TWI666891B - User equipment and operation method thereof, network device and operation method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A user equipment includes: an antenna array for receiving a plurality of wireless signals transmitted by a plurality of beams, and a processing unit for measuring a plurality of wireless signal qualities of the wireless signals to find out the quality of the wireless signals One of the target wireless signal qualities, and a beam that emits the target wireless signal quality is selected as a candidate service beam. The processing unit controls the antenna array to return a transmission time index and a beam scanning sequence identification code corresponding to the target wireless signal quality to one of the current serving beams of the beams.

Description

User equipment and operation method thereof, network device and operation method thereof

The invention relates to a user equipment and an operation method thereof, a network device and an operation method thereof.

Smart phones using wireless communications have become a necessity of people's lives. In terms of wireless communication or mobile communication, users may encounter problems with blockage and mobility of mobile terminals.

Blockage refers to the fact that the wireless signal sent by the base station may be blocked by buildings located near user equipment or mobile terminals, causing the user equipment or mobile terminals to not receive wireless signals or the quality of wireless signals bad.

The mobile terminal mobile force means that the user may move with the user equipment or the mobile terminal. When the user equipment or mobile terminal moves to the edge of the serving base station, a handover is required, and the handover may cause a signal loss or a transmission delay problem.

In addition, when the user equipment or mobile terminal is moving, "intra-sector beam selection" and / or "inter-sector beam selection" may occur. How to avoid "fan-shaped Transmission delay caused by "intra-block beam selection" and / or "fan-shaped inter-block beam selection" is also one of the efforts of the industry.

The present invention relates to a user equipment wirelessly coupled to a plurality of sector blocks. The user equipment includes: an antenna array for receiving a plurality of wireless signals transmitted by a plurality of beams, and a processing unit coupled to To the antenna array to measure the plurality of wireless signal qualities of the wireless signals, find a target wireless signal quality that is one of the wireless signal qualities, and select a beam in the sector blocks that emits the target wireless signal quality Servicing a candidate beam. The processing unit controls the antenna array to return a transmission time index and a beam scanning sequence identification code corresponding to the target wireless signal quality to one of the current serving beams of the beams.

According to an example of the present case, a network device is proposed for a wireless communication system. The wireless communication system includes a plurality of sector blocks, the network device is wirelessly coupled to a user equipment, and the sector blocks emit a plurality of beams to The user equipment and the network device include a processing unit and a communication module, which are coupled to the processing unit and at least one sector of the sectors. The processing unit determines whether the transmission time index returned by the user equipment is based on a transmission time index and a beam scanning sequence identification code returned by the user equipment received from one of the serving beams. And the beam scanning sequence identification code matches the service beam; and when the processing unit determines that the transmission time index returned by the user equipment and the beam scanning sequence identification code do not match the service beam, the processing unit according to the user The transmission time index and the beam scan sequence returned by the device The identification code determines whether to perform intra-sector beam selection or inter-sector beam selection.

According to another example of the present case, an operation method of user equipment is proposed. The user equipment is wirelessly coupled to a plurality of sector blocks. The user equipment includes an antenna array and a processing unit. The operation method includes: the antenna array receives a plurality of beams. The plurality of wireless signals transmitted; the processing unit measures the plurality of wireless signal qualities of the wireless signals; the processing unit finds a target wireless signal quality that is one of the wireless signal qualities; the processing unit selects the sector blocks A beam that emits the target wireless signal quality is a candidate service beam; and the processing unit controls the antenna array to return a transmission time index and a beam scanning sequence identification code corresponding to the target wireless signal quality to the beams. One of them currently serves a beam.

According to a further example of the present case, an operation method of a network device is proposed for a wireless communication system. The wireless communication system includes a plurality of sector blocks. The network device is wirelessly coupled to a user equipment, and the sector blocks are issued. A plurality of beams to the user equipment, the operation method of the network device includes: according to a transmission time index and a beam scanning sequence identification code returned by the user equipment received from a service beam of the beams , The processing unit determines whether the transmission time index returned by the user equipment and the beam scanning sequence identifier match the service beam; and when the processing unit determines the transmission time index returned by the user equipment and the beam The scanning sequence identification code does not match the service beam, and the processing unit determines whether to perform beam selection within the sector block or perform inter-sector block based on the transmission time index returned by the user equipment and the beam scanning sequence identification code. Beam selection.

In order to have a better understanding of the above and other aspects of the present invention, the following specific examples are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

100‧‧‧Wireless communication system

110‧‧‧control device

RFN1 and RFN2‧‧‧ network devices

B0-B7‧‧‧ Beam

200‧‧‧Wireless communication system

210‧‧‧Control device

RFN0-RFN2‧‧‧Network Device

S0-0 to 2-2‧‧‧Sector blocks

UE0, UE1‧‧‧ User Equipment

310-340‧‧‧step

S1110-S1150‧‧‧step

1200‧‧‧User Equipment

1210‧‧‧Processing Unit

1220‧‧‧Memory

1230‧‧‧ Antenna Array

1300‧‧‧ network device

1310‧‧‧Processing Unit

1320‧‧‧Memory

1330‧‧‧Communication Module

1410-1450, 1510-1520 ‧‧‧ steps

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A shows a schematic diagram of a single user equipment in a wireless communication system. FIG. 2B shows a schematic diagram of a multi-user equipment in a wireless communication system.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of beam selection / reselection according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows that in an embodiment of the present invention, a “beam scanning sequence identification code” is introduced into each beam to help beam selection / reselection within a sector / inter sector.

Figure 5 shows possible beam scan sequence identifier confusion.

FIG. 6 shows that, in the embodiment of the present invention, a beam scanning sequence (BSS) is transmitted through a beam to help beam selection / reselection within a sector / inter sector.

FIG. 7 shows another example of how to solve the confusion of the identification codes of the beam scanning sequence in the embodiment of the present case.

FIG. 8A shows that in an embodiment of the present case, PBSS and SBSS are transmitted in a localized structure, and FIG. 8B shows that in an embodiment of the present case, PBSS and SBSS are transmitted in a distributed structure .

FIG. 9 shows a signal quality list according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing beam selection in a sector block according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 shows a schematic diagram of beam selection between sector blocks according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 shows a functional block diagram of a network device (such as an RFN) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 shows an operation diagram of a network device (such as an RFN) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The technical terms in this specification refer to the customary terms in the technical field. If some terms are described or defined in this specification, the interpretation of these terms is subject to the description or definition in this specification. Each embodiment of the present disclosure has one or more technical features. Under the premise of possible implementation, those with ordinary knowledge in the technical field may selectively implement part or all of the technical features in any embodiment, or selectively combine part or all of the technical features in these embodiments.

Please refer to FIG. 1, which shows a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless communication system 100 according to the embodiment of the present case includes: at least one control device 110 and a plurality of network devices. At least one user equipment (such as, but not limited to, a smart phone) is wirelessly coupled to the wireless communication system 100 and is served by one of the sector blocks. For convenience of explanation, the network devices are radio front node (RFN) RFN1 and RFN2 as an example for explanation, but this case is not limited to this. For example, the network device might be a main base station, RFN, gNB (gigabit Node B), eNB (Evolved Node B), etc. Furthermore, the wireless communication system 100 may include multiple control devices 110, and each control device 110 may control multiple network devices. In addition, the antenna arrays (not shown) of each of the network devices RFN1 and RFN2 may cover a plurality of sector sectors. For example, the antenna arrays (not shown) of each of the network devices RFN1 and RFN2 may include a plurality of antennas, and the antennas may form three sector blocks, each sector block covering 120 degrees. Each fan-shaped block forms a plurality of beams, each beam pointing in a different direction. For example, in a 120-degree space, a sector can form 8 beams, each beam pointing in a different direction. Generally speaking, if a sector block includes more antennas, the width of each beam is narrower, and the transmission distance of the wireless signal transmitted by each beam is longer. Conversely, if a sector block includes fewer antennas, The wider the width of each beam, the closer the transmission distance of the wireless signals transmitted by each beam. Similarly, the user equipment has an antenna array (not shown), and the antenna array of the user equipment can form a plurality of beams, each beam pointing in a different direction.

For example, the network device RFN1 covers 3 sectors, and the network device RFN2 covers 3 sectors, but for simplicity, two sector sectors S1-1 and S2-1 are shown in Figure 1. The sector S1-1 belongs to the network device RFN1, and the sector S2-1 belongs to the network device RFN2. Each sector S1-1 and S2-1 form 4 beams Bn (n = 0-3, n is A positive integer represents a beam ID (also known as a beam index), and each beam Bn points in a different direction.

FIG. 2A shows a schematic diagram of a single user equipment in a wireless communication system. FIG. 2B shows a schematic diagram of a multi-user equipment in a wireless communication system.

As shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, in the wireless communication system 200, the control device 210 manages three network devices RFN0-RFN2, and the network device RFN0 covers three sector blocks S0-0 to S0-2. The road device RFN1 covers 3 sectors S1-0 to S1-2, and the network device RFN2 covers 3 sectors S2-0 to S2-2. Each sector S0-0 to S2-2 forms eight beams B0-B7, and each sector covers the same angle (that is, 120 degrees). The beam architecture parameters of the network devices RFN0-RFN2 are respectively configuration 0-2. In terms of the beam configuration parameter configuration 0 of the network device RFN0, the eight beams B0-B7 of the sector block S0-0 are scanned at t = 0 to t = 7 respectively; the sector blocks S0-1 and S0-2 are also scanned. with. In terms of the beam structure parameter configuration 1 of the network device RFN1, the beam B0 of the sector block S1-0 is scanned at t = 7, the beam B1 is scanned at t = 0, and the rest can be deduced by analogy. Similarly, in terms of the beam architecture parameter configuration 2 of the network device RFN2, the beam B0 of the sector block S2-0 is scanned at t = 6, the beam B1 is scanned at t = 7, and the rest can be analogized. The beam architecture parameters represent different beam arrangements.

For network device RFN2, at time t = 0, sector S2-0 sends beam B2 for scanning, sector S2-1 sends beam B2 for scanning, and sector S2-2 sends beam B2 for scanning The same goes for network devices RFN0 and RFN1.

In FIG. 2A, when t = 1 and t = 5, the user equipment UE0 can receive signals transmitted by the beam B3 of the sector block S2-1 and the beam B5 of the sector block S0-2, respectively.

In Figure 2B, when t = 1, t = 4, and t = 5, the user equipment UE0 can respectively receive the signal transmitted by the beam B3 of the sector block S2-1 and the sector block S1-0. The signal transmitted by the beam B5 of the S5 and the signal transmitted by the beam B5 of the sector block S0-2. when When t = 2, t = 3, and t = 4, the user equipment UE1 can respectively receive the signal transmitted by the beam B3 of the sector block S1-0 and the signal transmitted by the beam B5 of the sector block S2-1. The signal and the signal transmitted by the beam B4 of the sector block S0-2.

Please refer to FIG. 3, which shows a schematic diagram of beam selection / reselection according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, in step 310, the network device (RFN) transmits a downlink (DL) signal to a user equipment (UE). In step 320, the user equipment (UE) performs beam quality measurement on the received downlink signal. In step 330, the user equipment (UE) uploads a beam quality measurement result to a network device (RFN). In step 340, the network device (RFN) can obtain the fan block and beam quality measurement results. If the sector and beam quality measurement results indicate that intra-sector beam selection / reselection is to be performed, the intra-sector beam selection / reselection may be performed by a network device (RFN). On the other hand, if the sector block and beam quality measurement results indicate that inter-sector beam selection / reselection is to be performed, the network device (RFN) informs the control device (such as the control in Figure 1) (Device 110), the fan-shaped inter-block beam selection / reselection is performed by the control device. The details of each step in Figure 3 will be explained below.

Beam selection / reselection within a sector will now be explained. For example, taking FIG. 1 as an example, it is assumed that the user equipment is currently being served by the beam B3 of the sector block S1-1. However, according to the sector block and beam quality measurement results performed by the user equipment, the control device and / or the network device determine that the beam B2 of the sector block S1-1 is better for the user equipment, that is, the user equipment Select beam B2 instead of beam B3. However, the user equipment does not know which sector the selected beam B2 belongs to. By measuring the quality of the signal returned by the user equipment, the network device (RFN) learns that the beam B2 selected by the user equipment belongs to a sector block. S1-1. Therefore, the network device (RFN) can choose to serve the user equipment by the beam B2 of the sector S1-1. That is, "beam selection / reselection within a sector block" means that the previous service beam (beam B3 of sector block S1-1) and the next service beam (beam B2 of sector block S1-1) belong to In the same service sector, service beam switching is performed in the same service sector. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present case, in order to avoid transmission delay, the "beam selection / reselection within a sector block" can be determined by a network device (RFN), without uploading to the control device and then determined by the control device.

Beam selection / reselection between sector blocks will now be explained. For example, taking FIG. 1 as an example, it is assumed that the user equipment is currently being served by the beam B3 of the sector block S1-1. The sector and beam quality measurement results show that the beam B1 is better for the user equipment (however, the user equipment does not know which sector the beam B1 belongs to, and it is assumed that the beam B1 belongs to the sector Block S2-1). By measuring the quality of the signal returned by the user equipment, the network device (RFN) learns that it needs to switch to the beam B1 of the sector S2-1 to serve the user equipment. Therefore, the network device (RFN) informs the control device 110 that the control device 110 performs beam sector selection / reselection between sectors, so that the beam B1 of sector sector S2-1 serves user equipment. That is, "beam selection / reselection between sector blocks" means that the previous service beam (beam B3 of sector block S1-1) and the next service beam (beam B1 of sector block S2-1) belong to different Service sector block, service beam switching is performed in different sector blocks. In the embodiment of the present case, the “sector-to-sector beam selection / reselection” is not determined by the network device (RFN), but by the control device.

In addition, since the user equipment has multiple beams, the user equipment can select one of the beams as a target user equipment beam to perform signal transmission with a network device (RFN).

Please refer to FIG. 4, which shows that in an embodiment of the present case, a “beam scan sequence ID” (or labeled as Seq. ID) is introduced into each beam to help the sector / sector. Interbeam selection / reselection. Please note that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the definition of the beam scanning sequence identification code is different from the beam ID and the beam index. The beam scanning sequence identification code may represent the scanning order of each beam.

As shown in FIG. 4, the beam scanning sequence identification codes of the beams B0-B3 of the sector block S1-1 are Seq.ID0, Seq.ID1, Seq.ID2, and Seq.ID3, respectively; The beam scanning sequence identification codes of the beams B0-B3 are also Seq.ID0, Seq.ID1, Seq.ID2, and Seq.ID3, respectively. That is, the same beam scanning sequence identification code is applied to different sector blocks. But know that this case is not limited to this.

That is, assuming that J beam scanning sequence identification codes are used in the wireless communication system (take FIG. 4 as an example, 4 beam scanning sequence identification codes are shared), the range of J can be: Q ≦ J ≦ (Q * Nd), where Q represents the total number of beams in a single sector block, and Nd represents the total number of sector blocks controlled by the same control device (for the first figure, Q = 4 and Nd = 2).

When beam selection is being performed, the user equipment performs J measurements / detections to find the beam to be selected. Therefore, the advantages of Figure 4 are faster measurement and low signaling overhead.

However, if the design of the beam scanning sequence identification code is poor, it may lead to "ambiguity of the beam scanning sequence identification code." Figure 5 shows possible beam scan sequence identifier confusion. As shown in Fig. 5, when time t = 2, the beam B1 of the user equipment UE simultaneously receives the beam B2 (the beam scanning sequence identification code is Seq. ID2) and the sector block S2-1 from the sector block S1-1. The signal transmitted by the beam B2 (beam scanning sequence identification code is Seq. ID2) of the BS, thus causing confusion for the user equipment. That is, if multiple beams received by the user equipment at the same time have the same beam scanning sequence identification code, the user equipment will be confused.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present case, a beam scan sequence (beam scan sequence (BSS) to resolve the confusion of beam scanning sequence identifiers. BSS has interlaced characteristics. FIG. 6 shows that, in the embodiment of the present case, the beam can transmit a beam scanning sequence (BSS) to help beam selection / reselection within the sector / inter sector sector.

Table 1 below shows the possible beam / fan sector transmission states.

As shown in Table 1 above, the beam scanning sequence identification codes of the beams B0-B3 of the sector block S1-1 are Seq.ID0, Seq.ID1, Seq.ID2, and Seq.ID3 respectively; and the beam of the sector block S2-1 The beam scanning sequence identification codes of B0-B3 are Seq.ID3, Seq.ID0, Seq.ID1, and Seq.ID2, respectively. Therefore, when time t = 2, the beam B1 of the user equipment UE simultaneously receives the beam B2 (the beam scanning sequence identification code is Seq.ID2) of the sector S1-1 and the beam B2 of the sector S2-1 ( The signals (the signals include BSS) sent by the beam scanning sequence identification codes are Seq. ID1. Therefore, for the user equipment, there will be no confusion because the beam scanning sequence identification codes of the beams are different from each other. That is, if a plurality of beams with different beam scanning sequence identifiers of different sector blocks are received by the user equipment at the same time, the user equipment will not be confused.

Table 2 below further shows an example of mapping of the beam scanning sequence identifier.

As can be seen from Table 2 above, a single control device controls 8 sector blocks, and each sector block forms 4 beams. At the same time, there are up to 8 different beams (the beam scanning sequence identification codes of these beams are all (Different) can be transmitted to the user equipment (the transmitted signal may include BSS). In this way, when beam selection / reselection is performed, the user equipment will not cause the beam scanning sequence identification code to be confused.

FIG. 7 shows another example of how to solve the confusion of the identification codes of the beam scanning sequence in the embodiment of the present case. As shown in Figure 7, when the time t = 2, the user equipment in the range A7 will receive two beams B2 and B2 (beam scanning sequence identification codes are Seq.ID2 and Seq.ID3 respectively). Signal (signal contains BSS).

In addition, BSS can be divided into primary BSS (PBSS, primary BSS) and secondary BSS (SBSS, secondary BSS). In network entry mode, PBSS helps to quickly find the target beam of the UE, while SBSS helps to find the service beam of the serving sector block. The network entry mode refers to when the user equipment is just turned on, so the user equipment has not yet found the service sector block and the service beam. As for the UE connection mode, PSBB or SBSS can be used to help track the UE beam and service beam. The UE connection mode means that the UE has completed the connection with the serving sector block.

The configuration of PBSS and SBSS when transmitting wireless signals will be described below. FIG. 8A shows that in an embodiment of the present case, PBSS and SBSS are transmitted in a localized structure, and FIG. 8B shows that in an embodiment of the present case, PBSS and SBSS are transmitted in a distributed structure .

In FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B, one radio transmission frame (radio frame) includes 10 subframes (SF) SF0-SF9, where ctrl HD represents a control header. Assume that the 0th sub-time frame SF0 is used to transmit the control header (of course, this case is not limited to this, and other sub-time frames can also be used to transmit the control header). The control header includes a downlink control header (DL Ctrl HD) and an uplink control header (UL Ctrl HD). The downlink control header (DL Ctrl HD) is used to configure PBSS and SBSS.

As shown in FIG. 8A, the beam B0 transmits two PBSS 0 signals to the user equipment in a manner defined by Configuration 0 (for example, the beam scanning sequence identification code of the beam B0 is Seq. ID0). Next, beam B1 transmits two PBSS 1 signals in a manner defined by Configuration 1 (for example, the beam scanning sequence identification code of beam B1 is Seq.ID1). To user equipment. So on and so forth. After beams B0-B7 transmit PBSS, beam B0 transmits 1 SBSS 0 signal to the user equipment in the manner defined by Configuration 1; beam B1 transmits 1 SBSS 1 signal to the user in the manner defined by Configuration 2 The rest of the equipment can be deduced by analogy.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8B, beam B0 transmits 2 PBSS 0 signals to the user equipment in a manner defined by Configuration 0, and beam B0 transmits 4 SBSS 0 in a manner defined by Configuration 1. Signal to user equipment. The rest can be deduced by analogy.

To further explain, when transmitting PBSS and SBSS, the mapping table of the beam scanning sequence identification code is, for example, but not limited to, Table 3 below.

In the centralized structure of FIG. 8A, the transmission of PBSS and SBSS is not interleaved, that is, beams B0-B7 first transmit PBSS, and then beams B0-B7 transmit SBSS. Moreover, for beam B0, in Figure 8A, when transmitting PBSS and SBSS, beam B0 applies a different beam architecture parameter configuration (for example, when transmitting PBSS, beam B0 applies configuration 0, and when transmitting SBSS, beam B0 Apply configuration 1).

As for the decentralized architecture in Fig. 8B, the transmission of PBSS and SBSS is mixed. That is, after transmitting PBSS and SBSS in beam B0, beam B1 transmits PBSS and SBSS. Similarly, for beam B0, in Figure 8B, when transmitting PBSS and SBSS, beam B0 applies different beam architecture parameter configurations (for example, transmitting PBSS In this case, configuration B is applied to beam B0, and configuration 1) is applied to beam B0 when transmitting SBSS.

How to perform the intra-sector / inter-sector beam selection in the embodiment of the present case will be described. When performing beam tracking, the user equipment measures the signal quality of the beam, such as, but not limited to, SNR (Signal-to-noise ratio, Signal-to-noise ratio), SIR (Signal to Interference ratio), SINR ( Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio), RSSI (receive signal strength indicator), RSRP (Reference Signal Receiving Power), RSRQ (Reference Signal Receiving Quality, Reference Signal Received Quality).

The user equipment can calculate the signal quality of the paired beam and the user equipment beam and list them in a table (or stored in the memory of the user equipment). For example, using FIG. 6 as an example, when t = 2, the user equipment can calculate the individual radios of the two beams B2 (beam scanning sequence identification codes are Seq.ID2 and Seq.ID1) received by the user equipment beam B1. The signal quality is listed in the table. In addition, the user equipment may calculate / determine the signal quality of the received beam scanning sequence signal.

For example, the SNR that the user equipment needs to calculate is shown in Figure 9. FIG. 9 shows a signal quality list according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 9 uses the user equipment with 4 beams and the user equipment receives 4 beams (the beam scanning sequence identifiers are Seq.ID0-Seq.ID3) as an example (however, the user equipment does not know which beams belong to Which sector), but know that the case is not limited to this. In Figure 9, during the first downlink (DL) sector sector scanning beam period (t = 0), it is assumed that the transmission beam is the candidate service beam 0 (ieSeq.ID 0), and the user equipment uses the UE beam B0- After receiving and matching with candidate service beam 0 (ieSeq.ID 0), the user equipment obtains radio signal quality γ _0,0 (0), γ _1,0 (0), γ _2,0 (0 ), Γ _3,0 (0); then, assuming that the transmission beam is candidate service beam 1 (ieSeq.ID 1), the user equipment uses UE beams B0-B3 to receive and follow the candidate service beam 1 (ieSeq.ID 1) After the matching is performed, the user equipment obtains the wireless signal quality γ _0,1 (0), γ _1,1 (0), γ _2,1 (0), γ _3,1 (0). The rest can be deduced by analogy. In Figure 9, γ _{a, b} (t) represents that during the t-th (t is the transmission time index, t = 0-3) DL sector block scanning beam period, the user equipment measures using the UE beam Ba (a = 0-3) to receive and assume that the transmission beam is a candidate service beam 0-3 (its beam scanning sequence identification code is Seq.IDb (b = 0-3). After matching, the wireless signal quality obtained by the user equipment Therefore, within 4 DL sector sector scanning beam periods (from t = 0 to t = 3), the user equipment obtains 64 possible wireless signal measurement results for the sector sector and stores the measured 64 wireless signal qualities γ _{a, b} (t). Then, the processing unit (not shown) of the user equipment may determine a target value (for example, but not subject to) among the 64 wireless signal qualities γ _{a, b} (t). Limited to the maximum value), and select the beam that has received this target wireless signal quality as the target UE beam (that is, under normal operation, the UE will use this beam to receive wireless signals), and will issue the target wireless signal The hypothetical transmission beam selection of the quality is "UE selection beam" (also referred to as "candidate service beam", that is, the user equipment wants "Candidate serving beam" service). In this assumption, the quality γ _a, the maximum value (t) among the 64 radio signal _b is γ _2,1 (t) (which corresponds to "t = 1" and "Seq .ID1 "), the user equipment selects the beam B2 that has received the maximum value of the wireless signal quality as the target UE beam. In addition, the user equipment returns a transmission time index corresponding to the maximum value of the wireless signal quality (in this example) , T = 1) and the beam scanning sequence identification code (Seq.ID1 in this example) of the beam selected by the UE is returned to the sector block. In addition, during the return, the user equipment can measure the measured value of the target UE beam All or part of the wireless signal quality is transmitted back to the sector.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing beam selection in a sector block according to an embodiment of the present invention. After the user equipment decides the target UE beam and selects the "UE selected beam", the user equipment returns the "transmission time index (in this example, t = 1)", "beam scan of the UE selected beam" through the "target UE beam B2" The sequence identifier (Seq.ID1 in this example), and / or "all or part of the radio signal quality measured by the target UE beam" is given to the service beam of the service sector block (here the sector is assumed) The block S1-1 is the current serving sector block, and the beam B2 (the beam scanning sequence identification code is Seq. ID2) of the sector block S1-1 is the current serving beam).

Since the user equipment may move or / and rotate, in the embodiment of the present invention, the beam signal is tracked to switch to the desired service beam and / or service sector. Switching the service beam is the beam selection within the sector block, and switching the service sector block is the beam selection between the sector blocks.

How to perform beam selection in a sector block will be described in the embodiment of the present case. As described above, it is assumed that the sector block S1-1 is the current serving sector block, and the beam B2 (the beam scanning sequence identification code is Seq. ID2) of the sector block S1-1 is the current serving beam. The network device RFN1 receives the information "transmission time index (in this example, t = 1)" and the "beam scanning sequence identification code (in this example, Seq.ID1)" selected by the user equipment. After that, the network device RFN1 compares the ratio to the mapping table of the internally stored beam scanning sequence identifier (see Table 2 above), assuming sector sector S1-1 applies Configuration 0 and sector sector S2-1 applies Configuration 7. After checking the table, the network device RFN1 learns that the information "t = 1" and "Seq.ID1" returned by the UE do not match the current serving beam (beam B2 of sector block S1-1, which corresponds to "t = 2 "and" Seq.ID2 "). That is, after checking the table, the network device RFN1 judges that the information "t = 1" and "Seq. ID1" returned by the UE correspond to the beam B1 corresponding to the sector block S1-1 (this case also It can be said that after comparison, the returned information does not match the service beam but matches the service sector block). Therefore, the network device RFN1 determines that the beam selection in the sector block is to be performed, and the network device RFN1 switches the current service beam from B2 of the sector block S1-1 to B1 of the sector block S1-1. Since the beam selection / switching in the sector does not need to go through the control device, the delay can be reduced.

Of course, after comparison, the network device RFN1 learns that the information "t = 2" and "Seq.ID2" returned by the UE match the current serving beam (beam B2 in sector S1-1, which corresponds to "T = 2" and "Seq. ID2"), the current serving beam can be maintained (that is, the beam B2 of the sector S1-1 is continuously selected as the serving beam).

How the fan-shaped inter-block beam selection is performed in this embodiment will be described. FIG. 11 shows a schematic diagram of beam selection between sector blocks according to an embodiment of the present invention. As described above, it is assumed that the sector block S1-1 is the current serving sector block, and the beam B2 (the beam scanning sequence identification code is Seq. ID2) of the sector block S1-1 is the current serving beam. After the wireless quality calculation, the user equipment returns the information "transmission time index (t = 2)" and "beam scanning sequence identification code (Seq.ID1) selected by the UE" to the current serving sector block S1-1. The service beam B2 is transmitted to the network device RFN1, as shown in step S1110. Similarly, after looking up the table, the network device RFN1 judges that it is necessary to perform fan-shaped inter-block beam selection because the information transmitted by the user equipment "transmission time index (t = 2)" and "UE selected beam The beam scanning sequence identifier (Seq.ID1) "does not match the current serving beam B2 of the current serving sector S1-1, but instead matches to another sector S2-1 (this situation is called, The return information does not match the current serving beam or the current serving sector).

The network device RFN1 uploads the information "transmission time index (t = 2)" and "beam scanning sequence identification code (Seq.ID1) of the beam selected by the UE" returned by the user equipment to the control device 110, as shown in step S1120. . After the control device 110 checks the "transmission time index (t = 2)" and "beam scanning sequence identification code of the candidate service beam (Seq. ID1)" returned by the user equipment, the control device 110 will The ratio is a mapping table (as in Table 2 above) for the beam scanning sequence identifier stored in the inside (as in step S1130). After checking the table, the control device 110 learns that the information “t = 2” and “Seq.ID1” returned by the UE do not match the current serving beam B2 (corresponding to “t = 2 "and" Seq. ID2 "). That is, after checking the table, the control device 110 determines that the information “t = 2” and “Seq. ID1” returned by the UE correspond to the beam B2 which is the sector S2-1. Therefore, the control device 110 informs the network device RFN1 that the inter-sector beam selection is required (to switch the service sector from S1-1 to S2-1), as in step S1140.

In step S1150, in response to the request from the control device 110, the network device RFN1 returns the data that has not yet been transmitted (also referred to as data to be transmitted) to the control device 110. Next, in step S1160, the control device 110 notifies the network device RFN2 of the fan-shaped inter-block beam selection instruction so that the network device RFN2 knows that the beam B2 of the fan-shaped block S2-1 is selected as the service beam; Device 110 transmits the network device RFN1 The incoming data is transmitted to the network device RFN2 for transmission to the user equipment UE through the beam B2 of the sector block S2-1.

In the embodiment of the present invention, when the sector-to-block beam selection is performed, since the same control device 110 is still performed, the transmission delay can be effectively controlled.

FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 12, the user equipment 1200 according to an embodiment of the present case includes a processing unit 1210, a memory 1220, and an antenna array 1230. The processing unit 1210 (such as, but not limited to, a microprocessor) is coupled to the memory 1220 and the antenna array 1230. The processing unit 1210 may measure the quality of the received wireless signal and select a target beam of the user equipment. The details are as described above, and are not repeated here. The memory 1220 may store a beam scanning sequence identification code mapping table and / or a wireless signal quality table (as shown in FIG. 9). The antenna array 1230 can form a beam for wireless communication with a wireless communication system.

FIG. 13 shows a functional block diagram of a network device (such as an RFN) according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 13, the network device 1300 according to the embodiment of the present case includes a processing unit 1310, a memory 1320, and a communication module 1330. The processing unit 1310 (such as, but not limited to, a microprocessor) is coupled to the memory 1320 and the communication module 1330. The processing unit 1310 may decide whether to perform "intra-sector block beam selection" and / or "inter-sector block beam selection" according to the return information of the user equipment. The details are as described above, and are not repeated here. The memory 1320 may store a beam scanning sequence identification code mapping table. The communication module 1330 can wirelessly communicate with the control device (110).

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation of a user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 14, in step 1410, the antenna array receives a plurality of beams. A plurality of wireless signals. In step 1420, the processing unit measures the quality of the plurality of wireless signals of the wireless signals. In step 1430, the processing unit finds a target wireless signal quality (e.g. maximum value), which is one of the wireless signal qualities. In step 1440, the processing unit selects a beam in the sector blocks that emits the target wireless signal quality as a candidate service beam. In step 1450, the processing unit controls the antenna array to return a transmission time index and a beam scanning sequence identification code corresponding to the target wireless signal quality to one of the current serving beams of the beams.

FIG. 15 shows an operation diagram of a network device (such as an RFN) according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 15, in step 1510, the processing unit determines, according to a transmission time index and a beam scanning sequence identification code returned by the user equipment, received from one of the serving beams of the beams. Whether the transmission time index returned by the user equipment and the beam scanning sequence identifier match the serving beam; and in step 1520, when the processing unit determines the transmission time index and the beam returned by the user equipment The scanning sequence identification code does not match the service beam, and the processing unit determines whether to perform beam selection within the sector block or perform inter-sector block based on the transmission time index returned by the user equipment and the beam scanning sequence identification code. Beam selection.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, when the beam selection in the sector block is performed, since the control of the upper-layer control device is not required, the transmission delay is relatively reduced.

In addition, when performing intra-sector / inter-sector beam selection, in this embodiment of the present invention, the user equipment performs wireless signal quality measurement and returns. In this way, the network device can eliminate the need to measure the quality of the wireless signal emitted by the beam, making the network device This setting can more quickly determine which beam's wireless signal quality is desired, which is helpful for the switching speed of beam selection within / between sectors.

In summary, the embodiment of the present case has the following features: reducing computational complexity (computational complexity), shorten the signal measurement time, and the benefits of lower signaling overhead (overhead).

In summary, although the present invention has been disclosed as above with the embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Those with ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be determined by the scope of the attached patent application.

Claims (20)

A user equipment wirelessly coupled to a plurality of sector blocks, the user equipment comprising: an antenna array for receiving a plurality of wireless signals transmitted by a plurality of beams, and a processing unit coupled to the antenna array, Used to measure the plurality of wireless signal qualities of the wireless signals, find a target wireless signal quality of the wireless signal qualities, and select a beam in the sector blocks that emits the target wireless signal quality as a candidate service beam. Wherein, the processing unit controls the antenna array to return a transmission time index and a beam scanning sequence identification code corresponding to the target wireless signal quality to one of the current serving beams of the beams, each of which has a beam The identification code and a beam scanning sequence identification code, the beam identification code represents an identification code of the beam, and the beam scanning sequence identification code represents a scanning order of the beam. The user equipment according to item 1 of the scope of patent application, wherein the antenna array of the user equipment forms a plurality of user equipment beams; according to the target wireless signal quality, the processing unit selects one of the user equipment beams. The target user equipment beam, the target wireless signal quality is one of the maximum values of the wireless signal quality. The user equipment according to item 2 of the scope of patent application, wherein the processing unit controls the antenna array to transmit the transmission time index and the beam scanning sequence identification code to and from the selected target user equipment beam. Currently serving beam. The user equipment according to item 2 of the patent application scope, wherein the processing unit controls the antenna array to return all or part of the wireless signal qualities to the candidate service beam. The user equipment described in item 1 of the patent application scope further includes a memory coupled to the processing unit for storing the measured wireless signal qualities. A network device is used in a wireless communication system. The wireless communication system includes a plurality of sector blocks. The network device is wirelessly coupled to a user equipment. The sector sectors emit a plurality of beams to the user equipment. The network device includes: a processing unit and a communication module, coupled to the processing unit and at least one sector of the sectors, wherein, according to the information received from a service beam of the beams, A transmission time index and a beam scanning sequence identification code returned by the user equipment, the processing unit determines whether the transmission time index and the beam scanning sequence identification code returned by the user equipment match the service beam; and When the processing unit determines that the transmission time index returned by the user equipment and the beam scanning sequence identification code do not match the service beam, the processing unit according to the transmission time index returned by the user equipment and the beam scanning sequence The identification code determines whether to perform intra-sector beam selection or inter-sector beam selection, where each of these beams has A beam identification code sequence identifier beam scanning, the beam identification code representative of an identification code of the beam, and the beam scan sequence identification code representative of a sequence of the scanning beam. The network device described in item 6 of the patent application scope further includes a memory coupled to the processing unit for storing a beam scanning sequence identification code mapping table, and the processing unit is based on the beam scanning sequence identification code. The mapping table determines whether the transmission time index returned by the user equipment and the beam scanning sequence identifier match the service beam. The network device according to item 7 of the scope of patent application, wherein according to the beam scan sequence identification code mapping table, when the processing unit determines the transmission time index and the beam scan sequence identification code returned by the user equipment Does not match the service beam but matches a service sector block, the processing unit decides to perform beam selection within the sector block according to the transmission time index and the beam scanning sequence identifier returned by the user equipment to select the Another beam of the beams of the service sector in the sector is the service beam. The network device according to item 8 of the scope of patent application, wherein according to the beam scan sequence identification code mapping table, when the processing unit determines the transmission time index and the beam scan sequence identification code returned by the user equipment If it does not match the service beam or the service sector, the processing unit uploads the transmission time index and the beam scanning sequence identification code returned by the user equipment to a control device in the wireless communication system. The network device according to item 9 of the scope of patent application, wherein according to the beam scanning sequence identification code mapping table and the transmission time index and the beam scanning sequence identification code uploaded by the network device, the control device Decided to perform sector-to-sector beam selection, to select another sector of the sector as the service sector, and to select one of the sectors of the service sector as the service beam; in response to the control device A request, the network device returns a data to be transmitted to the control device; and the control device transmits the data to be transmitted to the service sector block for transmission to the service sector through the service beam of the service sector block The user equipment. A method for operating a user equipment. The user equipment is wirelessly coupled to a plurality of sector blocks. The user equipment includes an antenna array and a processing unit. The operation method includes: the antenna array receives a plurality of beams from a plurality of beams. Wireless signals, where each of the beams has a beam identification code and a beam scanning sequence identification code, the beam identification code represents an identification code of the beam, and the beam scanning sequence identification code represents a scanning order of the beam; the processing The unit measures a plurality of wireless signal qualities of the wireless signals; the processing unit finds a target wireless signal quality that is one of the wireless signal qualities; the processing unit selects a beam in the sector blocks that emits the target wireless signal quality Is a candidate serving beam; and the processing unit controls the antenna array to return a transmission time index and a beam scanning sequence identification code corresponding to the target wireless signal quality to one of the current serving beams of the beams. The method for operating a user equipment according to item 11 of the scope of patent application, wherein the antenna array of the user equipment forms a plurality of user equipment beams; according to the target wireless signal quality, the processing unit is selected from the user equipment beams A target user equipment beam is selected, and the target wireless signal quality is one of the maximum of the wireless signal qualities. The method for operating a user equipment according to item 12 of the scope of patent application, wherein the processing unit controls the antenna array to transmit the transmission time index and the beam scanning sequence identification through the selected target user equipment beam Code to the current serving beam. The method for operating a user equipment according to item 12 of the scope of patent application, wherein the processing unit controls the antenna array to return all or part of the wireless signal qualities to the candidate service beam. The method for operating a user equipment as described in item 11 of the scope of patent application, wherein the user equipment further comprises a memory coupled to the processing unit for storing the measured wireless signal qualities. A method for operating a network device for a wireless communication system. The wireless communication system includes a plurality of sector blocks, the network device is wirelessly coupled to a user equipment, and the sector blocks emit a plurality of beams to the user. Equipment, the network device includes a processing unit, and the operation method of the network device includes: according to a transmission time index and a beam scan returned by the user equipment received from a service beam of the beams Sequence identification code, the processing unit determines whether the transmission time index returned by the user equipment and the beam scanning sequence identification code match the service beam; and when the processing unit determines the transmission time index returned by the user equipment Does not match the beam scanning sequence identification code with the service beam, the processing unit determines whether to perform beam selection within the sector block or perform sectorization according to the transmission time index and the beam scanning sequence identification code returned by the user equipment Inter-block beam selection, where each of these beams has a beam identification code and a beam scanning sequence identification code, A beam scanning order identification code representative of an identification code of the beam, and the beam scan sequence identifier representing the beam. The method for operating a network device according to item 16 of the scope of patent application, wherein the network device further includes a memory coupled to the processing unit for storing a beam scan sequence identification code mapping table. The processing unit determines whether the transmission time index returned by the user equipment matches the beam scanning sequence identification code with the serving beam according to the beam scanning sequence identification code mapping table. The method for operating a network device as described in item 17 of the scope of patent application, wherein according to the beam scan sequence identification code mapping table, when the processing unit determines the transmission time index and the beam scan returned by the user equipment The sequence identification code does not match the service beam but matches a service sector block. The processing unit decides to perform beam selection in the sector block according to the transmission time index and the beam scanning sequence identification code returned by the user equipment. Another beam of the beams of the service sector block in the sector blocks is selected as the service beam. The method for operating a network device as described in item 18 of the scope of patent application, wherein according to the beam scan sequence identification code mapping table, when the processing unit determines the transmission time index and the beam scan returned by the user equipment The sequence identification code does not match the service beam or the service sector block, and the processing unit uploads the transmission time index returned by the user equipment and the beam scanning sequence identification code to one of the wireless communication systems. Control device. The method for operating a network device according to item 19 of the scope of patent application, wherein according to the beam scan sequence identification code mapping table and the transmission time index and the beam scan sequence identification code uploaded by the network device, The control device decides to perform sector-to-sector beam selection, to select another sector of the sector sectors as the service sector sector, and select one beam of the service sector sector as the service beam; responding to A request of the control device, the network device returns a data to be transmitted to the control device; and the control device transmits the data to be transmitted to the service sector block to pass the service of the service sector block The beam is transmitted to the user equipment.