KR20190076659A - Antenna apparatus and mobile terminal having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, provided is a mobile terminal, which comprises: array antennas configured to transmit or receive a signal; and a control unit configured to select any one of a plurality of beams of the array antennas. The control unit may be configured to receive the signal as a first wide beam having the highest reception performance among a plurality of wide beams by using a part of the array antennas, and to control the array antennas to receive the signal a first narrow beam having the highest reception performance among a plurality of narrow beams by using the array antennas. Provided are the antenna apparatus capable of performing beam tracking at high speed through beamforming in a hierarchical structure having a wide beam and a narrow beam, and the mobile terminal.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to an antenna device and a mobile terminal including the antenna device.

The present invention relates to a mobile terminal including an antenna device for transmitting and receiving a radio signal. And more particularly, to a mobile terminal that performs beam tracking by forming antenna beams with different beam widths.

A terminal can be divided into a mobile terminal (mobile / portable terminal) and a stationary terminal according to whether the terminal can be moved. The mobile terminal can be divided into a handheld terminal and a vehicle mounted terminal according to whether the user can directly carry the mobile terminal.

The functions of mobile terminals are diversified. For example, there are data and voice communication, photographing and video shooting through a camera, voice recording, music file playback through a speaker system, and outputting an image or video on a display unit. Some terminals are equipped with an electronic game play function or a multimedia player function. In particular, modern mobile terminals can receive multicast signals that provide visual content such as broadcast and video or television programs.

Such a terminal has various functions, for example, in the form of a multimedia device having multiple functions such as photographing and photographing of a moving picture, reproduction of a music or video file, reception of a game and broadcasting, etc. .

In order to support and enhance the functionality of such terminals, it may be considered to improve the structural and / or software parts of the terminal.

In addition to the above attempts, in recent years, a wireless communication system using LTE technology has been commercialized to provide various services. However, there is a problem that high-quality, large-capacity communication service is difficult with only LTE technology. Recently, related standardization is under way to provide a fifth generation (5G) communication service.

In this regard, the fifth generation communication service can provide a high-quality, large-capacity data service such as multimedia data, as well as provide virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) services . In addition, the traffic capacity for services such as Internet of objects and autonomous driving recently increases dramatically. Therefore, in the frequency band of 6GHz or less such as LTE technology, communication service alone can not satisfy this requirement.

Therefore, the fifth generation communication service should be performed in a frequency band of 6 GHz or more, preferably in the millimeter wave band of several tens of GHz band. Although this high frequency band enables a broadband high speed communication service, there is a problem that a reach distance of a wireless signal is reduced. In this regard, it is necessary to compensate for the cell coverage reduction due to the path loss of mmWave by activating the mmWave wireless communication for high-speed communication in accordance with the 5G communication. In this regard, analog beamforming techniques using phase shifters are being introduced.

Accordingly, in a high frequency band such as a millimeter wave frequency band, antenna gain must be increased not only in a base station but also in a mobile terminal by using a directive beam. However, since the directional beam is used, the direction between the base station and the terminal or between the terminal and the terminal must be maintained constant. That is, when analog beamforming is applied in the millimeter-wave band, the transmission beam direction of the base station and the reception beam direction of the terminal must coincide with each other in order to perform data communication between the base station and the terminal.

The beamforming between such transmit / receive beams may be referred to as beam pairing. Meanwhile, although the above-described beamforming technique can improve the received signal to interference ratio (SINR) of a terminal, another problem of performance degradation such as displacement, rotation, blocking of a mobile terminal There is a problem that it can not be solved. That is, there is a problem that beam pairing between the base station and the terminal can not be maintained due to movement of the mobile terminal, rotation, and blocking of the signal. There is a problem that the reception performance degradation due to such beam mismatching or the worst situation of communication disconnection occurs.

Therefore, a tracking algorithm is needed to prevent performance degradation caused by such beam pairing mismatching. On the other hand, a beam tracking algorithm must be performed not only in the base station but also in the mobile terminal in order to maintain the reception performance.

Meanwhile, the existing beam tracking method adopts a full searching or exhaustive searching method in which all the UE candidate beam candidates are searched when the algorithm is implemented. However, as the number of candidate beams increases, it takes a long time to find an optimal beam. In addition, there is a problem in that reception tracking performance is deteriorated in finding the optimum beam again because correct tracking is not performed due to abrupt change of a channel such as blocking. Accordingly, there is a problem that the beam tracking time for selecting an optimum beam increases.

The present invention is directed to solving the above-mentioned problems and other problems. Another object of the present invention is to provide a mobile terminal and a UE beam tracking algorithm having an antenna apparatus with improved beam tracking performance.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an antenna device improved in beam tracking performance in all directions regardless of displacement, rotation, and blocking of a mobile terminal.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an efficient terminal for transmitting / receiving millimeter-wave data by utilizing a combination of a wide beam for detecting a direction of a received signal and a narrow beam in the coverage of the corresponding wide beam. UE) beam tracking algorithm.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile terminal including: an array antenna configured to transmit or receive a signal; And a controller for selecting one of the plurality of beams of the array antenna, wherein the controller is configured to select one of a plurality of beams of the plurality of wide beams from among a plurality of wide beams, Receiving the signal with a wide beam and controlling the array antenna to receive the signal with a first narrow beam having the highest reception performance among a plurality of narrow beams using the array antenna, It is possible to provide an antenna device and a mobile terminal capable of performing beam tracking at a high speed through beamforming of a hierarchical structure having a narrow beam.

According to one embodiment, the control unit selects the first narrow beam among the plurality of narrow beams in the area of the first wide beam, and if the reception performance of the first narrow beam is below the first threshold, One of the plurality of narrow beams in the area of one narrow beam may be selected as the second narrow beam adjacent to the first narrow beam.

According to an embodiment, when the reception performance of the first narrow beam is equal to or less than a second threshold value lower than the first threshold, the control unit selects a second wide beam having the highest reception performance among the plurality of wide beams having the first beam width, Beam and may select the second wide beam at the first narrow beam if the remaining battery capacity of the mobile terminal is below a certain level.

According to one embodiment, the control unit is further configured to determine, when the reception performance of the second wide beam is higher than the second threshold and lower than the first threshold, The third narrow beam having the highest reception performance among the beams can be selected.

According to an embodiment, when the difference of the received signal received power (RSRP) by the first narrow beam according to a change of time is equal to or greater than a first reference value, It is possible to calculate the maximum number of adjacent beams of the narrow beams.

According to an embodiment, when the slope of the RSRP due to the first narrow beam according to the change of time is equal to or greater than the second reference value, the control unit calculates the maximum adjacent beam number of the narrow beams to be searched in proportion to the slope Can be calculated.

According to one embodiment, the array antenna comprises: a first array antenna configured to radiate on a side surface of the terminal; And a first array antenna configured to radiate to a front surface or a rear surface of the terminal. In this case, the first array antenna is a kx1 array antenna in which k elements are arranged in a one-dimensional area, and the second array antenna is a kx1 array antenna in which m and n elements are arrayed on two axes of a two- X n array antenna.

According to one embodiment, the controller performs beamforming in the horizontal (AZ: Azimuth) direction in the one-dimensional region using the first array antenna, and uses the second array antenna to perform beam- It is possible to perform beam forming in the horizontal (AZ) and vertical (EL: Elevation) directions in the area.

According to one embodiment, the control unit forms a beam at a first angle in the AZ direction using the first array antenna, and uses the second array antenna to form a beam at the first angle and the second angle in the AZ direction And to form a beam at a second angle in the EL direction.

According to an embodiment, the controller forms a beam at a first angle in the AZ direction using the first array antenna, and when it is determined that the terminal has rotated by a second angle in the EL direction, The second array antenna can be used to control the beam to be formed at the first angle in the AZ direction and at the second angle in the EL direction.

According to an embodiment, the control unit may be configured such that the control unit forms a beam at a first angle in the AZ direction using the first array antenna, the terminal rotates by a second angle in the AZ direction, A fourth angle corresponding to a sum of the first angle and the second angle in the AZ direction and a fourth angle corresponding to a sum of the first angle and the second angle in the EL direction using the second array antenna, It can be controlled to form a beam at two angles.

According to one embodiment, the control unit controls the second RSRP in a first adjacent beam in the first direction from the center beam to a first RSRP of a center beam in the Boresight direction, The beam forming can be continued in the first direction. If the second RSRP is smaller than the first RSRP, the controller compares the first RSRP with a third RSRP in a second adjacent beam in the second direction in the center beam, If the third RSRP is larger than the third RSRP, beamforming can be continued in the second direction.

According to one embodiment, the first and second adjacent beams are narrow beams formed by using all the elements of the first array antenna, and the first and second adjacent beams are a part of the first array antenna And may be included in any one of n wide beams formed using the wide beam. At this time, if the RSRP among the m narrow beams belonging to one of the wide beams does not satisfy the threshold, the controller performs beam forming on a specific number of narrow beams in another wide beam adjacent to the one wide beam can do.

According to one embodiment, the controller generates a main beam at a first angle in the AZ direction using the first array antenna, and generates a main beam at the first angle in the AZ direction using the second array antenna, And generate a first adjacent beam adjacent to the main beam at an angle and at a second angle in the first direction in the EL direction. At this time, it is possible to receive the signal from the first angle through the main beam to the first RSRP, and receive the signal from the second angle to the second RSRP through the first adjacent beam. Meanwhile, if the second RSRP is larger than the first RSRP, the controller may continue to perform beamforming in the first direction in the EL direction. If the second RSRP is smaller than the first RSRP, the controller compares the first RSRP with a third RSRP in a second adjacent beam in the second direction in the main beam, If the third RSRP is larger than the third RSRP, beamforming can be continuously performed in the second direction in the EL direction.

According to an embodiment, the control unit forms a first main beam at a first angle in the AZ direction using the first array antenna, receives a first signal, Direction to form a second main beam at a second angle to receive the second signal in the same time slot as the first signal. At this time, the first data included in the first signal and the second data included in the second signal may be different data.

According to an embodiment, the control unit may be configured such that the first main beam is formed at the first angle in the AZ direction, and null is formed at the second angle in the EL direction, Each element of the second array antenna is controlled so that the phase of each element is controlled so that a second main beam is formed at the second angle in the EL direction and a null is formed at the first angle in the AZ direction, Can be controlled.

Effects of the mobile terminal and the antenna device according to the present invention will be described as follows.

Also, according to at least one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide an antenna device and a mobile terminal capable of performing beam tracking at a high speed through beamforming of a hierarchical structure having a wide beam and a narrow beam.

According to at least one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide an antenna device improved in beam tracking performance in all directions regardless of the rotation motion of the mobile terminal using different types of array antennas.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, such as the preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art.

1A is a block diagram illustrating a mobile terminal according to the present invention.
1B and 1C are conceptual diagrams illustrating an example of a mobile terminal according to the present invention in different directions.
FIG. 2 illustrates a mobile terminal having two types of array antennas disposed in a mobile terminal according to the present invention.
3 is a conceptual diagram of a beam tracking method of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4A compares the radiation patterns of the wide beam WB and the narrow beam NB according to the present invention.
FIG. 4B shows a radiation pattern according to the present invention and a single radiation pattern according to the device type according to the wide beam WB and the narrow beam NB.
5 shows a relationship between a radiation pattern for a plurality of beams and a rotation direction of the terminal according to the present invention.
6 shows a radiation pattern of a first array antenna in relation to a narrow beam search technique for finding an optimal beam in a first array antenna according to the present invention.
7 shows a radiation pattern of a second array antenna in relation to a narrow beam search technique for finding an optimal beam in a second array antenna according to the present invention.
FIG. 8 shows an arrangement of the first and second array antennas in the terminal and a radiation pattern by the first and second array antennas, according to the present invention.
FIGS. 9A to 9C are conceptual diagrams of a beam tracking method in which the hierarchical beam search and the sensor information are fused according to the invention.
10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing a hierarchical beam search performed by a mobile terminal according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to designate identical or similar elements, and redundant description thereof will be omitted. The suffix "module" and " part "for the components used in the following description are given or mixed in consideration of ease of specification, and do not have their own meaning or role. In the following description of the embodiments of the present invention, a detailed description of related arts will be omitted when it is determined that the gist of the embodiments disclosed herein may be blurred. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. , ≪ / RTI > equivalents, and alternatives.

Terms including ordinals, such as first, second, etc., may be used to describe various elements, but the elements are not limited to these terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, . On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between.

The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

In the present application, the terms "comprises", "having", and the like are used to specify that a feature, a number, a step, an operation, an element, a component, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

The mobile terminal described in this specification includes a mobile phone, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a digital broadcasting terminal, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), a navigation device, a slate PC A tablet PC, an ultrabook, a wearable device such as a smartwatch, a smart glass, and a head mounted display (HMD). have.

However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the configuration according to the embodiments described herein may be applied to fixed terminals such as a digital TV, a desktop computer, a digital signage, and the like, will be.

1A to 1C are block diagrams for explaining a mobile terminal according to the present invention, and FIGS. 1B and 1C are conceptual diagrams showing an example of a mobile terminal according to the present invention in different directions.

The mobile terminal 100 includes a wireless communication unit 110, an input unit 120, a sensing unit 140, an output unit 150, an interface unit 160, a memory 170, a control unit 180, and a power supply unit 190 ), And the like. The components shown in FIG. 1A are not essential for implementing a mobile terminal, so that the mobile terminal described herein may have more or fewer components than the components listed above.

The wireless communication unit 110 may be connected between the mobile terminal 100 and the wireless communication system or between the mobile terminal 100 and another mobile terminal 100 or between the mobile terminal 100 and the external server 100. [ Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > wireless < / RTI > In addition, the wireless communication unit 110 may include one or more modules for connecting the mobile terminal 100 to one or more networks.

The wireless communication unit 110 may include at least one of a broadcast receiving module 111, a mobile communication module 112, a wireless Internet module 113, a short distance communication module 114, and a location information module 115 .

The input unit 120 includes a camera 121 or an image input unit for inputting a video signal, a microphone 122 for inputting an audio signal, an audio input unit, a user input unit 123 for receiving information from a user A touch key, a mechanical key, and the like). The voice data or image data collected by the input unit 120 may be analyzed and processed by a user's control command.

The sensing unit 140 may include at least one sensor for sensing at least one of information in the mobile terminal, surrounding environment information surrounding the mobile terminal, and user information. For example, the sensing unit 140 may include a proximity sensor 141, an illumination sensor 142, a touch sensor, an acceleration sensor, a magnetic sensor, A G-sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a motion sensor, an RGB sensor, an infrared sensor, a finger scan sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, A microphone 226, a battery gauge, an environmental sensor (for example, a barometer, a hygrometer, a thermometer, a radiation detection sensor, A thermal sensor, a gas sensor, etc.), a chemical sensor (e.g., an electronic nose, a healthcare sensor, a biometric sensor, etc.). Meanwhile, the mobile terminal disclosed in the present specification can combine and utilize information sensed by at least two of the sensors.

The output unit 150 includes at least one of a display unit 151, an acoustic output unit 152, a haptic tip module 153, and a light output unit 154 to generate an output related to visual, auditory, can do. The display unit 151 may have a mutual layer structure with the touch sensor or may be integrally formed to realize a touch screen. The touch screen may function as a user input unit 123 that provides an input interface between the mobile terminal 100 and a user and may provide an output interface between the mobile terminal 100 and a user.

The interface unit 160 serves as a path to various types of external devices connected to the mobile terminal 100. The interface unit 160 is connected to a device having a wired / wireless headset port, an external charger port, a wired / wireless data port, a memory card port, And may include at least one of a port, an audio I / O port, a video I / O port, and an earphone port. In the mobile terminal 100, corresponding to the connection of the external device to the interface unit 160, it is possible to perform appropriate control related to the connected external device.

In addition, the memory 170 stores data supporting various functions of the mobile terminal 100. The memory 170 may store a plurality of application programs or applications running on the mobile terminal 100, data for operation of the mobile terminal 100, and commands. At least some of these applications may be downloaded from an external server via wireless communication. Also, at least a part of these application programs may exist on the mobile terminal 100 from the time of shipment for the basic functions (e.g., telephone call receiving function, message receiving function, and calling function) of the mobile terminal 100. Meanwhile, the application program may be stored in the memory 170, installed on the mobile terminal 100, and may be operated by the control unit 180 to perform the operation (or function) of the mobile terminal.

In addition to the operations related to the application program, the control unit 180 typically controls the overall operation of the mobile terminal 100. The control unit 180 may process or process signals, data, information, and the like input or output through the above-mentioned components, or may drive an application program stored in the memory 170 to provide or process appropriate information or functions to the user.

In addition, the controller 180 may control at least some of the components illustrated in FIG. 1A in order to drive an application program stored in the memory 170. FIG. In addition, the controller 180 may operate at least two of the components included in the mobile terminal 100 in combination with each other for driving the application program.

The power supply unit 190 receives external power and internal power under the control of the controller 180 and supplies power to the components included in the mobile terminal 100. The power supply unit 190 includes a battery, which may be an internal battery or a replaceable battery.

At least some of the components may operate in cooperation with one another to implement a method of operation, control, or control of a mobile terminal according to various embodiments described below. In addition, the operation, control, or control method of the mobile terminal may be implemented on the mobile terminal by driving at least one application program stored in the memory 170. [

Referring to FIGS. 1B and 1C, the disclosed mobile terminal 100 includes a bar-shaped terminal body. However, the present invention is not limited thereto and can be applied to various structures such as a folder type, a flip type, a slide type, a swing type, and a swivel type in which a watch type, a clip type, a glass type or two or more bodies are relatively movably coupled . A description of a particular type of mobile terminal, although relevant to a particular type of mobile terminal, is generally applicable to other types of mobile terminals.

Here, the terminal body can be understood as a concept of referring to the mobile terminal 100 as at least one aggregate.

The mobile terminal 100 includes a case (for example, a frame, a housing, a cover, and the like) that forms an appearance. As shown, the mobile terminal 100 may include a front case 101 and a rear case 102. Various electronic components are disposed in the inner space formed by the combination of the front case 101 and the rear case 102. At least one middle case may be additionally disposed between the front case 101 and the rear case 102.

A display unit 151 is disposed on a front surface of the terminal body to output information. The window 151a of the display unit 151 may be mounted on the front case 101 to form a front surface of the terminal body together with the front case 101. [

In some cases, electronic components may also be mounted on the rear case 102. Electronic parts that can be mounted on the rear case 102 include detachable batteries, an identification module, a memory card, and the like. In this case, a rear cover 103 for covering the mounted electronic components can be detachably coupled to the rear case 102. Therefore, when the rear cover 103 is separated from the rear case 102, the electronic parts mounted on the rear case 102 are exposed to the outside.

As shown, when the rear cover 103 is coupled to the rear case 102, a side portion of the rear case 102 can be exposed. In some cases, the rear case 102 may be completely covered by the rear cover 103 during the engagement. Meanwhile, the rear cover 103 may be provided with an opening for exposing the camera 121b and the sound output unit 152b to the outside.

These cases 101, 102, and 103 may be formed by injection molding of synthetic resin or may be formed of metal such as stainless steel (STS), aluminum (Al), titanium (Ti), or the like.

The mobile terminal 100 may be configured such that one case provides the internal space, unlike the above example in which a plurality of cases provide an internal space for accommodating various electronic components. In this case, a unibody mobile terminal 100 in which synthetic resin or metal is connected from the side to the rear side can be realized.

Meanwhile, the mobile terminal 100 may include a waterproof unit (not shown) for preventing water from penetrating into the terminal body. For example, the waterproof portion is provided between the window 151a and the front case 101, between the front case 101 and the rear case 102, or between the rear case 102 and the rear cover 103, And a waterproof member for sealing the inside space of the oven.

The mobile terminal 100 is provided with a display unit 151, first and second sound output units 152a and 152b, a proximity sensor 141, an illuminance sensor 142, a light output unit 154, Cameras 121a and 121b, first and second operation units 123a and 123b, a microphone 122, an interface unit 160, and the like.

1B and 1C, a display unit 151, a first sound output unit 152a, a proximity sensor 141, an illuminance sensor 142, an optical output unit (not shown) A second operation unit 123b, a microphone 122 and an interface unit 160 are disposed on a side surface of the terminal body, And a mobile terminal 100 having a second sound output unit 152b and a second camera 121b disposed on a rear surface thereof.

However, these configurations are not limited to this arrangement. These configurations may be excluded or replaced as needed, or placed on different planes. For example, the first operation unit 123a may not be provided on the front surface of the terminal body, and the second sound output unit 152b may be provided on the side surface of the terminal body rather than the rear surface of the terminal body.

The display unit 151 displays (outputs) information processed by the mobile terminal 100. For example, the display unit 151 may display execution screen information of an application program driven by the mobile terminal 100 or UI (User Interface) and GUI (Graphic User Interface) information according to the execution screen information .

The display unit 151 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT LCD), an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), a flexible display display, a 3D display, and an e-ink display.

In addition, the display unit 151 may exist in two or more depending on the embodiment of the mobile terminal 100. In this case, the mobile terminal 100 may be provided with a plurality of display portions spaced apart from each other or disposed integrally with one another, or may be disposed on different surfaces, respectively.

The display unit 151 may include a touch sensor that senses a touch with respect to the display unit 151 so that a control command can be received by a touch method. When a touch is made to the display unit 151, the touch sensor senses the touch, and the control unit 180 generates a control command corresponding to the touch based on the touch. The content input by the touch method may be a letter or a number, an instruction in various modes, a menu item which can be designated, and the like.

The touch sensor may be a film having a touch pattern and disposed between the window 151a and a display (not shown) on the rear surface of the window 151a, or may be a metal wire . Alternatively, the touch sensor may be formed integrally with the display. For example, the touch sensor may be disposed on a substrate of the display or inside the display.

In this way, the display unit 151 can form a touch screen together with the touch sensor. In this case, the touch screen can function as a user input unit 123 (see FIG. 1A). In some cases, the touch screen may replace at least some functions of the first operation unit 123a.

The first sound output unit 152a may be implemented as a receiver for transmitting a call sound to a user's ear and the second sound output unit 152b may be implemented as a loud speaker for outputting various alarm sounds or multimedia playback sounds. ). ≪ / RTI >

The window 151a of the display unit 151 may be provided with an acoustic hole for emitting the sound generated from the first acoustic output unit 152a. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the sound may be configured to be emitted along an assembly gap (for example, a gap between the window 151a and the front case 101) between the structures. In this case, the appearance of the mobile terminal 100 can be made more simple because the hole formed independently for the apparent acoustic output is hidden or hidden.

The optical output unit 154 is configured to output light for notifying the occurrence of an event. Examples of the event include a message reception, a call signal reception, a missed call, an alarm, a schedule notification, an email reception, and reception of information through an application. The control unit 180 may control the light output unit 154 to terminate the light output when the event confirmation of the user is detected.

The first camera 121a processes an image frame of a still image or a moving image obtained by the image sensor in the photographing mode or the video communication mode. The processed image frame can be displayed on the display unit 151 and can be stored in the memory 170. [

The first and second operation units 123a and 123b may be collectively referred to as a manipulating portion as an example of a user input unit 123 operated to receive a command for controlling the operation of the mobile terminal 100 have. The first and second operation units 123a and 123b can be employed in any manner as long as the user is in a tactile manner such as touch, push, scroll, or the like. In addition, the first and second operation units 123a and 123b may be employed in a manner that the user operates the apparatus without touching the user through a proximity touch, a hovering touch, or the like.

In this figure, the first operation unit 123a is a touch key, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the first operation unit 123a may be a mechanical key, or a combination of a touch key and a touch key.

The contents input by the first and second operation units 123a and 123b can be variously set. For example, the first operation unit 123a receives a command such as a menu, a home key, a cancellation, a search, and the like, and the second operation unit 123b receives a command from the first or second sound output unit 152a or 152b The size of the sound, and the change of the display unit 151 to the touch recognition mode.

On the other hand, a rear input unit (not shown) may be provided on the rear surface of the terminal body as another example of the user input unit 123. The rear input unit is operated to receive a command for controlling the operation of the mobile terminal 100, and input contents may be variously set. For example, commands such as power on / off, start, end, scrolling, and the like, the size adjustment of the sound output from the first and second sound output units 152a and 152b, And the like can be inputted. The rear input unit may be implemented as a touch input, a push input, or a combination thereof.

The rear input unit may be disposed so as to overlap with the front display unit 151 in the thickness direction of the terminal body. For example, the rear input unit may be disposed at the rear upper end of the terminal body such that when the user holds the terminal body with one hand, the rear input unit can be easily operated using the index finger. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the position of the rear input unit may be changed.

When a rear input unit is provided on the rear surface of the terminal body, a new type of user interface using the rear input unit can be realized. When the first operation unit 123a is not disposed on the front surface of the terminal body in place of at least a part of the functions of the first operation unit 123a provided on the front surface of the terminal body, The display unit 151 may be configured as a larger screen.

Meanwhile, the mobile terminal 100 may be provided with a fingerprint recognition sensor for recognizing the fingerprint of the user, and the controller 180 may use the fingerprint information sensed through the fingerprint recognition sensor as authentication means. The fingerprint recognition sensor may be embedded in the display unit 151 or the user input unit 123.

The microphone 122 is configured to receive the user's voice, other sounds, and the like. The microphone 122 may be provided at a plurality of locations to receive stereophonic sound.

The interface unit 160 is a path through which the mobile terminal 100 can be connected to an external device. For example, the interface unit 160 may include a connection terminal for connection with another device (for example, an earphone or an external speaker), a port for short-range communication (for example, an infrared port (IrDA Port), a Bluetooth port A wireless LAN port, or the like), or a power supply terminal for supplying power to the mobile terminal 100. The interface unit 160 may be implemented as a socket for receiving an external card such as a SIM (Subscriber Identification Module) or a UIM (User Identity Module) or a memory card for storing information.

And a second camera 121b may be disposed on a rear surface of the terminal body. In this case, the second camera 121b has a photographing direction which is substantially opposite to that of the first camera 121a.

The second camera 121b may include a plurality of lenses arranged along at least one line. The plurality of lenses may be arranged in a matrix form. Such a camera can be named an array camera. When the second camera 121b is configured as an array camera, images can be taken in various ways using a plurality of lenses, and a better quality image can be obtained.

The flash 124 may be disposed adjacent to the second camera 121b. The flash 124 shines light toward the subject when the subject is photographed by the second camera 121b.

And a second sound output unit 152b may be additionally disposed in the terminal body. The second sound output unit 152b may implement a stereo function together with the first sound output unit 152a and may be used for implementing a speakerphone mode in a call.

The terminal body may be provided with at least one antenna for wireless communication. The antenna may be embedded in the terminal body or formed in the case. For example, an antenna constituting a part of the broadcast receiving module 111 (see FIG. 1A) may be configured to be able to be drawn out from the terminal body. Alternatively, the antenna may be formed in a film type and attached to the inner surface of the rear cover 103, or a case including a conductive material may be configured to function as an antenna.

The terminal body is provided with a power supply unit 190 (see FIG. 1A) for supplying power to the mobile terminal 100. The power supply unit 190 may include a battery 191 built in the terminal body or detachable from the outside of the terminal body.

The battery 191 may be configured to receive power through a power cable connected to the interface unit 160. In addition, the battery 191 may be configured to be wirelessly chargeable through a wireless charger. The wireless charging may be implemented by a magnetic induction method or a resonance method (magnetic resonance method).

The rear cover 103 is configured to be coupled to the rear case 102 so as to cover the battery 191 to restrict the release of the battery 191 and to protect the battery 191 from external impact and foreign matter . When the battery 191 is detachably attached to the terminal body, the rear cover 103 may be detachably coupled to the rear case 102.

The mobile terminal 100 may be provided with an accessory that protects the appearance or supports or expands the function of the mobile terminal 100. [ One example of such an accessory is a cover or pouch that covers or accommodates at least one side of the mobile terminal 100. [ The cover or pouch may be configured to interlock with the display unit 151 to expand the function of the mobile terminal 100. Another example of an accessory is a touch pen for supplementing or extending a touch input to the touch screen.

Hereinafter, embodiments related to an antenna device and an antenna device having the antenna device constructed as above will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof.

2 shows a mobile terminal having two types of array antennas arranged in a mobile terminal according to the present invention. Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a mobile terminal 100 includes an array antenna 200 configured to transmit or receive signals. In addition, the mobile terminal 100 further includes a controller 180 for controlling the selection of one of the plurality of beams of the array antenna. As shown in FIG. 2, the array antenna 200 includes a first array antenna 210 and a second array antenna 220.

The first array antenna 210 is configured to radiate electromagnetic energy on the side of the terminal. Accordingly, the first array antenna 210 can transmit or receive radio signals on the side of the terminal. For example, the first array antenna 210 may be a kx1 array antenna in which k antenna elements are arranged in a one-dimensional region. In this regard, the antenna element of the first array antenna 210 may be composed of an endfire type antenna in which a radiation pattern is formed on a side surface. For example, the first array antenna 210 may be a dipole or a monopole type of radiating elements.

Meanwhile, the second array antenna 220 is configured to radiate electromagnetic energy to the front surface or the rear surface of the terminal. Accordingly, the second array antenna 220 can transmit or receive a radio signal from the front or back of the terminal. For example, the second array antenna 220 may be an mxn array antenna in which m and n elements are arranged on two axes of a two-dimensional area. In this regard, the antenna element of the second array antenna 220 may be configured as a broadside or boresight type antenna in which a radiation pattern is formed in a direction perpendicular to the plane in which the elements are arranged. For example, the second array antenna 210 may be composed of patch radiating elements in a printed form on a plane.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a conceptual view of a beam tracking method of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the controller 180 may perform the following process. That is, the beam-tracing (or beam-forming) process according to the present invention may include: i) an initial state, ii) an optimal narrow beam selection step, iii) a narrow beam tracking, . In addition, the beam tracking (or beamforming) step may include iv) a narrow beam data communication step, v) a narrow beam use step, and vi) a beam recovery step .

First, i) with respect to the initial state, this corresponds to a beam detecting step. In this regard, the control unit 180 receives the signal using a first wide beam among a plurality of wide beams (WB) using some elements of the array antenna 200. At this time, the plurality of wide beams WB including the first wide beam may have a first beam width (BW). Here, some elements of the array antenna 200 refer to some elements of the first array antenna 210 or some elements of the second array antenna 220. For example, if the total number of elements of the first array antenna 210 or the second array antenna 220 is 16, a wide beam is formed by using some of the two, four, or eight elements, can do. On the other hand, the total number of elements is not limited to 16, but can be variously modified depending on applications such as 4, 8, 16, and 32. [ As described above, a method using only a part of all the antenna elements can be referred to as a sub-array technique. At this time, a method of using some devices is possible by selecting successively arranged elements among all the elements or selecting arbitrary elements. However, it may be desirable to select some successively arranged ones of the total elements successively for improved beam characteristics of the antenna and ease of power distribution / coupling.

On the other hand, i) With respect to the initial state, for example, four antenna elements among 16 total antenna elements can be selected to form four wide beams WB. At this time, the control unit 180 selects a beam having the highest reception performance among the four wide beams, for example, WB1, and can receive the signal with WB1. For example, pilots, control signals, etc., rather than data, may be received at an early stage. Such a signal can be transmitted at a maximum power by the base station or the counterpart terminal, so that the terminal can sufficiently receive the pilot or the control signal with the wide beam WB having a small antenna gain.

Next, with respect to ii) the optimum narrow beam selection step, the control unit 180 can perform the following operations. The controller 180 can control the array antenna 200 to receive the signal using the array antenna 200 with the first narrow beam having the highest reception performance among a plurality of narrow beams (NB) . At this time, the plurality of narrow beams NB are configured to have a second beam width, and the second beam width corresponds to a beam width narrower than the first beam width corresponding to the wide beam WB. On the other hand, by using the narrow beam WB, the antenna gain is increased, and it becomes easy to transmit and receive a signal including data. Accordingly, a signal including data can be received at a lower power than a maximum power, such as a pilot or a signal including control information.

iii) With respect to the narrow beam tracking step, the control unit 180 may perform the following operations. First, the control unit 180 selects the first narrow beam among the plurality of narrow beams in the area of the first wide beam. Next, if the reception performance of the first narrow beam is below the first threshold, the controller 180 can select the second narrow beam adjacent to the first narrow beam among the plurality of narrow beams in the region of the first narrow beam have.

As described above, with respect to the hierarchical beam, FIG. 4A compares the radiation patterns of the wide beam WB and the narrow beam NB according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4A, the radiation patterns of the wide beam WB and the narrow beam NB for the first and second array antennas of different types are shown. At this time, if the total number of elements is four for the first array antenna such as the dipole antenna, WB can be formed using one or two antenna elements. If the total number of elements is 16, WB can be formed using one, two, four, or eight antenna elements. In addition, if the overall configuration of the second array antenna such as the patch antenna is 2 x 2, WB can be formed using one antenna element. Further, if the total device form is 4x4, WB can be formed using the antenna element 2x2. The directivity (or gain) of the antenna is reduced by using some of the antenna elements of such an arrangement. In addition, effective active power (EIRP: Effective Isotropic Radiated Power) is reduced because an active element connected to an unused element among all the antenna elements, i.e., a power amplifier, does not operate.

On the other hand, since the wide beam WB has a wide beam coverage, it can be used for transmission beam detection by the base station rather than for communication. In this regard, Figure 4 (b) shows the radiation pattern of the broad beam WB for different types of antennas. For example, the radiation patterns of one dipole element and one patch element are shown. As shown, a first antenna element, such as a dipole, forms a main beam in a horizontal direction, i.e., a lateral direction of the terminal, relative to the front surface of the terminal. On the other hand, a second antenna element such as a patch forms a main beam in a direction perpendicular to the front surface of the terminal, that is, in the front direction of the terminal. On the other hand, how many wide beams WB are formed by using several antenna elements for each array antenna depends on the beam design rule (Beam design rule).

With respect to the formation of the wide beam WB, data communication can be performed using the wide beam WB instead of the narrow beam NB even when the remaining power of the battery is reduced. Accordingly, the data rate received by the downlink (DL) from the base station to the subscriber station can be reduced. Also, in the case of UE tracking by the terminal, a wide beam (WB) forming method can be performed to reduce the power consumption and reduce the beam tracking time.

On the other hand, with respect to the hierarchical beam tracking method, FIG. 4B shows a radiation pattern according to the wide beam WB and the narrow beam NB according to the present invention, and a single radiation pattern according to the element type. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4B, assuming that WB1 is selected in step i), NB2 having the best reception performance among the plurality of narrow beams NB1 to NB4 in the region of WB1 in step ii) may be selected. Next, NB tracing can be performed within the WB. In this regard, iii) a narrow beam tracking step may be performed . At this time, if the reception performance of the first narrow beam is below the first threshold, the controller 180 may select the second narrow beam adjacent to the first narrow beam among the plurality of narrow beams in the area of the first narrow beam. At this time, the selection of the second narrow beam may be performed until the reception performance is above the first threshold, or may be performed on all the narrow beams NB1 to NB4 in the first wide beam WB1. On the other hand, if the corresponding NB is selected, NB data communication can be performed using the corresponding NB. If the reception performance through the NB is maintained at a certain level, the antenna beam is fixed by the corresponding NB, for example, NB2 during the NB data communication, so that it can be referred to as a stationary state.

Next, the reception performance of NB2 may decrease, or v) a narrow beam use step may be performed according to battery capacity, and then a vi recovery step may be performed. At this time, NB1 or NB3 which is a beam adjacent to NB2 among the plurality of narrow beams NB1 to NB4 in the region WB1 of the previously selected NB2 can be selected. However, if the optimal NB does not exist in the corresponding region, the optimal NB can be searched in another WB. At this time, if the reception performance of the first narrow beam is below a second threshold value lower than the first threshold, the controller 180 can select the second wide beam having the highest reception performance among the plurality of wide beams having the first beam width . Alternatively, if the remaining battery capacity of the mobile terminal is below a certain level, the controller 180 may select the second wide beam at the first narrow beam. On the other hand, after the second broad beam is selected, the controller 180 can select the optimum narrow beam having the highest reception performance among the narrow beams in the area to which the second wide beam belongs. Alternatively, if the controller 180 determines that the remaining battery capacity has recovered to a certain level or more, the optimal narrow beam having the highest reception performance among the narrow beams in the area to which the second wide beam belongs can be selected.

As described above, if the reception performance greatly deteriorates in the WB area to which the specific NB belongs, the control unit 180 can search for the NB in another WB area. That is, when the reception performance of the first narrow beam NB1 is lower than the second threshold value, the controller 180 determines that the second narrow beam NB1 has the highest reception performance among the plurality of wide beams having the first beam width (WB2) can be selected. Further, if the reception performance of the second wide beam WB2 is higher than the second threshold value and lower than the first threshold value, the controller 180 may determine that the plurality of second beams having the second beam width within the region of the second wide beam NB2 It is possible to select the third narrow beam having the highest reception performance among the narrow beams NB5 to NB8. For example, if the reception performance of NB2 is less than or equal to a second threshold value lower than the first threshold value, the control unit 180 can search NB5 to NB8 in the adjacent WB2 area without searching for NB1 to NB4. Accordingly, since NB6 can be selected by performing two beam searches from NB2 to NB5 and NB6, the beam search time is reduced as compared with the case of sequential beam search. Also, if the reception performance of the NB5 satisfies the second threshold to reduce the beam tracking (searching) time, the team tracking (searching) process can be terminated without searching for NB6.

On the other hand, vi) after the beam recovery step and iii) the narrow beam tracking step may be performed again. That is, if the third narrow beam is below a certain level, the controller 180 may perform beam tracking on the other narrow beams in the wide beam to which the third narrow beam belongs.

Next, a description will be made of a moving condition between a narrow beam NB and a method of calculating a maximum movable adjacent beam number in a mobile terminal (user equipment (UE)) beam tracking according to the present invention. In this regard, FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the radiation pattern for the plurality of beams and the rotation direction of the terminal according to the present invention. In this regard, if the difference of the received signal received power (RSRP) by the narrow beam according to the change of the time is equal to or greater than the first reference value, the control unit 180 determines that the narrow beams The maximum adjacent beam number can be calculated. Alternatively, when the slope of the RSRP due to the narrow beam due to the change of the time is equal to or greater than the second reference value, the controller 180 may calculate the maximum adjacent beam number of the narrow beams to be searched in proportion to the slope.

As described above, when the two conditions are satisfied, the beam-to-beam movement condition moves from the current beam to the corresponding candidate beam. In this regard, condition 1 corresponds to a case where the difference of the RSRP value at the present point of time relative to the reference RSRP of the current beam exceeds a specific threshold value. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, when the difference (? 1) between the RSRPs at the current point (point? Or?) At the reference point (point? The number of adjacent beams can be calculated. Next, the condition 2 indicates that the slope (DELTA 2) at the reference point (the point of time?) Of the current beam and the present point of time (point of point?) Or the point of time of the present point of time Or more. At this time, the slope (? 2) can be determined by comparing the absolute value with a negative value (-). Therefore, if the slope? 2 is equal to or greater than the second reference value, the maximum adjacent beam number of the narrow beams to be searched in proportion to the slope can be calculated.

Herein, the reference RSRP value refers to a maximum value of a narrow beam for present data communication in a current channel condition corresponding to a line-of-sight (LOS) or multi-path channel condition. Also, the? Thr (Threshold) value means an RSRP optimal value relative to the current reference value in the current channel condition corresponding to the LOS or multipath channel conditions. At point 2, it is 1.5dB compared to the maximum value of the beam, and at the point 3, it is a switching point for monitoring the adjacent beam, which is 3dB relative to the maximum value of the beam.

Meanwhile, a method of calculating the maximum movable adjacent beam number will be described below. Assuming that the maximum rotational speed of the terminal is 800 ° / s, this is 4 ° / 5 ms. For example, a beam can be generated using four antenna elements, assuming a 3 dB beamwidth of about 20 and a peak to peak RSRP of the current beam of 1.5 TDB or 3 dB. Also, it is assumed that the switching time of the UE beam is 5 ms, and the RSRP value capable of data communication through the current beam is -3 dB. At this time. Assuming that the threshold (ΔThr) is assumed to be 1.5 dB, the number of adjacent beams capable of beam monitoring for tracking while maintaining data communication with the current beam is 3 (+ 3) + ⑤ + 12 . On the other hand, it can be seen that the number of adjacent beams capable of beam monitoring for tracking while maintaining data communication with the current beam at ③ where the threshold value (? Thr) is assumed to be 3 dB is about 2 at ④ + ⑤ = 8 ° / have. As described above, in the case where the number of adjacent beams is two, it is considered that the case where? Thr is set to 3 dB is less sensitive to the channel variation than the case where? Thr is assumed to be 1.5 dB. On the other hand, in the case of the point ⑥, since the current beam gain applied to the data communication is smaller than -3 dB, the block error rate (BLER) increases and it may be difficult to apply the tracking method.

When? Thr is set to 1.5 dB or 3 dB as in the above example, since only two or three adjacent beams can be searched, the beam switching time can be reduced to 5 ms in order to increase the number of adjacent beams that can be searched. For example, when beam switching is performed every 2.5 ms since the rotation speed of the terminal is 4 [deg.] / 5 ms, the number of adjacent beams that can be searched at the same time is doubled while data communication is performed within -3 dB from the current beam.

In conclusion, in designing the beam-tracing algorithm, the number of adjacent beams to be searched must be equal to or smaller than the maximum number of adjacent beams calculated under these conditions. In addition, it should be designed to have some margin between the position of the last adjacent beam and the lowest threshold RSRP value capable of data communication. The beam having a beam direction of more than 45 degrees has a gain reduced and a beam width wider, but it is possible to calculate the number of adjacent beams in the same manner as described above.

Next, a beam forming method for searching for an optimum beam in two types of first and second array antennas will be described. In this regard, Figure 6 shows the radiation pattern of the first array antenna in relation to a narrow beam search technique for finding an optimal beam in a first array antenna according to the present invention. FIG. 7, on the other hand, shows the radiation pattern of the second array antenna in relation to a narrow beam search technique for finding an optimal beam in a second array antenna according to the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, the controller 180 may perform beamforming in a horizontal (AZ: Azimuth) direction in a one-dimensional region using the first array antenna 210. In this regard, the controller 180 may determine that the second RSRP in the first adjacent beam in the first direction from the center beam is less than the first RSRP of the center beam in the Boresight direction , Beamforming can be continuously performed in the first direction. In addition, if the second RSRP is smaller than the first RSRP, the controller 180 may compare the first RSRP with the third RSRP in the second adjacent beam in the second direction in the center beam. At this time, if the third RSRP is larger than the first RSRP, beamforming can be continued in the second direction.

For example, in the case of the first array antenna 210 such as a dipole antenna, the search can be performed by dividing the bore-sight beam into NB1 at the point ① and then to the left / right. If the optimum beam is found during the search, the search can be stopped and data communication can be performed through the corresponding NB. This search scheme can reduce search time compared to full searching. In the search method, the number of searches is at least 3 times and at most (N-1) / 2 + 1, and the number of searches is reduced compared to the total search. In the search method proposed in the present invention, a beam search process may be performed according to steps 1 to N as follows.

. Step 1: Measure NB ① BRSRP corresponding to bore site

          Measures BRSRP from right beam (start, left / right order does not matter)

. Step 2: Measure NB② BRSRP

  - Case 1. NB② BRSRP> NB① BRSRP

        → Navigate right, NB 3 & Move to Step 4

  - Case 2. NB② BRSRP <NB① BRSRP

             → Right beam search is meaningless, start searching for left beam, NB ⑤ & Go to Step 3

. Step 3: NB ⑤ BRSRP measurement

  - Case 1. NB @ BRSRP> NB @ BRSRP

       → Left NB⑥ & proceed to next step search

  - Case 2. NB ⑤ BRSRP <NB ① BRSRP

      → Since BRSRP of NB① is larger than NB② & ⑤, NB① is selected as optimum beam

. Step 4: Measure NB

  - Case 1. NB 3. BRSRP> NB② BRSRP

      → Right beam NB④ & Go to the next step

  - Case 2. NB 3. BRSRP <NB② BRSRP

     → Since BRSRP of NB② is bigger than NB① & ③, NB② is selected as optimum beam

. Step N: Including left / right navigation, reaching the final beam

    → If the last NB is higher than the previous NB, it is regarded as the maximum BRSRP and it is selected as the optimum beam.

In particular, with respect to the NB search, the first and second adjacent beams may be narrow beams formed using all elements of the first array antenna. At this time, the first and second adjacent beams may belong to any one of n wide beams formed using some elements of the first array antenna. In this regard, if the RSRP among the m narrow beams belonging to one of the wide beams does not satisfy the threshold value, the control unit 180 controls the amount of the narrow beam in the other wide beam adjacent to the one wide beam, Forming can be performed. For example, only a part of NBs belonging to the same wide beam among NB1 to NB7 in Fig. 6 can be selected to reduce the beam search time.

1, 2 and 7, the controller 180 performs beamforming in the horizontal (AZ) and vertical (EL: Elevation) directions in the two-dimensional region using the second array antenna 220 . In this regard, an algorithm for finding an optimal narrow beam in a second array antenna, such as a patch array antenna, corresponds to a method for reducing search time versus the total search. For example, you can create and search for 9 narrow beams in a 2 × 2 patch array antenna. In addition, a larger number of narrow beams can be generated and searched in an N x N patch array antenna. For a 2 × 2 patch array antenna, the proposed search method can reduce the search frequency compared to the full search of nine to five circuits.

. Step 1: Measure BRSRP in NB0

        → Move to NB1, ① Path

. Step 2: Measure BRSRP in NB1

  - Path ④: NB0 BRSRP> NB1 BRSRP

        → Move to path ④. Additional measurement of BRSRP for NB4 & NB2 & NB3. Go to Step 3

  - Path ①: NB0 BRSRP <NB1 BRSRP

         → Go to ② & ③ Path. BRSRP measurements from NB2 & NB3. Go to Step 3.

. Step 3: Find the best beam among NB5, NB6, NB7, NB8.

  - Path ①: Find the optimal beam among NB5 and NB6

         In the case of NB5, NB1 BRSRP + NB2 BRSRP, in case of NB6, NB1 BRSRP + NB3 BRSRP is calculated, and the BRSRP value for the NB having a high value is measured.

  - Path ④: Find the optimal beam among NB7 and NB8

        NB2 BRSRP + NB4 BRSRP for NB7, NB3 BRSRP + NB4 BRSRP for NB8, and then BRSRP value for NB with high value is measured.

Step 4: Finally find the optimal narrow beam. In case of Path ④, there are 4 cases, and in case of Path ①, 5 cases are generated.

 - Path ①: NB1, NB2, NB3, NB5 or NB6 BRSRP selects the narrow beam as the optimal beam.

 - Path ④: NB0 (NB0 BRSRP is NB1 & NB4 BRSRP), BRSRP selects narrow beam as optimal beam among NB2, NB3, NB4, NB7 or NB8.

Meanwhile, the same method can be applied to the case where the search is started in any direction in the left / right / upper / lower direction in the boreite beam NB0 in the second array antenna.

Next, a narrow beam beam alignment method for beam tracing (search) between array antennas of different types will be described. In this regard, FIG. 8 shows the arrangement of the first and second array antennas in the terminal and the radiation pattern by the first and second array antennas, according to the present invention. In this regard, when two different types of antenna array beams are designed, if the alignment between the beams is properly performed, an overlap between beams for a certain region is formed in the azimuth and elevation axes of the beam, The switching between the narrow beams can be smoothly performed. As shown in FIG. 8, the first array antenna may be positioned on the side of the terminal to generate a horizontal beam. In addition, the second array antenna is positioned at the center of the terminal and can generate a beam in the vertical (Z-axis) direction. At this time, the narrow beams NB of the first and second array antennas can be aligned to determine candidate adjacent beams required for beam tracking (searching). In this regard, the controller 180 forms a beam at a first angle in the AZ direction using the first array antenna 210, and uses the second array antenna 220 to form the beam at the first angle And to form a beam at a second angle in the EL direction. That is, when switching between the first and second array antennas 210 and 220, the narrow beams NB are aligned at the same AZ angle in the AZ direction, so that the candidate adjacent beams necessary for beam tracking (searching) can be determined. For example, to track the beams in the 0 ° +/- 15 ° direction of the first array antenna 210, such as a dipole, NB 4 of the 0 ° angle of the second array antenna 220, such as a patch, . &Lt; / RTI &gt; This is because the 0 degree angle of the second array antenna 220 is closer to the beam of the first array antenna 210 than the +/- 45 degree beams.

With respect to the search process after the switching between the array antennas and the antenna beam alignment, the controller 180 can perform the following series of procedures. The controller 180 generates a main beam at a first angle in the AZ direction using the first array antenna 210. [ At this time, the main beam may receive a signal from the first angle to the first RSRP. The controller 180 can also generate a first adjacent beam adjacent to the main beam at a first angle in the AZ direction and at a second angle in the first direction using the second array antenna 220 have. At this time, the first adjacent beam may receive the signal from the second angle to the second RSRP. In addition, if the second RSRP is larger than the first RSRP, the controller 180 may continue to perform beamforming in the first direction in the EL direction. Also, if the second RSRP is smaller than the first RSRP, the controller 180 may compare the first RSRP with the third RSRP in the second adjacent beam in the second direction in the main beam. At this time, if the third RSRP is larger than the first RSRP, the controller 180 can continue beamforming in the second direction in the EL direction.

Next, a beam tracking method combining the hierarchical beam search and the sensor information according to the present invention will be described. In this regard, the beam tracking method using only received signal strength such as RSRP has a problem in that it is difficult to predict the direction of the received beam according to the rotation of the terminal. Accordingly, the beam tracking can not be performed accurately in real time, and beam tracking loss may occur. Also, it is not easy to generate beam design rules, such as beam-to-beam switching conditions for accurate UE beam tracking, according to various situations. Also, beam alignment for beam tracking is not easy when using other types of array antennas. Also, accurate location information of the base station is needed to locate the beam of the terminal for searching and tracking the beam using only the sensor, which is difficult to implement realistically.

In order to solve such a problem, in order to solve the problem of the beam tracking method using the received signal strength, using the coordinate information of the terminal of the gyro sensor, the acceleration sensor and the geomagnetic sensor built in the mobile terminal, Tracking is possible. In this regard, the controller 180 forms the beam at the first angle in the AZ direction using the first array antenna 210, and determines whether the terminal is rotated in the EL direction. Accordingly, when the controller 180 determines that the antenna 180 is rotated by the second angle in the EL direction, the control unit 180 uses the second array antenna 220 to measure the first angle in the AZ direction and the second angle in the EL direction, As shown in Fig.

Further, the controller 180 forms the beam at the first angle in the AZ direction using the first array antenna, and determines whether the terminal is rotated in the AZ direction and the EL direction. Accordingly, when it is determined that the controller 180 rotates by the second angle in the AZ direction and rotated by the third angle in the EL direction, the beam forming can be performed for the corresponding angle using the second array antenna . That is, the control unit 180 can control to form a beam at a fourth angle corresponding to the sum of the first angle and the second angle in the AZ direction and at a second angle in the EL direction.

The NB tracking method using the sensor is described in more detail as follows. In this regard, FIGS. 9A to 9C show a conceptual diagram of a beam tracking method in which the hierarchical beam search and the sensor information are fused according to the invention. Shows a conceptual diagram of a beam tracking method in which the hierarchical beam search and the sensor information are fused according to the present invention. On the other hand, the initial beam tracking position according to the rotation of the terminal can be determined according to a look-up table determined for each NB. At this time, as shown in FIG. 9A, a sensor coordinate system, for example, an Euler coordinate system may be a reference coordinate system. With respect to the measurement of such sensor coordinates, the following calibration process can be performed in advance. That is, in the over the air (OTA) chamber, each beam of the terminal can be selected and the corresponding sensor coordinates can be measured. At this time, the relative position of each beam, that is, the coordinate variation part, based on the boresite beam of the second array antenna, that is, the patch antenna, can be stored in the terminal as a lookup table. On the other hand, the above-mentioned reference beam may vary depending on the situation.

Next, an initial beam search process can be performed as shown in FIG. 9B. In the initial beam selection step, the optimal NB is searched according to the Hierarchical Beam searching scheme proposed in the present invention. Therefore, the coordinate system of the optimum NB determined through the team search can be set as the reference coordinate for beam tracking. That is, the reference coordinate value for the boresight beam can be determined, and thus the roll, pitch, and yaw values can be determined. At this time, the correction of the coordinate system for each beam can be performed by the variation with respect to the reference coordinates measured in the OTA chamber.

Next, the NB tracking process can be performed as shown in FIG. 9C. If the user rotates the terminal, it can move at a maximum of 4 ° / 5ms. In this case, the coordinate information of the corresponding sensor can be measured at regular intervals based on the appropriate time corresponding to the switching condition of the terminal beam in consideration of the 3 dB beam width of each beam. It is possible to measure a variation part of the sensor coordinate information at the position of the current terminal measured based on the coordinate value of the optimum beam at the time of the initial beam search and form a beam in the direction of the NB closest to the corresponding variation part. That is, the optimal beam by the hierarchical beam search may be changed to a new reference coordinate value according to the rotation / movement of the terminal, and the new reference coordinate value may be expressed in a roll, pitch, or yaw form.

Meanwhile, in addition to the method of selecting one of the first and second array antennas 210 and 220 shown in FIGS. 2 and 9A, a method of simultaneously operating two array antennas to perform a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) Can be implemented. In this regard, the controller 180 forms a first main beam at a first angle in the AZ direction using the first array antenna 210, and a second main beam at the second angle in the EL direction using the second array antenna 220, The second main beam can be formed at an angle. That is, the control unit 180 may form the first main beam at the first angle in the AZ direction to receive the first signal, and form the second main beam at the second angle in the EL direction to receive the second signal . At this time, the first signal may be received via the first array antenna 210 in a particular time slot, and the second signal may be received via the second array antenna 210 in the same time slot as the first signal, have. In this case, the first data included in the first signal and the second data included in the second signal are preferably different data. Accordingly, the first and second array antennas 210 and 220 can be simultaneously used to receive different signals to implement a multiple input multiple output (MIMO).

In addition, when two array antennas are simultaneously operated to implement MIMO (Multi Input Multiple Output), it is possible to control the null to be formed at the main beam position of another beam in order to reduce mutual interference . Accordingly, the controller 180 controls the phase of each element of the first array antenna 210 such that the first main beam is formed at the first angle in the AZ direction and null is formed at the second angle in the EL direction, Can be controlled. The controller 180 controls the phase of each element of the second array antenna so that the second main beam is formed at the second angle in the EL direction and a null is formed at the first angle in the AZ direction. Can be controlled. That is, when the first signal is received through the first array antenna 210, reception of the second signal can be received only through the second array antenna 220, thereby reducing mutual interference and improving reception performance. .

Meanwhile, a mobile terminal performing a hierarchical beam search according to an aspect of the present invention has been described. In this regard, a method of performing a hierarchical beam search performed by a mobile terminal according to another aspect of the present invention will be described. It is needless to say that the content of the mobile terminal performing the hierarchical beam search and the method of performing the hierarchical beam search may be combined with each other.

In this regard, FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of a method of performing a hierarchical beam search performed by a mobile terminal according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 10, a method of performing a hierarchical beam search includes (A) an initial step, (B) a beam switching step, (C) an NB selecting step, (D) a data communication step using the corresponding NB, and (E) .

(A) In the initial stage, the RSRP of the wide beam WB per type can be calculated and the optimal WB can be selected. Specifically, first, when the power of the terminal is applied, the WBs are used to compare the received signals between WBs to determine which WB has the largest received signal. For example, when the terminal has dipoles and first and second array antennas in the form of a patch, any WB of any array antenna is selected. At this time, a plurality of received BRSRPs are compared with each other to move to the larger WB. When the number of WBs increases, the beam having the largest BRSRP value is selected.

(B) In the beam switching step, if the RSRP is below the threshold value, the inter-WB beam tracking is performed until the RSRP becomes the threshold value or more. Accordingly, if the RSRP is equal to or greater than the threshold value, different beam search can be performed according to the WB type.

(C) In the NB selection step, as described above, different beam search may be performed depending on the WB type to select the optimum NB. Specifically, when the dipole NBs or the WBs representing the patch NBs are selected, the NB candidates included in the subset are sequentially searched (Optimal searching) according to a specific rule. At this time, the optimal NB is selected as the optimal NB for the received BRSRP Data transmission / reception is performed. For example, you can select 4 NB candidates in the dipole, and 5 NB candidates in the patch. In this case, four NBs can be selected as the optimum beam in the one-dimensional direction in the 4 × 1 dipole, and five NBs can be selected as the optimum beam in the two-dimensional direction in the 2 × 2 patch. On the other hand, if an abnormal state is detected in the NB selection step, the (B) beam switching step using WB can be performed again.

(D) In the data communication step using the NB, if the RSRP is below the threshold, the (B) beam switching step using WB can be performed again. On the other hand, if the RSRP is equal to or greater than the first threshold, a stationary process of maintaining the data communication state using the current NB may be performed.

Specifically, the initial stationary process continues to transmit / receive data to the optimal NB. Then, beam tracking is performed in which adjacent beams are searched and moved according to movement of the terminal, such as displacement or rotation. This movement between NBs is made up of adjacent beams for each NB in advance, regardless of the group to which the corresponding NB belongs. For example, when a beam adjacent to a specific dipole NB is a patch NB of a different type, the corresponding patch beam is also included in the search range, and beam tracking (searching) can be performed.

Next, in the (E) NB tracking step, if the RSRP is below the threshold, the (B) beam switching step using WB can be performed again. On the other hand, if the RSRP is equal to or greater than the second threshold value, the NB beam tracing process between NBs can be performed. In addition, the second threshold is set to a value lower than the first threshold, and if the RSRP is equal to or greater than the first threshold, a stationary process of maintaining a data communication state using the current NB may be performed. At this time, if the RSRP is equal to or greater than the second threshold value but is equal to or less than the first threshold value, the NB beam tracing process between NBs can be performed.

Specifically, according to the beam design rule, when the BRSRP value of the current optimum NB decreases to a certain threshold value or less with a negative slope, the candidate beams adjacent to the current optimal NB (e.g., (Which may be grouped in advance) to move to a new NB having the highest BRSRP value. For example, with respect to the boresite beam of the patch antenna, there are four adjacent NB candidate beams in the left / right direction and the up / down direction, and moving to the beam showing the highest received signal strength, .

The maximum number of adjacent beams and the switching time during the beam tracking will be described below. The beam can be appropriately determined within a range in which the adjacent beam does not deviate even in the maximum moving state of the terminal, considering the maximum rotation angle of the terminal of 800 ° / sec and the 3 dB beam width of the candidate beam. If the beam switching time is set too low, beam switching will not be performed. Therefore, beam switching is performed, and the inter-beam switching time must be appropriately adjusted within a range in which the beam does not deviate from the adjacent beam.

Regarding the abnormal state, the process of returning to the WB will be described as follows. The received BRSRP is rapidly reduced below a certain threshold due to radio blocking or the like during data transmission / reception through the current NB. At this time, data transmission / reception can not be performed using the NB, and the mobile terminal moves away from the current NB and moves to another adjacent WB. At this time, if there are a plurality of adjacent WBs, it moves to the WB having a BRSRP having a large value. That is, since reception of radio waves through the primary path is blocked from the transmission beam of the current base station in the multipath propagation environment, the reception signal through another secondary path of the base station beam through another WB is utilized Data transmission / reception is resumed.

Meanwhile, a beam recovery process during radio wave blocking will be described as follows. In order to escape from an abnormal state such as radio wave blocking, it moves to another WB and searches for NBs corresponding to a subset of the WB to search for an optimal NB and resume data transmission / reception. The search for the NBs corresponding to the subset of the WB may be either a full search according to the array type or, in some cases, a search method may be optimized.

Next, the worst case will be described as follows. This is the case where the terminal is completely isolated from the base station and the BRSRP is reduced below a certain threshold, so that the proper WB can not be found. In other words, this does not reach the step of finding the optimum narrow beam, and only the movement (switching) between the WBs is repeated. In this way, when the WB search is repeated for a specific time or longer, the terminal indicates to the user through the user interface that it is a 'radio wave shaded area', and the data is transmitted through another communication service such as an LTE network, Transmission / reception can proceed.

Technical advantages of a mobile terminal and a hierarchical beam search method for performing a hierarchical beam search according to the present invention will now be described.

According to at least one of the embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to provide an antenna device and a mobile terminal capable of performing beam tracking at a high speed through beamforming of a hierarchical structure having a wide beam and a narrow beam.

According to at least one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to provide an antenna device improved in beam tracking performance in all directions regardless of the rotation motion of the mobile terminal using different types of array antennas.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, such as the preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art.

In connection with the present invention described above, the design and operation of the antenna apparatus can be implemented as computer-readable codes on a medium on which the program is recorded. The computer readable medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of the computer readable medium include a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state disk (SSD), a silicon disk drive (SDD), a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, , And may also be implemented in the form of a carrier wave (e.g., transmission over the Internet). Also, the computer may include a control unit 180 of the terminal. Accordingly, the above description should not be construed in a limiting sense in all respects and should be considered illustrative. The scope of the present invention should be determined by rational interpretation of the appended claims, and all changes within the scope of equivalents of the present invention are included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims (17)

In the mobile terminal,
An array antenna configured to transmit or receive a signal; And
And a controller for selecting one of the plurality of beams of the array antenna,
Wherein,
Receiving the signal by a first wide beam having the highest reception performance among a plurality of wide beams using a part of the array antennas,
And controls the array antenna to receive the signal with a first narrow beam having the highest reception performance among a plurality of narrow beams using the array antenna. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein,
Selecting the first narrow beam among the plurality of narrow beams in the region of the first wide beam,
And selects a second narrow beam adjacent to the first narrow beam among the plurality of narrow beams in an area of the first narrow beam if reception performance of the first narrow beam is below a first threshold, . The method according to claim 1,
Wherein,
Selecting a second wide beam having the highest reception performance among a plurality of wide beams having the first beam width if reception performance of the first narrow beam is lower than a second threshold value lower than the first threshold,
And selects the second wide beam from the first narrow beam if the remaining battery capacity of the mobile terminal is below a certain level. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein,
And a third narrow beam having the highest reception performance among the plurality of narrow beams having the second beam width in the region of the second wide beam, when the reception performance of the second wide beam is higher than the second threshold and lower than the first threshold, And selects a beam. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein,
If the difference between the received signal power (RSRP) by the first narrow beam according to the change of the time is equal to or greater than the first reference value, the maximum adjacent beam number of the narrow beams to be searched in proportion to the difference is calculated Wherein the mobile terminal is a mobile terminal. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein,
And calculates the maximum number of adjacent beams of narrow beams to be searched in proportion to the slope if the slope of the RSRP due to the first narrow beam is equal to or greater than a second reference value according to a change of time. The method according to claim 1,
The array antenna includes:
A first array antenna configured to radiate on a side of the terminal; And
And a first array antenna configured to radiate to a front surface or a rear surface of the terminal,
The first array antenna is a kx1 array antenna in which k elements are arranged in a one-dimensional area,
Wherein the second array antenna is an mxn array antenna in which m and n elements are arranged on two axes of a two-dimensional area. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein,
Dimensional beamforming in the horizontal (AZ: Azimuth) direction in the one-dimensional area using the first array antenna,
And performs beam forming in horizontal (AZ) and vertical (EL: Elevation) directions in the two-dimensional region using the second array antenna. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein,
A beam is formed at a first angle in the AZ direction using the first array antenna,
And controls the second array antenna to form a beam at the first angle in the AZ direction and at a second angle in the EL direction using the second array antenna. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein,
A beam is formed at a first angle in the AZ direction using the first array antenna,
And controls the second array antenna to form a beam at the first angle in the AZ direction and at a second angle in the EL direction when it is determined that the terminal has rotated by the second angle in the EL direction, Mobile terminal. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein,
A beam is formed at a first angle in the AZ direction using the first array antenna,
When the terminal is determined to have rotated by the second angle in the AZ direction and rotated by the third angle in the EL direction, the first angle and the second angle in the AZ direction using the second array antenna, And forms a beam at a second angle in the EL direction. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein,
If the second RSRP in the first adjacent beam in the first direction in the first direction is greater than the first RSRP in the center beam in the direction of the Boresight, Lt; / RTI &gt;
If the second RSRP is smaller than the first RSRP, comparing the first RSRP with a third RSRP in a second adjacent beam in a second direction in the center beam, and if the third RSRP is less than the first RSRP And if it is larger, continues beamforming in the second direction. 13. The method of claim 12,
The first and second adjacent beams are narrow beams formed using all elements of the first array antenna,
Wherein the first and second adjacent beams belong to one of a plurality of n wide beams formed using some elements of the first array antenna,
Wherein,
Characterized in that the beamforming is performed on a specific number of narrow beams in another wide beam adjacent to the one wide beam if the RSRP among the m narrow beams belonging to any one of the wide beams does not satisfy the threshold. Mobile terminal. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein,
Generating a main beam at a first angle in the AZ direction using the first array antenna, the main beam receiving a signal from the first angle to the first RSRP,
Generating a first adjacent beam adjacent to the main beam at a first angle in the AZ direction and a second angle in a first direction in the EL direction using the second array antenna, Receives the signal from the angle to the second RSRP,
And if the second RSRP is larger than the first RSRP, continues beamforming in the first direction in the EL direction. 15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein,
If the second RSRP is smaller than the first RSRP, comparing the first RSRP with a third RSRP in a second adjacent beam in a second direction in the main beam, and if the third RSRP is less than the first RSRP The beam forming is continued in the second direction from the EL direction. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein,
Forming a first main beam at a first angle in the AZ direction using the first array antenna, receiving a first signal,
Forming a second main beam at a second angle in the EL direction using the second array antenna to receive the second signal in the same time slot as the first signal,
Wherein the first data included in the first signal and the second data included in the second signal are different data. 17. The method of claim 16,
Wherein,
The phase of each element of the first array antenna is controlled so that a first main beam is formed at the first angle in the AZ direction and a null is formed at the second angle in the EL direction,
The second main beam is formed at the second angle in the EL direction, and nulls are formed at the first angle in the AZ direction, the phase of each element of the second array antenna is controlled Lt; / RTI &gt;

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