Disclosure of Invention
In order to solve the technical problems, the invention provides equipment and a method for testing a T/R assembly of a phased array radar, which solve the problems that the test equipment is difficult to carry and test when the T/R assembly is tested in an external field, greatly improve the efficiency of testing the T/R assembly, and shorten the test time.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for testing a T/R component of a phased array radar, the T/R component including a plurality of channels, the apparatus comprising:
the multi-channel matrix switch corresponds to the channels and is used for connecting the selected channel into the test loop;
the industrial tablet computer is used for selecting a test channel and a test index from the plurality of channels and selecting a matrix switch channel corresponding to the test channel;
the calibration source is used for outputting a calibration signal to the test channel and generating a local oscillation signal;
the receiver is used for receiving the calibration signal passing through the test channel and the matrix switch access, receiving the local oscillation signal from the calibration source, attenuating the received calibration signal, mixing the attenuated calibration signal with the received local oscillation signal, and converting the attenuated calibration signal into a digital signal;
the processing board is used for receiving the digital signal, acquiring the amplitude and the phase of the test channel according to the digital signal and transmitting the amplitude and the phase to the industrial tablet computer,
and the industrial tablet computer is also used for judging the test result of the test channel under the test index according to the amplitude and the phase.
In an embodiment, the device is portable.
In an embodiment, the test metrics include a transmit metric and a receive metric, wherein the receive metric includes a receive metric of a receive channel to a sigma channel and a receive metric of a receive channel to a delta channel.
In one embodiment, each channel of the T/R assembly has a transmit state, a receive state, and a high impedance state, wherein the test channel is in the transmit state or the receive state, and the remaining channels are in the high impedance state.
In an embodiment, the apparatus further comprises: and the power supply module is used for providing various different required voltages for the equipment.
In one embodiment, the processing board is further configured to control the magnitude and frequency of the signal output by the calibration source.
In an embodiment, the industrial tablet computer is further configured to perform amplitude and phase compensation again on the test channel according to the test result, and send amplitude and phase compensation data to the memory of the T/R component.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for testing a T/R assembly of a phased array radar, the T/R assembly including a plurality of channels, the method including:
selecting a test channel and a test index from the plurality of channels through an industrial tablet computer, and selecting a matrix switch access corresponding to the test channel from a multi-channel matrix switch corresponding to the plurality of channels so as to access the test channel into a test loop;
outputting a calibration signal to the test channel through a calibration source, and generating a local oscillation signal;
receiving calibration signals passing through the test channel and the matrix switch access and local oscillation signals from the calibration source through a receiver, attenuating the received calibration signals, mixing the attenuated calibration signals with the received local oscillation signals, and converting the attenuated calibration signals into digital signals;
receiving the digital signal through a processing board, acquiring the amplitude and the phase of the test channel according to the digital signal, and transmitting the amplitude and the phase to the industrial tablet computer;
and the industrial tablet computer judges the test result of the test channel under the test index according to the amplitude and the phase.
In one embodiment, the magnitude and frequency of the signal output by the calibration source is controlled by the processing board.
In one embodiment, amplitude and phase compensation is performed on the test channel again through the industrial tablet computer according to the test result, and amplitude and phase compensation data are sent to a memory of the T/R component.
Compared with the prior art, one or more embodiments in the above scheme can have the following advantages or beneficial effects:
by applying the equipment and the method for testing the T/R assembly of the phased array radar, provided by the embodiment of the invention, the electrical performance index of the T/R assembly can be quickly tested under the conditions that a test platform is not required to be built and various test instruments are not required to be used, the test efficiency of the T/R assembly is improved, and the test time is shortened. When the test device works in an outfield, the test device is convenient to carry and simple to operate, and the problem that the test device for the outfield work of the T/R component is difficult to carry and test is solved. In addition, the invention can realize data processing of the amplitudes and the phases of the channels of the T/R component, and performs data compensation on the amplitudes and the phases of the channels of the T/R component in a data normalization processing mode.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
Detailed Description
The following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention will be provided with reference to the drawings and examples, so that how to apply the technical means to solve the technical problems and achieve the technical effects can be fully understood and implemented. It should be noted that, as long as there is no conflict, the embodiments and the features of the embodiments of the present invention may be combined with each other, and the technical solutions formed are within the scope of the present invention.
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details or with other methods described herein.
As described above, in order to solve the technical problems of long test time, low efficiency, large test equipment volume and incapability of meeting the requirements of remote outfield test of a multi-channel T/R component of a phased array radar in the prior art, an embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus and a method for testing a T/R component of a phased array radar.
Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for testing a T/R component of a phased array radar according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the apparatus for testing the T/R component of the phased array radar mainly includes anindustrial tablet 101, aprocessing board 102, acalibration source 103, areceiver 104, amulti-way matrix switch 105, and apower supply module 106.
Theindustrial tablet computer 101 may be connected to theprocessing board 102, for example, via a network interface, mainly for human-computer interaction and information data display, and connected to the multi-channel T/R module, for example, via a serial port, mainly for channel selection and control and amplitude and phase compensation of the T/R module.
Theprocessing board 102 is mainly composed of a DSP (digital signal processing) unit, an FPGA (field programmable gate array) unit, and an interface circuit. Theprocessing board 102 is a control core of an apparatus for testing a T/R component of the phased array radar, and is connected with thecalibration source 103, thereceiver 104, themulti-way matrix switch 105, and thepower supply module 106 through its internal circuit. Theprocessing board 102 may implement frequency control of thecalibration source 103 and magnitude control of the output signal, receive the digital signal converted by thereceiver 104, perform selection of the matrix switch, and may be connected to the multi-channel T/R component through a discrete control line, for example, for sending an instruction to the multi-channel T/R component by theprocessing board 102 through the discrete control line when theindustrial tablet 101 sends a certain single instruction to the multi-channel T/R component or sends some instructions that cannot be sent by the serial port.
The frequency converter is arranged in thecalibration source 103, and can stably output continuous wave signals with different amplitudes and different frequencies, so that the continuous wave signals can be used as calibration signals for testing the multi-channel T/R assembly. In addition, thecalibration source 103 is connected to thereceiver 104, and is configured to output a local oscillator signal having the same amplitude as the calibration signal but a different frequency to thereceiver 104 for mixing with the calibration signal.
Thereceiver 104 is used to receive the radio frequency signal from the test channel of the T/R component. In one embodiment of the present invention, the rf signal refers to a high frequency calibration signal with long distance transmission capability. Thereceiver 104 is provided with circuit devices such as an attenuator, a mixer, a filter, and an a/D converter, and performs power attenuation, mixing, filtering, and a/D conversion processing on the received high-frequency calibration signal, and transmits the converted digital signal to theprocessing board 102.
Themulti-way matrix switch 105 may be a multi-way digital matrix switch that corresponds one-to-one to the multiple channels of the T/R assembly. Multiple matrix switch pass TD1、TD2、TD3……TDn-1、TDnThe interfaces are respectively connected with a plurality of channels of the T/R assembly and used for connecting the selected channel into the test loop. Themulti-way matrix switch 105 can control the test loop to be turned on and off according to the instructions of theprocessing board 102.
Thepower module 106 may provide a variety of different required voltages, such as +28V, +12V, +5V, +3.3V, +1.2V, etc., for multi-channel T/R device testing equipment.
The test of the phased array radar multi-channel T/R component can be divided into: a transmit index test and a receive index test. The following describes a test procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention in detail by taking an 8-channel T/R device test apparatus as an example.
Fig. 2 schematically shows a wiring diagram at the time of the emission index test of an 8-channel T/R module according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 7 illustrates a front view of an apparatus for testing a T/R assembly of a phased array radar, according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 shows a top view of an apparatus for testing a T/R assembly of a phased array radar, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
When the transmission index test of the T/R assembly is carried out, firstly, the test equipment is connected with the T/R assembly of the phased array radar according to the connection mode shown in figure 2. Specifically, theindustrial tablet computer 201 is connected with the multi-channel T/R assembly 207 through a serial port, theprocessing board 202 is connected with the multi-channel T/R assembly 207 through a discrete control line, the output end of thecalibration source 203 is connected with the radio frequency port RF of the multi-channel T/R assembly 207, and the path TD of themulti-path matrix switch 2051、TD2、TD3、TD4、TD5、TD6、TD7、TD8Channel TR with T/R module respectively1、TR2、TR3、TR4、TR5、TR6、TR7、TR8Correspondingly connected to form a test loop, the input of thereceiver 204 is connected to the matrix switch port of themulti-way matrix switch 205.
Next, various test parameters are set on theindustrial tablet 201.
And selecting a test channel of the T/R component and a matrix switch path corresponding to the test channel of the T/R component on theindustrial tablet computer 201. In one embodiment of the present invention, the test channel of the T/R component to be tested is selected to be TR1To TR8Channels, also selectable as single test channels or e.g. TR1To TR4Channel, TR2To TR6A channel, to which the present invention is not limited.
Compared with the prior art, the test equipment provided by the invention is provided with the multi-path matrix switch, so that a user can conveniently and quickly access different T/R component channels into the test loop through the multi-path matrix switch, and the user does not need to manually replace an interface of the test equipment to another channel after testing one channel, thereby improving the test efficiency and shortening the test time. Meanwhile, a user can conveniently select the state of each passage of the multi-path matrix switch, so that only the passage corresponding to the test channel is ensured to be in an open state and other passages are ensured to be in a closed state during testing, and the accuracy of the testing is ensured.
Attenuation values of the tunable attenuation of thereceiver 204, such as 30dBm, 20dBm, 10dBm, etc., are set by theindustrial tablet 201. Theindustrial tablet computer 201 sends the setting instruction to theprocessing board 202 through the network port.
Selecting the test index of the T/R component on theindustrial tablet computer 201 as an emission index to test TR1The channel is taken as an example, and at this time, theindustrial tablet computer 201 sends the TR through the serial port1The channel transmits a command to the T/R component to cause the TR of the T/R component1Channels in transmit state, rest TR2To TR8The channel is in a high impedance state. Meanwhile, theindustrial tablet computer 201 sends an instruction through the network port to open the TD of the multi-path matrix switch1Path, remaining TD2To TD8The passage is in a closed state.
The output signal magnitude of thecalibration source 203 is set, e.g., 30dBm, and the test frequency is set, e.g., 1000MHz, on theindustrial tablet 201. Then, thecalibration source 203 is turned on.
The working principle of the test equipment of the multi-channel T/R component of the phased array radar when the test equipment tests the transmitting index of the multi-channel T/R component is explained in detail below.
Fig. 3 schematically shows a signal flow of a T/R component transmission indicator test according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, in one embodiment, the calibration source outputs a calibration signal with an amplitude of 30dBm and a frequency of 1000MHz to the RF port RF of the T/R module according to the instruction of the processing board, and outputs a local oscillator signal with an amplitude of 0-10 dBm but a different frequency to the receiver.
Still in order to test TR1For example, the calibration signal enters the TR of the T/R module through the RF port of the T/R module1A channel.
TR with calibration signal passing through T/R module1TD of matrix switch after channel is power amplified and phase shifted1The path enters the receiver. The receiver is internally provided with circuit devices such as an attenuator, a mixer, a filter, an A/D converter and the like, and can attenuate the received calibration signal and perform local oscillation with the local oscillation signal received from the calibration sourceAnd after mixing and other processing, converting the signals into digital signals.
For example, the receiver first attenuates the amplitude of the calibration signal according to an attenuation value set on the industrial tablet computer, such as 30dBm, with a frequency of 1000MHz passing through the T/R module TR1After the channel power is amplified, the amplitude becomes 50dBm, if the attenuation value set on the industrial tablet computer is 70dBm, the amplitude of the calibration signal is reduced to-20 dBm through attenuation of the attenuator. Next, a mixer inside the receiver mixes the calibration signal with a local oscillator signal received from the calibration source, where the amplitude of the local oscillator signal is generally 0-10 dBm, and the frequency of the local oscillator signal is less than the frequency of the original calibration signal, such as 900 MHz. After mixing, the calibration signal is down-converted to a 100MHz signal. Then the digital signals are converted into digital signals through a filter and an A/D converter and transmitted to a processing board.
The processing board receives the digital signal output by the receiver and obtains therefrom the TR of the T/R component1The amplitude and the phase of the channel are sent to the industrial tablet computer through the network port.
Then, the industrial tablet computer can automatically and sequentially switch the TR of the T/R components2、TR3、TR4、TR5、TR6、TR7、TR8TD with channels as test channels and sequentially switching matrix switches corresponding to each channel2、TD3、TD4、TD5、TD6、TD7、TD8The paths are tested and the amplitude and phase of each transmit channel of the T/R assembly can be derived therefrom.
And displaying the data of the amplitude and the phase of the 8 transmitting channels of the T/R component through an industrial tablet computer. And the industrial tablet computer automatically judges the test results of the 8 transmitting channels under the transmitting indexes according to the amplitude and phase data.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the test equipment may also perform amplitude and phase compensation again for each transmit channel of the T/R component.
Specifically, the industrial tablet computer can judge whether amplitude and phase compensation needs to be performed on each channel of the T/R component again according to the test result. If amplitude and phase compensation needs to be carried out on one or more channels again, the industrial tablet computer firstly carries out data normalization processing, and then sends the amplitude and phase compensation data to a Flash memory of the T/R component through a serial port.
The receiving index of the multi-channel T/R component of the phased array radar can be divided into a receiving index from a receiving channel of the T/R component to a sigma channel and a receiving index from the receiving channel of the T/R component to a delta channel. Wherein the sigma channel serves as the signal output terminal of the T/R module when the receiving channel of the T/R module is tested to the receiving index of the sigma channel, and the delta channel serves as the signal output terminal of the T/R module when the receiving channel of the T/R module is tested to the receiving index of the delta channel.
FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a wiring diagram for receive channel to sigma channel receive index testing of an 8-channel T/R component according to an embodiment of the invention.
When testing the reception channel of the T/R module to the reception index of the Σ channel, first, the test apparatus is connected to the T/R module of the phased array radar in the connection manner shown in fig. 4. In a different way from the wiring of fig. 2, when testing the index from the receive channel to the sigma channel of the T/R module, as shown in fig. 4, the output of thecalibration source 403 is connected to themulti-way matrix switch 405 and the sigma channel of the T/R module is connected to thereceiver 404. The other connection method of fig. 4 is the same as that of fig. 2, and is not repeated herein.
Next, various test parameters are set on theindustrial tablet computer 401.
The test channel of the T/R component and the matrix switch path corresponding to the test channel of the T/R component are selected on theindustrial tablet computer 401. In one embodiment of the present invention, the test channel of the T/R component to be tested is selected to be TR1To TR8Channels, also selectable as single test channels or e.g. TR1To TR4Channel, TR2To TR6A channel, to which the present invention is not limited.
Attenuation values of the tunable attenuation of thereceiver 404, such as 30dBm, 20dBm, 10dBm, etc., are set by theindustrial tablet 401. Theindustrial tablet 201 sends the setting instruction to theprocessing board 402 through the network port.
In industrySelecting the test index of the T/R component as the receiving index on theboard computer 401 to test TR1The channel is taken as an example, and at this time, theindustrial tablet computer 401 sends the TR through the serial port1The channel receives instructions to the T/R component to cause the TR of the T/R component1The channel is in the receiving state, the rest TR2To TR8The channel is in a high impedance state. Meanwhile, theindustrial tablet computer 401 sends an instruction through the network port to open the TD of the multi-path matrix switch1Path, remaining TD2To TD8The passage is in a closed state.
The output signal magnitude of thecalibration source 403 is set, e.g., -10dBm, and the test frequency is set, e.g., 1000MHz, on theindustrial tablet 401. Thecalibration source 403 is then turned on.
The working principle of the test equipment of the multi-channel T/R component of the phased array radar when testing the receiving indexes from the receiving channel to the sigma channel of the multi-channel T/R component is explained in detail below.
FIG. 5 schematically shows a signal flow for a receive index test of a receive channel to a sigma channel of a T/R component according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 5, in one embodiment, the calibration source outputs a calibration signal with an amplitude of-10 dBm and a frequency of 1000MHz to matrix switch ports of the multi-way matrix switch according to the instruction of the processing board, and outputs a local oscillator signal with an amplitude of 0-10 dBm but different frequencies to the receiver.
Still in order to test TR1Taking the channel as an example, the calibration signal is divided to the TD of the multi-way matrix switch through the matrix switch port of the multi-way matrix switch1Access to TR of T/R module1A channel.
TR with calibration signal passing through T/R module1The channel is power amplified and phase shifted and then enters the receiver through the sigma channel of the T/R component. Here, the sigma channel serves as the signal output of the T/R module. The receiver is internally provided with circuit devices such as an attenuator, a mixer, a filter, an A/D converter and the like, and can attenuate a received calibration signal, perform processing such as mixing with a local oscillator signal received from a calibration source and convert the signal into a digital signal.
For example, the receiver is first set up on an industrial tablet computerAttenuating the calibration signal by amplitude attenuation, such as-10 dBm, with a frequency of 1000MHz1After the channel power is amplified, the amplitude becomes 20dBm, if the attenuation value set on the industrial tablet computer is 40dBm, the amplitude of the calibration signal is reduced to-20 dBm through attenuation of the attenuator. Next, a mixer inside the receiver mixes the calibration signal with a local oscillator signal received from the calibration source, where the amplitude of the local oscillator signal is generally 0-10 dBm, and the frequency of the local oscillator signal is less than the frequency of the original calibration signal, such as 900 MHz. After mixing, the calibration signal is down-converted to a 100MHz signal. Then the digital signals are converted into digital signals through a filter and an A/D converter and transmitted to a processing board.
The processing board receives the digital signal output by the receiver and obtains therefrom the TR of the T/R component1Channel to sigma channel amplitude and phase and send it to the industrial tablet through the portal.
Then, the industrial tablet computer can automatically and sequentially switch the TR of the T/R components2、TR3、TR4、TR5、TR6、TR7、TR8TD with channels as test channels and sequentially switching matrix switches corresponding to each channel2、TD3、TD4、TD5、TD6、TD7、TD8The path is tested so that the amplitude and phase of each receive channel to the sigma channel of the T/R component can be derived.
Displaying the data of the amplitude and the phase from 8 receiving channels to sigma channels of the T/R component through the industrial tablet computer. And the industrial tablet computer automatically judges the test results of the 8 receiving channels to the sigma channel under the receiving indexes according to the amplitude and phase data.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the test equipment can also perform amplitude and phase compensation again on the receiving indexes from each channel to the sigma channel of the T/R component.
Specifically, the industrial tablet computer can judge whether amplitude and phase compensation needs to be performed on the receiving indexes from each channel to the sigma channel of the T/R component again according to the test result. If amplitude and phase compensation needs to be carried out on the receiving indexes from one or more channels to the sigma channel again, the industrial tablet computer firstly carries out data normalization processing, and then sends amplitude and phase compensation data to a Flash memory of the T/R component through a serial port.
Fig. 6 schematically shows a wiring diagram at the time of a reception index test from the reception channel to the Δ channel of the 8-channel T/R module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
When testing the receiving channel of the T/R module to the receiving index of the delta channel, the test equipment is first connected to the T/R module of the phased array radar in the connection manner shown in fig. 6. When testing the receiving index from the receiving channel of the T/R component to the delta channel, the delta channel of the T/R component is connected to thereceiver 604, and the rest of the connection relationship is the same as that when testing the receiving index from the receiving channel of the T/R component to the sigma channel, and the description thereof is omitted. The test procedure for testing the receiving index from the receiving channel of the T/R component to the delta channel and the receiving index from the receiving channel of the T/R component to the sigma channel is similar, and is not repeated here.
Fig. 9 illustrates a rear view of an apparatus for testing a T/R assembly of a phased array radar, according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 shows a side view of an apparatus for testing a T/R assembly of a phased array radar, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
As shown in fig. 7 to 10, the apparatus for testing the T/R assembly of the phased array radar according to an embodiment of the present invention is portable. In one embodiment, the test device is only 50cm long by 20cm wide by 30cm high, and has a total weight of about 7.5 kg. Therefore, compared with the test equipment for the multi-channel T/R assembly in the prior art, the test equipment provided by the invention is portable, is convenient to carry, is suitable for field testing in remote areas, and can quickly test the electrical performance index of the T/R assembly without building a test platform and using various test instruments.
In conclusion, the device and the method for testing the T/R assembly of the phased array radar provided by the embodiment of the invention can quickly test the electrical performance index of the T/R assembly without building a test platform and using various test instruments, improve the test efficiency of the T/R assembly and shorten the test time. When the test device works in an outfield, the test device is convenient to carry and simple to operate, and the problem that the test device for the outfield work of the T/R component is difficult to carry and test is solved. In addition, the invention can realize data processing of the amplitudes and the phases of the channels of the T/R component, and performs data compensation on the amplitudes and the phases of the channels of the T/R component in a data normalization processing mode.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the modules or steps of the invention described above can be implemented in a general purpose computing device, centralized on a single computing device or distributed across a network of computing devices, and optionally implemented in program code that is executable by a computing device, such that the modules or steps are stored in a memory device and executed by a computing device, fabricated separately into integrated circuit modules, or fabricated as a single integrated circuit module. Thus, the present invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above description is only for the convenience of understanding the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.