CN115699455A

CN115699455A - Antenna array, wireless communication device and communication terminal

Info

Publication number: CN115699455A
Application number: CN202180006895.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 徐建矿; 张广志; 王立乾
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-05-27
Filing date: 2021-05-27
Publication date: 2023-02-03
Also published as: WO2022246773A1

Abstract

The application provides an antenna array, a wireless communication device and a communication terminal. The antenna array includes a plurality of antenna sub-arrays. The plurality of antenna subarrays are arranged in a single row, and the radiation surfaces of the antenna subarrays positioned at two ends are mutually vertical; along the arrangement direction of the plurality of antenna sub-arrays, the included angle between the radiation surfaces of two adjacent antenna sub-arrays is more than ninety degrees. The signal processing module can be connected with at least two adjacent antenna sub-arrays in the antenna array through the selection switch. Or, the signal processing module may also be connected to one antenna sub-array of the antenna array via the selection switch. By adopting the included angle between the adjacent antenna sub-arrays to be larger than ninety degrees, the two adjacent antenna sub-arrays can obtain larger gain when in work, in addition, the antenna sub-arrays positioned at two ends in the plurality of antenna sub-arrays are mutually vertical, the coverage area of 180 degrees is realized, and the communication effect of the antenna array is improved.

Description

Antenna array, wireless communication device and communication terminal

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to an antenna array, a wireless communication device, and a communication terminal.

Background

With the improvement of communication protocols, terminal communication needs to support 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G, and supported specifications are higher and higher, such as different specifications of 4G CA (Carrier Aggregation, LTE or NR combining multiple frequency bands into one large bandwidth transmission), 5G SA (standard, 5G NR independent networking), 5G NSA (Non-standard, 5G Non-independent networking, NR + LTE dual connectivity networking), and the like, the number of frequency bands of the additionally supported 3GPP protocol is increasing, and for more frequency bands supported by a flagship terminal, not only all domestic frequency bands need to be supported, but also roaming to a foreign frequency band needs to be supported, and accordingly, radio frequency front end hardware circuit resources of the terminal are also increasing.

According to the requirements of 3GPP protocols, a millimeter wave frequency band is adopted by 5G NR-FR2 (frequency range 2), and the frequency band has the advantages of large bandwidth and high transmission rate; but also has the disadvantages of large spatial attenuation and short propagation distance. The function and efficiency of the traditional antenna can not meet the requirements of a 5G millimeter wave system; in order to make up for the above disadvantages, the millimeter wave frequency band adopts a phased array architecture, that is, an antenna array is composed of a plurality of antennas and radio frequency channels, so as to obtain higher antenna synthesis gain; by controlling the phase of each antenna, the synthesized beam is scanned in space according to a certain rule.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides an antenna array, a wireless communication device and a communication terminal, which are used for improving the communication effect of the wireless communication device.

In a first aspect, an antenna array is provided, which is applied to a mobile terminal, and includes a plurality of antenna sub-arrays. The antenna sub-arrays are arranged in a single row, the radiation surfaces of the antenna sub-arrays at two ends are perpendicular to each other, and an included angle between the radiation surfaces of two adjacent antenna sub-arrays is larger than ninety degrees along the arrangement direction of the antenna sub-arrays. In the technical scheme, the included angle between the adjacent antenna sub-arrays is larger than ninety degrees, so that the two adjacent antenna sub-arrays can obtain larger gain during working, in addition, the antenna sub-arrays positioned at two ends in the plurality of antenna sub-arrays are mutually vertical, the coverage area of 180 degrees is realized, and the communication effect of the antenna array is improved.

In a specific implementation, in the plurality of antenna sub-arrays, the included angle between the radiation surfaces of any two adjacent antenna sub-arrays is equal.

In a specific embodiment, the included angle between the radiation planes of any two adjacent antenna sub-arrays is: 180-90/(N-1) degree; and N is the number of the antenna subarrays.

In a specific embodiment, each antenna subarray comprises a plurality of antenna elements, and the plurality of antenna elements are arranged in at least one row; the arrangement direction of each row of antenna units is perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the plurality of antenna sub-arrays. Illustratively, each antenna subarray includes a row of antenna elements.

In a specific embodiment, each antenna unit is a dual polarized antenna or a single polarized antenna. Different communication effects can be achieved.

In a second aspect, a wireless communication device is provided, where the wireless communication device includes a signal processing module, a selection switch, and any one of the antenna arrays described above; the signal processing module is connected with at least two adjacent antenna sub-arrays in the antenna array through the selection switch, or the signal processing module is connected with one antenna sub-array in the antenna array through the selection switch. In the technical scheme, the included angle between the adjacent antenna sub-arrays is larger than ninety degrees, so that larger gain can be obtained between the two adjacent antenna sub-arrays during working, in addition, the antenna sub-arrays at two ends in the plurality of antenna sub-arrays are mutually vertical, the coverage area of 180 degrees is realized, and the communication effect of the antenna array is improved.

In a specific implementation mode, the signal processing module comprises a radio frequency intermediate frequency chip and at least two millimeter wave chips connected with the radio frequency intermediate frequency chip; the at least two millimeter wave chips are correspondingly connected with the at least two adjacent antenna sub-arrays through the selection switch. The millimeter wave chip is correspondingly connected with the antenna subarrays to select different adjacent antenna subarrays to work.

In a specific implementation scheme, the number of the millimeter wave chips is two, and any two adjacent antenna subarrays can be selected by the two millimeter wave chips to operate through the selection switch.

In a specific possible embodiment, when the antenna elements in the antenna subarray are dual-polarized antenna elements; each antenna unit comprises a first polarization direction element and a second polarization direction element; each millimeter wave chip is provided with a first radio frequency channel for transmitting a first polarization direction signal and a second radio frequency channel for transmitting a second polarization direction signal; the selection switch comprises a first selection switch and a second selection switch; each first radio frequency channel is connected with the first polarization direction oscillators of the antenna units in the corresponding antenna subarray through the first selection switch; each second radio frequency channel is connected with the second polarization direction elements of the antenna units of the corresponding antenna subarray through the second selection switch. Communication of bipolar signals is achieved by two selection switches.

In a specific possible implementation, the signal processing module is further configured to compare performances of the antenna elements in the plurality of antenna sub-arrays and determine two adjacent antenna sub-arrays with the best performance among the plurality of antenna sub-arrays; and controlling the selection switch to select the two adjacent antenna subarrays with the best performance. And comparing the performances of the antenna subarrays through the signal processing module to select two antenna subarrays which have better new performances to work.

In a third aspect, a communication terminal is provided, where the communication terminal includes any of the antenna arrays described above, or any of the wireless communication apparatuses described above.

In a specific embodiment, the communication terminal further includes a housing, the antenna array is disposed in the housing, and the antenna sub-arrays are arranged along the arc of the housing. The space in the shell is reasonably utilized, and the antenna array is convenient to arrange.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic application scenario of a wireless communication device;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of an antenna array according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a side view of an antenna array provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a first antenna subarray provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a block diagram of a wireless communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a sector diagram of an operating area of a wireless communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a selection process of an antenna sub-array of a wireless communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a gain coverage pattern of the antenna array of the present application and a prior art antenna array;

FIG. 9 is an EIRP coverage pattern of the antenna array of the present application and a prior art antenna array;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a wireless communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

For ease of understanding, an application scenario of the wireless communication device provided in the embodiments of the present application is first described. The wireless communication device provided by the embodiment of the application is applied to wireless communication, such as the terminal and the base station shown in fig. 1, and the terminal and the base station can communicate with each other through an antenna. The wireless communication device provided by the embodiment of the application can be applied to terminals, such as wireless mobile communication terminal equipment including but not limited to mobile phones, tablets, CPEs, laptops and the like.

It should be understood that the wireless communication device may comply with the third generation partnership project (3 GPP) wireless communication standard, and may also comply with other wireless communication standards, such as the IEEE 802 series (e.g., 802.11, 802.15, or 802.20) wireless communication standards of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Although only one base station and one terminal are shown in fig. 1, the wireless communication apparatus may include other numbers of terminals and base stations. The wireless communication device may also include other network equipment, such as core network equipment.

The terminal and the base station should know the predefined configuration of the wireless communication device, including Radio Access Technology (RAT) supported by the system and the radio resource configuration specified by the system, such as the basic configuration of the frequency band and carrier of the radio. These system-predefined configurations may be determined as part of the standard protocol of the wireless communication device or by the interaction between the terminal and the base station. The contents of the relevant standard protocols may be pre-stored in the memories of the terminal and the base station, or embodied as hardware circuits or software codes of the terminal and the base station.

The base stations are typically assigned to and operated or maintained by operators or infrastructure providers. A base station may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area through an integrated or external antenna. One or more terminals located within the communication coverage of the base station may each access the base station. A base station may also be referred to as a wireless Access Point (AP), or a Transmission Reception Point (TRP). Specifically, the base station may be a general Node B (gNB) in a 5G New Radio (NR) system, an evolved Node B (eNB) in a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, or the like.

The terminal is more closely related to the user, and is also called User Equipment (UE), or Subscriber Unit (SU), customer-premise equipment (CPE). A terminal tends to move with a user, sometimes referred to as a Mobile Station (MS), relative to a base station, which is typically located at a fixed location. In addition, some network devices, such as Relay Nodes (RNs), may also be considered as terminals due to their UE identities or due to their affiliations with users. Specifically, the terminal may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (tablet computer), a laptop computer (laptop computer), a wearable device (such as a watch, a bracelet, a helmet and glasses), and other devices with wireless access capability, such as an automobile, a mobile wireless router, and various internet of things (IOT) devices, including various smart home devices (such as an electric meter and a household appliance) and smart city devices (such as a monitoring camera and a street lamp).

According to the requirements of 3GPP protocols, the 5G NR-FR2 adopts a millimeter wave frequency band which has the advantages of large bandwidth and high transmission rate; but also has the disadvantages of large spatial attenuation and short propagation distance. The function and efficiency of the traditional antenna can not meet the requirements of a 5G millimeter wave system; in order to make up for the above disadvantages, the millimeter wave frequency band adopts a phased array architecture, that is, an antenna array is composed of a plurality of antennas and radio frequency channels, so as to obtain higher antenna synthesis gain; by controlling the phase of each antenna, the synthesized beam is scanned in space according to a certain rule.

As shown in fig. 2, fig. 2 illustrates a structure of an antenna array provided in an embodiment of the present application. The antenna array 100 is applied to a mobile terminal, and the antenna array 100 includes a plurality of antenna sub-arrays. The plurality of antenna sub-arrays are arranged in a single row, the radiation surfaces of the antenna sub-arrays at two ends are mutually vertical, and the included angle between the radiation surfaces of two adjacent antenna sub-arrays is more than ninety degrees along the arrangement direction of the plurality of antenna sub-arrays. Illustratively, the antenna array 100 uses N antenna sub-arrays to form one antenna array 100, where N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3.

To facilitate description of the arrangement of the antenna subarrays in the antenna array 100, an XYZ coordinate system is established, where the X direction, the Y direction, and the Z direction are perpendicular to each other. Taking four antenna sub-arrays as an example, a first antenna sub-array 10, a second antenna sub-array 20, a third antenna sub-array 30, and a fourth antenna sub-array 40 are respectively provided, wherein a radiation plane of the first antenna sub-array 10 (referring to a surface where antenna units of the antenna sub-arrays transmit signals) is parallel to a plane where an X direction and a Z direction are located, a radiation plane of the fourth antenna sub-array 40 is parallel to a plane where a Y direction and a Z direction are located, and the second antenna sub-array 20 and the third antenna sub-array 30 are located between the first antenna sub-array 10 and the fourth antenna sub-array 40.

In the process of arranging the plurality of antenna subarrays, the included angle between the radiation surfaces of any two adjacent antenna subarrays is smaller than 180 degrees and larger than 90 degrees. When such an arrangement is adopted, there are the following cases.

1) The included angles between the radiation surfaces of any two adjacent antenna sub-arrays can be equal. Illustratively, as shown in fig. 3, the included angle between the radiation planes of any two adjacent antenna sub-arrays is: 180-90/(N-1) degree; and N is the number of the antenna subarrays. When the number N =4 of the antenna array 100 sub-arrays, the included angle of the radiation planes of the adjacent antenna sub-arrays is 150 ° when N = 4. Illustratively, the angle between the radiation surfaces of the first antenna sub-array 10 and the second antenna sub-array 20 is 150 °, the angle between the radiation surfaces of the second antenna sub-array 20 and the third antenna sub-array 30 is 150 °, and the angle between the radiation surfaces of the third antenna sub-array 30 and the fourth antenna sub-array 40 is 150 °.

2) In the process of arranging the plurality of antenna sub-arrays, included angles between radiation surfaces of two adjacent antenna sub-arrays can also be unequal.

a) The included angles between the radiation surfaces of all the adjacent antenna sub-arrays are unequal. Illustratively, the angle between the first antenna subarray 10 and the second antenna subarray 20 is 130 °, the angle between the second antenna subarray 20 and the third antenna subarray 30 is 150 °, and the angle between the third antenna subarray 30 and the fourth antenna subarray 40 is 170 °. Alternatively, the angle between the first antenna subarray 10 and the second antenna subarray 20 is 140 °, the angle between the second antenna subarray 20 and the third antenna subarray 30 is 160 °, and the angle between the third antenna subarray 30 and the fourth antenna subarray 40 is 150 °.

b) The included angles between the radiation surfaces of part of adjacent antenna sub-arrays are equal. Illustratively, the angle between the first antenna subarray 10 and the second antenna subarray 20 is 130 °, the angle between the second antenna subarray 20 and the third antenna subarray 30 is 160 °, and the angle between the third antenna subarray 30 and the fourth antenna subarray 40 is 160 °; alternatively, the angle between the first antenna subarray 10 and the second antenna subarray 20 is 165 °, the angle between the second antenna subarray 20 and the third antenna subarray 30 is 120 °, and the angle between the third antenna subarray 30 and the fourth antenna subarray 40 is 165 °.

When the antenna array 100 is assembled in the terminal, the antenna array 100 may be placed at a corner of a side of a housing of the terminal, an included angle between planes of antenna sub-arrays (the first antenna sub-array 10 and the second antenna sub-array 40) at two ends of the antenna array 100 is 90 °, so that the included angle may be parallel to two vertical surfaces in the housing, and the second antenna sub-array 20 and the third antenna sub-array 30 may be arranged along a corner formed between the two surfaces of the housing.

As shown in fig. 4, each of the antenna sub-arrays includes a plurality of antenna units, wherein the plurality of antenna units in each antenna sub-array are arranged in at least one row. Taking the first antenna sub-array 10 as an example, the antenna elements 11 in the first antenna sub-array 10 are arranged in a row along the Z direction. Referring to fig. 2 together, the radiation surfaces of the plurality of antenna sub-arrays are arranged in a plane in which the X direction and the Y direction lie, so that the arrangement direction of each row of antenna elements 11 is perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the plurality of antenna sub-arrays. It should be understood that although fig. 4 illustrates that the first antenna sub-array 10 includes one row of antenna elements 11, the number of rows of the first antenna sub-array 10 is not limited in the present application, and the first antenna sub-array 10 may include different numbers of rows of antenna elements 11, such as one row, two rows, three rows, and the like. The different antenna sub-arrays may include the same number of rows of antenna elements or different numbers of rows of antenna elements.

Illustratively, each antenna unit 11 is arranged in a straight line (along the Z direction) with equal spacing, or arranged in a non-equal spacing manner, which may be determined according to actual requirements.

As an alternative, each antenna unit 11 is a dual-polarized antenna, that is, each antenna unit 11 supports dual polarizations V and H, where the V polarization and the H polarization are orthogonal to each other. The first antenna sub-array 10 further comprises an H-polarization feed a and a V-polarization feed B corresponding to each antenna element 11. When the double-polarization feeding device works, the H polarization feeding A feeds electricity to the oscillators in the H polarization direction, and the V polarization feeding B feeds electricity to the oscillators in the V polarization direction, so that the oscillators in the two polarization directions can work.

It will be appreciated that the above-described antenna elements 11 may be single-polarized antennas in addition to dual-polarized antennas, in which case each antenna element 11 has only one polarization direction.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 illustrates a wireless communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application, where the wireless communication device includes a signal processing module, a selection switch, and the antenna array 100 of any one of the foregoing; the signal processing module is connected to at least two adjacent antenna sub-arrays in the antenna array 100 through a selection switch. The structures shown in fig. 5 will be described below.

Firstly, explaining a signal processing module, wherein the signal processing module comprises a baseband processor 200, a radio frequency intermediate frequency chip 300 and a millimeter wave chip; the baseband processor 200 is responsible for processing digital signals and for system functions such as communication and driving. In addition, the baseband processor 200 also serves as a codebook control unit for controlling the millimeter-wave chip through a codebook.

The rf intermediate frequency chip 300 and the baseband processor 200 perform signal transmission therebetween, and are responsible for receiving and transmitting intermediate frequency rf signals, wherein the frequency range of the intermediate frequency rf signals is generally 6G to 8GHz, and the typical value is about 7 GHz. The millimeter wave chip is responsible for receiving the intermediate frequency radio frequency signal, up-converting the signal to a desired millimeter wave signal, such as a 28G or 39G signal, and sending the millimeter wave signal to the selection switch and the antenna array 100. Or receives the millimeter wave signal from the antenna array 100 and down-converts the millimeter wave signal to an intermediate frequency rf signal to the rf intermediate frequency chip 300. Both millimeter-wave chip and radio-frequency intermediate-frequency chip 300 support dual radio-frequency channels, such as a millimeter-wave chip having a first radio-frequency channel for transmitting a first polarization-direction signal (polarization signal 1) and a second radio-frequency channel for transmitting a second polarization-direction signal (polarization signal 2). Each radio frequency channel in the millimeter wave chip comprises an independently controllable phase shifter, and the phase of the millimeter wave of each antenna unit is adjusted by generating a required codebook through the phase shifters, so that Beam wave beams of the antenna array 100 are controlled.

In fig. 5, two millimeter wave chips connected to rf intermediate frequency chip 300 are illustrated, where the two millimeter wave chips are first millimeter wave chip 401 and second millimeter wave chip 402, respectively. Correspondingly, the number of the selection switches is also two, and the selection switches are respectively a first selection switch and a second selection switch. The two millimeter wave chips are correspondingly connected with two adjacent antenna sub-arrays in the antenna sub-arrays one by one through the selection switch. When the antenna units in the antenna subarray are dual-polarized antenna units, each antenna unit comprises a first polarization direction element and a second polarization direction element. A first radio frequency channel of the first millimeter wave chip 401 and the second millimeter wave chip 402 is connected with a first polarization direction element in each antenna unit of each antenna subarray through a first selection switch, so that a polarization signal 1 can be connected by selecting different antenna subarrays through the first selection switch; second radio frequency channels of first millimeter wave chip 401 and second millimeter wave chip 402 are connected to the second polarization direction element in each antenna unit of each antenna subarray through a second selection switch, so that polarization signal 2 may be connected by selecting different antenna subarrays through the second selection switch.

The selection switches (first selection switch and second selection switch) are used to connect the millimeter wave radio frequency signals (polarized signal 1 and polarized signal 2) from the millimeter wave chips (first millimeter wave chip 401 and second millimeter wave chip 402) to each antenna subarray of antenna array 100. When the number of the millimeter wave chips is two, the number of the corresponding selection switches is also two. A first radio frequency channel of each millimeter wave chip is connected with first polarization direction oscillators of a plurality of antenna units in a corresponding antenna subarray through a first selection switch 501; the second radio frequency channel of each millimeter wave chip is connected to the second polarization direction elements of the antenna units of the corresponding antenna subarray through the second selection switch 502. At the same time, the first selection switch and the second selection switch may connect polarized signal 1 and polarized signal 2 to two adjacent antenna sub-arrays.

The antenna array 100 uses N antenna sub-arrays to form an array, where N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 3. Referring to the schematic diagram of the antenna array 100 in fig. 1, the planar angle of the antenna sub-arrays at both ends of the antenna array 100 is 90 °, the angle between adjacent radiation planes is 180 ° -90/(N-1) °, the beam control codebook of each antenna sub-array can be independently controllable, and simultaneously support two mutually orthogonal polarization signals V and polarization signals H, and also support a single polarization signal V or polarization signal H. Or antenna array 100 also supports transmission and reception of signals of a single polarization, with the other polarization not operating. One polarization signal V of each antenna subarray is connected to a millimeter wave radio frequency signal (polarization signal 1), and a polarization signal H is connected to a millimeter wave radio frequency signal (polarization signal 2).

When the millimeter wave chip is used, first millimeter wave chip 401 and second millimeter wave chip 402 can both transmit or receive polarization signal 1 and polarization signal 2, polarization signal 1 and polarization signal 2 both include 2 independent physical channels (a first radio frequency channel and a second radio frequency channel in first millimeter wave chip 401 and a first radio frequency channel and a second radio frequency channel in second millimeter wave chip 402), each physical channel can be independently controllable, each physical channel includes a phase shifter circuit, and the phase of the microwave polarization signal of each physical channel can be phase-modulated. The first selection switch 501 and the second selection switch 502 are switches of 4P2NT, respectively, and the first selection switch 501 and the second selection switch 502 can connect polarized signal 1 and polarized signal 2 to adjacent antenna subarrays M and antenna subarrays M +1, respectively, where M is a positive integer and can be selected in a range of 1 to N. Each of 2 polarization feed points a of adjacent antenna subarrays M, M +1 is sequentially connected to 2 polarization signal 1 channels of first millimeter wave chip 401 and second millimeter wave chip 402 through first selection switch 501, and each of 2 polarization feed points B of antenna subarrays M, M +1 is sequentially connected to 2 polarization signal 2 channels of first millimeter wave chip 401 and second millimeter wave chip 402 through second selection switch 502. When only one antenna subarray is required to operate, polarization feed point a and polarization feed point B of the antenna subarray may be connected to first millimeter-wave chip 401 or second millimeter-wave chip 402 through first selection switch 501 and second selection switch 502, respectively.

When only one polarization direction is needed to work, the antenna array can work only through one selection switch, and for example, the polarization signals 1 of the first millimeter wave chip 401 and the second millimeter wave chip 402 are connected with the first polarization direction element of the antenna subarray through the first selection switch 501; alternatively, polarization signal 2 of first millimeter-wave chip 401 and second millimeter-wave chip 402 is connected to the second polarization direction element of the antenna subarray via second selection switch 502.

It can be seen from the above description that, when the first antenna sub-array and the fourth antenna sub-array are arranged at 90 °, and the second antenna sub-array and the third antenna sub-array are located in the first antenna sub-array and the fourth antenna sub-array, the antenna array 100 supports both the independent operation of each antenna sub-array and the beamforming of any two adjacent antenna sub-arrays, and is flexible in engineering use.

It should be understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, the number of antenna sub-arrays operating simultaneously is not particularly limited, that is, a case where two antenna sub-arrays operate simultaneously as shown in fig. 5 may be selected, and three adjacent antenna sub-arrays may also operate simultaneously. Illustratively, when three antenna subarrays simultaneously operate, the number of the corresponding millimeter wave chips is three, and the number of the selector switches is two. Polarization signals 1 of the three millimeter wave chips are connected to a first selection switch 501, and polarization signals 2 of the three millimeter wave chips are connected to a second selection switch 502. In operation, the first selection switch 501 connects three polarized signals 1 of three millimeter wave chips to the polarized feed point a of the adjacent three antenna subarrays; the second selection switch 502 is selected to connect the three polarization signals 02 of the three millimeter-wave chips to the polarization feed points B of the adjacent three antenna sub-arrays.

To sum up, the radio frequency intermediate frequency chip provided in the embodiment of the present application may be connected to at least two millimeter wave chips, and the at least two millimeter wave chips are connected to at least two adjacent antenna sub-arrays in the antenna array 100 through the selection switch, so that the adjacent antenna sub-arrays with different numbers may work simultaneously.

When the wireless communication device is adopted, in order to achieve the function of gain enhancement within the range of 180 degrees, a control codebook for antenna Beam forming in a software process needs to be improved.

Referring to fig. 6, the codebook of beam beams first divides a scanning angle of 180 ° into N sectors at most, such as sector 1, sector 2, sector 3 \ 8230, (8230); sector N, N is a positive integer, as illustrated in fig. 6. Wherein the angle of each sector may not require equal angles, and each adjacent sector may also allow for partial angular overlap to avoid ping-pong effects. When the wireless communication device works in a required sector, the wireless communication device supports two adjacent antenna subarrays to form a gain-enhanced Beam, millimeter wave signals are transmitted in the required sector, and an optimal Beam codebook is used to achieve the purpose of optimal communication.

Each sector may have several Beam beams, each Beam being responsible for a range of communication angles, and the several Beam combinations being responsible for communication within a complete sector. Each Beam corresponds to an index of a codebook control unit. The Beam beams with enhanced gain transmitted by two adjacent antenna subarrays are responsible for communication within a sector range. If the relative angle between the terminal and the base station changes, which results in the need to switch the working sector, the wireless communication device needs to use the index of the codebook control unit corresponding to the switching, and use the corresponding two adjacent antenna sub-arrays to transmit the optimal Beam.

Illustratively, when selecting the antenna sub-arrays, the signal processing module is further configured to compare performances of the antenna units in the plurality of antenna sub-arrays and determine two adjacent antenna sub-arrays with best performance among the plurality of antenna sub-arrays; and controlling the selection switch to select the two adjacent antenna subarrays with the best performance. For example, if the signal strength of the first antenna subarray and the second antenna subarray is strongest in the sector 1, the selection switch selects the first antenna subarray and the second antenna subarray to operate; and if the signal strength of the second antenna subarray and the third antenna subarray is strongest in the sector 1, the selection switch selects the second antenna subarray and the third antenna subarray to work simultaneously. When the relative angle between the terminal and the base station changes, and the sector needs to be switched, if the sector 1 is switched to the sector 2, the selection switch correspondingly switches to the two antenna subarrays with signal strength in the sector 2.

Referring to fig. 7, fig. 7 shows a method of selecting an antenna sub-array, the method comprising the steps of:

step 001: and periodically measuring the beam optimal beam.

Specifically, the strength of the signals received by the antenna units is measured uninterruptedly to determine the two strongest adjacent antenna sub-arrays of the beam, and the determined two adjacent antenna sub-arrays are selected by the first selection switch and the second selection switch to operate as the transmitting antenna. For example, taking the first antenna subarray and the second antenna subarray as an example, when the baseband processor determines the performance of the first antenna subarray and the second antenna subarray, and the first antenna subarray and the second antenna subarray are used as receiving antennas, the best antenna subarray is determined by the received signal strength of the first antenna subarray and the second antenna subarray. Specifically, by comparing the received signal strength between the first antenna subarray and the second antenna subarray, the greater the received signal strength, the better the performance of the antenna. The radio frequency transceiving chip judges the antenna subarray with the best performance by judging the received signal strength of the first antenna subarray and the second antenna subarray. The received signal strength can be characterized by different parameters, and hereinafter, a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) will be used as an example for description.

Step 002: the optimal beam for the current optimal sector is used.

Specifically, the determined two adjacent antenna subarrays are used as transmitting antennas to work, and the current optimal beam is recorded as RSSI1.

Step 003: and periodically measuring the beam optimal beam.

Specifically, the optimal beam of the beam of each antenna subarray is continuously and periodically measured, the RSSI with the maximum measurement is obtained, the RSSI and the RSSI1 are compared, and when the RSSI is greater than the RSSI1, the two antenna subarrays corresponding to the RSSI are switched to be used as transmitting antennas; and when the RSSI is less than or equal to the RSSI1, keeping the current two adjacent antenna subarrays as the transmitting antennas.

It can be seen from the above description that the wireless communication device applied in the present invention can implement and control the beam through the specific arrangement of the antenna array subarrays, thereby implementing wide coverage and gain enhancement of 180 ° simultaneously, and solving the core requirements of the millimeter wave wide coverage and gain enhancement. In addition, when setting up wireless communication device in the terminal, the natural border right angle space of usable terminal equipment possesses the characteristics of practicing thrift the PCB area.

In addition, the wireless communication device supports any two adjacent antenna subarray arrays, the beam forming capability of the two adjacent subarrays is realized, the beam control is increased from one-dimensional scanning to two-dimensional scanning (dual-polarized antenna), the coverage range of beams is increased, and 180-degree coverage is realized; meanwhile, gain enhancement is realized, the antenna gain is increased by more than 2.5dB and the Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) is increased by more than 5dB within the range of 180 degrees. Meanwhile, in the whole scanning range, the antenna gain curve is smoother, and the phenomenon that the existing antenna gain curve is deteriorated by 1.7dB magnitude is avoided. In order to facilitate understanding of the effect of the wireless communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application, the communication effect of the antenna array of the present application and the communication effect of the antenna array in the prior art are simulated.

Referring first to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a gain coverage pattern of the antenna array of the present application and a prior art antenna array. The antenna array of the application adopts two adjacent antenna sub-arrays to work simultaneously, while the antenna array of the prior art adopts a single antenna sub-array to work. It can be seen from fig. 8 that the maximum scanning point after the m1 point bit array is the maximum gain point, m5 is the maximum gain point of the single sub-array, and the maximum gain difference between the two curves is 2.2dB.

Referring to fig. 9, fig. 9 is an EIRP coverage pattern of the antenna array of the present application and the antenna array of the prior art, and it can be seen from fig. 9 that the coverage curves after the array is grouped are all higher than the curves of the single sub-array in the whole coverage area, and the maximum gain difference is 10dB.

As can be seen from fig. 8 and fig. 9, the antenna array provided by the embodiment of the present application has improved gain and angular coverage after passing through two sets of arrays.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a communication terminal, where the communication terminal includes the antenna array described in any one of the above, or the wireless communication apparatus described in any one of the above. The communication terminal further comprises a shell, the antenna array is arranged in the shell, and the antenna sub-arrays are arranged along the radian of the shell. The space in the shell is reasonably utilized, and the antenna array is convenient to arrange.

Referring to fig. 10, in an example, the signal processing module 1000 is used to implement the functions of the modules in the method, and the signal processing module 1000 may be a network device or an apparatus in the network device. The signal processing module 1000 comprises at least one processor 1001 for implementing the functions of the modules in the above-described method. For example, the processor 1001 may be configured to determine the performance of the first antenna and the second antenna, which is described in detail in the method and will not be described here.

In some embodiments, the signal processing module 1000 may also include at least one memory 1002 for storing program instructions and/or data. The memory 1002 is coupled to the processor 1001. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is a spaced coupling or communication connection between devices, units or modules, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form, which is used for information interaction between the devices, units or modules. As another implementation, the memory 1002 may also be located outside the signal processing module 1000. The processor 1001 may operate in conjunction with the memory 1002. The processor 1001 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 1002. At least one of the at least one memory may be included in the processor.

In some embodiments, the signal processing module 1000 may also include a communication interface 1003 for communicating with other devices over a transmission medium so that the apparatus used in the signal processing module 1000 may communicate with other devices. Illustratively, the communication interface 1003 may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface, which may be a network device or other terminal device, etc. The processor 1001 transmits and receives data using the communication interface 1003 and is configured to implement the methods in the above embodiments. Illustratively, communication interface 1003 may transmit a subchannel indication, a resource pool indication, or the like.

The embodiment of the present application does not limit the connection medium among the communication interface 1003, the processor 1001, and the memory 1002. For example, in fig. 10, the memory 1002, the processor 1001, and the communication interface 1003 may be connected by a bus, and the bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like.

In the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor.

In the embodiment of the present application, the memory may be a nonvolatile memory, such as a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), and may also be a volatile memory, for example, a random-access memory (RAM). The memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to such. The memory in the embodiments of the present application may also be circuitry or any other device capable of performing a storage function for storing program instructions and/or data.

The methods provided in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the invention to be performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, a network appliance, a user device, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital Subscriber Line (DSL)), or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that includes one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., an SSD), among others.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present application without departing from the scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is intended to include such modifications and variations as well.

Claims

An antenna array comprising a plurality of antenna sub-arrays; the plurality of antenna subarrays are arranged in a single row, wherein the radiation surfaces of the antenna subarrays positioned at two ends of the plurality of antenna subarrays are perpendicular to each other, and an included angle between the radiation surfaces of any two adjacent antenna subarrays in the plurality of antenna subarrays is larger than ninety degrees.
An antenna array according to claim 1 wherein the included angle between the radiating surfaces of any two adjacent antenna sub-arrays of the plurality of antenna sub-arrays is equal.
An antenna array according to claim 2 wherein the angle between the radiating surfaces of any two adjacent antenna sub-arrays is: 180 degrees to 90 degrees (N-1 degrees); and N is the number of the antenna subarrays.
An antenna array according to claim 1 or 2,

each antenna subarray in the plurality of antenna subarrays comprises a plurality of antenna units, and the antenna units are arranged in at least one row; the arrangement direction of each row of antenna units is perpendicular to the arrangement direction of the plurality of antenna sub-arrays.
An antenna array according to claim 2 wherein each antenna element in the plurality of antenna sub-arrays is a dual polarized antenna or a single polarized antenna.
A wireless communication device comprising a signal processing module, a selection switch, and an antenna array according to any one of claims 1 to 5; wherein,

the signal processing module is connected with one antenna subarray in the antenna array through the selection switch; or,

the signal processing module is connected with at least two adjacent antenna sub-arrays in the antenna array through the selection switch.
The wireless communication device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the signal processing module comprises a radio frequency intermediate frequency chip, and at least two millimeter wave chips connected to the radio frequency intermediate frequency chip;

the at least two millimeter wave chips are correspondingly connected with the at least two adjacent antenna sub-arrays through the selection switch.
The wireless communications apparatus of claim 7, wherein when the antenna elements in the antenna sub-array are dual polarized antenna elements; each antenna unit comprises a first polarization direction element and a second polarization direction element;

each millimeter wave chip is provided with a first radio frequency channel for transmitting a first polarization direction signal and a second radio frequency channel for transmitting a second polarization direction signal;

the selection switch comprises a first selection switch and a second selection switch;

each first radio frequency channel is connected with the first polarization direction oscillators of the antenna units in the corresponding antenna subarray through the first selection switch;

each second radio frequency channel is connected with the second polarization direction elements of the antenna units of the corresponding antenna subarray through the second selection switch.
The wireless communication device as claimed in any of claims 6 to 8, wherein the signal processing module is further configured to compare the performances of the antenna elements in the plurality of antenna sub-arrays and determine two adjacent antenna sub-arrays of the plurality of antenna sub-arrays with the best performance; and controlling the selection switch to select the two adjacent antenna sub-arrays with the best performance.
A communication terminal comprising an antenna array according to any of claims 1 to 5 or comprising a wireless communication device according to any of claims 6 to 9.