US 11,777,618 B2Granted

Amplitude and phase calibration for phased array antennas

AssigneeHughes Network Systems, LLC

InventorsXiaoling Huang, Channasandra Ravishankar

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Abstract

Techniques described herein provide phase and amplitude calibration of phased array antennas. In an N-by-M phased array having N*M channels, embodiments use aggregated measurements over multiple concurrently active channels to improve signal-to-leakage performance, while also using sequences of exclusion groups to yield an individualized calibration value for each channel (i.e., N*M individualized calibration values). For example, a J×K channel group of the array is selected in each of a sequence of measurement frames based on a calibration schema. Over J*K measurement sub-frames, a set of J*K aggregate measurements is obtained, each with different subsets of the channel group activated and excluded from the measurement. The aggregate calibration measurements can be used to compute J*K individualized calibration values, each for a channel of the channel group. In some implementations, each calibration value is computed as a complex value including both amplitude and phase calibrations information.

Claims22

Dependent claims

A system for calibration of a phased array antenna of N×M elements, N and M being positive integers greater than 1, the system comprising:

a calibration data store having a calibration schema stored thereon, the calibration schema defining a sequence of measurement frames, each having a sequence of measurement sub-frames;
a J×K channel group selector configured to selectively activate and deactivate any of N*M channels, each of the channels being coupled with a respective one of the N×M elements of the phased array antenna, such that for each measurement frame:
the J×K channel group selector identifies a respective J×K channel group of the channels based on the calibration schema, wherein J and K are positive integers, and J and/or K is greater than 1;
and
the J×K channel group selector activates, for each measurement sub-frame of the measurement frame, a respective measurement subset of the J×K channel group, while excluding a respective exclusion subset of the J×K channel group;
and
a J*K estimator configured, for each measurement frame, to:
obtain a respective set of J*K aggregated calibration measurements by obtaining, in each measurement sub-frame of the measurement frame, a respective aggregated calibration measurement of the respective measurement subset for the measurement sub-frame;
and
compute a respective set of J*K calibration values based on the respective set of J*K aggregated calibration measurements, such that each of the J*K calibration values is associated with a respective one of the channels of the J×K channel group.

7 more elements

A method for calibration of a phased array antenna of N×M elements, N and M being positive integers greater than 1, the method comprising:

for each of one or more measurement frames defined by a calibration schema:
identifying a respective J×K channel group of the channels based on the calibration schema, wherein J and K are positive integers, and J and/or K is greater than 1;
obtaining a respective set of J*K aggregated calibration measurements by, for each of J*K measurement sub-frames of the measurement frame:
activating a respective measurement subset of the J×K channel group, while excluding a respective exclusion subset of the J×K channel group, the measurement subset and the exclusion subset defined according to the calibration schema;
and
measuring the channels of the respective measurement subset to obtain a respective one of the respective set of J*K aggregated calibration measurements;
and
computing a respective set of J*K calibration values based on the respective set of J*K aggregated calibration measurements, such that each calibration value of the J*K calibration values is associated with a respective channel of the J×K channel group;
and
storing each of the calibration values as an individualized calibration value for a respective one of the N*M channels corresponding to a respective one of the N*M elements of the phased array antenna.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/562,353Filed 27 Dec 2021 · us provisional application
Priority: 14 Sep 2021
Published: US 2023/0081094 A116 Mar 2023
Granted: 3 Oct 2023
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification7 codes

H04B 17/12
For calibration: of transmit antennas, e.g. of the amplitude or phase
H04B 7/0639
Feedback format: using selective indices, e.g. of a codebook, e.g. pre-distortion matrix index [PMI] or for beam selection
H04B 7/0656
Feedback error handling: at the transmitter, e.g. error detection at base station
H04B 17/221
For calibration of the receiver components: of receiver antennas, e.g. as to amplitude or phase