KR20130087161A - Multiple wireless service using multi-beam forming and communication terminal therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A multiple wireless access service through multiple beam formation and a communication apparatus for providing the same are provided to receive more than two beams at the same time and to transmit more than two beams at the same time by using one active antenna array. CONSTITUTION: A single antenna array (201) receives more than two beams at the same time. The single antenna array has a plurality of output ports. Radio Frequency (RF) modules (202-1-202-3) are connected to the plurality of output ports of the antenna array. Base band modules (204-1-204-3) process signals corresponding to more than two beams transmitted through the RF module in a base band. The RF module includes a plurality of dividers and combiners. Each divider divides each output of the plurality of output ports of the antenna array into at least two. [Reference numerals] (203) Divider/combiner

Description

MULTIPLE WIRELESS SERVICE USING MULTI-BEAM FORMING AND COMMUNICATION TERMINAL THEREFOR}

The following embodiment corresponds to a multi-access technology field for simultaneously providing services to a plurality of users, and in particular, a multi-radio access service through multi-beam formation that can form multiple beams through an active array antenna. And a communication device providing the service.

Conventional multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) beamforming technology uses different channel state information of users belonging to the same cell, and adjusts a weight vector in a baseband to interfere. To minimize this. The above method may support multiple users at the same time in one base station, but may have a disadvantage in that a plurality of antennas are required. In addition, the conventional MIMO beamforming technique may be difficult to secure the spatial gain through active vertical sectorization (vertical sectorization).

Meanwhile, conventional beamforming techniques using an active array antenna may require a plurality of array antennas and a plurality of RF modules to support a plurality of users. As such, the size of the base station can be increased.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to receive two or more beams at the same time by using one active antenna array, and to provide a multi-radio access service through the multi-beam formation that can transmit two or more beams at the same time and to provide the service. A communication device can be provided.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, while minimizing intra cell interference and inter-cell interference while maximizing the number of users that can be simultaneously connected to allow large numbers of users to access a large capacity transmission It is possible to provide a multi-radio access service through a multi-beam shaping and a communication device providing the service.

A communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention is a communication device for receiving two or more beams at the same time, the communication device receiving the two or more beams at the same time, having a plurality of output ports, and the plurality of the antenna array And a baseband module for processing signals corresponding to the two or more beams transmitted through the RF module at a baseband, the RF module comprising a plurality of dividers—the plurality of dividers; Each of the dividers divides the output of each of the plurality of output ports of the antenna array into at least two; And a combiner for coupling the outputs of the plurality of dividers.

In this case, the RF module may include a plurality of power amplifiers and a plurality of page shifters for converting outputs of the plurality of dividers.

In addition, the plurality of dividers may include a Wilkinson power divider.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, another communication apparatus includes a baseband module for processing two or more data streams in a baseband, and an RF for processing the two or more data streams in an RF band. A module and a single antenna array having a plurality of input ports connected to the RF module and transmitting two or more beams at the same time, wherein the RF module sends signals corresponding to the two or more data streams to the single antenna array. And the signals provided to the plurality of input ports, wherein the signals provided to the plurality of input ports are the sum of the components of the two or more data streams.

In this case, the baseband module may perform scheduling for mobile terminals based on user location information and determine a beamforming type for each of the mobile terminals.

Further, the baseband module determines whether a specific mobile terminal is adjacent to the communication terminal based on the user location information, and if the specific mobile terminal is adjacent to the communication terminal as a result of the determination, It is determined whether a user is adjacent to another user, and when a user of the specific mobile terminal is adjacent to another user, the beamforming type for the specific mobile terminal is determined by multiple access through a single beam for adjacent users. If there is no other mobile terminal adjacent to the specific mobile terminal, the beamforming type for the specific mobile terminal may be determined as multiple access through multiple beams for a plurality of users.

In addition, the baseband module determines whether cooperation with other communication terminals is required to transmit a beam to a specific mobile terminal based on the user location information. If the other communication terminal is requested to cooperate, and the beamforming type for the specific mobile terminal is determined as cooperation based multiple access, and the determination result is not necessary, the other mobile terminal adjacent to the specific mobile terminal The beamforming type for the particular mobile terminal may be determined as multiple access through a single beam or multiple access through multiple beams, depending on whether the mobile terminal is present or not.

A method of operating a communication device according to another embodiment of the present invention is a method of operating a communication device receiving two or more beams at the same time, the communication device comprising a single antenna array having a plurality of output ports, and the And an RF module connected to the plurality of output ports, and a baseband module connected to the RF module. In this case, the operation method includes the antenna array receiving two or more beams at the same time, the RF module divides the output of each of the plurality of output ports of the antenna array into at least two, and the RF module Combining the divided results, and the baseband module processing signals at the baseband corresponding to the result combined by the RF module.

A method of operating a communication device according to another embodiment of the present invention is a method of operating a communication device for transmitting two or more beams simultaneously, the communication device comprising: a baseband module; RF module; And a single antenna array, wherein the single antenna array has a plurality of input ports connected with the RF module. In this case, the operation method includes the step of the baseband module to process two or more data streams in the baseband, the RF module to process the data streams processed by the baseband module in the RF band, each of the data streams Providing signals corresponding to the plurality of input ports of the single antenna array, and the single antenna array transmitting two or more beams simultaneously based on signals provided by the RF module. The signals provided by the RF module to the plurality of input ports of the single antenna array are the sum of the components of the two or more data streams.

1 and 2 are diagrams for explaining a base station for multi-beam formation according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 and 4 show the configuration of the base station shown in FIG.
5 and 6 are diagrams for explaining a base station according to another embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a diagram for explaining that a base station interoperates with another base station according to another embodiment of the present invention;
8 is a view for explaining an operation example of a baseband module in a method of operating a base station according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2 are diagrams for explaining a base station for multi-beam formation according to an embodiment of the present invention. In particular, referring to FIG. 1, examples of a first base station forming a single beam and a second base station forming a multiple beam can be seen.

First, the first base station 100 may include one antenna array 101, one RF module 102, and one baseband module 103 to transmit a single beam.

The second base station 110 includes a plurality of antenna arrays 111-1 to 111-3, a plurality of RF modules 112-1 to 112-3, and a plurality of baseband modules 113 to transmit multiple beams. -3) may be provided. That is, the second base station 110 uses one antenna array (eg, 111-1), one RF module (eg, 112-1), and one baseband module 113-1 to transmit one beam. By performing the process of individually transmitting to one receiving apparatus (eg, 11) several times or simultaneously with other processes, a plurality of beams may be simultaneously transmitted.

However, the base station according to the embodiment of the present invention has a single antenna array, and transmits at least two or more beams simultaneously. Such a base station may be described as a third base station 200 in FIG. 2.

The third base station 200 receives two or more beams simultaneously and transmits two or more beams simultaneously through a single antenna array 201. The third base station 200 includes RF modules 202-1 through 202-3 and baseband modules 204-1 through 204-3 for processing each of the two or more beams. However, the RF modules 202-1 to 202-3 may provide signals corresponding to each of the plurality of beams to the single antenna array 201 or at least one divider to be provided from the single antenna array 201. / Can be interlocked with the combiner 203. The at least one divider / combiner 203 is provided inside or outside the RF modules 202-1 through 202-3, and interoperates with the RF modules 202-1 through 202-3. can do.

The third base station 200 includes a plurality of baseband modules 204-1 through 204-3 processed by the divider / combiner 203 and the RF modules 202-1 through 202-3. Since the signals corresponding to each of the beams are provided in a combined state, the plurality of beams may be simultaneously transmitted to the plurality of mobile terminals 20 to 22. On the contrary, when the third base station 300 receives a plurality of beams simultaneously from the plurality of mobile terminals 20 to 22, the RF modules 202-1 to 202-2 interworking with the divider / combiner 203. 3), the signals of the plurality of received beams are classified for each beam and transmitted to the baseband modules 204-1 to 204-3, thereby providing multiple beams for the plurality of mobile terminals 20 to 22. Can be received.

3 and 4 are views showing the configuration of the base station shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 3, the third base station 300 includes a single antenna array 301, an RF module 302, and a baseband module 303.

The single antenna array 301 has a plurality of output ports and can receive two or more beams simultaneously from the outside. The antenna array 301 is capable of vertical horizontal beamforming for finer beam formation.

The RF module 302 is connected to a plurality of output ports of the antenna array 301, divides signals output from the output ports into at least two, and combines and outputs the beams for each beam.

The baseband module 303 processes the signals output by the RF module 302 in the baseband. In this case, the baseband module 303 may adjust interference between beams and interference between base stations by using user location information, and may perform a function for supporting a user in consideration of a scheduling policy or resource situation.

Meanwhile, the RF module 302 is an embodiment of the present invention and includes at least two dividers and combiners. That is, a divider is connected to each of the plurality of output ports of the antenna array 301 to divide the output of each of the output ports into at least two. A combiner combines the signals divided by the divider and delivers the combined signal to the baseband module 303.

 The RF module 302 may convert the at least two divided signals to be distinguishable for each beam before processing the combiner. Referring to FIG. 4, the RF module 400 may include a plurality of power amplifiers and a plurality of page shifters as an embodiment. In particular, the RF module 400 may include a Wilkinson power divider, such as 410.

On the other hand, the base station according to an embodiment of the present invention may perform the operations described in FIG.

That is, the baseband module 303 of the base station 300 processes two or more data streams in the baseband, and the RF module 302 processes the two or more data streams in the RF band and then uses a single antenna array 301. To). Here, the antenna array 301 has a plurality of input ports connected with the RF module 302. The RF module 302 provides signals corresponding to the two or more data streams to a plurality of input ports of the antenna array 301, so that the antenna array 301 is a signal in which the components of the two or more data streams are summed together. Can be obtained through the respective input ports. The antenna array 301 may transmit two or more beams simultaneously, based on the signals obtained through the input ports.

Furthermore, a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention can provide a multi-user access service through a single beam and a multi-user access service through a multiple beam. That is, the base station may perform scheduling for mobile terminals based on user location information, and provide multiple access services to each of the mobile terminals through a single beam or multiple beams. In particular, in the case of multiple beams, the base station may simultaneously form a plurality of beams as described above. On the other hand, in the case of a single beam, the base station may form a single beam for all of the users when a plurality of users are concentrated in one cell.

To form a single beam, the base station includes at least one of spatial multiplexing MIMO transmission (FDD), frequency division duplex (FDD), and time division duplex (TDD) when multiple users are concentrated in one cell. Can be used to form a single beam for multiple users.

5 and 6 are diagrams for explaining a base station according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the base station 500 and the base station 510 may transmit and receive multiple beams through a single antenna array as described above. In addition, the base station 500 and the base station 510 may identify a distance and an angle between the mobile terminals and the base station based on the user location information. In addition, the base station 500 and the base station 510 may perform beamforming scheduling on the mobile terminals based on the identification result and determine the type of the beamforming.

Meanwhile, as in the case of A and B, the base station 500 may perform vertical beamforming on each of the mobile terminals 30 and 31 located in its cell. That is, the base station 500 transmits two or more beams to the mobile terminals 30 and 31 through vertical beamforming, thereby maximizing spatial gain.

The base station 500 may perform intercell-interference management for the mobile terminal 32 to support a user located in an adjacent area with other base stations as in the case of C. That is, the base station 500 may transmit a beam to the mobile terminal 32 using a technique for removing interference between adjacent cells through interworking with other base stations. The base station 510 may perform intercell interference management for the mobile terminals 33 and 34, as in the case of D and E. FIG.

As in the case of F, the base station 510 can provide a service even in an environment where users are close. That is, the base station 510 may provide multiple access services through a single beam to several mobile terminals 35 to 38. In addition, the base station 510 may adjust the beam width as an embodiment so that various mobile terminals 35 to 38 can receive all of the single beams.

Referring to FIG. 6, a diagram for describing an operation between a base station and a mobile terminal can be seen. The base station 600 may support the user by multiplexing the sectors of the cell in consideration of the distance and angle with the mobile terminals 40 and 41.

Each of the mobile terminals 40 and 41 transmits a sector index (eg, d) to which it belongs to the base station 600. The base station 600 performs data transmission scheduling for each of the mobile terminals 40 and 41 in consideration of the sector index d transmitted from the mobile terminals 40 and 41, and forms a multi-beam or single beam. Can be performed.

On the other hand, the base station may interwork with other base stations. 7 is a diagram for explaining that a base station interoperates with another base station according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the base station 700 identifies a distance and an angle between the mobile terminal 50 and the base station 700 in frame N, and transmits a beam to the mobile terminal 50 in consideration of the identification result. Can be. In addition, the base station 700 identifies the distance and angle between the mobile terminal 51 and the base station 700 in frame N, and based on the identification result, the mobile terminal 51 is located outside the cell and is located from the adjacent cell. It can be detected that the received interference may be large. In this case, the base station 700 may transmit a beam for the mobile terminal 51 through cooperative transmission with another base station 710.

The base station 710 may transmit a beam for the mobile terminal 52 located outside the cell through cooperative transmission with the base station 700 in frame N + 1. The base station 710 may perform the same as the mobile terminal 50 described above with respect to the mobile terminal 53 located in the cell cabinet.

On the other hand, the base station of the present invention can perform the following operations as a communication device. The above operations may be performed by the configurations of FIG. 3. First, the base station 300 includes at least one baseband module 303 and an RF module 302 and a single antenna array 301 to transmit two or more beams simultaneously. Here, the antenna array 300 has a plurality of input ports connected to the RF module 302.

1. Transmission operation

In the case of a receive operation, the baseband module 303 may process more than one data stream in the baseband. The RF module 302 processes the data streams processed by the baseband module 303 in the RF band and provides signals corresponding to each of the data streams to a plurality of input ports of a single antenna array 301. Can be. The single antenna array 301 may transmit two or more beams simultaneously based on the signals provided by the RF module 302. In this case, the RF module 302 may provide a component of two or more data streams to a plurality of input ports of the antenna array 301. That is, the signals provided by the RF module 303 to the plurality of input ports may be the sum of the components of two or more data streams.

Here, the RF module 302 may, as an embodiment, adjust the power of a component of two or more data streams and shift the page. The RF module 302 can then transfer the result to each of the input ports of the single antenna array 301.

In addition, the baseband module 303 may perform scheduling for mobile terminals based on user location information and determine a beamforming type for each of the mobile terminals. Here, the process of determining the beamforming type by the baseband module 303 may perform the steps of FIG. 8.

Referring to FIG. 8, the baseband module 303 may acquire user location information in step 800.

In step 801, the baseband module 303 may determine whether a specific mobile terminal is adjacent to the base station 300 based on the user location information.

As a result of the determination, when the specific mobile terminal is adjacent to the base station 300, in step 802, the baseband module 303 may determine whether a plurality of users are adjacent. That is, the baseband module 303 may determine whether a user of a specific mobile terminal is adjacent to another user.

If it is determined in step 802 that a plurality of users are adjacent to each other, the baseband module 303 may determine the beamforming type for a specific mobile terminal as multiple access through a single beam for adjacent users in step 803. have.

If it is determined in operation 802 that the plurality of users are not adjacent to each other, the baseband module 303 determines in step 804 that the beamforming type for a specific mobile terminal is a multiple access through multiple beams for the plurality of users. You can decide.

On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step 801, if the specific mobile terminal is not adjacent to the base station 300, that is, if the specific mobile terminal is located outside the cell of the base station 300, the base station 300 cooperates with other base stations in the vicinity It is necessary to eliminate cell interference. Accordingly, the baseband module 303 may determine whether cooperation with a neighbor base station is necessary in step 805.

If the determination in step 805 determines that cooperation with the neighboring base station is required, the baseband module 303 requests cooperation from the neighboring base station in step 806 and determines the beamforming type for a specific mobile terminal as cooperation based multiple access. Can be.

If it is determined in operation 805 that it is not determined that cooperation with neighboring base stations is necessary, the baseband module 303 may determine whether a plurality of users are adjacent to each other in operation 807.

As a result of the determination in operation 807, when a plurality of users are adjacent to each other, the baseband module 303 may determine the beamforming type for a specific mobile terminal as multiple access through a single beam for users adjacent to each other in operation 808.

As a result of the determination in operation 807, when the plurality of users are not adjacent to each other, the baseband module 303 may determine, in step 809, multiple access through multiple beams for the plurality of users.

2. Receive operation

In the case of a reception operation, the base station 300 may perform the reverse operation of the transmission operation. In the above transmission operation, the input ports of the single antenna array 301 become output ports of the single antenna array 301 in the reception operation.

That is, the single antenna array 301 may receive two or more beams simultaneously and output signals of the beams through a plurality of output ports. The RF module 302 may interwork with the divider and combiner to divide the signal output from each of the plurality of output ports of the antenna array 301 into at least two, and combine the divided results. The baseband module 303 may process signals in the baseband corresponding to the result combined by the RF module 302. Accordingly, the base station can receive multiple beams through a single antenna array.

The methods according to embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed through various computer means and recorded in a computer-readable medium. The computer readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. The program instructions recorded on the medium may be those specially designed and constructed for the present invention or may be available to those skilled in the art of computer software.

As described above, the present invention has been described by way of limited embodiments and drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains various modifications and variations from such descriptions. This is possible.

Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be determined by the equivalents of the claims, as well as the claims.

Claims (9)

A communication device that receives two or more beams at the same time,
A single antenna array receiving the two or more beams simultaneously and having a plurality of output ports;
An RF module coupled to the plurality of output ports of the antenna array; And
A baseband module for processing signals corresponding to the two or more beams transmitted through the RF module in a baseband
/ RTI >
The RF module includes a plurality of dividers, each of the plurality of dividers dividing an output of each of the plurality of output ports of the antenna array into at least two; And
A combiner for coupling the outputs of the plurality of dividers
. The method of claim 1,
The RF module
A plurality of power amplifiers and a plurality of page shifters for converting outputs of each of the plurality of dividers
Communication device. The method of claim 2,
The plurality of dividers
Including the Wilkinson power divider
Communication device. A communication device for transmitting two or more beams simultaneously,
A baseband module for processing two or more data streams in the baseband;
An RF module for processing the two or more data streams in an RF band; And
Single antenna array having a plurality of input ports connected to the RF module and transmitting two or more beams simultaneously
Lt; / RTI >
The RF module
Provide signals corresponding to the two or more data streams to the plurality of input ports of the single antenna array;
Signals provided to the plurality of input ports may comprise components of the two or more data streams summed together.
Communication device. 5. The method of claim 4,
The baseband module
Performing scheduling for mobile terminals based on user location information and determining a beamforming type for each of the mobile terminals
Communication device. The method of claim 5,
The baseband module
On the basis of the user location information, it is determined whether a specific mobile terminal is adjacent to the communication terminal, and as a result of the determination, when the specific mobile terminal is adjacent to the communication terminal, the user of the specific mobile terminal is adjacent to another user. To determine whether or not
When a user of the specific mobile terminal is adjacent to another user, the beamforming type for the specific mobile terminal is determined as multiple access through a single beam for users adjacent to each other,
When there is no other mobile terminal adjacent to the specific mobile terminal, the beamforming type for the specific mobile terminal is determined as multiple access through multiple beams for a plurality of users.
Communication device. The method of claim 5,
The baseband module
On the basis of the user location information, it is determined whether cooperation with other communication terminals is required to transmit a beam to a specific mobile terminal,
If it is determined that the cooperation is necessary, requesting cooperation from the other communication terminal, and determining a beamforming type for the specific mobile terminal as cooperation based multiple access,
As a result of the determination, when the cooperation is not necessary, the beamforming type for the specific mobile terminal is determined as multiple access through a single beam or multiple access through multiple beams according to whether there is another mobile terminal adjacent to the specific mobile terminal. doing
Communication device. In the method of operating a communication device that receives two or more beams at the same time,
The communication device
A single antenna array having a plurality of output ports;
An RF module coupled to the plurality of output ports of the antenna array; And
Baseband module connected to the RF module
/ RTI >
The antenna array receiving two or more beams simultaneously;
The RF module dividing an output of each of the plurality of output ports of the antenna array into at least two;
The RF module combining the divided results; And
The baseband module processing signals at a baseband corresponding to a result combined by the RF module
Method of operation of a communication device comprising a. In the method of operating a communication device for transmitting two or more beams at the same time,
The communication device
A baseband module; RF module; And a single antenna array,
The single antenna array
It has a plurality of input ports connected to the RF module,
The baseband module processing two or more data streams in a baseband;
The RF module processing the data streams processed by the baseband module in an RF band and providing signals corresponding to each of the data streams to a plurality of input ports of the single antenna array; And
The single antenna array transmitting two or more beams simultaneously based on signals provided by the RF module
Lt; / RTI >
The signals provided by the RF module to the plurality of input ports of the single antenna array are such that the components of the two or more data streams are summed together.
Method of operation of a communication device.

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