CN1266961C - A method for backup of power amplifier and equipment thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a backup method and a device thereof for a power amplifier, which is suitable for a wireless communication system. N channels of master signals are respectively connected with N power amplifiers from N input ports to be amplified and outputted through N output ports. N channels of diversity signals are respectively inputted a first unit N-throw electronic switch through a previously selected channel which is connected with an amplifier; after the diversity signals are amplified, the diversity signals are inputted to a second unit N-throw electronic switch to be outputted from a corresponding output port by selecting a corresponding channel; when the amplifier of the Mth channel master signal channel has a fault, two unit N-throw electronic switches switch the channel to a diversity signal channel corresponding to the Mth channel master signal channel, and a service executed by the Mth channel master signal channel is turned to the diversity signal channel. The present invention not only can provide an amplifier backup function, but also can provide the capability of a backup channel enhancing descending coverage when the amplifier has no fault.

Description

Method and device for power amplifier backup

technical field

The present invention relates to wireless communication systems, in particular to the technical field of power amplifiers (hereinafter referred to as "power amplifiers") in base stations.

technical background

In wireless communication systems, the reliability requirements for base stations are very strict. Especially for some small-capacity systems, the site location is remote and the environment is harsh, so the requirements for system reliability are more stringent. Therefore, most of the solutions have backup configurations for important units. In the WCDMA system, linear power amplifiers are widely used, and the reliability of a single module is much lower than other units in the system, which is the bottleneck of system reliability. Therefore, the backup of power amplifier units is a special concern of each system designer and needs to be fully determined. To be achieved. Its basic idea is: when it is found that a power amplifier unit in the system fails and cannot continue to work, through the system to deal with it in time, transfer all or part of the functions of the power amplifier unit to its backup unit to complete, so as not to affect the normal work of the system. If there is a large impact, buy time to maintain the faulty unit and restore the system to a normal state.

The following uses a 3+1 backup configuration solution as an example to illustrate the existing general power amplifier backup solution. As shown in Figure 1, there are four power amplifier units in total, the first power amplifier unit 1021, the second power amplifier unit 1022, the third power amplifier unit 1023, and the fourth power amplifier unit 1024. The four power amplifier unit 1024 is a spare power amplifier unit, which is used as a temporary replacement unit when any one of the other three power amplifier units fails. The power amplifier unit is an independent module, and the two front and rear electronic switches are the main components of this scheme, and also include some auxiliary parts such as control lines, and the realization of the control function is completed in other parts of the base station system.

As can be seen from Fig. 1, there are three input ports, which are respectively the first input port 1031, the second input port 1032, and the third input port 1033; there are also three output ports, which are respectively the first output port 1041, the second An output port 1042 and a third output port 1043 . The three input ports are connected to four power amplifier units through a three-position four-throw (3P4T) electronic switch 1011, and the signal amplified by the four power amplifier units is connected to three output ports after passing through another 3P4T electronic switch 1012.

The realization of the backup function depends on two electronic switches, under the system control command 105, cooperate to realize the selection of the signal channel, so as to select the appropriate power amplifier unit to complete the signal amplification function.

Example to illustrate the implementation of the backup function: under normal conditions, the first power amplifier unit 1021, the second power amplifier unit 1022, and the third power amplifier unit 1023 all work normally, so the system selects these three power amplifiers to complete the signal amplification function, and the fourth power amplifier unit Unit 1024 is left on standby. The channel status of the two electronic switches is shown in Figure 1, select the channel connected to the first three power amplifiers.

Figure 2 shows an example to illustrate the channel switching situation when the second power amplifier unit fails. If the system finds that the second power amplifier unit 1022 fails, the system will issue control commands to the two electronic switches through the control line 105 to perform channel switching. switch. The two switches will disconnect the connection channel of the failed second power amplifier unit 1022 according to the command, and select the channel to the spare power amplifier unit——the channel connected to the fourth power amplifier unit 1024, thereby completing the backup power amplifier switching function, and It has little effect on the normal operation of the system.

It should be noted that, in addition to the 3+1 backup method, the above description is also applicable to the N+1 backup method with the same principle, except for the difference in the number of channels and power amplifier units, which will not be listed here.

In the existing technical solution, the backup power amplifier unit is usually idle, so its function cannot be reflected most of the time, and for customers, it is a great waste of resources, because in the wireless base station system , especially in WCDMA systems, the cost of the power amplifier unit accounts for a relatively large proportion of the cost of the entire base station (about 30% in the case of full configuration), and any customer hopes to make full use of resources to achieve the maximum benefit-cost ratio.

In addition, in the WCDMA system and some other systems, the transmission channel has a diversity branch, which can be used or not used. The benefit of using diversity is that the coverage of the downlink signal is increased, and the anti-jamming ability of the mobile terminal is improved. However, the above scheme design does not reflect the function of diversity, and usually does not support diversity, or the original system has diversity function, because the backup scheme is adopted, and the diversity function of the transmitter is wasted.

Contents of the invention

The purpose of the present invention is to propose a new method for power amplifier backup, which can provide the backup function of the power amplifier unit of the wireless communication base station, and when the power amplifier does not fail, it can also provide a backup channel to strengthen the ability of downlink coverage, and solve the problem of high reliability of the base station. The contradiction between the requirements and the reality of the lower reliability of the power amplifier module.

Another object of the present invention is to propose a device capable of implementing the above method.

In order to achieve the purpose of the present invention, a method for backing up a power amplifier is applicable to a wireless communication system, comprising the following steps:

a. N main set signals are respectively connected to N input ports and N power amplifiers, and the signals are amplified and output from N output ports respectively, where N is a positive integer not less than 1;

b. N-way diversity signals are respectively input from N input ports to the electronic switch of the first unit N-throw, and connected to a power amplifier through a pre-selected channel. After the signal is amplified, it is input to the electronic switch of the second unit N-throw, and selects the corresponding The channel output from the corresponding output port;

c. When the power amplifier of the M-th main set signal channel fails, the first unit N-throw electronic switch and the second unit N-throw electronic switch switch the channel to the diversity signal channel corresponding to the M-th main set signal channel, And transfer the service performed by the Mth main set signal channel to the diversity signal channel, where M is a positive integer smaller than N.

In step B, the channel is pre-selected according to the state control of the electronic switch.

The channel switching described in step c is completed by the system issuing a control command.

A device for implementing the power amplifier backup method, including N input ports and output ports, and N power amplifiers between the corresponding input ports and output ports, forming N parallel channels, and also includes a route N A backup input port and an output port, two unit N-throw electronic switches respectively connected to the input port and the output port, and a channel composed of a power amplifier between the two unit N-throw electronic switches, the channel and The N channels are parallel.

Also included is a line connecting the two unit N-throw electronic switches and the system.

By adopting the invention, the backup power amplifier can be fully utilized to achieve the best performance of the system. The backup power supply can flexibly support the diversity signal transmission of a certain channel when there is no need for backup at ordinary times, thus optimizing the system performance to a certain extent and improving the system utility; and reducing the cost, because in realizing the first key point Among the optional solutions, other solutions greatly increase the system cost and cannot be adopted in a certain sense, while this solution not only does not increase the cost, but also reduces the cost and achieves the same purpose; at the same time Diversity channels are used, other solutions do not use diversity channels, which reduces the reliability and performance of the system, because diversity not only assists the main channel, but also optimizes channel performance; when necessary, diversity can also be used as the backup of the main channel, completely Instead of the function of the main set; another advantage is that the control system in this scheme has not only played a simple switch control switching function, but in addition to controlling the switch switching, it also combines the functional coordination between the main set and the diversity, conversion, The desired configuration can thus be flexibly realized.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a power amplifier backup structure in a normal state in the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a power amplifier backup structure in a switching state in the prior art;

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of power amplifier backup structure under normal state in the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the power amplifier backup structure in the switching state in the present invention.

Detailed ways

The specific implementation manner of the present invention will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Still taking the three-way signal channel as an example to illustrate the power amplifier backup method and implementation device of the present invention. As shown in Figure 3, the power amplifier backup structure under the normal state of the present invention, the present invention divides the signal channel into two relatively independent parts:

The first part is the main set signal channel, and the three main set signals are respectively connected to three power amplifier units from the first input port 2031, the second input port 2032, and the third input port 2033: the first power amplifier unit 2021, the second power amplifier unit 2022 . The third power amplifying unit 2023, after the amplified signal is output from the first output port 2041, the second output port 2042, and the third output port 2043 respectively.

The second part is the diversity signal channel. The three-way diversity signal is input from the fourth input port 2034, the fifth input port 2035, and the sixth input port 2036 to a unit three-throw (SP3T) electronic switch 2011, and is connected to the spare power amplifier unit by selecting the channel. (PA-R) 2024, after the signal is amplified, it enters another SP3T electronic switch 2012, selects a channel accordingly and then outputs it from one of the fourth output port 2044, the fifth output port 2045, and the sixth output port 2046. The selection of the channel depends on the control of the state of the electronic switch, and the control is accomplished by the system issuing a control command through the control line 205 .

It should be pointed out that the electronic switch used in the present invention is of SP3T type, which is different from the electronic switch type 3P4T used in general backup solutions.

Under normal conditions, the first power amplifier unit 2021, the second power amplifier unit 2022, and the third power amplifier unit 2023 all work normally, so the system selects these three power amplifiers to complete the signal amplification function, and the standby power amplifier unit 2024 can be flexible according to the previous agreement. Select any channel of diversity amplification output, such as shown in Figure 3, this channel is used as the diversity channel from the first input port 2031 to the first output port 2041 through the first power amplifier unit 2021, and cooperates with it to realize the optimization capability of downlink coverage. At this time, the channel states of the two electronic switches are just as shown in FIG. 3 . At this time, the function of the backup power amplifier is well utilized to optimize part of the performance of the system without allowing resources to be idle.

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the power amplifier backup structure in the switching state in the present invention, as shown in Figure 4, if the system finds that the second power amplifier unit 2022 fails, the system will send control commands to the two electronic switches through the control line 205 to switch channels . The two switches will select the channel to the channel connected to the fifth output port 2045 through the fifth input port 2035 via the standby power amplifier 2024 according to the command, and through appropriate processing, the original business performed by the second power amplifier unit 2022 will be completely transferred to the channel. The backup power amplifier unit 2024 is completed, and the similar processing will be the channel formed by the first input port 2031 through the first power amplifier unit 2021 and then to the first output port 2041 and the channel formed by the fourth input port 2034 through the backup power amplifier unit 2024 and then to the fourth The business conversion completed by the channel formed by the output port 2044 is completed by the channel formed by the first input port 2031 through the first power amplifier unit 2021 and then to the first output port 2041, thereby completing the switching function of the backup power amplifier. Work was not seriously affected.

It should be noted that, except for the example backup method, the above description is also applicable to backup methods with the same principle, except for the difference in the number of channels and power amplifier units.

Compared with existing technical solutions, the present invention has the following advantages:

The backup power amplifier unit is no longer idle. When there is no power amplifier unit failure, the backup power amplifier unit is fully utilized, so that the customer's investment can be maximized;

The switch control method is simple, and compared with the general solution, the electronic switch here is relatively simple compared with the electronic switch in the prior art, which can save costs. In general backup solutions, the cost of electronic switches accounts for more than 50% of the total cost, so this change has certain benefits for cost reduction;

Make full use of diversity channels, especially in WCDMA systems, the protocol requires the function of transmit diversity; and the existing power amplifier backup scheme cannot have transmit diversity functions under the same configuration; and the use of diversity channels can optimize system performance and expand system capacity. Invest in greater benefits;

The application of the system makes the configuration flexible and easy to implement; the control system in the prior art simply plays the role of a control switch and does not play other functions; but the present invention only needs to add some functions to the software, and the cost can be ignored, so it can be flexibly Implemented more functions.

The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person familiar with the technology can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention. , should be covered within the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be determined by the protection scope of the claims.

Claims (5)

1, a kind of method of power amplifier backup is applicable in the wireless communication system, it is characterized in that may further comprise the steps:

A, the main collection signal in N road are connected with N power amplifier from N input port respectively, and respectively from N output port output, wherein N was not less than 1 positive integer after signal amplified;

B, N road diversity signal are input to the electronic switch that first N of unit throws from N input port respectively, connect a power amplifier by the passage of selecting in advance, signal is input to the electronic switch that second N of unit throws after amplifying, and selects corresponding passage to export from corresponding output port;

C, break down when the power amplifier of the main collection signalling channel in M road, first N of unit throw electronic switch and second N of unit throw electronic switch with passage switch to the corresponding diversity signal passage of the main collection signalling channel in M road on, and the business that the main collection signalling channel in M road is carried out forwards on this diversity signal passage, and wherein M is the positive integer less than N.

2, the method for claim 1 is characterized in that, described step B is according to electronic switch State Control selector channel in advance.

3, power amplifier backup method as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that: the switching of passage described in the step c issues control command by system and finishes.

4, a kind of device of realizing the described power amplifier backup method of claim 1, comprise N road input port and output port, and the power amplifier of the N between respective input mouth and output port, form the parallel passage in N road, it is characterized in that also comprising: route N road backup input port and output port, throw electronic switch and throw the passage of a power amplifier composition between the electronic switch at described two N of unit with two N of unit that described input port and output port are connected respectively, this passage and described N paths walk abreast.

5, device as claimed in claim 4 is characterized in that also comprising: one connects described two N of unit and throws the circuit of electronic switch and system.

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