JP2009049604A - Transmitter, and beam forming matrix generating method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a transmitter for performing beam forming and transmitting a signal. <P>SOLUTION: The transmitter is provided, which performs beam forming and transmits a signal. The transmitter is provided with a subset matrix setting part for setting a subset matrix about one antenna belonging to one user terminal and an antenna belonging to another user terminal on the basis of a channel matrix, and a beam forming matrix calculating part for calculating a beam forming matrix using inverse matrix operation on the basis of the subset matrix set in each of the antennas. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a transmission apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to a transmission apparatus and a beamforming matrix generation method according to a multi-user MIMO (Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output) scheme in a mobile communication system.

  As one technique for increasing the communication speed between wireless devices, a multi-input / multi-output transmission system is known. This method is literally based on signal input / output using a plurality of antennas. The feature of this method is that a plurality of transmission data can be transmitted at the same time and at the same frequency using a plurality of different antennas. Therefore, as the number of channels that can be transmitted simultaneously increases, the amount of information that can be transmitted per unit time can be increased by the increased number of channels. Further, this method has an advantage that the occupied frequency band does not increase when the communication speed is improved.

  However, since a plurality of modulated signals having carrier components of the same frequency are transmitted at the same time, a means for separating the interfering modulated signals on the receiving side is necessary. Therefore, on the receiving side, a channel matrix representing the transmission characteristics of the wireless transmission path is estimated, and the transmission signal corresponding to each substream is separated from the received signal based on the channel matrix. The channel matrix is estimated using pilot symbols or the like.

  However, special contrivance is required to accurately remove the influence of noise added in the transmission path and interference generated between substreams and reproduce the transmission signal with accuracy for each substream. In recent years, various techniques related to MIMO signal detection have been developed. In particular, recently, attention has been focused on a topic related to a multi-user MIMO system including a plurality of communication apparatuses capable of MIMO signal transmission. As a signal detection method in a multi-user MIMO system, for example, a method using MMSE (Minimum Mean Squared Error) detection is known. In this method, SINR (Signal power to Interference plus Noise power Ratio) after MMSE detection is calculated on the reception side, and the transmission is returned to the transmission side, and transmission control parameters are set based on the SINR after MMSE detection. It is a technology that improves the characteristics.

  Further, as a method capable of improving transmission characteristics as compared with the above MMSE detection method, there is a demand to use, for example, an MLD (Maximum Likelihood Detection) detection method or the like on the receiving side of the multiuser MIMO system. Therefore, a technique for separating subchannels for each receiving apparatus is required. As a technology related to this, for example, in the following Non-Patent Document 1, a predetermined inverse matrix calculation process is performed on a subchannel matrix fed back from each receiving apparatus to calculate a beamforming weight, and a channel forming weight is calculated using this. A technique for removing an inter-beam interference component of a matrix is disclosed. Non-Patent Document 2 below discloses a technique for calculating a beamforming matrix by performing singular value decomposition on a subchannel matrix fed back from each receiving apparatus.

T.Yoo and A. Goldsmith, "On the optimality of multiantennabroadcast scheduling using zero-forcing beamforming", IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, vol.24, no.3, pp.528-541, March 2006 Q.H.Spencer et al., "Zero-forcing methods for downlink spatialmultiplexing in multiuser MIMO channels", IEEE Trans. Signal Processing, vol.52, no.2, pp.461-471, Feb.2004

  However, when the technique described in Non-Patent Document 1 is applied, the beam forming weight is calculated by a relatively simple inverse matrix calculation, so that the calculation amount is small, but it is included in the effective channel matrix. Since all the inter-beam interference components that are transmitted are removed, there is a problem that the channel gain cannot be obtained on the receiving side. On the other hand, when the technique described in Non-Patent Document 2 is applied, there is a problem that a huge amount of calculation is required because singular value decomposition is used when generating a beamforming matrix.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to block diagonalize an effective channel matrix while leaving an interference component between a plurality of antennas of a user terminal. It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved transmission apparatus and a beamforming matrix generation method that can be used.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transmission apparatus that performs beam forming and transmits a signal. The transmitting apparatus includes: a subset matrix setting unit configured to set a subset matrix related to one of antennas of one user terminal and an antenna of another user terminal based on a channel matrix; and the subset set for each antenna A beam forming matrix calculating unit that calculates a beam forming matrix using an inverse matrix operation based on the matrix. The user terminal is an example of a receiving device.

Further, the beamforming matrix calculation unit calculates a beamforming weight W ′ obtained by performing an inverse matrix operation H ′ ^H (H′H ^H ) ⁻¹ on the subset matrix H ′ set for each antenna. And may have a function of forming a beamforming matrix for block diagonalization of the channel matrix. However, the superscript H is a symbol representing Hermitian conjugate.

  The beamforming matrix calculation unit extracts a vector component corresponding to the predetermined antenna from the beamforming weight W ′ corresponding to the predetermined antenna, and the predetermined antenna of the beamforming matrix is extracted. It may have a function to set to a component corresponding to.

  In order to solve the above problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a beamforming matrix generation method for generating a beamforming matrix used for beamforming of a transmission signal. The beamforming matrix generation method includes: a subset matrix setting step in which a subset matrix is set for one of antennas of one user terminal and an antenna of another user terminal based on a channel matrix; And a beamforming matrix calculation step of calculating the beamforming matrix using an inverse matrix operation based on the subset matrix.

  When the above configuration is applied, it is possible to block diagonalize the channel matrix for each user terminal while using the inverse matrix operation with a relatively small amount of computation while leaving the inter-channel interference component between the multiple antennas included in the user terminal. It becomes possible. As a result, it is possible to eliminate beam interference between user terminals without reducing the amount of computation required for generating the beamforming matrix and without damaging the interchannel gain.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to block diagonalize an effective channel matrix while leaving an interference component between a plurality of antennas of a user terminal.

  Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in this specification and drawing, about the component which has the substantially same function structure, duplication description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol.

[Purpose and Overview]
First, prior to the description of a preferred embodiment according to the present invention, the purpose of the embodiment of the present invention described below will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a multiuser MIMO system 1 that performs communication using a beamforming matrix calculated by inverse matrix calculation. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a multiuser MIMO system 2 that performs communication using a beamforming matrix calculated by singular value decomposition.

(About beamforming matrix calculation method by inverse matrix calculation)
First, the multi-user MIMO system 1 will be briefly described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the multi-user MIMO system 1 mainly includes a transmission device 10 and a plurality of user terminals 20 (user terminals A and B). The transmission apparatus 10 mainly includes a beamforming matrix calculation unit 12, a beamforming processing unit 14, and a plurality of antennas 16. On the other hand, the user terminal 20 has a plurality of antennas 22. For convenience of explanation, a case where the number of antennas of the transmission apparatus 10 is 4, the number of user terminals is 2, and the number of antennas of each user terminal 20 is 2 will be described as an example.

In the following description, the channel matrix estimated by the user terminal A is expressed as H _A , and the channel matrix estimated by the user terminal _B is expressed as H _B , as shown in the following equations (1) and (2). Further, the channel matrix of the multiuser MIMO channel is denoted as H as shown in the following equation (3). The channel matrix estimated by each user terminal may be called a subchannel matrix.

  First, the beamforming matrix calculation unit 12 calculates the beamforming matrix W by performing an inverse matrix operation shown in the following equation (4) on the subchannel matrix fed back from each user terminal 20. This calculation corresponds to a process of removing interference components between all antennas by regarding each antenna of the user terminal 20 as a receiving device.

Here, the transmission symbol vector transmitted to the user terminal A is s _A = [s ₁ , s ₂ ] ^T , and the transmission symbol vector transmitted to the user terminal B is s _B = [s ₃ , s ₄ ] ^Is expressed as ^T, and these are collectively expressed as a transmission symbol vector transmitted from the transmission apparatus 10 as s = [s _A ^T , s _B ^T ]. Similarly, a reception symbol vector received by the user terminal A is expressed as r _A = [r ₁ , r ₂ ] ^T , and a reception symbol vector received by the user terminal B is expressed as r _B = [r ₃ , r ₄ ] ^T Collectively, the received symbol vector received by the multiuser MIMO system 1 is expressed as r = [r _A ^T , r _B ^T ]. However, the superscript T is a symbol representing transposition.

The beamforming processing unit 14 causes the beamforming matrix W calculated by the beamforming matrix calculation unit 12 to act on the transmission symbol vector s and transmits it to the user terminal 20. At this time, the received symbol vector r = [r ₁ , r ₂ ] ^T in the multiuser MIMO system 1 is expressed as the following equation (5). As apparent from the following equation (5), the effective channel matrix HW after beam forming is a diagonal matrix from which all off-diagonal elements indicating inter-beam interference are removed.

  According to the method described above, an interference component between a plurality of antennas included in each user is removed, so that diversity gain is lost. However, since the beam forming matrix is calculated by the relatively simple inverse matrix calculation shown in the above equation (4), there is an advantage that the calculation amount is small.

(About the beamforming matrix calculation method by singular value decomposition)
Next, the multi-user MIMO system 2 will be briefly described. However, substantially the same functional configuration as that of the multi-user MIMO system 1 described above is denoted by the same reference numeral, and redundant description is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the multi-user MIMO system 2 mainly includes a transmission device 30 and a plurality of user terminals 40 (user terminals A and B). The transmission apparatus 30 mainly includes a beamforming matrix calculation unit 32, a beamforming processing unit 14, and a plurality of antennas 16. On the other hand, the user terminal 40 includes a plurality of antennas 22 and a MIMO signal detection unit 42.

First, the beamforming matrix calculator 32 calculates a beamforming matrix W by performing singular value decomposition on the subchannel matrix fed back from each user terminal 40. For example, the beamforming matrix calculation unit 32 performs singular value decomposition (the following equation (6)) on the subchannel matrix H _B fed back from the user terminal B to calculate a singular value vector V _B. At this time, the right singular value vector V _B ⁽⁰⁾ corresponding to the singular value 0 gives a null space vector for the subchannel matrix H _A. Therefore, the beamforming matrix calculation unit 32 uses the right singular value vector V _B ⁽⁰⁾ as a beamforming matrix component for the user terminal A.

Similarly, the beamforming matrix calculation unit 32 performs singular value decomposition (the following equation (7)) on the subchannel matrix _HA fed back from the user terminal _A, and calculates a singular value vector V _A. At this time, the right singular value vector V _A ⁽⁰⁾ corresponding to the singular value 0 gives a null space vector for the subchannel matrix H _B. Therefore, the beamforming matrix calculation unit 32 uses the right singular value vector V _A ⁽⁰⁾ as a beamforming matrix component for the user terminal B. That is, the beam forming matrix calculation unit 32 obtains a beam forming matrix W = [V _B ⁽⁰⁾ , V _A ⁽⁰⁾ ].

  Next, the beamforming processing unit 14 applies the beamforming matrix W to the transmission symbol vector s. As described above, the beamforming matrix W has a null space vector as an element for the subchannel matrix of another user terminal. Therefore, when this beamforming matrix W is used, an interference component between user terminals is removed. When this beamforming matrix W is applied to the transmission symbol vector s, the reception symbol vector r is expressed in a block diagonal form as shown in the following equation (8).

  Since the interference component between the user terminals is removed as in the above equation (8), the MIMO signal detection unit 42 included in each user terminal estimates the MIMO subchannel for the own device, and performs MMSE detection or MLD. It becomes possible to detect a signal using a technique such as detection.

  According to the method described above, it is possible to remove interference components between user terminals while leaving interference components between a plurality of antennas included in each user terminal. That is, a MIMO subchannel is formed for each user terminal while setting interference between user terminals to zero. However, since the calculation load required for the singular value decomposition shown in the above formulas (6) and (7) is very high, the above method can be realized unless a transmitter having a particularly high calculation processing capability is used. Is difficult. Such a transmission apparatus is very expensive, but it is practically difficult to apply to a small device.

  Thus, solving the two problems of “decrease in channel gain” and “increase in computational load” is a specific object in the embodiment described below.

<One Embodiment of the Present Invention>
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the present embodiment, a beam forming matrix in which interference between user terminals is removed and a MIMO subchannel is formed for each user terminal is calculated based on an inverse matrix calculation with a relatively small amount of calculation. There is a feature.

[Configuration of multi-user MIMO system 1000]
First, the configuration of the multiuser MIMO system 1000 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the multiuser MIMO system 1000 according to the present embodiment and the functional configuration of the transmission apparatus 100 included therein.

As shown in FIG. 3, the multi-user MIMO system 1000 mainly includes a transmission device 100 and a plurality of user terminals 200 (user terminals A and B). Note that the user terminal 200 has a plurality of antennas 202. In addition, it is assumed that the subchannel matrix (H _A , H _B ) estimated by each user terminal 200 is fed back to the transmission apparatus 100.

[Functional configuration of transmitting apparatus 100]
With reference to FIG. 3, a functional configuration of the transmission apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, the transmission apparatus 100 mainly includes a subset matrix setting unit 102, an inverse matrix calculation unit 104, a beamforming matrix generation unit 108, a beamforming processing unit 110, and a plurality of antennas 112. Composed. Note that the inverse matrix calculation unit 104 or the beamforming matrix generation unit 108 is an example of a beamforming matrix calculation unit.

(Subset matrix setting unit 102)
Based on the elements of the channel matrix H, the subset matrix setting unit 102 sets a subset matrix H _i ′ related to one antenna 202 (#i) included in one user terminal 200 and all antennas 202 included in another user terminal 200. Set. At this time, the subset matrix setting unit 102 sets, for all user terminals 200 included in the multi-user MIMO system 1000, a subset matrix H _i ′ for each antenna 202 (#i) included in each user terminal 200. . Here, #i is an index indicating the i-th antenna 202.

For example, the subset matrix setting unit 102 calculates a subset matrix H ₁ ′ related to the antenna # 1 of the user terminal A and all the antennas (# 3, # 4) of the user terminal B as shown in the following equation (9). Set. Similarly, subset matrix setting section 102 uses subset matrix H ₂ ′ (equation (10)) for antenna # 2 of user terminal A and all antennas (# 3, # 4) of user terminal B, and antennas of user terminal B. Subset matrix H ₃ ′ (Equation (11)) regarding # 3 and all antennas (# 1, # 2) of user terminal A, and antenna # 4 of user terminal B and all antennas (# 1, # of user terminal A) Set the subset matrix H ₄ ′ (formula (12)) for 2).

(Inverse matrix calculation unit 104)
The inverse matrix calculation unit 104 performs an inverse matrix calculation shown in the following equation (13) on each subset matrix H _i ′ set by the subset matrix setting unit 102 to perform a beamforming weight for each subset matrix H _i ′. W _i ′ is calculated. This calculation corresponds to the above equation (4), but differs in that interference components for antenna components not included in the subset matrix are not removed. Due to this difference, a MIMO subchannel for each user terminal is formed in the multiuser MIMO channel after beamforming.

(Beam forming matrix generator 108)
The beamforming matrix generation unit 108 generates a beamforming matrix W ′ for block diagonalizing the channel matrix H in units of user terminals, using the beamforming weights W _i ′ calculated for each subset matrix H _i ′. To do. First, the beamforming matrix generation unit 108 selects the antenna of the user terminal 200 from among the components (hereinafter, weight vectors) of beamforming weights W _i ′ = {w _j ⁽ⁱ⁾ ; j = 1, 2,. A weight vector w _k ⁽ⁱ⁾ corresponding to #i is extracted. However, k represents the index of the component corresponding to antenna #i. Then, the beamforming matrix generation unit 108 generates a beamforming matrix W ′ using the extracted weight vectors w _k ⁽ⁱ⁾ (k = 1, 2,...).

As an example, consider a method of selecting weight vector w _k ⁽ⁱ⁾ corresponding to antenna # 1 of user terminal A. First, referring to the above equation (9), it can be seen that a matrix element corresponding to the antenna # 1 of the user terminal 200 exists in the first row of the subset matrix H ₁ ′ corresponding to the antenna # 1. When an inverse matrix operation is performed on this subset matrix H ₁ ′ according to the above equation (13), the following equation (14) is obtained. At this time, the first row component of the subset matrix H ₁ ′ corresponds to the first column component of the beamforming weight W ₁ ′. Therefore, the beamforming matrix generation unit 108 extracts the vector w ₁ ⁽¹⁾ positioned first in the beamforming weight W ₁ ′ as a weight vector.

Similarly, the beamforming matrix generation unit 108 also uses the weight vectors (w ₁ ⁽²⁾ , w ₃ ⁽³⁾ , w ₃ ⁽⁴⁾ for antenna #i (i = 2, 3, 4) of the user terminal 200. ). Then, the beamforming matrix generation unit 108 uses the extracted weight vectors w ₁ ⁽¹⁾ , w ₁ ⁽²⁾ , w ₃ ⁽³⁾ , and w ₃ ⁽⁴⁾ to represent the following Expression (15). Thus, the beam forming matrix W ′ is generated.

(Beam forming processing unit 110)
The beamforming processing unit 110 performs beamforming on the transmission symbol vector s using the beamforming matrix W ′ generated by the beamforming matrix generation unit 108 and transmits the result. As a result, the received symbol vector r is expressed as the following equation (16). As shown in the following equation (16), the effective channel matrix HW ′ after beamforming is block-diagonalized for each user terminal, and interference components between user terminals are removed. Furthermore, interference components between a plurality of antennas included in the user terminal 200 remain in the effective channel matrix HW ′. In Equation (16) below, for example, ρ ₂₁ is a component received by antenna # 2 corresponding to the weight vector for antenna # 1 and the cross-correlation component included in the channel vector of antenna # 2. .

  This effect is obtained as a result of selecting the subset matrix so that the MIMO subchannel is left by the subset matrix setting unit 102 according to the present embodiment. According to this method, a beam directed to one antenna of the user terminal 200 does not form a null with respect to another antenna, and further, a beam directed to another antenna forms a null with respect to the one antenna. It is controlled not to. As a result, the channel matrix of the multi-user MIMO channel is block-diagonalized so that the user terminal 200 does not interfere with each other while forming a MIMO channel for a plurality of antennas of each user terminal 200 Is possible.

[Specific configuration example]
Here, with reference to FIG. 4, a more specific device configuration example that assumes an implementation state of the transmission device 100 and the user terminal 200 according to the present embodiment will be briefly described. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific configuration example of the multiuser MIMO system 1000 according to the present embodiment.

[Configuration Example of Transmitting Apparatus 100 and Modulation Processing]
As illustrated in FIG. 4, the transmission apparatus 100 mainly includes a subset matrix setting unit 102, an inverse matrix calculation unit 104, a beamforming matrix generation unit 108, a beamforming processing unit 110, and a serial / parallel conversion unit 122. And a channel encoding unit 124 and a modulation mapping unit 126.

First, the subset matrix setting unit 102 sets a subchannel matrix H _i ′ based on the subchannel matrices (H _A , H _B ) fed back from each user terminal 200. Then, the inverse matrix calculation unit 104, _'the inverse matrix operation applied to beamforming weights W _i for each _antenna' each subchannel matrix H _i is calculated. Next, the beamforming matrix generation unit 108 generates a beamforming matrix W ′ based on the beamforming weight W _i ′ and transmits it to the beamforming processing unit 110.

Data (data u _A , u _B ) transmitted to each user terminal 200 is distributed to a plurality of substreams by the serial / parallel converter 122. Next, the data for each substream is subjected to channel coding by the channel coding unit 124 and then modulation mapped by the modulation mapping unit 126 using a predetermined modulation scheme. Then, the beamforming processing unit 110 applies the beamforming matrix W ′ generated by the beamforming matrix generation unit 108 to the transmission symbol vector s including the transmission symbol input from the modulation mapping unit 126. Then, the beamforming processing unit 110 transmits the transmission symbol vector after beamforming to the user terminal 200 via the antenna 112.

[Configuration Example of User Terminal 200 and Demodulation Process]
As shown in FIG. 4, the receiving apparatus 200 mainly includes a post-beamforming subchannel estimation unit 204, a maximum likelihood detection unit 206, and a channel decoding unit 208. The post-beamforming subchannel estimation unit 204 estimates the subchannel matrix after beamforming. Next, the maximum likelihood detection unit 206 performs a maximum likelihood detection process on the received received symbol vector after beamforming based on the estimated subchannel matrix after beamforming. Next, the channel decoding unit 208 performs channel decoding on the modulated signal separated by the maximum likelihood detection unit 206 to reproduce data.

  Heretofore, the multiuser MIMO system 1000 according to the present embodiment has been described in detail. By applying the above configuration, it is possible to easily calculate a beamforming matrix for transmitting a multi-stream to a certain user terminal in a multi-user MIMO system using a zero-forcing beamforming technique. become. Therefore, it is possible to increase the throughput for the user terminal. The above technique is effective when the user terminal has a plurality of antennas and has a MIMO signal detection algorithm.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the example which concerns. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of 1 structure of a multiuser MIMO system. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of 1 structure of a multiuser MIMO system. It is explanatory drawing which shows the function structure of the transmitter which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the more detailed function structure of the transmitter which concerns on the same embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1000 Multi-User MIMO System 100 Transmitting Device 102 Subset Matrix Setting Unit 104 Inverse Matrix Operation Unit 108 Beamforming Matrix Generation Unit 110 Beamforming Processing Unit 112 Antenna 122 Serial / Parallel Conversion Unit 124 Channel Coding Unit 126 Modulation Mapping Unit 200 User Terminal 202 Antenna 204 Sub-channel estimation unit after beamforming 206 Maximum likelihood detection unit 208 Channel decoding unit

Claims (4)

A transmission device that performs beam forming and transmits a signal,
A subset matrix setting unit that sets a subset matrix related to one of the antennas of one user terminal and the antenna of another user terminal based on the channel matrix;
A beamforming matrix calculation unit that calculates a beamforming matrix using inverse matrix calculation based on the subset matrix set for each antenna;
A transmission device comprising: The beamforming matrix calculation unit uses a beamforming weight W ′ obtained by performing an inverse matrix operation H ′ ^H (H′H ^H ) ⁻¹ on the subset matrix H ′ set for each antenna. The transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a beam forming matrix for block diagonalizing the channel matrix is formed.   The beamforming matrix calculation unit extracts a vector component corresponding to the predetermined antenna from the beamforming weight W ′ corresponding to the predetermined antenna, and corresponds to the predetermined antenna of the beamforming matrix. The transmission device according to claim 2, wherein the transmission device is set to a component to be transmitted. A beamforming matrix generation method for generating a beamforming matrix used for beamforming of a transmission signal,
A subset matrix setting step in which a subset matrix for one of antennas of one user terminal and an antenna of another user terminal is set based on the channel matrix;
A beamforming matrix calculation step in which the beamforming matrix is calculated using inverse matrix calculation based on the subset matrix set for each antenna;
A beamforming matrix generation method comprising:

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