KR20240021570A - base station for aerial network and beamforming method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A beamforming method performed by a base station for an airspace network according to an embodiment includes the steps of receiving a beam report containing reception information about at least one of a plurality of different beams from an aircraft that communicates using an airspace network, and determining beam information to be used toward the aircraft based on the received beam report.

Description

Base station for aerial network and beamforming method thereof {base station for aerial network and beamforming method thereof}

The present invention relates to a base station for an airspace network that supports wireless communication services through a airspace network and a beamforming method for the base station for this airspace network.

Recently, interest in urban air mobility (UAM) has been increasing, especially in developed countries, and Korea has also conducted a comprehensive demonstration of Korean-style urban air mobility and is on the verge of commercialization.

According to the Korean urban air traffic technology roadmap, the operating altitude of the UAM aircraft is expected to be approximately 300 to 600 meters, the maximum operating speed is expected to be approximately 320 km/h, and it is expected to be operated along a designated operating route.

Mobile communication base stations will be installed on the UAM aircraft's flight route to support data transmission and reception services for the UAM aircraft, and each base station is responsible for a certain range of communication, so that the UAM aircraft can achieve cell coverage of the airspace network provided by the base stations. Communication can be carried out within.

However, the UAM operation system through the airspace network is greatly affected by interference due to the coexistence of the LOS (line of sight) environment and the ground network. In particular, the uplink of the airspace network causes upward signal interference from UAM aircraft connected to adjacent airspace network base stations, upward signal interference from mobile communication terminals using the ground network, and adjacent airspace network interference due to the atmospheric ducting phenomenon. Various types of interference effects, such as interference from base stations for airspace networks, may occur, and since these interference effects change over time, it is very difficult to predict and minimize them.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2011-0014239, published on February 10, 2011.

According to an embodiment, a base station for an airspace network and a beamforming method thereof are provided to overcome various interference effects due to the characteristics of the airspace network by improving the performance of the communication link by increasing the signal reception strength of the communication link with the aircraft of the airspace network through beamforming. do.

The problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited to those mentioned above, and other problems to be solved that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains from the following description.

The beamforming method performed by the base station for the airspace network according to the first aspect includes the steps of receiving a beam report containing reception information for at least one of a plurality of different beams from an aircraft performing communication using the airspace network, the and determining beam information to be used toward the aircraft based on the received beam report.

The device base station for an airborne network according to the second aspect includes a communication unit that performs communication with an air vehicle through an airborne network, and a processor unit that controls the communication unit, wherein the processor unit is configured to select one of a plurality of different beams from the air vehicle. When receiving a beam report including at least one reception information, beam information to be used toward the aircraft is determined based on the received beam report.

According to the embodiment, in supporting wireless communication services through the airspace network, the performance of the communication link is improved by increasing the signal reception strength of the communication link with the aircraft of the airspace network through beamforming, thereby overcoming various interference effects due to the characteristics of the airspace network. do. Furthermore, by performing beamforming by selecting beam candidates based on the preset navigation path for the UAM aircraft of the UAM operation system, the effect of maximizing the performance of the communication link is maximized through beamforming optimized for the airspace network of the UAM operation system. there is.

Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of a UAM operation system including a base station for an airspace network according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a configuration diagram of a base station for an airspace network according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a beamforming performance situation of a base station for an airspace network according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a beamforming method performed by a base station for an airspace network according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of beamforming changing depending on the navigation path of the UAM aircraft in the UAM operation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The advantages and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will become clear with reference to the embodiments described below along with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below and may be implemented in various different forms. The present embodiments are merely provided to ensure that the disclosure of the present invention is complete and to be understood by those skilled in the art. It is provided to fully inform those who have the scope of the invention, and the present invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

The terms used in this specification will be briefly explained, and the present invention will be described in detail.

The terms used in the present invention are general terms that are currently widely used as much as possible while considering the function in the present invention, but this may vary depending on the intention or precedent of a person working in the art, the emergence of new technology, etc. In addition, in certain cases, there are terms arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in this case, the meaning will be described in detail in the description of the relevant invention. Therefore, the terms used in the present invention should be defined based on the meaning of the term and the overall content of the present invention, rather than simply the name of the term.

When it is said that a part 'includes' a certain element throughout the specification, this does not mean excluding other elements, but may further include other elements, unless specifically stated to the contrary.

Additionally, the term 'unit' used in the specification refers to software or hardware components such as FPGA or ASIC, and the 'unit' performs certain roles. However, 'wealth' is not limited to software or hardware. The 'part' may be configured to reside on an addressable storage medium and may be configured to run on one or more processors. Therefore, as an example, 'part' refers to components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, processes, functions, properties, procedures, Includes subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functionality provided within the components and 'parts' may be combined into a smaller number of components and 'parts' or may be further separated into additional components and 'parts'.

Below, with reference to the attached drawings, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail so that those skilled in the art can easily implement the present invention. In order to clearly explain the present invention in the drawings, parts unrelated to the description are omitted.

Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of a UAM operation system including a base station for an airspace network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the UAM operation system 100 may include a plurality of UAM aircraft 111, 112, and 113, a base station 120, a server 130, and UTM 140 (unmanned aircraft system traffic management). there is.

A plurality of UAM aircraft 111, 112, and 113 are operated along a navigation route according to navigation route information preset in the PSU (provider of service for UAM) within the UTM 140, and are operated on the base station 120 and the server 130. The airspace network 101 can be used within the cell coverage of the base station 120 in an environment where wireless communication is supported. Figure 1 shows three UAM vehicles (111, 112, and 113), but this is an example and the number of UAM vehicles can be changed.

The base station 120 provides a mobile communication service through the airspace network 101 to a UAM vehicle located within its cell coverage among a plurality of UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113. And, the base station 120 receives a beam report containing reception information for at least one of a plurality of different beams from a plurality of UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113, and transmits a plurality of UAM based on the received beam report. Beam information to be used for at least one of the aircraft 111, 112, and 113 is determined, and beamforming is performed according to the determined beam information. Although FIG. 1 shows one base station 120 as an example, the airspace network 101 may be formed by a set of cell coverage provided by a plurality of base stations 120, respectively. For example, the plurality of base stations 120 may each provide cell coverage to at least one cell among a plurality of mobile communication cells arranged in the direction of travel along the navigation path of the UAM aircraft 111, 112, and 113. Let's look at this base station 120 again with reference to FIG. 2.

The server 130 is connected to mobile communication cells that provide mobile communication for a plurality of UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113 based on the navigation route information of the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113 preset in the UTM 140. Information can be transmitted to the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113 through the base station 120. For example, when the commercial network 101 is implemented with 3GPP 4G/5G, the server 130 may be a mobility management entity (MME) or another entity constituting the core network.

The PSU in the UTM (140) determines and sets the operation route of the UAM aircraft (111, 112, 113) based on related information such as departure point, destination, operation time, weather environment, etc. of the UAM aircraft (111, 112, 113). and the navigation route information of the UAM aircraft 111, 112, and 113 set in this way can be provided to the server 130.

Figure 2 is a configuration diagram of the base station 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the base station 120 includes a communication unit 121 and a processor unit 122, and may further include a storage unit 123.

The communication unit 121 performs communication with a plurality of UAM aircraft 111, 112, and 113 through the airspace network 101 under the control of the processor unit 122.

The processor unit 122 controls the communication unit 121. When the communication unit 121 receives a beam report containing reception information for at least one of a plurality of different beams from the plurality of UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113, the processor unit 122 sends a message to the received beam report. Based on this, beam information to be used for at least one of the plurality of UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113 is determined and the communication unit 121 is controlled to perform beamforming according to the determined beam information.

The processor unit 122 can control the communication unit 121 to perform beam sweeping using a plurality of different beams before the communication unit 121 receives the beam report, and the beam report that the communication unit 121 receives includes Signal strength information of the beam received by the UAM aircraft 111, 112, and 113 among the plurality of different beams may be included. For example, the beam report may include signal strength information for two or more beams in order of greatest reception strength among a plurality of different beams, and when the processor unit 122 determines beam information to use, the two or more beams Any one beam information can be selected according to the result of comparison between the difference in signal strength and a preset threshold.

The processor unit 122 may select a beam candidate to be used within cell coverage based on the preset navigation path of the UAM vehicle 111, 112, and 113 before determining the beam information to be used, and when determining the beam information to be used, a beam report If the beam candidate used in the beam information included in and its surrounding beams do not exist, the signal strength of the communication link is likely to be lower than when using a wide beam due to the wrong beam direction, so the preset beam is used as beam information. You can decide. Alternatively, when determining beam information to be used, the processor unit 122 may determine the beam information included in the beam report as the beam information to be used if the beam information included in the beam report does not exist in the beam candidates to be used. Alternatively, when determining beam information to be used, the processor unit 122 determines the difference between the reception strengths of the use beam candidate and the surrounding direction beam if both the use beam candidate and the surrounding direction beam are present in the beam report, but the orders of greatest reception strength are different. According to the result of comparing and a preset threshold, a use beam candidate or a peripheral beam can be determined as the beam information to be used. In addition, the processor unit 122 may control the communication unit 121 to provide the results of adjusting the cycle of the beam report to the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113 depending on whether the beam report includes a beam candidate. there is.

The storage unit 123 may store various processing results by the processor unit 122 under the control of the processor unit 122. A computer program including instructions that cause the processor unit 122 to perform each step according to the beamforming method according to an embodiment of the present invention may be stored in the storage unit 123.

Figure 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a beamforming performance situation of a base station for an airspace network according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 4 is a flowchart for explaining a beamforming method performed by a base station for an airspace network according to an embodiment of the present invention. , Figure 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of beamforming changing depending on the navigation path of the UAM aircraft in the UAM operation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5, we will look at the beamforming process that the base station 120 performs for the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113 in the UAM operation system 100.

First, the PSU in the UTM 140 determines the navigation route of the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113 based on related information such as the departure point, destination, operation time, and weather environment of the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113. and can be set, and the information on the navigation path of the UAM aircraft 111, 112, and 113 set in this way is transmitted to the base station 120 in the airspace network 101 through the server 130.

Then, the communication unit 121 of the base station 120 receives information about the navigation routes of the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113 and provides it to the processor unit 122, and the processor unit 122 receives information about the navigation routes of the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113. According to the navigation route of 112, 113), a beam candidate to be used within the cell coverage managed by the user is selected.

Figure 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of beamforming changing according to the navigation path 501 of the UAM aircraft 111, 112, and 113 in the UAM operation system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. When the navigation path 501 of the UAM aircraft 111 passes through cell #1 coverage 511 and cell #2 coverage 512 as shown in FIG. 5, the base station 120 uses cell #1 coverage 511. When managing, the processor unit 122 can select a beam candidate to use by changing from beam #3 (523) to beam #2 (522), and the base station 120 can manage cell #2 coverage (512). In this case, the processor unit 122 can select a beam candidate to use by changing from beam #1 (521) to beam #2 (522) (S410).

Thereafter, the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113 may fly along a preset navigation route, and the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113 may respond to at least one of a plurality of different beams received from the base station 120. A beam report containing reception information is generated and transmitted to the base station 120 (S430). Here, before the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113 generate a beam report, the base station 120 detects the UAM vehicle through beam sweeping 302 for the cell coverage 301 it oversees, as shown in FIG. 3. (111, 112, 113) can support smooth creation of beam reports. For example, the base station 120 may sweep several beams to be used so that the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113 can measure each beam. For example, the base station 120 can form a beam using multiple active antennas arranged in two dimensions within an active antenna unit and use the beam to concentrate and transmit transmission energy in a specific location/direction. there is. At this time, the base station 120 can configure various beam shapes through trade-off of beam width and gain, and sweep beams of various shapes in the form of a synchronization signal block (SSB) (S420 ).

A beam report by the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113 may include signal strength information for two or more beams in order of greatest reception strength among a plurality of different beams. For example, the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113 may include information about three beams with high signal strengths among beams of various shapes transmitted from the base station 120 in the beam report.

The communication unit 121 of the base station 120 transmits the beam report received from the UAM vehicle 111, 112, and 113 to the processor unit 122, and the processor unit 122 transmits the UAM vehicle (UAM vehicle) based on the received beam report. Determine the beam information to be used toward 111, 112, and 113).

Here, the procedure for the base station 120 to determine beam information to use based on the beam report may be performed in various forms.

When determining beam information to be used toward the UAM aircraft 111, 112, and 113, the processor unit 122 of the base station 120 determines the difference in signal strength for two or more beams included in the beam report and a preset threshold value. Depending on the comparison result, any one beam information can be selected. For example, the two strongest beams #1 and beam #2 received from the UAM vehicles (111, 112, 113) within the beam #1 (521) area within the cell #2 coverage (512) of FIG. 5 are beam reports. In the case included in , the processor unit 122 may select beam #1 (521) as the beam information to be used in a general case, but the size difference between the two signal strengths, that is, the signal strength of beam #1 (521), beam #2 (522) ) Beam #2 (522) is selected as beam information to be used when the value obtained by subtracting the signal intensity is less than or equal to a preset threshold. On the other hand, as an example of the coverage 511 of cell #1, if the three strongest beams #1, beam #2, and beam #3 received from the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113 are included in the beam report, the processor Unit 122 operates in a general case, that is, the difference between the signal strengths of beam #3 (523) and beam #2 (522) and the difference between the signal strengths of beam #1 (521) and beam #2 (522) are set to a preset threshold. If the value is less than or equal to the value, beam #2 (522) is selected as the beam information to be used. Here, the size of the threshold used for beam selection and change may vary depending on the operating speed of the UAM vehicle (111, 112, 113). For example, the faster the operation speed of the UAM aircraft 111, 112, and 113, the larger the threshold value can be used.

In addition, when the processor unit 122 of the base station 120 determines the beam information to be used toward the UAM aircraft 111, 112, and 113, the beam candidate to be used and the surrounding beams do not exist in the beam information included in the beam report. In this case, a preset beam can be determined as beam information to be used. For example, if the beam information included in the beam report includes beam #5 (not shown), etc. in the area where the beam candidate to use in cell #2 coverage 512 of FIG. 5 is beam #1 (521), The processor unit 122 determines that beam #5 is not beam #1 and its surrounding beams (e.g., beam #0 and beam #2 shown in FIG. 3), and such an incorrect beam direction may result in lower signal intensity quality compared to non-directional transmission. Therefore, it is possible to secure a stable communication link by deciding to use a preset beam.

In addition, when the processor unit 122 of the base station 120 determines the beam information to be used toward the UAM vehicle 111, 112, and 113, if the beam information included in the beam report does not exist in the beam candidate to be used, it may be added to the beam report. The included beam information can be determined as the beam information to be used. For example, in an area where the used beam candidate within cell #2 coverage 512 of FIG. 5 is beam #1 (521), if the beam information included in the beam report includes beam #2 without beam #1, the processor unit (122) can determine beam #2 as beam information to be used toward the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113.

In addition, when the processor unit 122 of the base station 120 determines the beam information to be used toward the UAM vehicle 111, 112, and 113, both the use beam candidate and the surrounding direction beam are present in the beam report, but the reception strength is large. If the orders are different, the use beam candidate or the peripheral beam can be determined as the beam information to be used according to the result of comparing the difference in reception intensity between the use beam candidate and the surrounding direction beam and a preset threshold. For example, in the area of beam #1 (521) within cell #2 coverage 512 of FIG. 5, when the signal strength of beam #2 is the highest and the signal strength of beam #1 is next, beam #2 and beam # If the difference in signal strength of 1 is less than a preset threshold, beam #1, a candidate for use, can be determined as the beam information to be used, and if the difference in signal strength between beam #2 and beam #1 exceeds the preset threshold. Beam #2, which is a peripheral beam of the beam candidate to be used, can be determined as the beam information to be used (S440).

In addition, the processor unit 122 of the base station 120 transmits the result of adjusting the period of the beam report according to whether the beam report includes a use beam candidate to the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113, and the communication unit 121 ) can be controlled, and the communication unit 121 can transmit the result of adjusting the cycle of the beam report under the control of the processor unit 122 to the UAM vehicles 111, 112, and 113. If the beam report transmission cycle is shortened, information about the communication link of the UAM vehicle (111, 112, 113) can be received frequently, but in this case, it is pre-planned and selected according to the preset operation route of the UAM vehicle (111, 112, 113). This is because, if the beam change is successful, it may result in unnecessary waste of communication resources. Accordingly, the processor unit 122 may adjust the period of the beam report to be short when the use beam candidate is not included in the beam report, and adjust the period of the beam report to be long when the use beam candidate is included in the beam report. You can. In this way, the procedure for adjusting the beam report period may be performed in parallel with the procedure for determining beam information in step S440, or may be performed before or after the procedure for determining beam information in step S440 (S450).

The processor unit 122 controls the communication unit 121 to perform beamforming according to the determined beam information, and the communication unit 121 uses the beam determined in step S440 under the control of the processor unit 122 to form the UAM vehicle 111, Beamforming is performed for 112, 113).

Meanwhile, a computer program may be implemented to include instructions for causing a processor to perform each step included in the beamforming method performed by the airspace network base station 120 according to the above-described embodiment.

In addition, a computer program including instructions for causing a processor to perform each step included in the beamforming method performed by the airspace network base station 120 according to the above-described embodiment may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. .

As described so far, according to the embodiment of the present invention, in supporting wireless communication services through the airspace network, the performance of the communication link is improved by increasing the signal reception strength of the communication link with the aircraft of the airspace network through beamforming. Overcomes various interference effects due to network characteristics. Furthermore, by performing beamforming by selecting beam candidates based on the preset navigation path for the UAM aircraft of the UAM operation system, the effect of maximizing the performance of the communication link is maximized through beamforming optimized for the airspace network of the UAM operation system. there is.

Combinations of each step in each flowchart attached to the present invention may be performed by computer program instructions. Since these computer program instructions can be mounted on the processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing equipment, the instructions performed through the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing equipment perform the functions described in each step of the flowchart. It creates the means to carry out these tasks. These computer program instructions may also be stored on a computer-usable or computer-readable recording medium that can be directed to a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to implement a function in a particular way, so that the computer program instructions are computer-usable or computer-readable. The instructions stored in the recording medium can also produce manufactured items containing instruction means that perform the functions described in each step of the flowchart. Computer program instructions can also be mounted on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment, so that a series of operational steps are performed on the computer or other programmable data processing equipment to create a process that is executed by the computer, thereby generating a process that is executed by the computer or other programmable data processing equipment. Instructions that perform processing equipment may also provide steps for executing the functions described in each step of the flowchart.

Additionally, each step may represent a module, segment, or portion of code containing one or more executable instructions for executing specified logical function(s). Additionally, it should be noted that in some alternative embodiments it is possible for the functions mentioned in the steps to occur out of order. For example, two steps shown in succession may in fact be performed substantially simultaneously, or the steps may sometimes be performed in reverse order depending on the corresponding function.

The above description is merely an illustrative explanation of the technical idea of the present invention, and those skilled in the art will be able to make various modifications and variations without departing from the essential quality of the present invention. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical idea of the present invention, but are for illustrative purposes, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the present invention shall be interpreted in accordance with the claims below, and all technical ideas within the scope equivalent thereto shall be construed as being included in the scope of rights of the present invention.

100: UAM operation system
111, 112, 113: UAM aircraft
120: base station
121: Department of Communications
122: Processor unit

Claims (9)

As a beamforming method performed by a base station for an airspace network,
Receiving a beam report containing reception information about at least one of a plurality of different beams from an aircraft that communicates using an airspace network;
Comprising the step of determining beam information to be used toward the aircraft based on the received beam report.
Beamforming method for base stations for airspace networks. According to claim 1,
Further comprising performing beam sweeping using the plurality of different beams before receiving the beam report,
The beam report includes signal strength information of the beam received by the aircraft among the plurality of different beams.
Beamforming method for base stations for airspace networks. According to claim 1,
The beam report includes signal strength information for two or more beams in order of greatest reception strength among the plurality of different beams,
When determining the beam information to use, selecting one beam information according to a comparison result between the difference in signal strength for the two or more beams and a preset threshold.
Beamforming method for base stations for airspace networks. According to claim 1,
Further comprising selecting a beam candidate to be used within cell coverage based on a preset navigation path of the aircraft before determining the beam information to be used,
When determining the beam information to be used, a preset beam for which the use beam candidate and its surrounding beams do not exist in the beam report is determined as the use beam information.
Beamforming method for base stations for airspace networks. According to claim 1,
Further comprising selecting a beam candidate to be used within cell coverage based on a preset navigation path of the aircraft before determining the beam information to be used,
When determining the beam information to be used, if the beam information included in the beam report does not exist in the use beam candidate, the beam information included in the beam report is determined as the beam information to be used.
Beamforming method for base stations for airspace networks. According to claim 1,
Further comprising selecting a beam candidate to be used within cell coverage based on a preset navigation path of the aircraft before determining the beam information to be used,
When determining the beam information to be used, if both the use beam candidate and the surrounding direction beam are present in the beam report, but the order of large reception strengths is different, the difference between the receiving strengths of the use beam candidate and the surrounding direction beam is determined by the preset Determining the use beam candidate or the peripheral direction beam as the use beam information according to the result of comparing the threshold values
Beamforming method for base stations for airspace networks. According to claim 1,
selecting a beam candidate to be used within cell coverage based on a preset navigation path of the aircraft before determining the beam information to be used;
Further comprising providing a result of adjusting the period of the beam report to the aircraft according to whether the beam report includes the use beam candidate.
Beamforming method for base stations for airspace networks. A communications department that carries out communications through aircraft and airspace networks,
It includes a processor unit that controls the communication unit,
The processor unit,
When the communication unit receives a beam report containing reception information about at least one of a plurality of different beams from the aircraft, determines beam information to be used toward the aircraft based on the received beam report.
Base station for commercial network. According to claim 8,
The processor unit,
Controlling the communication unit to perform beam sweeping using the plurality of different beams before receiving the beam report,
The beam report includes signal strength information of the beam received by the aircraft among the plurality of different beams.
Base station for commercial network.

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