TWI683552B - Method and apparatus for antennas control in multi-input multi-output communications - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for antennas control in multi-input multi-output communications is provided. The method is used for an electronic device has at least two antennas. The method comprises using a first antenna and a second antenna at the same time to wirelessly communicate with a remote device; establishing a plurality of communication performances according to a plurality of first radiation statuses of the first antenna and a plurality of second radiation statuses of the second antenna; for each of the plurality of communication performances, subtracting the absolute value of the first antenna’s RSSI from the absolute value of the second antenna’s RSSI to obtain a difference of the absolute values; among the plurality of communication performances, selecting one communication performance having the smallest difference of the absolute values to perform the optimized MIMO communications. Thus, data rate can be improved.

Description

Antenna control method and device for multi-input multi-output communication

The invention relates to a multi-input multi-output communication, and in particular to a method and device for antenna control of multi-input multi-output communication.

Creating wireless networks and mobile communication devices with high-speed transmission capabilities has always been the goal of the related industries. The evolution of various wireless transmission standards has continuously increased the data transmission rate (referred to as the data rate or data rate), for example in today’s In the wireless local area network (WLAN) IEEE 802.11 standard, the maximum raw data transmission rate from the early 802.11a standard has evolved to 54 Mbps, and the 802.11ac standard, which has been widely used, has increased the single channel rate to at least 500 Mbps. In terms of mobile communications, the standard of the popular fifth-generation mobile communication system (5G) in the future is to define the target of the amazing data transmission rate of 1Gbps.

However, the establishment of wireless transmission standards requires not only a digital chip with sufficient computing power to perform signal encoding and decoding, but also a correspondingly upgraded RF circuit with an antenna (or antenna system) with sufficient bandwidth and high efficiency. In fact, the upper limit of the actual data transmission rate of wireless products that wireless product suppliers can provide is not only limited by the performance limitations of various RF components, analog modules and digital modules, but also a large part of the reasons are limited by All components and module hardware cooperate with the integration degree of software algorithm. Traditionally, in the wireless transmission process, the wireless data transmission rate has increased. The addition or reduction is mainly determined by the control of the wireless chip (wireless chip) and the channel status (external transmission environment), while the RF element and the antenna element are in a passive position without any control. There are still many limitations to finding a solution to improve the data transmission rate only from the viewpoint of wireless chips.

In order to solve the aforementioned prior art problems, embodiments of the present invention provide an antenna control method for multiple input multiple output communication for an electronic device having at least two antennas, the method including: the electronic device uses the first day at the same time Line and the second antenna to wirelessly communicate with the remote device; establish a plurality of communication performance based on the plurality of first radiation states of the first antenna and the plurality of second radiation states of the second antenna; for each communication performance , The absolute value of the received signal strength indication of the first antenna is subtracted from the absolute value of the received signal strength indication of the second antenna to obtain an absolute value difference; and in the communication performance, select the smallest The communication performance of the absolute value difference can be used as an optimized multi-input multi-output communication.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an antenna control device for multi-input multi-output communication, including a first antenna, a second antenna, an application unit, and a control unit. Both the first antenna connection and the second antenna are connected to the wireless chip. The application unit is connected to the wireless chip, and the wireless chip receives the received signal strength indication of the first antenna and the second antenna and the received data rate of the multiple input multiple output communication, wherein the application unit is based on a plurality of first radiation states of the first antenna Establish a plurality of communication performances with the plurality of second radiation states of the second antenna; wherein for each communication performance, the application unit makes the absolute value of the received signal strength indication of the first antenna and the received signal strength indication of the second antenna The absolute value of is subtracted to obtain an absolute value difference; wherein, in the communication performance, the application unit selects the communication performance with the smallest absolute value difference as the optimization Multi-input multi-output communication. The control unit is connected to the application unit, the first antenna and the second antenna, and is controlled by the application unit to control the plurality of first radiation states of the first antenna and the plurality of second radiation states of the second antenna.

In summary, the embodiments of the present invention provide an antenna control method and device for multi-input multi-output communication. With the control of the radiation state of the antenna, the absolute value difference of the received signal strength indication of each antenna is minimized to Further improving the data rate of multi-input multi-output communication has high industrial application value.

In order to further understand the features and technical content of the present invention, please refer to the following detailed description and drawings of the present invention, but these descriptions and the drawings are only used to illustrate the present invention, not the rights of the present invention Any restrictions on the scope.

S110, S120, S130, S140, S121, S122

1, 21, 3‧‧‧ First antenna

11‧‧‧First reflection unit

111, 112‧‧‧ First half wavelength reflector

111a, 112a‧‧‧First Diode

111b, 112b‧‧‧First extension circuit

111c, 112c‧‧‧ First capacitor

2, 22, 4‧‧‧ Second antenna

21‧‧‧Second reflection unit

211、212‧‧‧Second half-wavelength reflector

211a, 212a‧‧‧second diode

211b, 212b‧‧‧second extension circuit

211c, 212c‧‧‧Second capacitor

211‧‧‧ First ground current control unit

211a, 211b‧‧‧First Earth Current Department

212a, 212b ‧‧‧ first switch

G‧‧‧Ground

213a, 213b‧‧‧First ground capacitor

221‧‧‧Second ground current control unit

221a, 221b‧‧‧Second Earth Current Department

222a, 222b ‧‧‧ second switch

223a, 223b‧‧‧Second earth capacitor

5‧‧‧Application unit

6‧‧‧Control unit

7‧‧‧Wireless chip

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of an antenna control method for multiple input multiple output communication provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of sub-steps of step S120 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a first antenna and its first reflecting unit provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a second antenna and its second reflecting unit provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a schematic diagram of a first antenna and a second antenna provided by another embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a block diagram of an antenna control apparatus for multiple input multiple output communication provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1, this embodiment provides an antenna control method for multi-input multi-output communication for an electronic device having at least two antennas. The method is stored in firmware or software in the electronic device and utilized The operating system of the electronic device itself is executed. The electronic device is a notebook computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, an all-in-one computer, a smart TV, a small base station, or a wireless router, but the invention is not so limited. The method includes the following steps. First, in step S110, the electronic device simultaneously uses the first antenna and the second antenna to wirelessly communicate with the remote device, that is, using at least two antennas to implement multiple input multiple output (MIMO) transmission communication. The specification of multiple input multiple output (MIMO) transmission communication is, for example, 802.11n or the existing fourth-generation mobile communication specification, or the future fifth-generation mobile communication specification. When applied to the future fifth-generation mobile communication specification, the operating frequency of the first antenna and the second antenna is the 3.5GHz band or the 6GHz band of the fifth generation mobile communication specification.

Then, in step S120, a plurality of communication performances are established according to the plurality of first radiation states of the first antenna and the plurality of second radiation states of the second antenna. The present invention is based on the purpose of making multi-input multi-output communication play better performance (improving the data rate), using an antenna with a plurality of radiation states, it can also be said that the antenna is used to control its operating state to achieve multiple radiation field patterns (Each operating state has a different radiation field pattern). For example, the first antenna ATA has a plurality of radiation states RA1, RA2, RA3...RAm, and the second antenna ATB has a plurality of radiation states RB1, RB2, RB3...RBn. When the electronic device is in operation, select a radiation state of the first antenna ATA (for example, RA1) and a radiation state of the second antenna (for example, RB1) to obtain a corresponding communication performance P11, and then continue to change the first day Line ATA and The radiation state of the second antenna ATB, and combining them selectively, can obtain multiple communication performances, for example, communication performances P11, P12, P13...P1n, P21, P22, P23..., P2n... and so on, so as to get the communication performance Pmn, a total of m multiplied by n kinds of communication performance results. The communication performance is usually presented at a data rate. In addition, the manner of changing the radiation states of the first antenna and the second antenna will be further described in FIG. 2 later.

Next, in step S130, for each communication performance, the absolute value of the received signal strength indication (RSSI) of the first antenna is subtracted from the absolute value of the received signal strength indication of the second antenna to obtain an absolute value difference value. That is, each communication performance (P11 and even Pmn) will have an absolute difference. Regardless of the communication environment, the effect of changing the radiation state of individual antennas on the multiple input multiple output data rate may not be easy to anticipate, but the smaller the difference between the received signal strength indications of the first antenna and the second antenna, then The more conducive to multi-input multi-output data transmission (including stability). Then, step S140 is performed, and among the communication performances, the communication performance with the smallest absolute value difference is selected as optimized multi-input multi-output communication. When choosing the communication performance with the smallest absolute value difference, regardless of the quality of the communication environment, on the whole, it means that the first antenna and the second antenna are both selected for the best or better radiation state at the same time, which is most beneficial to many Input multiple output transmission. Conversely, the greater the difference between the received signal strength indications of the first antenna and the second antenna, the more unstable transmission may be caused for multi-input multi-output communication or the variation of the data transmission rate may be larger. It is quite disadvantageous for multiple input multiple output transmission. In step S140 of the present invention, the communication performance with the smallest absolute value difference is selected as the optimized multi-input multi-output communication. It is considered that in the case of a communication architecture using at least two antennas at the same time, two or two The received signal strength of more than one antenna indicates its absolute value By choosing the least differentiated method, the instability or uncertainty parameters of the transmission process are avoided as much as possible, and it is more convenient to use without complicated data operation processing for the multiple input multiple output matrix (lower Cost and reduce computing time) to propose an optimized solution. In addition, if the transmission environment or transmission distance changes during the multi-input multi-output transmission process, steps S120, S130, and S140 can also be dynamically continued. Under conditions that avoid affecting the normal transmission state, you can dynamically try Find out the better communication performance for the situation.

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 at the same time, in the step of establishing a plurality of communication performances according to the plurality of first radiation states of the first antenna and the plurality of second radiation states of the second antenna (S120), the figure may further include Steps S121 and S122 of step 2 are parallel to step S121 and step S122, because the first antenna and the second antenna of the multiple input multiple output communication are operating at the same time to transmit data. In step S121, at least one first reflection unit or at least one first ground current control unit of the first antenna is controlled. In step S122, at least one second reflection unit or at least one second ground current control unit of the second antenna is controlled.

For steps S121 and S122, the method of controlling the first reflection unit and the second reflection unit belongs to the same control method, and the control of the first ground current control unit and the control of the second ground current element belong to another control method. For the method of controlling the first reflecting unit, please refer to the structure of the antenna and the reflecting unit shown in FIG. 3. The first reflecting unit is, for example, a half-wavelength reflector. The first antenna takes a half-wavelength dipole antenna as an example. In the mode of the first reflection unit of the line, it is preferable that there are at least two or more first reflection units 11 of the first antenna 1, for example, one first half-wavelength reflector 111 of FIG. 3 is on the left side and the other first half The wavelength reflector 112 is on the right to produce a plurality of radiation states of the first antenna 1. The control method in the embodiment of FIG. 3 includes: As for the first half-wavelength reflector 111 on the left, the first half-wavelength reflector 111 is turned on by the first diode 111a, so that the first half-wavelength reflector 111 realizes the reflection function. Alternatively, the first diode 111a is not turned on and the first extension circuit 111b uses the first capacitor 111c to extend the path of the first half-wavelength reflector 111, so that the first half-wavelength reflector 111 does not produce a reflection function. For the first half-wavelength reflector 112 on the right side, the first half-wavelength reflector 112 is turned on with the first diode 112a, so that the first half-wavelength reflector 112 realizes the reflection function. Alternatively, the first diode 112a is not turned on and the first extension circuit 112b uses the first capacitor 112c to extend the path of the first half-wavelength reflector 112, so that the first half-wavelength reflector 112 does not produce a reflection function. Analogous to the control method of the first antenna 1, please refer to FIG. 4, the method of controlling the second reflection unit 21 of the second antenna 2 includes: conducting the second half-wavelength reflector 211 with the second diode 211a, or not Turn on the second diode 211a and make the second extension loop 211b extend the path of the second half-wavelength reflector 211 with the second capacitor 211c; and turn on the second half-wavelength reflector 212 with the second diode 212a, or not turn on The second diode 212a enables the second extension circuit 212b to extend the path of the second half-wavelength reflector 212 using the second capacitor 212c.

For the method of controlling the first ground current control unit and the second ground current control unit, please refer to FIG. 5, the first ground current control unit 211 and the second ground current control unit 221 are used to connect the ground G, the first antenna 21 and the second antenna 22 take an inverted F-shaped plate antenna (PIFA) as an example. In the manner of controlling the first ground current control unit 211 of the first antenna 21, the first ground current control unit of the first antenna 21 211 requires at least two or more components, such as one first ground current part 211a and another first ground current part 211b of FIG. 5, by changing the ground current close to the first antenna 21 to generate a plurality of first antennas The radiation state of 21. The control method in the embodiment of FIG. 5 includes: For the first ground current part 211a, the first ground current part 211a is turned on to ground by the first switch 212a G, or the first switch 212a is not turned on and the first ground capacitor 213a is connected between the first ground current part 211a and the ground G. In FIG. 5, the first ground current part 211a uses not only the first ground capacitor 213a but also the The first ground capacitor 213b is connected to the ground G. Furthermore, for the first ground current portion 211b, the first ground current portion 211b is turned on to the ground G by the first switch 212b, or the first ground capacitance 213b is connected to the first ground current portion without turning on the first switch 212b Between 211b and ground G.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 5, the second ground current control unit 221 needs to have at least two or more components, such as one second ground current portion 221 a and another second ground current portion 221 b of FIG. 5, by changing the proximity to the second antenna 22 To generate a plurality of radiation states of the second antenna 22. Similar to the control method of the first ground current control unit 211, the control method of controlling the second ground current control unit 221 includes: turning on the second ground current portion 221a to the ground G with the second switch 222a, or not turning on the second switch 222a and The second ground capacitor 223a is connected between the second ground current part 221a and the ground G. In FIG. 5, the second ground current part 221a uses not only the second ground capacitor 223a but also the second ground capacitor 223b to connect to the ground G . Furthermore, the second switch 222b is used to turn on the second ground current portion 221b to the ground G, or the second switch 222b is not turned on and the second ground capacitor 223b is connected between the second ground current portion 221b and the ground G. However, the structure of the second antenna 22 is not necessarily the same as the structure of the first antenna 21, and the second ground current control unit 221 and the first ground current control unit 211 are not necessarily the same. In addition, the switches 212a, 212b, 222a, and 222b are implemented by diodes, for example, but not limited thereto.

Based on the above method, this embodiment provides an antenna control device for multi-input multi-output communication. The antenna control device for multi-input multi-output communication is, for example, capable of implementing multi-input multi-output communication. Laptop, laptop, tablet, all-in-one computer, smart TV, small base station or Wireless Router. Referring to FIG. 6, the device of this embodiment includes a first antenna 3, a second antenna 4, an application unit 5, and a control unit 6. The device of this embodiment uses two antennas as an example, or may have More than three antennas. Both the first antenna 3 and the second antenna 4 are connected to the wireless chip 7. The application unit 5 is connected to the wireless chip 7, and the wireless chip 7 receives the received signal strength indication of the first antenna 3 and the second antenna 4 and the received data rate of the multiple input multiple output communication. The application unit 5 is based on the first antenna 3 The plurality of first radiation states and the plurality of second radiation states of the second antenna 4 establish a plurality of communication performances; wherein for each communication performance, the application unit 5 makes the absolute value of the received signal strength indication of the first antenna 3 Subtract from the absolute value of the received signal strength indication of the second antenna 4 to obtain an absolute value difference; wherein, in the communication performance, the application unit 5 selects the communication performance with the smallest absolute value difference as Optimized multiple input multiple output communication. The control unit 6 is connected to the application unit 5, the first antenna 3 and the second antenna 4, and is controlled by the application unit 5 to control the plurality of first radiation states of the first antenna 3 and the plurality of first antennas of the second antenna 4 Second radiation state. The first antenna 3 and the second antenna 4 may refer to the embodiment of FIG. 3 or FIG. 5 and related descriptions. Simply speaking, the control unit 6 controls at least one first reflection unit or at least one first of the first antenna 3 A ground current control unit, and the control unit 6 controls at least one second reflection unit or at least one second ground current control unit of the second antenna 4.

When the control unit 6 controls at least one first reflection unit of the first antenna 3 and at least one second reflection unit of the second antenna 4, analogous to the embodiment of FIG. 3, the control unit 6 controls the first dipole The body can turn on the first half-wave reflector, or not turn on the first diode and make the first extension loop use the first capacitor to extend the path of the half-wave reflector; wherein, the control unit 6 controls the second diode to turn on the first Two-half-wavelength reflector, or not conducting the second diode and making the second extension loop use the second capacitor to extend The path of the second half-wavelength reflector is long.

When the control unit 6 controls at least one first ground current control unit of the first antenna 3 and at least one second ground current control unit of the second antenna 4, analogous to the embodiment of FIG. 5, the control unit 6 controls the first The switch turns on the first ground current part to ground, or does not turn on the first switch and connects the first ground capacitor between the first ground current part and ground; wherein, the control unit controls the second switch to turn on the second ground current part To ground, or the second switch is not turned on and the second ground capacitor is connected between the second ground current portion and ground.

In summary, the embodiments of the present invention provide an antenna control method and device for multi-input multi-output communication. With the control of the radiation state of the antenna, the absolute value difference of the received signal strength indication of each antenna is minimized to Further improving the data rate of multi-input multi-output communication has high industrial application value. The radiation state control of the antenna can be controlled using a reflector or ground current.

The above is only an embodiment of the present invention, and it is not intended to limit the patent scope of the present invention.

S110, S120, S130, S140 ‧‧‧ steps

Claims (4)

An antenna control method for multi-input multi-output communication for an electronic device having at least two antennas, the method includes: the electronic device uses a first antenna and a second antenna to The end device performs wireless communication; establish a plurality of communication performances according to the plurality of first radiation states of the first antenna and the plurality of second radiation states of the second antenna; for each of the communication performance, make the first day The absolute value of the received signal strength indication of the line is subtracted from the absolute value of the received signal strength indication of the second antenna to obtain an absolute value difference; and in these communication performances, the smallest absolute value difference is selected The communication performance of the multi-input multi-output communication is optimized; wherein, in the step of establishing a plurality of communication performances according to the plurality of first radiation states of the first antenna and the plurality of second radiation states of the second antenna It includes: at least one first ground current control unit that controls the first antenna; and at least one second ground current control unit that controls the second antenna; wherein, the first ground current control that controls the first antenna The method of the unit includes: conducting a first ground current part to a ground with a first switch, or disabling the first switch and connecting a first ground capacitor between the first ground current part and the ground; wherein The method of controlling the second ground current control unit of the second antenna includes: conducting a second ground current part to the ground with a second switch, or disabling the second switch and connecting a second ground capacitor Between the second ground current portion and the ground. The antenna control method for multiple input multiple output communication according to claim 1, wherein the operating frequency of the first antenna and the second antenna is the fifth generation mobile communication The 3.5GHz band or 6GHz band of the letter specification. An antenna control device for multi-input multi-output communication includes: a first antenna connected to a wireless chip; a second antenna connected to the wireless chip; an application unit connected to the wireless chip The chip receives the received signal strength indication of the first antenna and the second antenna and the received data rate of the multiple input multiple output communication, wherein the application unit is based on the plurality of first radiation states of the first antenna and the second The plurality of second radiation states of the antenna establish a plurality of communication performances; wherein for each of the communication performances, the application unit makes the absolute value of the received signal strength indication of the first antenna and the received signal strength of the second antenna The indicated absolute values are subtracted to obtain an absolute value difference; wherein, among the communication performances, the application unit selects the communication performance with the smallest absolute value difference as optimized multi-input multi-output communication; and A control unit connected to the application unit, the first antenna and the second antenna, controlled by the application unit to control the plurality of first radiation states of the first antenna and the plurality of second antennas A second radiation state; wherein, the control unit controls at least a first ground current control unit of the first antenna, and the control unit controls at least a second ground current control unit of the second antenna; wherein, the control The unit controls a first switch to turn on a first ground current part to a ground, or does not turn on the first switch and connects a first ground capacitor between the first ground current part and the ground; wherein, the control The unit controls a second switch to turn on a second ground current part to the ground, or to turn off the second switch and connect a second ground capacitor between the second ground current part and the ground. Antenna control for multi-input multi-output communication according to item 3 of the request Device, wherein the device is a notebook computer, laptop computer, tablet computer, all-in-one computer, smart TV, small base station or wireless router.

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