CN112154680B

CN112154680B - Multi-antenna mobile device and network device for wireless communication

Info

Publication number: CN112154680B
Application number: CN201880093196.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 阿帕斯托洛斯·库萨里达斯; 潘纳杰奥迪斯·斯帕皮斯; 塞尔绀·阿亚兹; 约瑟·弗朗西斯科·蒙赛拉特; 桑德拉·罗杰
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-05-08
Filing date: 2018-05-08
Publication date: 2022-05-13
Anticipated expiration: 2038-05-08
Also published as: WO2019214812A1; CN112154680A; EP3782391A1

Abstract

The present application provides a mobile device and a network device, respectively, for wireless communication, in particular V2X communication. The mobile device includes more than one antenna. The mobile device is configured to send capability information to the network device and/or another mobile device. The capability information includes an indication of a capability of the mobile device to communicate using the plurality of antennas and includes an antenna characteristic of at least one of the plurality of antennas. The network device is to receive capability information from the mobile device and determine a set of antennas to be used by the mobile device for communicating with another mobile device based on the received capability information. The network device is then operable to transmit information regarding the set of antennas to the mobile device. Alternatively, the mobile devices may exchange capability and characteristic information with each other to make a distributed selection regarding the best set of antennas to use.

Description

Multi-antenna mobile device and network device for wireless communication

Technical Field

The present application relates to mobile devices and network devices, respectively, for wireless communication. Thus, the mobile device is used to communicate with another mobile device, particularly utilizing multiple antennas, and the network device is used to select the multiple antennas for such communication between the mobile devices. The mobile devices and network devices of the present application are particularly well suited for vehicle-to-electrical (V2X) communications, such as vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure, and/or vehicle-to-pedestrian communications.

Background

With the advent of the autopilot function, the vehicles will be connected and the vehicles will communicate to exchange sensor data and planned trajectories. Autonomous driving sets stringent performance requirements (latency, reliability, capacity) for a 5G communication system. For example, an end-to-end delay of less than 10ms and a reliability of greater than 99.99% are required in order to support a wide range of V2X use cases (e.g., cooperative collision avoidance, high density in-line driving, cooperative sensing of self-driving vehicles, etc.; see 3GPP TS22.186 V.15.00: Service Requirements for enhanced V2X scenarios (Release 15), March 2017 (enhanced Service Requirements for V2X scenarios (Release 15), 3 months 2017)).

The availability of multiple antennas in future vehicles enables enhanced V2X communication with multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) or diversity techniques. Although in single antenna vehicle communications, transmission is assumed by default to occur between antennas located on the roofs of the transmitter and receiver vehicles, the fact shows that there are other antenna locations that may be more favorable (with lower path loss) for V2V communications depending on the particular communications environment.

For example, fig. 18 provides an overview of a sidelink communication scenario that utilizes multi-antenna link diversity. As shown in the upper part of fig. 18, one transmitter vehicle and two receiver vehicles are involved in the wireless communication, and the vehicles are equipped with a plurality of antennas. In the lower part of fig. 18, after the antenna set for communication is selected, each vehicle has a designated antenna set that is easy to operate to perform wireless communication.

However, existing LTE Radio Resource Control (RRC) and Radio Resource Management (RRM)/scheduling procedures for the sidelink focus only on the single antenna case. The above process is not designed for multi-antenna and multi-link V2X communication, where important new challenges arise, namely:

different types of vehicles may have different antenna locations and characteristics.

Due to the different characteristics of these antennas, a separate configuration of each antenna element and coordination between the antennas is required.

Multilink connectivity cannot be achieved in a coordinated manner.

The severe performance requirements (low latency, high reliability, etc.) of the V2X use case should be considered.

According to conventional solutions, some aspects of the sideline V2X communication may be configured, such as:

the User Equipment (UE) may transmit the radio access capability information to the E-UTRAN using a UE capability transmission procedure. However, these processes do not take into account the presence of multiple antennas and the specific characteristics that these antennas have.

The traditional sidelink procedure for resource allocation and scheduling focuses on a single antenna and does not consider multi-link V2V or multiple antennas.

Another related solution is to use MIMO in the sidelink as it is used in the downlink or uplink. MIMO-side links using antennas located in different parts of the vehicle have been considered in the literature, which represent important benefits in terms of capacity increase and reliability. However, there is currently no 3GPP standard that addresses MIMO in the sidelink.

With respect to selecting antennas for use in MIMO communication, most conventional solutions for massive MIMO require knowledge of the channel, which is a drawback for vehicular communication due to mobility. Other solutions for antenna selection/pairing for MIMO device-to-device (D2D) systems rely on multipath channel state information (not suitable for high mobility environments), and the complexity of the above solutions grows as the number of antenna and D2D pairs grows.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above challenges and shortcomings, the present application is directed to improving upon conventional solutions. The present application is directed to extending the traditional implementations of wireless communications, such as 5G Medium Access Control (MAC), RRC, and Radio Resource Management (RRM) procedures, to take advantage of the diversity of multiple antenna links. Thus, wireless sidelink communications are particularly contemplated. The present application is particularly intended to select the most appropriate set of antennas for wireless communication between two mobile devices, for example for V2V communication between two vehicles, taking into account in particular road and wireless conditions. Further, the present application contemplates the ability to coordinate the establishment of multiple links between two or more mobile devices using different antennas for a particular (e.g., V2X) service in order to increase reliability, capacity, and improve latency of communications. Network-based (mode 3 in LTE standard terminology) and autonomous (mode 4 in LTE standard terminology) multi-antenna resource control and allocation should be considered.

It is therefore an object of the present application to provide a network device, a mobile device, and a method that enable and support antenna selection for improved wireless communication. In particular, the present application is intended to enable support of antenna selection for improved wireless V2X communication.

The object of the present application is achieved by the solution presented in the attached independent claims. Advantageous embodiments of the present application are further defined in the dependent claims.

In particular, the present application proposes to enhance wireless communication, in particular V2X communication, based on antenna selection for mobile device to mobile device (e.g. vehicle sidelink) communication. Thus, it is possible to: a) the antenna selection decision is made in a centralized manner (based on network-based control/coordination), e.g., by a Base Station (BS), an Access Management Function (AMF) in a 5G network, a cloud server operated or not by an MNO, or any other network device operation, or b) by an autonomous mobile device (e.g., a vehicle; based on control/coordination of the vehicle) makes antenna selection decisions in a distributed manner. To develop this idea and to build multilinks, the following solutions are generally developed:

the signaling used by the mobile device informs the network device or other surrounding mobile devices about the ability of the mobile device to communicate using multiple antennas and the antenna characteristics.

Signaling information of radio conditions and road conditions, relative location, from the mobile device to the network devices or other surrounding mobile devices to support decision making to select the best antenna pair for a particular (V2X) service.

In the case of centralized decision-making, the required configuration and selection (or updating) of the appropriate antenna set for transmission and reception is signaled from the network device to the involved mobile devices.

In case of centralized decision, the network-based scheduling procedure allocates resources in multi-link and multi-antenna communication between mobile devices using standard measurements.

In the case of decentralized decisions, signaling between mobile devices to select (or update) the appropriate set of antennas and the required configuration for transmission and reception.

The present application generally provides a simple, low complexity method of selecting the best subset of antennas for transmission and reception based on context information to improve, for example, SISO/MIMO V2X. The following advantages are generally provided:

increase reliability and availability of offered communication services through antenna selection and multi-link establishment.

Avoid finding orthogonal pilot sequences for all antennas of nearby mobile devices.

Avoiding the exchange of a large number of pilots between vehicles in order to estimate the channel from all transmit antennas to the receive antennas.

There is no performance degradation due to mobility.

There is no high complexity solution for selecting the best antenna on which MIMO should be implemented.

A first aspect of the present application provides a mobile device for wireless communication, the mobile device comprising more than one antenna and being configured to transmit capability information to a network device and/or another mobile device, the capability information comprising: an indication of a capability of the mobile device to communicate using a plurality of antennas, an antenna characteristic of at least one of the plurality of antennas.

For example, the antenna characteristics may include the number of antenna elements, the location of the antenna, frequency-dependent parameters, radiation patterns, vehicle type (e.g., bus, truck), location of the vehicle, and so forth.

Selecting a set of antennas for communication between the mobile device of the first aspect and the other mobile device is supported by sending capability information to the network device and/or the other mobile device. The selection of the set of antennas may be performed at the network device or in a cooperative manner between at least the mobile device and the other mobile devices. In particular, the antenna set may be selected by the antenna characteristics provided in order to achieve improved communication in terms of reliability, capacity, and time delay.

In an embodiment of the first aspect, the mobile device is configured to send the capability information to the network device and/or another mobile device in a control plane message and/or an application layer message.

The control plane message particularly comprises a radio resource control user equipment information message similar to a radio resource control user equipment (RRC UE) capability information message in LTE. The application layer messages particularly include Cooperative Awareness Messages (CAM). Note that from now on, the radio control protocol (having a similar function to that of LTE) will be used interchangeably with the radio resource control protocol.

In other embodiments of the first aspect, the mobile device is further configured to send support information to the network device and/or another mobile device, where the support information includes at least one of: wireless conditions and/or network conditions, environmental conditions (in particular road environmental conditions).

This improves the selection of the best set of antennas for wireless communication, particularly in view of the current communication environment of the mobile device.

In other embodiments of the first aspect, the mobile device is further configured to send support information to the network device and/or the another mobile device, where the support information includes at least one of: the at least one other mobile device is in particular a direction and/or a relative position with respect to the mobile device, a direction and/or a speed of movement and/or an estimated short-term path of the at least one other mobile device.

These parameters help to select the correct (best) antenna from the multiple antennas of the mobile device for communication with other mobile devices.

In other embodiments of the first aspect, the mobile device is further configured to send support information to the network device and/or the another mobile device, where the support information includes at least one of: service type and/or transmission mode (e.g., multicast, unicast, broadcast), service duration, service period, and/or service characteristics.

This further improves the selection of the antenna set.

In other embodiments of the first aspect, the mobile device is further configured to transmit the support information by one of: according to requirements from external devices, in particular from network devices and/or other mobile devices; not on demand, specifically a connection request message; periodically, in particular measurement reports.

The support information may be transmitted in one or more of the following: uplink and/or downlink control plane messages; a sidelink control plane message; and (4) dynamically reporting the message.

Such as RRC connection handling messages and/or non-access stratum (NAS) service request information messages, and/or RRC side row UE information messages.

In a further embodiment of the first aspect, the mobile device is further configured to determine a set of antennas, in particular used by the mobile device for communicating with the further mobile device, based on the capability information and/or the support information received from the further mobile device, and to send information about the determined set of antennas to the further mobile device.

In this way, the mobile device can determine the set of antennas without network assistance. The transmission may be part of a transmission of capability information as defined in the first aspect. The set of antennas may include antenna configurations for the mobile device and/or for other mobile devices. The determination of the set of antennas may involve two communicating mobile devices or a group of mobile devices.

In other embodiments of the first aspect, the mobile device is configured to send information about the determined set of antennas in the control plane sidelink message, in particular in at least one of: sci (sidelink control information) message, sidelink UE-to-UE information message, RRC-like sidelink message.

In other embodiments of the first aspect, the mobile device is further configured to allocate a set of resources for communicating with the other mobile device using the determined set of antennas.

Both devices may use these resources to communicate with a defined set of antennas. Communication between mobile devices is significantly improved in terms of reliability, capacity, and latency.

In other embodiments of the first aspect, the mobile device is further configured to receive, from the network device and/or another mobile device, in particular the another mobile device, information comprising a set of antennas to be used for communicating with the another mobile device.

The information about the set of antennas may include information about which antennas of its own antennas should be used for communication with other mobile devices. And the information of the set of antennas may comprise information from one or more antennas of another device, which information should be used to configure the transmission, in particular to configure beam pointing, etc.

In other embodiments of the first aspect, the determining the set of antennas may be performed according to one or more of the following: according to predefined rules; a request based on another mobile device and/or network device; repeatedly, in particular based on channel measurements.

A second aspect of the present application provides a network device for mobile communication, the network device being configured to receive capability information from a mobile device, the capability information comprising: the method includes receiving capability information from a mobile device, determining an indication of a capability of the mobile device to communicate using a plurality of antennas, determining an antenna set to be used by the mobile device for communicating with another mobile device based on the received capability information, and transmitting information about the antenna set to the mobile device.

The network device may determine the set of antennas based on the received information, such that by using the determined antennas, the communication between the mobile device and the further mobile device is significantly improved, in particular in terms of reliability, capacity, and latency.

The set of antennas may include one of:

a) one or more Tx antennas of a transmitting mobile device for communication with a group or a specific receiving mobile device.

b) One or more Tx antennas and Rx antennas of a transmitting mobile device for communicating with a group or a specific receiving mobile device.

c) One or more Tx antennas of the transmitting mobile device and one or more Rx antennas of the one or more receiving mobile devices.

d) One or more Tx antennas and Rx antennas for a group of mobile devices participating in a service.

In an embodiment of the second aspect, the network device is further configured to inform the mobile device and optionally the other mobile device of the determined set of antennas.

This improves communication between mobile devices.

In other embodiments of the second aspect, the network device is configured to inform the determined set of antennas in a control plane message, in particular at least one of: a radio resource control message or any radio control message, a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message, and/or a Sidelink Control Information (SCI) message.

In other embodiments of the second aspect, the network device is configured to receive the support information from the mobile device by one of: according to requirements from external devices, in particular network devices and/or other mobile devices; not on demand, in particular a connection request message; periodically, in particular measurement reports.

The supporting information may include at least one of: radio conditions and/or network conditions; environmental conditions, in particular road environmental conditions; a direction and/or relative position of at least one other mobile device with respect to the mobile device; a direction and/or speed of movement and/or an estimated short-term path of at least one other mobile device; a service type and/or a transmission mode; service duration, service period, and/or service characteristics.

In other embodiments of the second aspect, the network device is configured to determine the set of antennas additionally based on the support information.

This means that the network device is configured to determine the set of antennas based on the capability information and the support information. This significantly improves the determination of the optimal antenna set.

In other embodiments of the second aspect, the determining the set of antennas may be performed according to one or more of the following: according to predefined rules; based on a request of another mobile device and/or another network device; repeatedly, in particular based on channel measurements.

In other embodiments of the second aspect, the network device is configured to propagate the support information received from the mobile device to one or more other mobile devices.

In other embodiments of the second aspect, the network device is configured to allocate a set of resources for the mobile device to communicate with the other mobile device using the determined set of antennas.

In other embodiments of the second aspect, the network device is configured to allocate the first subset of the set of resources to the first subset of the set of antennas and to allocate the second subset of the set of resources to the second subset of the set of antennas.

In other embodiments of the second aspect, the network device is configured to transmit the allocated set and/or subset of resources to the mobile device, particularly in a Downlink Control Information (DCI) message.

A third aspect of the present application provides a method for a mobile device, the method comprising signaling capability information to a network device and/or another mobile device, the capability information comprising: an indication of a capability of the mobile device to communicate using a plurality of antennas, an antenna characteristic of at least one of the plurality of antennas.

In an embodiment of the third aspect, the method comprises sending the capability information to the network device and/or the further mobile device in a control plane message and/or an application layer message.

In other embodiments of the third aspect, the method comprises sending support information to the network device and/or to the another mobile device, the support information comprising at least one of: wireless conditions and/or network conditions, environmental conditions, in particular road environmental conditions.

In other embodiments of the third aspect, the method includes sending support information to the network device and/or the another mobile device, the support information including at least one of: the at least one other mobile device is in particular a direction and/or a relative position with respect to the mobile device, a direction and/or a speed of movement and/or an estimated short-term path of the at least one other mobile device.

In other embodiments of the third aspect, the method includes sending support information to the network device and/or the another mobile device, the support information including at least one of: service type and/or transmission mode, service duration, service period, and/or service characteristics.

In other embodiments of the third aspect, the method includes transmitting the support information by one of: according to a request from an external device, in particular from a network device and/or another mobile device; not on demand, specifically a connection request message; periodically, in particular measurement reports.

In further embodiments of the third aspect, the method comprises determining a set of antennas, in particular used by the mobile device for communicating with the further mobile device, based on capability information and/or support information received from the further mobile device, and sending information about the determined set of antennas to the further mobile device.

In other embodiments of the third aspect, the method comprises sending information about the determined set of antennas in a control plane sidelink message, in particular in at least one of: SCI message, sidestream UE to UE information message, RRC-like sidestream message.

In other embodiments of the third aspect, the method includes allocating a set of resources for communicating with the other mobile device using the determined set of antennas.

In other embodiments of the third aspect, the method comprises receiving information comprising a set of antennas to be used for communication with the further mobile device from a network device and/or the further mobile device, in particular the further mobile device.

In other embodiments of the third aspect, the determining the set of antennas may be performed according to one or more of the following: according to predefined rules; a request based on another mobile device and/or network device; repeatedly, in particular based on channel measurements.

A fourth aspect of the present application provides a method for a network device, the method comprising receiving capability information from a mobile device, the capability information comprising: an indication of a capability of the mobile device to communicate using the plurality of antennas, an antenna characteristic of at least one antenna of the plurality of antennas of the mobile device, a set of antennas to be used by the mobile device for communicating with another mobile device is determined based on the received capability information.

In an embodiment of the fourth aspect, the method comprises notifying the mobile device and optionally the further mobile device of the determined set of antennas.

In other embodiments of the fourth aspect, the method comprises notifying the determined set of antennas in a control plane message, in particular at least one of: an RRC connection reconfiguration message, a downlink control information DCI message, and/or an sidestream control information SCI message.

In other embodiments of the fourth aspect, the method includes receiving support information from the mobile device by one of: according to requirements from external devices, in particular network devices and/or other mobile devices; not on demand, specifically a connection request message; periodically, in particular measurement reports.

In other embodiments of the fourth aspect, the method includes determining the set of antennas additionally based on the supporting information.

In other embodiments of the fourth aspect, the determining the set of antennas may be performed according to one or more of the following: according to predefined rules; based on a request of another mobile device and/or another network device; repeatedly, in particular based on channel measurements.

In other embodiments of the fourth aspect, the method includes propagating support information received from the mobile device to one or more other mobile devices.

In other embodiments of the fourth aspect, the method includes allocating a set of resources for the mobile device to communicate with the other mobile device using the determined set of antennas.

In other embodiments of the fourth aspect, the method includes allocating a first subset of the set of resources to a first subset of the set of antennas and allocating a second subset of the set of resources to a second subset of the set of antennas.

In other embodiments of the fourth aspect, the method comprises transmitting the allocated set and/or subset of resources to the mobile device, particularly in a DCI message.

It should be noted that all devices, elements, units and means described in the present application may be implemented as software or hardware elements or any type of combination thereof. All steps performed by the various entities described in the present application, as well as the functions described as being performed by the various entities, are intended to mean that the respective entities are adapted or used to perform the respective steps and functions. Even if in the following description of specific embodiments specific functions or steps to be performed by an external entity are not reflected in the description of specific detailed elements of the entity performing the specific steps or functions, it should be clear to a person skilled in the art that these methods and functions may be implemented by corresponding software or hardware elements or any kind of combination thereof.

Drawings

The foregoing aspects and embodiments of the present application will be explained in the following description of specific embodiments with reference to the figures, in which

In the drawings

Fig. 1 shows a mobile device according to an embodiment of the application.

Fig. 2 illustrates a network device according to an embodiment of the application.

Fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary decision process for antenna set selection at a network device according to an embodiment of the application.

Fig. 4 exemplarily shows a message sequence chart for multi-antenna capability indicated in RRC.

Fig. 5 illustratively shows a message sequence chart with the option of reporting multi-antenna context information from the mobile device.

Fig. 6 shows an exemplary configuration of context information reporting elements and periods.

Fig. 7 illustrates an initial antenna selection and an update of antenna selection, illustratively using RRC-connectivity reconfiguration.

Fig. 8 shows dynamic antenna selection using exemplary scheduling grant messages (DCI and SCI).

Fig. 9 shows the use of DCI5A bits for antenna selection.

Fig. 10 illustrates downlink signaling for DCI-based dynamic antenna selection.

Fig. 11 shows uplink signaling for DCI-based dynamic antenna selection.

Fig. 12 shows an example of cooperative antenna selection for transmitting messages from mobile devices (vehicle 2 to vehicle 1 and vehicle 3) using signaling.

Fig. 13 uses notification of antenna selection by SCI.

Fig. 14 shows the signalling for setting up the signalling radio bearer 3.

Fig. 15 shows an exemplary antenna selection field configured using the sidelinkuetouueinformation.

FIG. 16 illustrates a method according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 17 illustrates a method according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 18 shows an overview of a conventional sidestream communication scenario utilizing multi-antenna link diversity.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a mobile device 100 comprising more than one antenna 101 according to an embodiment of the application. The mobile device 100 is used, for example, for wireless communication with the network device 110 and/or another mobile device 100 (which may have the same capabilities as the device 100). The mobile device 100 may be, for example, a UE and/or disposed at a vehicle. In the latter case, the mobile device 100 can wirelessly communicate with another mobile device 100 provided at another vehicle (V2V). Generally, mobile device 100 may be used for V2X communications.

According to the present application, the mobile device 100 is configured to transmit the capability information 102 to the network device 110 and/or the another mobile device 100 as described above. The capability information 102 comprises at least an indication 103 of a capability of the mobile device 100 to communicate using the plurality of antennas 101 and at least one antenna characteristic 104 of at least one of the plurality of antennas 101 of the mobile device 100.

Fig. 2 accordingly illustrates a network device 110 according to an embodiment of the application. The network device 110 is used, for example, for wireless communication with the mobile device 100 and/or another mobile device 100 as described above. The network device 110 may be, for example, a BS or other network access node. The network device 110 may communicate wirelessly with the mobile device 100, for example, disposed at a vehicle. Network device 110 may be used for cellular intelligent transport system (C-TSI) communications.

According to the present application, the network device 110 is configured to receive capability information 102 from the mobile device 100. The capability information 102 comprises at least an indication 103 of a capability of the mobile device 100 to communicate using the plurality of antennas 101 and at least one antenna characteristic 104 of at least one of the plurality of antennas 101 of the mobile device 100.

Further, the network device 100 is configured to determine a set of antennas to be used by the mobile device 100 for communicating with another mobile device 100 based on the received capability information 102. The network device 100 is also configured to send information 200 about the set of antennas to the mobile device 100.

In the manner described above, the mobile device 100 shown in fig. 1 and the network device 110 shown in fig. 2 enable selection of a set of antennas from among the multiple antennas 101 of the mobile device 100 for better (i.e., increased reliability and capacity and improved latency) wireless communication with other mobile devices 100 (or multiple other mobile devices 100).

The mobile device 100 and network device 110 shown in fig. 1 and 2, respectively, may, among other things, enhance V2V communication by allowing multiple antenna selection when using a sidelink between the mobile device 100 on one vehicle and another mobile device 100 on another vehicle. Network-based (mode 3 in LTE standard) and autonomous (mode 4 in LTE standard) multi-antenna resource control and allocation can thus be considered.

The solution of the present application based on the mobile device 100 and the network device 110 comprises not only antenna set selection and related signaling used by the mobile device 100 to inform the network device 110 about the multi-antenna communication capability 103 and the antenna characteristics 104 of the plurality of antennas 101, but also signaling, e.g. (vehicle) context information for further supporting the selection of the best antenna set, or signaling to the mobile device 100 about any updates in the above selected or selected antenna sets. In addition, the present application also includes scheduling procedures for allocating resources in such use case scenarios (particularly by using, for example, standard measurements).

Fig. 3 shows an overview of various exemplary steps of a network-based decision process at the network device 110 when one or more mobile devices 100 request multi-antenna V2V communications for a particular V2X service. Upon receiving the request, network device 110 may identify antennas 101 supported by the vehicle involved (i.e., mobile device 100). Network device 110 may then check the service requirements of V2X. The network device 110 may then check the relative position between the road environmental conditions (e.g., intersections, obstacles) and the mobile device 100. Network device 110 may also check for radio conditions. Finally, the network device 110 is used to decide the set of antennas to be used by the vehicle 100 in question for a particular V2X service. The decision may be made at, for example, the BS, a core network entity, or a cloud server as network device 110.

In the following, more details are described regarding notifying network device 110 of the ability of mobile device 100 to communicate using multiple antennas 101.

As shown in fig. 4, the mobile device 100 (vehicle) may inform the network device 110(BS) of the capabilities 103 of the mobile device 100 for communicating using multiple antennas 101 and the characteristics 104 of these antennas, for example by extending an RRC UE capability information (RRC UE capability information) message with a new field. This Capability information 102 may be sent during the initial attach procedure, or on demand by the network device 110 (RRC UE Capability inquiry), or on an updated basis, for example if the antenna on the vehicle bumper is affected by some kind of collision (event-based).

The information indicated by the multi antenna capability (MultiantennaCapability) field proposed in the present application may be as follows: the number of antennas 101 placed, the location of the antennas 101, frequency-dependent characteristics (frequency range, radiation pattern, etc.), gain, and vehicle level plus type indication (e.g., truck, van, bus, etc.). The fact that the vehicle 100 supports antenna selection may be indicated by a multi-antenna capability (MultiantennaCapability) field present in a UE capability information (UECapabilityInformation) message.

Next, the signaling used by the mobile device 100 to support selection of a set of antennas by the network device 110 is described in more detail.

In particular, contextual information may be provided to the network device 110 from, for example, a mobile device 100 (or multiple mobile devices 100) located in different vehicles in order to support decisions on the selection of, for example, an optimal set of antennas for a particular V2X service. Two different options are considered: a) information provisioning and specific service or connection requests for V2V communication between two or a group of mobile devices 100; and b) periodic reporting or event driven updating of context information from the mobile device 100 to the network device 110.

Fig. 5 shows exemplary signaling steps for two options for multi-antenna context information reporting for the mobile device 100 (vehicle). The report may be provided to a BS, a core network entity, or an application server (e.g., a cloud server) controlled by a network operator or a third party as network device 110.

In both options, it is proposed to include a new Multi-antenna context information (Multi-antenna context information) field for statically or dynamically selecting the set of antennas (one or more antennas) to be used for transmitting/receiving data to/from the vehicle 100, and not exclusively including the following (sub) elements:

the position of the transmitting and receiving vehicles, the direction or relative position between the vehicles 100: position (x, y, z-universal transverse mercator, UTM) + height), short-term path, speed, direction of movement of vehicle 100.

Road environmental conditions (e.g., surrounding elements such as vehicles, buildings, bridges, etc., the topography of the surrounding terrain).

Service layer information: the type of service of the message to be sent, the desired transmission mode (e.g., queued drive service, multicast, etc.), the service duration, period, and characteristics.

Radio/network conditions. Two possible examples: reporting a total power measured by each antenna or reporting a Channel Busy Ratio (CBR) measured by each antenna.

Network device 110 may configure periodic or event-driven reporting of context information using an RRC connection reconfiguration (RRC connection reconfiguration) message or using a new dedicated message. For event-driven reporting, the criteria and required content to trigger a context update may be provided by network device 110 and may be predetermined or may be determined by default and modified by network device 110. Possible criteria for reporting location may be a change in location of "x" meters, a change in direction of movement of "x" degrees, or a change in velocity of "x" m/s. The criteria for reporting the road environmental condition may be, for example, the presence or absence of an obstacle in a communication path (e.g., a path between an antenna and an intended receiver) of the vehicle 100.

For periodic reporting elements and reporting periods to be reported, configuration may be made between the mobile device 100 (vehicle) and the network device 110(BS) as described in fig. 6.

Further, more details regarding notifying the involved mobile devices 100 of antenna selection are now described.

Once the network device 110 has decided on the antenna set selection, the next step is to inform the involved mobile devices 100 (here each mobile device is, illustratively, disposed at the vehicle) of the required configuration for transmission and reception and the selection (or update) of the appropriate antenna set. The network device 110 (here, the BS, for example) will be responsible for statically or dynamically configuring the antenna selection for transmission/reception of the vehicle.

For initial antenna selection, an extended RRC _ Connection _ Reconfiguration message is proposed to allocate a particular set of antennas for a particular service among the group of vehicles 100 involved. As shown in fig. 7, a transmit and/or receive antenna may be selected for each V2X service, e.g., via an sl-V2X-ConfigDedicated field. The new field of the sl-V2X-ConfigDedacted element may be:

a transmit antenna selection bitmap with a fixed size MAX _ NB _ V2X _ antenna (0 not selected, 1 selected).

A receive antenna selection bitmap with a fixed size MAX _ NB _ V2X _ antenna (0 not selected, 1 selected).

When an update on the initial allocation is required due to a change in the environment or radio/service/road conditions (dynamic antenna selection), there are two options: a) updated by an updated RRC _ Connection _ Reconfiguration message (as described above) or b) updated by a scheduling grant (scheduling grant) message (e.g., DCI and SCI).

For the second option, the Downlink Control Information (DCI) and Sidelink Control Information (SCI) messages may be extended to allocate to the transmitting mobile device 100 or inform the receiving mobile device 100 of the set of antennas (one or more of the multiple antennas 101 of the transmitting device 100) to be used in a more dynamic manner.

In fig. 8, it can be observed that for the sidelink, a new version of DCI5A may be used to indicate the set of transmit antennas to be used by the transmitting mobile device 100 (vehicle 1), and possibly the set of antennas to be used by the receiving mobile device 100 (vehicle 2). The sidelink transmitter then uses the SCI with the new field to inform the receiver on the sidelink of the set of transmit antennas used and/or the set of receive antennas that should be used. This may require a new version of the SCI.

The maximum length of DCI5A is 32 bits. In case the information to be allocated is less than 32 bits, 0 padding may be applied. In general, in conventional transmission, using 23 bits means that 9 bits are unused.

Instead of directly encoding TXAntennaSelection and RXAntennaSelection, it is proposed to indicate the configuration index and to signal the TXAntennaSelection and RXAntennaSelection sequences in the last RRCConnectionReconfiguration message for the particular sidelink transmission indicated in the DCI old field. An example of such antenna coding is shown in fig. 9.

The remaining 9 bits may optionally be divided into two parts, for example: first, e.g., 1 bit, is used to indicate whether there are two simultaneous transmissions. This makes diversity applicable to sidestream transmissions. The remaining 8 bits are used to encode two pairs of group selections (4 bits per pair).

Regarding the update of DCI format 5A (see original content in TS 36.212), a new version (DCI 5AU) may have the following new fields allocated in 9 bits: an indicator of a fixed size transmit and receive selection pair with a diversity option of 0 (no diversity, 1 with diversity) and 8 bits (if diversity equals 0) or twice 4 bits (if diversity equals 1) is used.

Note that the optional option would be to have a TX-RX antenna pair option table (in e.g. Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) table) and either signal this option table directly in RRCConnectionReconfiguration or signal the correct entry in the table in DCI. As an example, a subset (of TX-RX antenna pairs for each transmitter and receiver) may be identified using RRC signaling and specific values in the subset may be identified using DCI.

Once the transmitting mobile device 100 is informed of the network device's 110 decision regarding transmitting and receiving antennas, the destination mobile device 100 is also informed of the antenna selection for a group of communicating mobile devices 100. This may be done by signaling from the network device 110 to the target mobile device 100, or by using the network device 110 for signaling between mobile devices 100 (e.g., vehicles) to also signal to the target mobile device about antenna selection and configuration in reception, or via an extension of an already existing indicator. In the latter case, the SCI is an appropriate message with a corresponding extension. Also, the idea is to use the currently padded bits to embed the required information therein. SCI format 1 update (see original content in TS 36.212) will have a new field for resource reservation using only 4 remaining bits, but an extension of multi-antenna operation can be proposed: option 1) has a fixed size MAX _ NB _ antenna selection bitmap (0 unselected, 1 selected), or option 2) includes a destination ID and TRX and rxantenna selection data, i.e., an antenna selection bitmap for that destination.

Or, even antenna selection may be performed for cellular Downlink (DL) communication or Uplink (UL) communication. In these cases, the DCI based signaling will be different. In particular, for DL, in order to inform a DL receiver of a set of receiving antennas to be used, DCI1, 1X, 2X should be modified to include an antenna group selection field (see fig. 10).

For the UL, to indicate to the UL transmitter the set of transmit antennas to be used, the DCIs 0 and 4 may be modified to include an antenna group selection field (see fig. 11).

Hereinafter, a network-based scheduling procedure for allocating resources in multi-link and multi-antenna V2V communication is described in more detail.

The scheduling grant contained in DCI format 5A may be used to allocate resources and may also be used in a multi-antenna configuration when all antennas use the same set of resources. However, if the goal is to assign different sets of resources to different sets of antennas, two options are possible:

new DCI defined as an array of DCI 5AU, with as many elements as the set of antennas to be distinguished.

Multiple DCI5 AUs may be transmitted to the mobile device 100 in a subframe, each DCI 5AU having a different set of selected antennas, the mobile device 100 should be able to receive multiple DCIs simultaneously.

According to 3GPP, it is not possible today to explicitly allocate resources to a specific service, since the scheduling grant does not have this information. To make this explicit allocation, two alternatives are proposed:

DCI 5AU may be extended by adding a field with a service indicator.

DCI 5AU may have elements (resource-antenna sets) of each logical channel identified by ProSe Per Packet Priority (PPPP) in order of decreasing priority.

The latter two capabilities may also be combined to assign a particular set of resources to a particular set of antennas and a particular service.

Regarding measurements used to make appropriate scheduling decisions, these measurements, such as CBR or RSSI measurements, may take into account the same context information as described above as input information to make multi-antenna configuration decisions. Note that different context information may require different periodicity (e.g., location will not change as quickly as CBR or RSSI).

In the following, wireless communication between mobile devices 100, in particular vehicle-based multi-antenna V2V communication, is described in more detail.

In contrast to the above, the mobile device 100 (in the following exemplary vehicle) may also make antenna selection decisions in an autonomous manner. In this case, the most convenient set of antennas is selected by each vehicle 100 for transmission to any destination vehicle 100 or to a group of vehicles 100. Also, the transmission decision should be shared with other vehicles 100 so that other vehicles 100 can use the same configuration for the return channel and prepare for reception. With respect to such vehicle-based multiple antenna selection, there are two options:

1. with network support:

vehicle 100 provides contextual information to network device 110 for collection via the upstream interface.

The network device 110 propagates the context information to the vehicle 100.

The multi-antenna selection does not occur on the network side and is therefore not communicated to the vehicle 100 as in the network-based approach.

Instead, the vehicle 100 makes the antenna selection decision based on contextual information about the neighboring vehicle 100 provided by the network device 110.

The decision is communicated to the neighboring vehicle 100.

2. Out of coverage/without any network coordination:

all context information should be exchanged locally using the sidelink channel, e.g. using evolved application layer messages (CAM-like messages) or control plane messages with context data.

The decision to antenna selection is made by the vehicle 100 (in a distributed and/or cooperative manner) and communicated to the neighboring vehicles 100.

In the following, vehicle-based antenna selection with network support is described in more detail. First, the collection and propagation of context information by the network device 110 is described.

To support the selection of the antenna set, it is proposed that all vehicles 100 send context information to the geographic server. Thus, a "reflector" server should include a geographic server to be able to identify those vehicles 100 in the relevant area of each vehicle 100 to which information is to be sent.

Although the mechanisms described for network-based solutions are also effective for reporting context information from vehicles to the network device 110, the idea is that the decision on the best antenna/connectivity solution is now made by each vehicle 100 using the context information of the vehicles 100 in its surroundings. Therefore, new mechanisms need to be devised to propagate contextual information relating to a particular vehicle 100.

To achieve this, it is necessary: knowing the vehicle location, knowing the ID of the vehicle to which the contextual information relates, generating a message with aggregated contextual information from the related vehicles.

Two options may be used for propagating context information from network device 110:

1. application layer procedures (similar to LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP)) are used. In this case, a downlink message similar to the assistance data message may be used to distribute contextual information about other nearby vehicles 100. Alternatively, the V2X server (e.g., V1 interface in LTE) or the V2X control function (e.g., V3 interface in LTE) collects and disseminates context information. In this case, the location of the mobile device is required to filter the relevant information and create aggregated context information.

2. Aggregated context information from other nearby vehicles 100 is distributed using radio-level control plane messages (or control plane messages from core network functions sent via a wireless interface).

Since the vehicle location is required to filter the relevant information and create the aggregated message, a combination with the standard procedures of LPP (LTE positioning protocol) can be proposed for local dissemination of context information. The assistance data in the LPP may be extended to include context data from the neighboring vehicles in the exchanged information.

Alternatively, edge computation may be used by placing functionality for collecting context information propagated from network devices near or at the BS.

Further, all vehicles 100 may be in "promiscuous mode" in order to listen for the transmission of sideslip data from nearby vehicles 100 and analyze the received signal power. This provides a measure of the coverage map from all other vehicles. Indeed, analysis of the received signal power from the different antennas may also assist in locating other vehicles. In the event that the vehicle 100 is silent (inactive in any service), the vehicle 100 will periodically transmit a beacon data to allow other devices to detect the presence of the vehicle 100 and know the coverage map of the vehicle 100. Finally, information derived from the analysis of the nearby transmissions is added to the context information received from the network.

The vehicle-based antenna selection decision is now described in more detail. Once the context information is shared by different entities, there are different alternatives how to make the antenna selection decision. The decisions regarding antenna selection may be made a) in isolation by each vehicle 100, or b) in a coordinated manner. In a cooperative manner, all vehicles 100 share their decision (three-way Layer 2-Id/trxantenniselect/rxantenna selection) with nearby vehicles 100 or within a cooperative cluster to ensure reciprocity in the selected transmission. In the latter case, each three-way assignment (triple assignment) may have a confidence value associated with it so that if another pair in the communication makes a different suggestion with a higher confidence, the vehicle may change its decision and evaluate the performance of another alternative. In this sense, each three-party decision may increase or decrease its confidence level based on an empirical transmission. In case of a communication failure, the confidence of the selection will decrease and vice versa.

In the example of fig. 12, the mobile device 100 (vehicle 1) will change its recommendation for antenna selection because the other mobile device 100 (vehicle 2) gives a higher confidence in the use of the mirror antenna than the bumper (antenna). This assumes that the confidence factor given by each vehicle 100 is in the range from, for example, 0 (lowest confidence) to 9 (highest confidence).

Next, notifying the concerned vehicle 100 of antenna selection is described in more detail. Similar to network-based antenna selection, a protocol for informing the involved vehicles 100 of the required configuration for transmission and reception and the selection (or updating) of the appropriate antenna set is necessary. To this end, the SCI with the corresponding extension may be used to inform the receiver in the sidelink of the transmit antenna set used and/or which receive antenna set should be used to receive the transmitted information (see fig. 13). Alternatively, to avoid modifying an existing SCI, a new dedicated sidelink control plane message may be used.

In the following, vehicle-based antenna selection without network support is described in more detail. When there is no network support for antenna selection, the vehicle 100 should be able to broadcast all its context information and its capabilities locally. One approach is to use a modified CAM-like message such that all of the foregoing information is included in the header or payload of the application layer message. Another proposal is to introduce RRC-like protocols (control plane) for wireless signaling exchange of context information between vehicles.

The protocols used to inform the involved vehicles of the required configuration for transmission and reception and the selection (or updating) of the appropriate antenna set are those already described, if the option of utilizing modified CAM-like messages is considered. Otherwise, if the RRC protocol is considered (e.g., a "light" RRC protocol), the notification phase can be further simplified. With respect to the "light" RRC protocol, we propose to establish a new SRB3 (signaling radio bearer 3) for V2X signaling exchange (see fig. 14). After the sideline discovery phase, the two ends in the V2X link will be paired with a simple process.

No new encryption key can be applied but simply the same encryption key as used for the sidestream transmission. Once the logical channel associated with SRB3 has been identified, the logical channel will be used to send valid information associated with the context exchange required for multiple antennas and resource selection. As in the previous section, the promiscuous mode in the vehicle 100 will be used to calculate the received signal power from nearby vehicles 100 in order to incorporate this information into its own context data.

The context exchange may be performed using a sidelinkuetoeuelnformation message that includes context information and a set of multi-antenna configuration alternatives, which may then be indexed, for example, with SCI available bits (see fig. 15).

With respect to dynamic antenna selection using SCI, the remaining 4 bits may be used to index the configuration to be used in subsequent transmissions. Once a decision is made, the decision may be exchanged between vehicles in order to make a collaborative decision.

Fig. 16 shows a method 1600 according to an embodiment of the application. Method 1600 is for wireless communications, particularly for mobile device 100 such as that shown in fig. 1. The method 1600 includes step 1601 of transmitting capability information 102 to the network device 110 and/or another mobile device 100, the capability information 102 including: an indication 103 of a capability of the mobile device 100 to communicate using the plurality of antennas 101, one or more antenna characteristics of at least one of the plurality of antennas 101.

Fig. 17 shows a method 1700 according to an embodiment of the application. Method 1700 is particularly useful for network device 110. Method 1700 includes step 1701 of receiving capability information 102 from mobile device 100, capability information 102 comprising: an indication 103 of a capability of the mobile device 100 to communicate using the plurality of antennas 101, one or more antenna characteristics of at least one of the plurality of antennas 101 of the mobile device 100. The method 1700 also includes a step 1702 of determining a set of antennas to be used by the mobile device 100 for communicating with another mobile device 110 based on the received capability information 102.

The present application has been described in connection with various embodiments by way of example and implementation. However, other variations can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the independent claims. In the claims as well as in the specification, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several entities or components recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

Claims

1. A mobile device for wireless communication, the mobile device comprising more than one antenna and being configured to transmit capability information to a network device and/or another mobile device, the capability information comprising:

-an indication of the capability of the mobile device to communicate using multiple antennas,

-an antenna characteristic of at least one of the plurality of antennas, wherein the antenna characteristic comprises a position of the at least one antenna;

the capability information is used to determine an antenna set to be communicated with another mobile device among the mobile devices, to allocate the antenna set for a specific service among groups of the involved mobile terminals by extending an RRC message, to be updated by an updated RRC message or to be updated by a scheduling grant message when an update on an initial allocation is required due to a change in environmental or radio/service/road conditions.

2. The mobile device of claim 1, being for

Sending the capability information to the network device and/or the other mobile device in a control plane message and/or an application layer message.

3. The mobile device of claim 1 or 2, further configured to

Transmitting support information to the network device and/or the other mobile device, the support information comprising at least one of:

-radio conditions and/or network conditions,

-environmental conditions, in particular road environmental conditions.

4. The mobile device of any of claims 1-2, further to

-a direction and/or a relative position of at least one other mobile device with respect to the mobile device,

-a direction and/or a speed of movement and/or an estimated short-term path of at least one other mobile device.

5. The mobile device of any of claims 1-2, further to

-a service type and/or a transmission mode,

-service duration, service period, and/or service characteristics.

6. A mobile device according to claim 3, for

Transmitting the supporting information by one of:

-transmitting on demand from an external device, in particular from a network device and/or another mobile device;

-not on demand, sent by means of a connection request message;

periodically, sent by measurement report.

7. The mobile device of any of claims 1-2, further to

Determining a set of antennas used by the mobile device for communicating with the other mobile device based on capability information and/or support information received from the other mobile device, and

transmitting information about the determined set of antennas to the other mobile device.

8. The mobile device of claim 7, configured to

Transmitting the information about the determined set of antennas in a control plane sidelink message, in particular in at least one of:

-a SCI message for the purpose of,

-a sidestream UE to UE information message,

-radio resource control messages for the sidelink or any radio control messages for the sidelink.

9. The mobile device of any of claims 1-2, further to

Allocating a set of resources for communicating with the other mobile device using the determined set of antennas.

10. A mobile device according to any of claims 1 to 2, for

Receiving, from the network device and/or another mobile device, information comprising a set of antennas to be used for communicating with the other mobile device.

11. The mobile device of claim 7, wherein the determining the set of antennas may be performed according to one or more of the following:

-determined according to predefined rules;

-a request determination based on another mobile device and/or network device;

-repeatedly, determining based on channel measurements.

12. A network device for mobile communication, the network device being for

Receiving capability information from a mobile device, the capability information comprising:

-an antenna characteristic of at least one antenna of the plurality of antennas of the mobile device, wherein the antenna characteristic comprises a position of the at least one antenna,

by extending the RRC message to allocate an antenna set for a specific service among the group of mobile terminals involved, when an update on the initial allocation is required due to a change in environment or radio/service/road conditions, by the updated RRC message or by the scheduling grant message;

determining a set of antennas to be used by the mobile device for communicating with another mobile device based on the received capability information, an

Transmitting information about the set of antennas to the mobile device.

13. The network device of claim 12, further configured to

Notifying the mobile device of the determined set of antennas.

14. The network device of claim 13, further configured to

Notifying the other mobile device of the determined set of antennas.

15. Network device according to claim 13 or 14, for

Notifying the determined set of antennas in at least one of the following control plane messages:

-a radio resource control message or any radio control message;

-a downlink control information DCI message and/or an sidestream control information SCI message.

16. Network device of any of claims 12 to 14, configured to

Receiving support information from the mobile device by one of:

-receiving on demand from an external device, in particular a network device and/or another mobile device;

-not on demand, received via a connection request message;

periodically, by measurement report reception.

17. The network device of claim 16, wherein the network device is to determine the set of antennas additionally based on the support information.

18. The network device of any of claims 12-14, wherein the determining the set of antennas may be performed according to one or more of:

-determined according to predefined rules;

-a request determination based on another mobile device and/or another network device;

-repeatedly, determining based on channel measurements.

19. The network device of claim 16, configured to

Propagating the support information received from the mobile device to one or more other mobile devices.

20. The network device of any of claims 12-14, further to

Allocating a set of resources for the mobile device to communicate with the other mobile device using the determined set of antennas.

21. The network device of claim 20, configured to

A first subset of the set of resources is allocated to a first subset of the set of antennas and a second subset of the set of resources is allocated to a second subset of the set of antennas.

22. The network device of claim 20, configured to

Transmitting the allocated set and/or subset of resources to the mobile device in a DCI message.

23. A method for a mobile device, the method comprising

Sending capability information to a network device and/or another mobile device, the capability information comprising:

24. The method of claim 23,

25. The method of claim 23 or 24, further comprising:

-radio conditions and/or network conditions,

-environmental conditions, in particular road environmental conditions.

26. The method according to any one of claims 23 to 24,

27. The method according to any one of claims 23 to 24, wherein:

-a service type and/or a transmission mode,

-service duration, service period, and/or service characteristics.

28. The method of claim 25,

transmitting the supporting information by one of:

-not on demand, sent via a connection request message;

periodically, sent by measurement report.

29. The method of any one of claims 23 to 24, further comprising:

30. The method of claim 29,

-a SCI message for the purpose of,

-a sidestream UE to UE information message,

31. The method of any one of claims 23 to 24, further comprising:

32. The method according to any one of claims 23 to 24,

33. The method of claim 29, wherein the determining the set of antennas may be performed according to one or more of:

-determined according to predefined rules;

-based on a request determination of another mobile device and/or network device;

-repeatedly, determining based on channel measurements.

34. A method for a network device, the method comprising

Transmitting information about the set of antennas to the mobile device.

35. The method of claim 34, further comprising:

notifying the mobile device of the determined set of antennas.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

notifying the other mobile device of the determined set of antennas.

37. The method of claim 35 or 36,

-a radio resource control message or any radio control message;

38. The method of any one of claims 34 to 36,

receiving support information from the mobile device by one of:

-not on demand, received via a connection request message;

periodically, by measurement report reception.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the antenna set is determined based on the supporting information.

40. The method of any of claims 34 to 36, wherein the determining the set of antennas may be performed according to one or more of the following:

-determined according to predefined rules;

-repeatedly, determining based on channel measurements.

41. The method of claim 38, wherein the step of determining the position of the target is performed by a computer

42. The method of any one of claims 34 to 36, further comprising:

43. The method of claim 42,

44. The method of claim 42,

45. A system for wireless communication, the system comprising

The mobile device of any of claims 1-11, and

a network device according to any one of claims 12 to 22.