L+a, the length of the third delay line could be L+2a, and so on. The length of the first delay unit in N delay units could, for example, be the same as the length of the first delay line in the multiple delay lines, the length of the second delay unit could, for example, be the same as the length of the second delay line in the multiple delay lines, and the length of the third delay unit could, for example, be the same as the length of the third delay line in the multiple delay lines. Optionally, the lengths of the N delay units can increase sequentially from bottom to top or from top to bottom; this application does not restrict this order. In addition, the connection relationship between the output terminals of the N delay units and the first combining module, the second combining module and the wavelength division multiplexing module is the same as that in Method 1 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0116] Method 3: Combining broadband light sources and programmable filters with multiple delay lines in series

[0117] As shown in Figure 9C, compared with Method 1 (Figure 9A), a broadband light source can replace the optical frequency comb, and a programmable filter can replace the gain flattening filter. The programmable filter is connected to the sixth combining module, which is connected to the first splitting module. The first splitting module is connected to the first electro-optic modulation module and N second electro-optic modulation modules. One of the N second electro-optic modulation modules can be connected to the input of a delay unit. A delay unit can include multiple delay lines. The serial structure of multiple delay lines can be realized through the first switching module, the second switching module, and multiple third switches. For details on the serial structure of multiple delay lines, please refer to the embodiment shown in Figure 5 and the relevant description in Method 1 above, which will not be repeated here. The connection relationship between the outputs of the N delay units and the first combining module, the second combining module, and the wavelength division multiplexing module is also the same as in Method 1 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0118] Method 4: Combining broadband light sources and programmable filters with multiple delay lines in series

[0119] As shown in Figure 9D, compared with Method 2 (Figure 9B), a broadband light source can replace the optical frequency comb, and a programmable filter can replace the gain flattening filter. The programmable filter is connected to the sixth combining module, which is connected to the first splitting module. The first splitting module is connected to the first electro-optic modulation module and N second electro-optic modulation modules. One of the N second electro-optic modulation modules can be connected to the input of a delay unit. A delay unit can include multiple delay lines. Multiple delay lines can be implemented in parallel through the fourth switching module and the third combining module. For details on the parallel structure of multiple delay lines, please refer to the embodiment shown in Figure 5 and the relevant description in Method 2 above, which will not be repeated here. In addition, the connection relationship between the output of the N delay units and the first combining module, the second combining module, and the wavelength division multiplexing module is the same as in Method 2 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0120] The above content introduced several structures of the phase shifting device. The following, with reference to Figure 10, explains the specific reasons why the phase shift amount of the phase shifting device can be adjusted based on the length of the delay unit.

[0121] Please refer to Figure 10, which is a schematic diagram of a phase shifting device provided in an embodiment of this application. The phase shifting device includes N delay units, and each of the N delay units may include multiple delay lines. The multiple delay lines may be in a serial structure or in a parallel structure.

[0122] As shown in Figure 10, assuming that the light source module 1001 of the phase shifting device generates M optical signals λ1~λ2 with different wavelengths. M The wavelength difference between two adjacent optical signals in the M-channel optical signals can be a fixed value (such as Δλ). The M-channel optical signals can be combined into one optical signal c(t) by the combining module 1002, and c(t) can satisfy the following formula (2):

[0123] Where c represents the speed of light, φ i This represents the initial phase of the i-th wavelength.

[0124] The combining module 1002 transmits the optical signal c(t) to the splitting module 1003. The splitting module 1003 can divide the optical signal c(t) into two parts, denoted as c1(t) and c2(t). For the c1(t) part, an optical power divider can divide c1(t) into N parts of equal power, and each part of the signal is transmitted to an electro-optic modulation module 1004. An electro-optic modulation module 1004 can be powered by one radio frequency signal a.j (t) modulation, a j (t) can satisfy the following formula (3): a j (t)=A j (t)·cos(2πf RF t+θ j (t)), j∈(1,N) (3)

[0125] Among them, A j (t) represents the radio frequency signal a j The amplitude of (t), θ j (t) represents the radio frequency signal a j The phase of (t). Thus, the output signal of each electro-optic modulation module 1004 can be expressed by the following formula (4):

[0126] The output signal b of an electro-optic modulation module 1004 j (t) passes through a length of L j After the delay unit, the output signal s of the delay unit is obtained. j (t). s j (t) can be expressed by the following formula (5):

[0127] in, This indicates that the output signal of the j-th electro-optic modulation module passes through a length of L. j The i-th wavelength λ after the delay unit i The amplitude, Φ(L) j ,λ i ) indicates that the output signal of the j-th electro-optic modulation module passes through a length of L. j The i-th wavelength λ after the delay unit i The phase response.

[0128] The output signal s of N delay units j (t) The signals can be combined into a single signal using the combining module 1005 (such as an optical coupler). Since different wavelengths of light produce different dispersion effects when passing through the same delay unit, M wavelengths of light will introduce different phase shifts. As shown in Figure 10, the different colors of each wavelength in the output signal of the delay unit can represent different phases.

[0129] For the signal in part c2(t), phase shifting and / or frequency modulation can be performed by the electro-optic modulation module 1006 to align the processed signal with the output signal of the combiner module 1005. Then, the output signal of the combiner module 1005 and the output signal of the electro-optic modulation module 1006 can be combined by the combiner module 1007, and the combined signal is then transmitted to the wavelength division multiplexing module 1008.

[0130] The wavelength division multiplexing module 1008 can separate signals of different wavelengths, and the signal of each wavelength obtained by decomposition can be represented by the following formula (6):

[0131] The signal obtained from optical processing can be converted into a corresponding electrical signal by a photodetector. After the M optical signals obtained by the wavelength division multiplexing module 1008 are processed by the photodetector, the output signal can satisfy the following formula (7):

[0132] Signal d′ i (t), i∈(1,M) are mapped sequentially to M antenna elements, for d′ i (t), the j-th signal a in the signal i∈(1,M) j For (t), the phase difference between two adjacent signals is The following formula (8) can be satisfied:

[0133] As can be seen from formula (8), for two adjacent wavelengths λ i+1 and λ i If the wavelength difference Δλ is a fixed value, then the phase difference between two adjacent signals depends on the length L of the delay unit. j Therefore, by adjusting the length L of the delay unit... j This allows the input signal a to the phase shifter to be... j (t) After processing, the phase difference between two adjacent signals in the M-channel signal is proportional to the length of the delay unit.

[0134] In this way, the phase difference of the signal can be adjusted by changing the length of the delay unit without changing the wavelength of the light source, which helps to reduce costs and improve the stability of the phase shifting device. Furthermore, the phase difference for each signal path can be controlled by individually adjusting the length of a delay unit, thus enhancing the flexibility of the phase shifting device.

[0135] In one possible approach, two-dimensional beamforming can also be achieved based on the structure shown in Figure 10. Please refer to Figure 11, which is a schematic diagram of another phase-shifting device provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 11, the light source module 1101 can generate H signal groups, each signal group containing V optical signals, totaling V×H (assuming V×H=M) optical signals λ1~λ1 with different wavelengths. M Furthermore, the wavelength difference between two adjacent optical signals in the M-channel optical signals can be a fixed value (e.g., Δλ). V (Among them, for wavelength intervals of Δλ) V The signal can be used for vertical dimension wavelength encoding, for wavelength intervals of Δλ. H =VΔλ V The signal can be used for horizontal dimension wavelength encoding.

[0136] The V×H optical signals can be combined into a single optical signal c through the combiner module 1102. V×H (t), c V×H (t) can satisfy the following formula (9):

[0137] Where c is the speed of light. This is the initial phase of the wavelength in the l-th row and w-th column.

[0138] Similarly, the combiner module 1102 combines the optical signal c V×H (t) is transmitted to the splitter module 1103, which can then convert the optical signal c V×H (t) is divided into two parts. One part can be divided into N parts with the same power by an optical power divider. Each part of the signal is transmitted to an electro-optic modulation module 1104, and the other part can be transmitted to an electro-optic modulation module 1106. The signal output by an electro-optic modulation module 1104 can be processed by a delay unit. The combining module 1105 can combine the output signals of N delay units into one signal. The combining module 1107 can combine the output signal of the combining module 1105 and the output signal of the electro-optic modulation module 1106, and transmit the combined signal to the wavelength division multiplexing module 1108. The wavelength division multiplexing module 1108 can separate signals of different wavelengths. The signal of each wavelength obtained by decomposition can be represented by the following formula (10):

[0139] After the optical signal obtained by the wavelength division multiplexing module 1108 is processed by the photodetector, the output signal can satisfy the following formula (11):

[0140] In one possible implementation, the signal d′ lw (t) can be mapped to a two-dimensional antenna surface, i.e., the signal d′ lw(t) can be loaded onto the antenna element ANT(l,w) to realize signal transmission on a two-dimensional antenna surface. The vertical dimension of the two-dimensional antenna surface can include H antenna elements, and the horizontal dimension can include V antenna elements. After the wavelength division multiplexing module 1108 decomposes the signal into V×H different wavelengths, a coarse-grained filtering method is used to filter out the signal with a wavelength interval of VΔλ, which is then mapped to the H antenna elements in the vertical dimension, i.e., the signal mapped to each column of antenna elements in the two-dimensional antenna surface. A fine-grained filtering method is then used to filter out the signal mapped to the antenna elements in the horizontal dimension, i.e., the signal transmitted by the antenna elements in each row of the two-dimensional antenna surface. This two-stage cascaded filtering method reduces the requirements of the filter.

[0141] In the vertical dimension, for the j-th signal, the phase difference between two adjacent signals... The following formula (12) can be satisfied:

[0142] As can be seen from formula (12), if the wavelength difference Δλ between two adjacent signals in the vertical dimension V If the value is fixed, then the phase difference between two adjacent signals in the vertical dimension depends on the length L of the delay unit. j .

[0143] In the horizontal dimension, for the j-th signal, the phase difference between two adjacent signals The following formula (13) can be satisfied:

[0144] As can be seen from formula (13), if the wavelength difference Δλ between two adjacent signals in the horizontal dimension H If the value is fixed, then the phase difference between two adjacent signals in the horizontal dimension depends on the length L of the delay unit. j .

[0145] Therefore, in the two-dimensional structure shown in Figure 11, the phase difference between signals can be adjusted by changing the length of the delay unit, which helps to improve the flexibility of the phase shifting device.

[0146] In this embodiment of the application, in order to achieve adjustable delay for each data channel in the phase shifting device, in addition to the adjustable length structure of the delay unit described above, the delay array can also be multiplexed by means of a routing module. This can reduce the number of delay lines in the phase shifting device, thereby improving the system integration. The structure of another phase shifting device provided in this embodiment of the application is described below.

[0147] Please refer to Figure 12, which is a schematic diagram of another phase-shifting device provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 12, the phase-shifting device may include: a second phase-shifting module, a seventh combining module, a third electro-optic modulation module, an eighth combining module, and a wavelength division multiplexing module. The second phase-shifting module may include a routing module and P delay lines. The routing module may include N input terminals and P output terminals, where N is a positive integer and P is greater than or equal to N. The P output terminals may be connected to the P delay lines respectively. The P delay lines may be connected to the seventh combining module respectively. The seventh combining module and the third electro-optic modulation module may be connected to the eighth combining module respectively. The eighth combining module may be connected to the wavelength division multiplexing module.

[0148] Similar to the phase-shifting device shown in Figure 4, in the phase-shifting device shown in Figure 12, the first signal input to the phase-shifting device can be processed into two parts: a sideband component (first signal component) and a carrier component (second signal component). The first signal component can be processed by the second phase-shifting module, and the second signal component can be processed by the third electro-optic modulation module. One of the N input terminals of the routing module can be used to receive 1 / N of the first signal component. Here, the first signal can be a signal obtained by combining M optical signals, where M is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0149] Unlike the phase-shifting device shown in Figure 4, the phase-shifting device shown in Figure 12 uses a routing module connected to P delay lines instead of the N delay units in Figure 4. The input ends of the P delay lines are connected to the P output ends of the routing module. The lengths of the P delay lines can be different, allowing the routing module to transmit signals received at each input end to different delay lines, thus enabling path selection. For example, suppose the routing module includes input end 1 and input end 2, and output ends 1, 2, 3, and 4. Output ends 1, 2, 3, and 4 can be connected to delay lines 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Input end 1, connected to output end 4, can transmit the signal received at input end 1 to delay line 4; input end 2, connected to output end 3, can transmit the signal received at input end 2 to delay line 3. Alternatively, by connecting input terminal 1 to output terminal 1, the signal received by input terminal 1 can be transmitted to delay line 1, and by connecting input terminal 2 to output terminal 2, the signal received by input terminal 2 can be transmitted to delay line 2.

[0150] In one possible design, the length difference between any two adjacent delay lines in the P delay lines can be a fixed value. The lengths of the P delay lines can increase sequentially from bottom to top or from top to bottom; this application does not limit this. For example, assuming delay line 1 and delay line 2 are adjacent, delay line 2 and delay line 3 are adjacent, the length of delay line 3 is greater than the length of delay line 2, and the length of delay line 2 is greater than the length of delay line 1, then the length difference between delay line 3 and delay line 2 can be equal to the length difference between delay line 2 and delay line 1.

[0151] In this embodiment, the first signal component input to the second phase shifting module is distributed to multiple delay lines by the routing module for processing, and the output signals of the multiple delay lines can be transmitted to the seventh combiner module.

[0152] The seventh combiner module can be used to combine the output signals of multiple delay lines into a sixth signal. The sixth signal can be understood as the signal obtained after the sideband components of the first signal have been delayed by multiple delay lines. Similarly, in order for the first signal component after delay processing to be combined with the second signal component, the second signal component also needs to be processed accordingly.

[0153] The third electro-optic modulation module can be used to process the second signal component to obtain a seventh signal that can be aligned with the sixth signal. Alignment between the sixth and seventh signals can be understood as the sixth and seventh signals having consistency in characteristics such as frequency and phase, ensuring that they can be correctly combined. The sixth and seventh signals can be transmitted separately to the eighth combining module.

[0154] The eighth combiner module can be used to combine the sixth and seventh signals to obtain the eighth signal. Since the first signal is obtained by combining M optical signals, and the wavelengths of the M optical signals can be different, the eighth signal obtained after the first signal is processed by the phase shifter can also include M signals with different wavelengths. The wavelength division multiplexing module can separate the signals of different wavelengths in the eighth signal.

[0155] A wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) module can be used to decompose an eighth signal into M ninth signals, where the wavelengths of any two fifth signals in the M ninth signals can be different. After obtaining the M ninth signals, each of the M ninth signals can be transmitted to one of the M antenna elements, with each antenna element capable of transmitting one ninth signal. In other words, the M ninth signals can be one-to-one with the M antenna elements.

[0156] The phase shifting device shown in Figure 12 introduces a routing module, which on the one hand allows the input signal to the phase shifting device to flexibly select the delay path it passes through, thereby adjusting the phase shift amount according to the different delay paths the signal passes through; on the other hand, it reduces the number of delay lines, which is beneficial to improving the system integration.

[0157] In one possible implementation, the phase-shifting device shown in Figure 12 may further include a light source module for generating M optical signals, where the wavelength difference between two adjacent signals in the M optical signals can be a fixed value. That is, the wavelengths of the M optical signals can be an arithmetic sequence. Optionally, the light source module may be composed of an optical frequency comb and a gain-flattening filter, or it may be composed of a broadband light source and a programmable filter.

[0158] In one possible implementation, the phase shifting device shown in Figure 12, except for replacing the multiple delay units in the phase shifting device shown in Figure 4 with a routing module and multiple delay lines, can reuse the structure of the phase shifting devices shown in Figures 9A-9D. Optionally, one-dimensional beamforming or two-dimensional beamforming can be realized based on the phase shifting device shown in Figure 12.

[0159] In one example, please refer to Figure 13A, which is a schematic diagram of a phase-shifting device provided in an embodiment of this application for realizing one-dimensional beamforming. As shown in Figure 13A, the light source module 1301 can generate M optical signals λ1 to λ2 with different wavelengths. M In M optical signals, the wavelength difference between two adjacent optical signals can be a fixed value (e.g., Δλ). The combiner module 1302 combines the M optical signals into a single optical signal and transmits the combined signal to the splitter module 1303. The splitter module 1303 divides the received signal into two parts: one part is transmitted to N electro-optic modulation modules 1304, and the other part is transmitted to an electro-optic modulation module 1308. For the signal transmitted to the N electro-optic modulation modules 1304, it can be divided into N equal-power components, with each electro-optic modulation module 1304 receiving one of the N components. The signal input to one electro-optic modulation module 1304 can be modulated by a single radio frequency signal. The output signal of each electro-optic modulation module 1304 can be transmitted to the routing module 1305. The routing module 1305 then transmits the received signals to different delay lines. The combiner module 1306 combines the output signals of each delay line into a single signal and transmits the combined signal to the combiner module 1307. The combiner module 1307 can receive signals transmitted from the combiner module 1306 and the electro-optic modulation module 1308, and combine the signals transmitted from the combiner module 1306 and the electro-optic modulation module 1308 before transmitting them to the wavelength division multiplexing module 1309. The wavelength division multiplexing module 1309 can then separate signals of different wavelengths to obtain M signals, and then map the M signals sequentially onto M antenna elements. For the j-th signal in the M signals, assume the phase difference between two adjacent signals is... The following formula (14) can be satisfied:

[0160] Among them, L j ′ indicates the length of the delay line.

[0161] The specific derivation process of formula (14) is similar to that of the embodiment shown in Figure 10. For details, please refer to the relevant description in the embodiment shown in Figure 10. It will not be repeated here.

[0162] As can be seen from formula (14), for two adjacent wavelengths λ i+1 and λ i If the wavelength difference Δλ is a fixed value, then the phase difference between two adjacent signals depends on the length L′ of the delay line. j .

[0163] In another example, please refer to Figure 13B, which is a schematic diagram of a phase-shifting device provided in an embodiment of this application for realizing two-dimensional beamforming. As shown in Figure 13B, unlike the phase-shifting device for realizing one-dimensional beamforming in Figure 13A, the M optical signals generated by the light source module 1301 in Figure 13B can include H signal groups, each signal group can include V optical signals, where H and V are positive integers, and the product of H and V is M. In addition, the M antenna elements can include vertical antenna elements and horizontal antenna elements, which can form a two-dimensional antenna surface. The wavelength difference between two adjacent optical signals in the M optical signals can be Δλ. V Optionally, the wavelength spacing Δλ in the M-path optical signals V The signal can be used for vertical dimension wavelength encoding, with a wavelength interval of Δλ. H =VΔλ V The signal can be used for horizontal dimension wavelength encoding.

[0164] In the vertical dimension, for the j-th signal, the phase difference between two adjacent signals... The following formula (15) can be satisfied:

[0165] Among them, L′ j This indicates the length of the delay line.

[0166] As can be seen from formula (15), if the wavelength difference Δλ between two adjacent signals in the vertical dimension V If the value is fixed, then the phase difference between two adjacent signals in the vertical dimension depends on the length L of the delay line. j .

[0167] In the horizontal dimension, for the j-th signal, the phase difference between two adjacent signals The following formula (16) can be satisfied:

[0168] As can be seen from formula (16), if the wavelength difference Δλ between two adjacent signals in the horizontal dimension H If the value is fixed, then the phase difference between two adjacent signals in the horizontal dimension depends on the length L of the delay unit. j .

[0169] The specific derivation process of formulas (15) and (16) is similar to that of the embodiment shown in Figure 11. For details, please refer to the relevant description in the embodiment shown in Figure 11. It will not be repeated here.

[0170] In the phase shifting device shown in Figures 13A and 13B, on the one hand, different delay paths can be selected through the routing module, that is, the length of the delay line can be adjusted, which is beneficial to improving the integration of the phase shifting device; on the other hand, adjusting the length of the delay line can adjust the phase difference between signals, which is beneficial to improving the flexibility of the phase shifting device.

[0171] As described above, the phase-shifting device provided in this application embodiment can adjust the phase difference between signals by adjusting the length of the delay unit or delay line without changing the wavelength of the light source. Therefore, a light source module that generates a fixed wavelength light signal can be used instead of a wavelength-tunable light source module, which helps to reduce costs and ensures that the wavelength of the generated signal is stable. In addition, two-dimensional beamforming can be achieved by grouping multi-wavelength light sources, which helps to simplify the structure of the phase-shifting device.

[0172] Regarding the modules / units included in the various devices and products described in the above embodiments, they can be software modules / units, hardware modules / units, or a combination of both. For example, for various devices and products applied to or integrated into a chip, all of their modules / units can be implemented using hardware methods such as circuits, or at least some modules / units can be implemented using software programs that run on a processor integrated within the chip, while the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented using hardware methods such as circuits; for various devices and products applied to or integrated into a chip module, all of their modules / units can be implemented using hardware methods such as circuits, and different modules / units can be located in the same component (e.g., chip, circuit module, etc.) or different components of the chip module, or at least some modules / units can be implemented using hardware methods such as circuits. The components can be implemented using software programs that run on the processor integrated within the chip module. The remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented using hardware methods such as circuits. For various devices and products applied to or integrated into the terminal, each of its components / units can be implemented using hardware methods such as circuits. Different modules / units can be located in the same component (e.g., chip, circuit module, etc.) or in different components within the terminal. Alternatively, at least some modules / units can be implemented using software programs that run on the processor integrated within the terminal, while the remaining (if any) modules / units can be implemented using hardware methods such as circuits.

[0173] It should be noted that the apparatus disclosed in the several embodiments provided in this application can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, and the division of units is only a logical functional division; in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0174] The above-disclosed embodiments are merely one preferred embodiment of this application and only a part of the embodiments of this application. They should not be construed as limiting the scope of the claims of this application.

Claims

1. A phase-shifting device, characterized in that, The device includes a first phase-shifting module, a first combining module, a first electro-optic modulation module, a second combining module, and a wavelength division multiplexing module; wherein, the first phase-shifting module includes N delay units, each of the N delay units includes multiple delay lines, the length of delay unit n is determined based on the multiple delay lines included in delay unit n, and delay unit n is any one of the N delay units; The delay unit n is used to receive 1 / N parts of the first signal component and transmit the output signal of the delay unit n to the first combining module; wherein, the first signal component is the sideband component of the first signal, and the first signal is the signal obtained by combining M optical signals; wherein, N is a positive integer, and M is a positive integer greater than 1; The first combining module is used to receive the output signals of the N delay units and transmit the second signal output by the first combining module to the second combining module; The first electro-optic modulation module is used to receive the second signal component and transmit the third signal output by the first electro-optic modulation module to the second combining module; wherein, the second signal component is the carrier component of the first signal; The second combining module is used to combine the second signal and the third signal to obtain a fourth signal, and transmit the fourth signal to the wavelength division multiplexing module; The wavelength division multiplexing module is used to decompose the fourth signal into M fifth signals and transmit the M fifth signals to M antenna elements respectively; wherein, the wavelengths of any two fifth signals in the M fifth signals are different from each other, and one of the M fifth signals is transmitted to one of the M antenna elements.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, The delay unit n further includes a first switch module, a second switch module, and multiple third switch modules; wherein, one of the multiple third switch modules is located between two adjacent delay lines; the i-th third switch module is used to receive the output signal of the i-th delay line or the output signal of the (i-1)-th third switch module; i is a positive integer; The first switch module is used to receive 1 / N of the first signal component and transmit the 1 / N of the first signal component to the first delay line among the plurality of delay lines, or to the first third switch module among the plurality of third switch modules; The second switching module is used to receive the output signal of the last delay line among the plurality of delay lines, or the output signal of the last third switching module among the plurality of third switching modules, and transmit the output signal of the last delay line or the output signal of the last third switching module to the first combining module.

3. The apparatus as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The delay unit n further includes a fourth switching module and a third combining module; wherein, the fourth switching module is used to receive 1 / N of the first signal component and transmit the 1 / N of the first signal component to at least one of the multiple delay lines; The third combining module is used to combine the output signals of the at least one delay line to obtain the output signal of the delay unit n, and transmit the output signal of the delay unit n to the first combining module.

4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The device further includes a first splitting module and N second electro-optic modulation modules; wherein, the first splitting module is used to divide the first signal into a first initial signal component and a second signal component, and transmit the first initial signal component to the N second electro-optic modulation modules respectively; One of the N second electro-optic modulation modules is used to receive 1 / N of the first initial signal component and transmit the 1 / N of the first signal component output by the second electro-optic modulation module to one of the N delay units.

5. The apparatus as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The device further includes a first light source module and a fifth combining module; wherein, the first light source module includes an optical frequency comb and a first filter; The optical frequency comb is used to generate M first initial optical signals and transmit the M first initial optical signals to the first filter; The first filter is used to receive the M initial optical signals and transmit the M optical signals output by the first filter to the fifth combining module; The fifth combining module is used to combine the M optical signals to obtain a first signal, and transmit the first signal to the first splitting module.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that, The device further includes a second light source module and a sixth combining module; wherein, the second light source module includes a broadband light source and a second filter; The broadband light source is used to generate M second initial optical signals and transmit the M second initial optical signals to the second filter; The second filter is used to receive the M second initial optical signals and transmit the M optical signals output by the second filter to the sixth combining module; The sixth combining module is used to combine the M optical signals to obtain a first signal, and transmit the first signal to the first splitting module.

7. The apparatus as described in claim 5 or 6, characterized in that, The difference in wavelength between two adjacent optical signals in the M-channel optical signals is the first value.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that, The M optical signals are divided into H signal groups, and each of the H signal groups includes V optical signals, where H and V are positive integers, and the product of H and V is M. The M antenna elements include vertical antenna elements and horizontal antenna elements, with H being the number of vertical antenna elements and V being the number of horizontal antenna elements.

9. A phase-shifting device, characterized in that, The device includes a second phase-shifting module, a seventh combining module, a third electro-optic modulation module, an eighth combining module, and a wavelength division multiplexing module. The second phase-shifting module includes a routing module and P delay lines. The routing module has N input terminals. Input terminal n receives 1 / N of a first signal component and transmits the 1 / N of the first signal component to delay line p. Input terminal n can be any one of the N input terminals, and delay line p can be any one of the P delay lines. The first signal component is a sideband component of a first signal, and the first signal is a signal obtained by combining M optical signals. N is a positive integer, P is a positive integer greater than or equal to N, and M is a positive integer greater than 1. The delay line p is used to transmit the 1 / N portions of the first signal component to the seventh combiner module; The seventh combiner module is used to receive the output signals of the P delay lines and transmit the sixth signal output by the seventh combiner module to the eighth combiner module. The third electro-optic modulation module is used to receive the second signal component and transmit the seventh signal output by the third electro-optic modulation module to the eighth combining module; wherein, the second signal component is the carrier component of the first signal; The eighth combiner module is used to combine the sixth signal and the seventh signal to obtain the eighth signal, and transmit the eighth signal to the wavelength division multiplexing module; The wavelength division multiplexing module is used to decompose the eighth signal into M ninth signals and transmit the M ninth signals to M antenna elements respectively; wherein, the wavelengths of any two ninth signals in the M ninth signals are different from each other, and one of the M ninth signals is transmitted to one of the M antenna elements.

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that, The difference in length between two adjacent delay lines in the P delay lines is the second value.

11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9 or 10, characterized in that, The device further includes a second splitting module and N fourth electro-optic modulation modules; wherein, the second splitting module is used to divide the first signal into a first initial signal component and a second signal component, and transmit the first initial signal component to the N fourth electro-optic modulation modules respectively; One of the N fourth electro-optic modulation modules is used to receive 1 / N of the first initial signal component and transmit the 1 / N of the first signal component output by the fourth electro-optic modulation module to one of the N input terminals.

12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 11, characterized in that, The device further includes a first light source module and a ninth combiner module; wherein, the first light source module includes an optical frequency comb and a first filter; The optical frequency comb is used to generate M first initial optical signals and transmit the M first initial optical signals to the first filter; The first filter is used to receive the M initial optical signals and transmit the M optical signals output by the first filter to the ninth combining module; The ninth combining module is used to combine the M optical signals to obtain a first signal, and transmit the first signal to the second splitting module.

13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 11, characterized in that, The device further includes a second light source module and a tenth combiner module; wherein, the second light source module includes a broadband light source and a second filter; The broadband light source is used to generate M second initial optical signals and transmit the M second initial optical signals to the second filter; The second filter is used to receive the M second initial optical signals and transmit the M optical signals output by the second filter to the tenth combiner module; The tenth combining module is used to combine the M optical signals to obtain a first signal, and transmit the first signal to the second splitting module.

14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12 or 13, characterized in that, The difference in wavelength between two adjacent optical signals in the M-channel optical signals is the first value.

15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 14, characterized in that, The M optical signals are divided into H signal groups, and each of the H signal groups includes V optical signals, where H and V are positive integers, and the product of H and V is M. The M antenna elements include vertical antenna elements and horizontal antenna elements, with H being the number of vertical antenna elements and V being the number of horizontal antenna elements.

16. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes the phase shifting device as described in any one of claims 1-15.

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