TWI723990B - Wireless terminal, and method for searching for cell in the wireless terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses are provided for searching for a cell by a communication processor (CP) of a wireless terminal having a plurality of antennas. One of the plurality of antennas is selected based on whether a secondary antenna is in a driving state and whether a finger of a rake receiver has been allocated. The plurality of antennas includes a primary antenna and the secondary antenna. A cell search is performed through the selected one of the plurality of antennas.

Description

The wireless terminal and the party searching for the cell in the wireless terminal law

The present invention generally relates to a device and a method for selecting an antenna for cell search in a wireless terminal.

In order to meet due to the development of the 4th generation (4 ^th -generation; 4G) wireless communication system only increased demand news service, we have been working to develop improved 5th generation (5 ^th -generation; 5G) or quasi-5G communications systems. The 5G or quasi-5G communication system is also referred to as the "super 4G network" communication system or the "post-LTE" system.

The 5G communication system is implemented in a higher frequency (mmWave) band (for example, the 60GHz band) in order to achieve higher data rates. In order to reduce the propagation loss of radio waves and increase the transmission distance in higher frequency bands, beamforming, large-scale multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), and full-dimensional MIMO (full-dimension MIMO) have been developed in 5G communication systems. dimensional MIMO; FD-MIMO), array antenna, analog beamforming and large antenna technology.

In addition, in the 5G communication system, technology development for system network improvement is underway based on the following: advanced small cell, cloud radio access network (radio access network; RAN), ultra-dense network, device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, mobile network, cooperative communication, coordinated multi-point ; CoMP), receiver interference cancellation and the like.

Also in 5G systems, hybrid frequency shift keying (FSK) and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) have been developed. As an advanced coding modulation (ACM) technology, it has developed filter bank multi carrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and sparse Sparse code multiple access (SCMA) is an advanced access technology.

Generally speaking, a wireless terminal needs to find a cell for initial access in the network, or to synchronize with a neighboring cell (also referred to as a "neighbor cell") to support migration and measure reception quality. The wireless terminal evaluates the reception quality to determine the target cell to try for initial access, or evaluates the reception quality of the current cell (also known as the "serving cell") and the reception quality of at least one neighboring cell to determine whether to perform the handoff. Handover or cell reselection. For example, the handover may be performed by the wireless terminal in the mode RRC_CONNECTED (e.g., active state), and the cell reselection may be performed by the wireless terminal in the mode RRC_IDLE (e.g., idle state).

When determining the target cell to attempt initial access or when measuring reception quality for handover or cell reselection, a wireless terminal using a single antenna does not need to perform antenna selection. However, for wireless terminals using multiple antennas, the antenna to be used for measuring reception quality can be an important factor in determining communication quality.

For example, for a wireless terminal that supports receive (Rx) diversity based on multiple antennas in a good wireless communication environment (such as a strong electric field environment), antenna selection may have a minimal impact on communication quality. That is, when the wireless terminal uses multiple antennas, the antenna selection procedure may not be required in a strong electric field environment.

However, for wireless terminals that support Rx diversity based on multiple antennas in a poor wireless communication environment (such as a weak electric field environment), antenna selection may have a greater impact on communication quality. That is, when the wireless terminal uses multiple antennas, the success or failure of the cell search in a weak electric field environment may depend on the selected antenna. For example, when the reception quality of a wireless terminal with two antennas in a specific cell is measured by the first antenna as good but by the second antenna as bad, even though the first antenna is used to successfully search for the cell, However, cell search cannot be performed with the second antenna.

To solve this problem, in a weak electric field environment, all paths obtained with multiple antennas can be activated and search corresponding to each of the paths can be performed, thereby improving the search performance. However, in this situation, the time and power consumed by the search may increase.

The aspect of the present disclosure provides a device and a method for selecting an antenna in a weak electric field environment to measure the signal quality in a cell.

According to the aspect of the present disclosure, a wireless terminal is provided, which includes a plurality of antennas, including a primary antenna and at least one secondary antenna. The wireless terminal also includes: a communication processor (CP), which is configured to be based on whether at least one of the at least one secondary antenna is in a driving state and whether the rake fingers of a rake receiver have been assigned (finger) and select one of the multiple antennas , And perform cell search via a selected one of the multiple antennas.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for a CP of a wireless terminal with multiple antennas to find a cell is provided. The multiple antennas include a primary antenna and at least one secondary antenna. One of the plurality of antennas is selected based on whether at least one of the at least one secondary antenna is in a driving state and whether the fingers of the rake receiver have been allocated. The cell search is performed via a selected one of the multiple antennas.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for a CP of a wireless terminal with multiple antennas to find a cell is provided. Determine whether the secondary antenna is in the driving state. Multiple antennas include primary antennas and secondary antennas. When the secondary antenna is not in the driving state, the primary antenna is selected and the cell search is performed via the primary antenna. When the secondary antenna is in the driving state, one of the multiple antennas is selected based on whether the finger of the rake receiver has been allocated and based on the operating state of the wireless terminal, and cell search is performed via the selected one of the multiple antennas.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a wireless terminal is provided, which includes a plurality of antennas, which has a primary antenna and a secondary antenna. The wireless terminal also includes a CP, which is configured to determine whether the secondary antenna of the plurality of antennas is in the driving state, and when the secondary antenna is not in the driving state, the primary antenna is selected and cell search is performed through the primary antenna. The CP is also configured to select one of the multiple antennas based on whether the finger of the rake receiver has been allocated when the secondary antenna is in the driving state and based on the operating state of the wireless terminal, and through the selection of the multiple antennas The person performs a community search.

110: RF module

120: Communication Processor (CP)

210: Antenna driver module

220: Antenna selection module

ANT#1: Antenna

ANT#2: Antenna

310, 320, 330, 340: steps

410, 412, 414, 416, 418, 420, 422, 424, 426, 428, 430, 432, 434: steps

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Among them: Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a communication processor (CP) of a wireless terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an antenna selection procedure performed by a wireless terminal in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

4A and 4B are flowcharts illustrating a control process for a wireless terminal to select an antenna in a weak electric field environment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same or similar components may be designated by the same or similar reference numbers, but the components are illustrated in different drawings. The detailed description of known structures or processing procedures in the art may be omitted to avoid confusing the subject matter of the disclosure.

In this article, expressions such as "have," "may have," "include," and "may include" indicate the existence of corresponding characteristics (such as values, functions, operations, or components), and do not exclude one or more additional The existence of characteristics.

In this article, expressions such as "A or B", "at least one of A and B", or "one or more of A and B" may include all possible combinations of the listed items. For example, "A or B", "at least one of A and B", or "one or more of A and B" may include (1) at least one A; (2) at least one B; or ( 3) At least one A and at least one B.

Expressions such as "first", "second", "primary" or "secondary" used in various embodiments herein can represent various elements regardless of order and/or importance, and do not limit the correspondence element. Expressions can be used to distinguish one element from another. For example, the first user device and the second user device may represent different user devices regardless of order or importance. For example, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, the first element may be referred to as the second element, and similarly, the second element may be referred to as the first element.

When it is described that an element (such as a first element) is "operably or communicatively coupled" or "connected" to another element (such as a second element), the element may be directly connected to the other element or may be connected via The third element is connected to another element. However, when it is described that an element (such as a first element) is "directly connected" or "directly coupled" to another element (such as a second element), it means that there is no intermediate between the element and the other element Element (such as a third element).

As used in this article, depending on the context, the expression "configured (or set) to" can be associated with, for example, "suitable", "capable", "designed to", "used", "makes" or "Able to" can be used interchangeably. The term "configured (or set) to" does not always mean "specifically designed" to be performed by hardware. Alternatively, in some contexts, the expression "device configured with" may mean that the device "can" operate in conjunction with another device or component. For example, the phrase "a processor configured (or set) to execute A, B, and C" can be a general-purpose processor (such as a central processing unit (CPU) or an application processor), The corresponding operation can be performed by executing at least one software program stored in an exclusive processor (such as an embedded processor) for performing the corresponding operation or stored in a memory device.

The terms defined herein are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the scope of other embodiments. Unless expressly expressed in a different way, the singular form may include the plural form. The technical and scientific terms used herein may have the same meaning as those generally understood by those familiar with the technology. As defined in the dictionary Commonly used terms of meaning have the same or similar meaning as the content background of the related technology, and are not analyzed in an ideal or overly formal way unless clearly defined. In some cases, the terms defined herein cannot be analyzed as excluding embodiments of the present invention.

Generally speaking, in a wireless communication system, a wireless terminal executes an access procedure to access the network. For example, the access procedure in LTE or LTE-A can be executed in the cell search procedure, the system information acquisition procedure, the random access procedure, and the paging procedure.

The wireless terminal can obtain synchronization with the cell in the network through the cell search process. For example, the cell search process may include: obtaining frequency and symbol synchronization for the cell; obtaining frame synchronization for the cell; and then determining the cell identifier (ID) of the physical layer of the cell. The cell ID can be obtained based on the primary synchronization signal (PSS) and the secondary synchronization signal (SSS) sent from the cell.

The wireless terminal can obtain cell system information (CSI) through the system information obtaining process. CSI can define information necessary for communication in a cell.

For example, in LTE, CSI may include a master information block (MIB) and a system information block (SIB). A broadcasting channel (broadcasting channel; BCH) can be used to transmit MIB, and a downlink shared channel (downlink shared channel; DL-SCH) can be used to transmit SIB.

SIB can be defined according to the type of information contained in it. For example, SIB3 may include information about cell reselection, and SIB4 to SIB8 may include information about Information about neighboring communities. Once the CSI is accurately decoded, the wireless terminal can access the cell through the random access sequence.

In a wireless communication system, as a method to obtain good communication quality, a cell search and selection procedure can be performed. The cell search and selection procedure may include a series of processing procedures for measuring the signal quality of neighboring cells and selecting at least one target cell based on the measurement result.

For example, the measurement of signal quality may include: receiving a reference signal sent from a neighboring cell, such as a pilot signal; measuring the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) from the received reference signal, Signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR), Ec/Io, received signal code power (RSCP) and other defined signal quality; and based on the measured signal quality Select at least one target cell. The wireless terminal can select at least one neighboring cell whose measured signal quality meets the criteria set in the network as the target cell.

Even after selecting a cell, the wireless terminal can still wake up at each discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle in an idle state to measure the signal quality of the selected cell or its neighboring cells. The wireless terminal can determine whether to stay in the currently selected cell or reselect the cell for moving to a new cell based on the measurement result.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method is provided in which a wireless terminal using multiple antennas in a weak electric field environment selects an antenna for receiving quality measurement for any of the following: used to determine a target cell to try Cell search for initial access; handover for moving to another cell; and cell reselection for selecting a new cell for access.

For example, the wireless terminal can measure the signal quality when it is powered on to determine the target cell to try initial access, the signal quality can be measured to determine whether it is in an active state to perform handover, and the signal quality can be measured to be idle Status for cell reselection.

Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method is provided in which a wireless terminal using multiple antennas in a weak electric field environment selects an antenna for measuring signal quality based on an operating state. For example, whether the fingers of the rake receiver of the wireless terminal have been allocated can affect the signal quality measurement.

Therefore, a method for antenna selection based on the operating state of the wireless terminal is provided. That is, considering the initial cell search where the fingers are not allocated, the active state where the fingers are always allocated, and the idle state where the fingers are alternately allocated, it is necessary to select the one used to measure the received signal. antenna.

For reference, if the operating state is the idle state, the wireless terminal wakes up in each DRX cycle to measure the reception quality, and in this situation, the finger assignment and deallocation can be repeated in the wake-up cycle.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to Figure 1, the wireless terminal includes two antennas ANT#1 and ANT#2. The radio frequency (RF) module 110 converts the RF frequency band signals received via multiple antennas into intermediate frequency (IF) frequency band signals, and delivers the IF frequency band signals to the communication processor (CP) 120. The RF module 110 converts the IF frequency band signal provided from the CP 120 into an RF frequency band signal, and delivers the RF frequency band signal to multiple antennas.

The CP 120 processes voice signals and data transmitted/received via the wireless network. The CP 120 may include a communication protocol, a codec, and so on. For example, CP 120 can support The protocol defined in the IMS standard is at least one of the following: session initiation protocol (SIP), session description protocol (SDP), real-time delivery protocol (real-time delivery protocol) time transfer protocol (RTP), real time control protocol (RTCP), message session relay protocol (MSRP), real time streaming protocol (RTSP), and hypertext transfer Protocol (hypertext transfer protocol; HTTP) and transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (transmission control protocol/Internet protocol; TCP/IP).

The CP 120 may include: a rake receiver, which includes a plurality of fingers; a finder; an analog-to-digital converter (ADC); a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) ); Digital signal processor (DSP), etc.

The CP 120 uses multiple antennas to selectively set the communication path, or connects or disconnects the communication path based on the set operation mode and the set handover condition.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the CP 120 performs antenna selection based on the current operating state. For example, the CP 120 may perform antenna selection for cell search, perform antenna selection for handover in an active state, and perform antenna selection for cell reselection in an idle state.

The CP 120 selects one of the multiple antennas in consideration of both the driving of the secondary antenna among the multiple antennas and the allocation of fingers that can be defined as the current operating state. Whether the secondary antenna is in the driving state indicates whether the signal received via the secondary antenna can be delivered to the RF module 110. That is, if the secondary antenna is in the driving state, the wireless terminal can be connected to the RF module 110 for delivering the signal received via the secondary antenna path. Otherwise, if the secondary antenna is not in the driving state, the wireless terminal may not be connected to the path for delivering the signal received via the secondary antenna to the RF module 110. For example, considering whether the secondary antenna is in a driving state, the wireless terminal may deliver the signal received via the secondary antenna to the rake receiver.

The CP 120 selects an antenna to be used for cell search, handover, and cell reselection, and the cell search, handover, and cell reselection are performed via the selected antenna selected from a plurality of antennas. The operating state determines whether the fingers of the rake-type receiver have been assigned. For example, if the operating state is the active state, it can be determined that the finger has been assigned. If the operating state is the idle state or the cell search state, it can be determined that the finger has not been allocated.

More specifically, if the secondary antenna among the multiple antennas is not in the driving state, the CP 120 selects the primary antenna among the multiple antennas as the antenna to be used.

If the secondary antenna among the multiple antennas is in the driving state and fingers have been allocated, the CP 120 determines the candidate antenna from the multiple antennas. If the signal quality corresponding to the determined candidate antenna meets the preset reference signal quality, the CP 120 selects the determined candidate antenna as the antenna to be used. If the signal quality corresponding to the determined candidate antenna fails to meet the preset reference signal quality, the CP 120 excludes the candidate antenna from the multiple antennas and selects the remaining antenna as the antenna to be used.

If the secondary antenna among the multiple antennas is in the driving state and no fingers have been allocated, the CP 120 determines whether the signal quality of the unselected antennas that have not been selected for the previous cell search among the multiple antennas is better than The previous cell searches for the signal quality of the selected antenna that has been selected.

If the signal quality of the unselected antenna is better than the signal quality of the selected antenna according to at least one preset criterion, the CP 120 may select the unselected antenna as the antenna to be used. However, if the signal quality of the antenna is not selected according to at least one preset criterion If the signal quality is not better than the selected antenna, the CP 120 can use the selected antenna as the antenna to be used.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a CP included in a wireless terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, the CP 120 included in the wireless terminal includes an antenna driving module 210 and an antenna selection module 220.

As used herein, the term "module" may refer to, for example, a unit including one or a combination of two or more of hardware, software, and firmware. The term "module" can be used interchangeably with the terms "unit", "logic", "logical block", "component" or "circuit". The module can be the smallest unit or part of an integrated component. The module may be the smallest unit or part of it that performs one or more functions. Modules can be implemented mechanically or electronically.

For example, a module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include at least one of the following known or to be developed to perform certain operations: application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) Chip, field-programmable gate array (FPGA) and programmable logic device.

The antenna driving module 210 designates at least two of the plurality of antennas as a primary antenna and at least one secondary antenna, and controls driving based on the primary antenna and the at least one secondary antenna.

Considering the current operating state, the antenna selection module 220 selects the antenna to be used to reduce the search time while maintaining the search performance in the weak electric field environment. For example, the antenna selection module 220 may determine whether to drive the secondary antenna of the plurality of antennas at a predetermined time point, and may be based on the reception quality (RSCP or the like) While selecting the antenna to be used at a predetermined time point, the reception quality is measured based on the multiple fingers of the rake-type receiver.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, considering at least one of received signal strength indicator (RSSI) and quality (Ec/Io), the antenna selection module 220 selects the one to be used based on the RSCP antenna. When the selected antenna is used, the probability of successfully performing the search process by selecting a cell through cell search and measuring the signal quality of the selected cell can be improved, and unnecessary cell search can be avoided.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an antenna selection procedure performed by a wireless terminal in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3, in step 310, the wireless terminal determines whether the current operating state is a cell search state. For example, when powered on, the wireless terminal can determine that the current operating state is the cell search state.

When the current operating state is the cell search state, in step 320, the wireless terminal selects an antenna for cell search based on the selected antenna information and the RSSI of the antennas among the multiple antennas.

If the current operating state is not the cell search state, the wireless terminal selects an antenna for handover or cell reselection based on the selected antenna information, RSCP, and Ec/Io. The operating state for selecting the antenna for handover may be an active state. The operating state used to select the antenna for cell reselection may be an idle state.

For example, in step 330, the wireless terminal may select a candidate antenna from a plurality of antennas based on the selected antenna information and RSCP, and in step 340, the antenna may be selected based on the Ec/Io of the selected candidate antenna.

4A and FIG. 4B are diagrams illustrating the method for supplying data according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; A flow chart of the control process for the wireless terminal to select an antenna in a weak electric field environment.

4A and 4B, in step 410, the wireless terminal determines whether antenna selection is required. The wireless terminal can consider the current communication environment before deciding whether antenna selection is required. That is, if the current communication environment is a weak electric field environment, the wireless terminal can determine whether antenna selection is required.

Antenna selection can be required in the initial cell search procedure, handover procedure, and cell reselection procedure. The initial cell search procedure can be executed when the wireless terminal is powered on, and the handover procedure can be executed when the operating state of the wireless terminal is in the active state to support the migration. When the wireless terminal wakes up from the idle state in each DRX cycle, the cell reselection procedure can be performed to find neighboring cells. The antenna selection in each of the three aforementioned procedures can have the same purpose of effectively measuring the strength of the received signal.

The wireless terminal determines the time point to select the antenna for each operating state. That is, in the idle state and the active state, antenna selection can be performed when fingers are allocated, and in the initial cell search procedure, antenna selection can be performed when fingers are not allocated.

For example, in the idle state, the wireless terminal may initially select the antenna when waking up to recognize the paging indication channel (PICH) in the previous DRX cycle. When the wireless terminal wakes up to recognize the PICH, the fingers have been assigned so that the wireless terminal can obtain the antenna specific RSCP. If the secondary antenna is turned on when the finder is driven to measure the strength of the received signal, the wireless terminal can select the antenna initially selected. On the other hand, if the secondary antenna is disconnected when the finder is driven to measure the strength of the received signal, the wireless terminal can select the primary antenna.

For example, in the active state or the initial cell search procedure, the wireless terminal can select the antenna to be used when the finder is driven to measure the strength of the received signal.

Referring back to FIG. 4A, if the time to select the antenna is reached, in step 412, the wireless terminal determines whether the secondary antenna among the plurality of antennas is in the driving state. The secondary antenna may be the remaining antenna excluding the primary antenna used by the wireless terminal in the active state among the multiple antennas, that is, the unused antenna.

According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, in the active state (for example, "Cell_DCH state"), the wireless terminal monitors the signal quality in the main path (RSCP, Ec/Io or the like) based on the main antenna in each predetermined cycle , And drive the secondary antenna when the monitored signal quality does not meet the preset criteria. The wireless terminal measures the signal quality in the main path through the fingers corresponding to the main path among the plurality of fingers of the rake-type receiver. The preset criterion may correspond to the situation when the measured signal quality fails to meet the reference value. That is, the wireless terminal can supply operating power to the secondary when the measured RSCP of the primary path is less than the preset reference value RSCP_DIVON_TH or when the measured Ec/Io of the primary path is less than the preset reference value Ec/Io_DIVON_TH antenna. In this situation, in order to supply the operating voltage to the secondary antenna, it is not necessary to determine whether the two conditions are satisfied.

According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, in the idle state, the wireless terminal can determine whether to drive the secondary antenna based on the signal quality in the primary path (RSSI or the like) and based on the primary antenna in the DRX cycle. The wireless terminal measures the signal quality in the main path through the fingers corresponding to the main path among the plurality of fingers of the rake-type receiver.

For example, the wireless terminal wakes up in each DRX cycle, and when the RSSI measured in the main path is less than the preset reference value RSSI_DIVON_TH, or when the RSCP measured in the main path in the previous DRX cycle is less than the preset reference value. When setting the reference value RSCP_DIVON_TH, or when measuring in the main path in the previous DRX cycle When the obtained Ec/Io is less than the preset reference value Ec/Io_DIVON_TH, the operating power is supplied to the secondary antenna. In this situation, in order to supply the operating voltage to the secondary antenna, it may be determined whether at least one of the proposed conditions but not all of the proposed conditions is satisfied.

According to the embodiment of the present disclosure, in the initial cell search procedure, none of the fingers of the rake receiver has been allocated, so that if the antenna used in the previous active state is the secondary antenna or if it is based on the primary antenna If the signal quality measured in the current primary path does not meet the preset reference value, the wireless terminal can drive the secondary antenna.

For example, in the initial cell search procedure, when no fingers have been allocated, RSCP may not be measured. Therefore, when the secondary antenna is used in the previously active state or when the RSSI in the current primary path is less than the preset reference value RSSI_DIVON_TH, the wireless terminal can supply operating power to the secondary antenna.

According to the foregoing embodiments of the present disclosure, a solution is provided in which the wireless terminal determines the driving time point of the secondary antenna for each operating state (active state, idle state, initial cell search state, or the like).

In the foregoing embodiment, it has been assumed that RSSI or Ec/Io is measured or RSCP is calculated.

For example, the wireless terminal can obtain the RSSI in each of the multiple antennas via an automatic gain controller (AGC). AGC can be provided for each antenna. Generally speaking, AGC can use the RSSI measured in the received signal for gain control of the received signal. In this situation, the wireless terminal can obtain the antenna-specific RSSI via AGC. The wireless terminal can obtain Ec/Io for each antenna by combining the power values in the fingers allocated for each of the multiple antennas. The wireless terminal calculates the antenna-specific RSCP for each of the multiple antennas by using the measured RSSI and Ec/Io corresponding to each antenna.

In the following description, multiple antennas can be classified into selected antennas and unselected antennas or candidate antennas and remaining antennas. The selected antenna is selected from multiple antennas in the previous antenna selection procedure, and the unselected antenna is not selected from the multiple antennas in the previous antenna selection procedure. Candidate antennas are selected from among multiple antennas as candidates before antenna selection, and the remaining antennas are those remaining when the candidate antennas are excluded from the multiple antennas.

Referring back to FIG. 4A, when it is determined in step 412 that the secondary antenna is not in the driving state, the wireless terminal selects the primary antenna in step 414.

If it is determined in step 412 that the secondary antenna is in the driving state, the wireless terminal determines in step 416 whether a finger has been allocated. If the finger has not been allocated, the wireless terminal determines in step 418 whether the current operating state is an idle state.

In step 418, if the current operating state is the idle state, the wireless terminal compares the RSSI RSSI_unchosen in the unselected antenna with the RSSI RSSI_chosen in the selected antenna in step 420. If the RSSI RSSI_unchosen is greater than or equal to the combination of RSSI RSSI_chosen and the preset value RSSI_HYS, the wireless terminal selects the unselected antenna as the antenna to be used in step 422. If the RSSI RSSI_unchosen is less than the combination of the RSSI RSSI_chosen and the preset value RSSI_HYS, the wireless terminal selects the selected antenna as the antenna to be used in step 424.

If it has been determined in step 416 that fingers have been allocated or it has been determined that the current operating state is not an idle state in step 418, the wireless terminal determines candidate antennas from among multiple antennas in step 426 of FIG. 4B. If the current operating state is the idle state, the wireless terminal can allocate and then de-allocate fingers in each DRX.

To determine candidate antennas in step 426, the wireless terminal may compare the RSCP RSCP_unchosen in the unselected antenna with the RSCP in the selected antenna RSCP_chosen. If RSCP RSCP_unchosen is greater than or equal to the combination of RSCP RSCP_chosen and the preset value RSCP_HYS, the wireless terminal determines that no antenna is selected as a candidate antenna. If RSCP RSCP_unchosen is less than the combination of RSCP RSCP_chosen and the preset value RSCP_HYS, the wireless terminal determines the selected antenna as a candidate antenna.

Once the candidate antenna is determined as described above, the wireless terminal determines whether to select the determined candidate antenna or the remaining antennas in steps 428 to 434.

More specifically, the wireless terminal compares the Ec/Io Ec/Io_candidate in the candidate antenna with the preset reference value TH1 (Ec/Io_SEL_TH) in step 428 to determine whether the Ec/Io Ec/Io_candidate is greater than the preset reference value Ec/Io_SEL_TH . If Ec/Io Ec/Io_candidate is less than or equal to the preset reference value Ec/Io_SEL_TH, the wireless terminal compares Ec/Io Ec/Io_candidate in the candidate antennas with Ec/Io Ec/Io_remained in the remaining antennas in step 430. If the combination of Ec/Io Ec/Io_candidate and the preset error reference value Ec/Io_HYS is less than Ec/Io Ec/Io_remained, the wireless terminal selects the remaining antennas as the antennas to be used in step 434.

If in step 428, Ec/Io Ec/Io_candidate is greater than the preset reference value Ec/Io_SEL_TH, or if the combination of Ec/Io Ec/Io_candidate and the preset error reference value Ec/Io_HYS is greater than or equal to Ec/Io Ec/Io_remained, Then, the wireless terminal selects the candidate antenna as the antenna to be used in step 432.

As is obvious from the foregoing description, the proposed antenna selection scheme according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can reduce the search time while maintaining the search performance in a weak electric field environment.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, at least a part of the device (for example, the module or its function) or the method (for example, operation) can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Implementation of commands in the form of program modules in the body. When the command is executed by the processor, one or more processors may perform the function corresponding to the command. The computer-readable storage medium may be a memory.

Computer-readable recording media include hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic media (for example, magnetic tapes), optical media (for example, compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM)) or digital versatile discs (digital versatile disc; DVD), magneto-optical media (for example, soft magnetic optical disc), and hardware devices (for example, ROM, random access memory (RAM), or flash memory). In addition, the program instructions include machine language codes generated by a compiler and high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter. The foregoing hardware device may be configured to operate as at least one software module for performing the operations of the present disclosure, or the foregoing software module may be configured to operate as at least one of the operations for performing the operations of the present disclosure A hardware device.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the module or the programming module may include one or more of the foregoing elements, may omit some of the foregoing elements, or may include additional elements. Operations performed by modules, programming modules, or other components can be performed sequentially, parallel, iteratively, or tentatively. Also, some of the operations may be performed in a different order, may be ignored or may have additional operations.

The present disclosure can be used in conjunction with the manufacturing of integrated circuits, chipsets, or system-on-chip (SOC). Those who are familiar with this technology will know how to divide wafers and package to produce integrated circuits. The integrated circuit thus manufactured is regarded as part of this disclosure.

Although the content of this disclosure has been shown and described with reference to certain embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will understand that without departing from the present invention as defined in the scope of the appended application With regard to the spirit and scope of the disclosure content, various changes in form and details can be made in the disclosure content.

110: RF module

120: Communication Processor (CP)

ANT#1: Antenna

ANT#2: Antenna

Claims (16)

A wireless terminal in a weak electric field environment, comprising: a plurality of antennas including a primary antenna and at least one secondary antenna; and a communication processor configured to be based on at least one of the at least one secondary antenna Select one of the plurality of antennas to measure the signal in at least one cell in a weak electric field environment around the wireless terminal whether it is in the driving state and whether the fingers of the rake receiver have been allocated Quality, and perform cell search via the selected one of the plurality of antennas, wherein the driving state is that a signal received via the at least one of the at least one secondary antenna is delivered to the rake The status of the receiver. The wireless terminal according to claim 1, wherein the communication processor is further configured to perform the following operations: if the at least one of the at least one secondary antenna is in the driving state and has been Allocate the fingers, determine a candidate antenna among the multiple antennas; if the signal quality corresponding to the candidate antenna meets the predetermined reference signal quality, select the candidate antenna; and if the candidate antenna corresponds to the candidate antenna If the signal quality fails to meet the predetermined reference signal quality, the candidate antennas are excluded from the multiple antennas and the remaining antennas are selected. The wireless terminal according to claim 1, wherein if the at least one of the at least one secondary antenna is in the driving state and the finger has not been allocated, the communication processor is further It is configured to perform the following operations: determine whether the signal quality corresponding to the unselected antenna that has not been selected for the previous cell search among the plurality of antennas is higher than that of the signal quality corresponding to the selected antenna The signal quality of the selected antenna selected is good by a predetermined reference or exceeds the predetermined reference; if the signal quality corresponding to the unselected antenna is better than the signal quality corresponding to the selected antenna, the predetermined reference or If the signal quality corresponding to the non-selected antenna is not better than the signal quality corresponding to the selected antenna, the predetermined reference or exceeds the signal quality corresponding to the selected antenna. The predetermined reference, the selected antenna is selected. The wireless terminal according to claim 1, wherein the communication processor is further configured to perform the following operations: if the at least one of the at least one secondary antenna is not in the driving state, Then select the main antenna. The wireless terminal according to the first item of the scope of patent application, wherein the communication processor is further configured to perform the following operations: if the operating state is an active state, it is determined that the finger has been allocated; and if the operation is If the state is the idle state or the cell search state, it is determined that the finger has not been allocated. A method for a communication processor of a wireless terminal including multiple antennas to find a cell in a weak electric field environment. The multiple antennas include a primary antenna and at least one secondary antenna. The method includes: Whether at least one of the antennas is in the driving state and whether the fingers of the rake-type receiver have been assigned to select one of the plurality of antennas to measure at least one cell in a weak electric field environment around the wireless terminal And performing cell search via the selected one of the plurality of antennas, wherein the driving state is via the at least one secondary antenna The signal received by at least one is delivered to the state where the rake receiver is located. The method for a communication processor of a wireless terminal including multiple antennas to find a cell as described in item 6 of the scope of patent application, wherein selecting the one of the multiple antennas includes: if among the at least one secondary antenna If the at least one of the antennas is in the driving state and the finger has been allocated, then a candidate antenna is determined among the multiple antennas; if the signal quality corresponding to the candidate antenna meets the predetermined reference signal quality, then the selected antenna is selected The candidate antenna; and if the signal quality corresponding to the candidate antenna fails to meet the predetermined reference signal quality, excluding the candidate antenna from the plurality of antennas and selecting a remaining antenna. The method for a communication processor of a wireless terminal including multiple antennas to find a cell as described in item 6 of the scope of patent application, wherein selecting the one of the multiple antennas includes: if among the at least one secondary antenna If the at least one of the plurality of antennas is in the driving state and the finger has not been assigned, it is determined whether the signal quality of the unselected antenna that has not been selected for the previous cell search among the plurality of antennas is higher than that corresponding to the previous The signal quality of the selected antenna that has been selected by the cell search is good or exceeds the predetermined reference; if the signal quality corresponding to the unselected antenna is better than the signal quality corresponding to the selected antenna If the predetermined reference or exceeds the predetermined reference, the unselected antenna is selected; and if the signal quality corresponding to the unselected antenna is not better than the signal quality corresponding to the selected antenna, the predetermined reference Or exceed the predetermined parameter Test, then select the selected antenna. The method for a communication processor of a wireless terminal including multiple antennas to find a cell as described in item 6 of the scope of patent application, wherein selecting the one of the multiple antennas includes: if among the at least one secondary antenna If the at least one of is not in the driving state, the main antenna is selected. The method for a communication processor of a wireless terminal including multiple antennas to find a cell as described in item 6 of the scope of patent application, wherein selecting the one of the multiple antennas includes: if the operating state is the active state, then It is determined that the finger has been allocated; and if the operating state is an idle state or a cell search state, it is determined that the finger has not been allocated. A method for a communication processor of a wireless terminal including multiple antennas to find a cell in a weak electric field environment. The method includes: determining whether a secondary antenna is in a driving state, wherein the multiple antennas include the primary antenna and the secondary antenna. Antenna; when the secondary antenna is not in the driving state, select the primary antenna to measure the signal quality in at least one cell in a weak electric field environment around the wireless terminal and pass the primary The antenna performs cell search; when the secondary antenna is in the driving state, selecting one of the plurality of antennas based on whether the fingers of the rake receiver have been allocated and based on the operating state of the wireless terminal, To measure the signal quality in at least one cell in a weak electric field environment around the wireless terminal, and perform the cell search via the selected one of the plurality of antennas, The driving state is a state where the signal received via the secondary antenna is delivered to the rake receiver. The method for a communication processor of a wireless terminal including multiple antennas to find a cell as described in item 11 of the scope of patent application, wherein selecting the one of the multiple antennas includes: if the finger or all of the fingers have been allocated If the operating state is not an idle state, a candidate antenna is determined among the multiple antennas; if the signal quality corresponding to the candidate antenna meets the preset reference signal quality, the candidate antenna is selected; if it corresponds to the candidate antenna If the signal quality of the signal quality fails to meet the preset reference signal quality, the candidate antennas are excluded from the multiple antennas and the remaining antennas are selected; if the fingers have not been allocated or the operating state is idle, then Determine whether the signal quality corresponding to the unselected antenna that has not been selected for the previous cell search among the plurality of antennas is better than the signal quality corresponding to the selected antenna that has been selected for the previous cell search. Set a reference; if the signal quality corresponding to the unselected antenna is better than the signal quality corresponding to the selected antenna by the preset reference or exceeds the preset reference, select the unselected antenna And if the signal quality corresponding to the unselected antenna is not better than the signal quality corresponding to the selected antenna by the preset reference or exceeds the preset reference, then the selected antenna is selected . The method for a communication processor of a wireless terminal including multiple antennas to find a cell as described in item 11 of the scope of the patent application, wherein one of the multiple antennas is selected The method includes: determining that the finger has been allocated if the operating state is the active state; and determining that the finger has not been allocated if the operating state is an idle state or a cell search state. A wireless terminal in a weak electric field environment, including: multiple antennas, including a primary antenna and a secondary antenna; and a communication processor, which is configured to perform the following operations: determine whether the secondary antenna is in a driving state When the secondary antenna is not in the driving state, the primary antenna is selected to measure the signal quality in at least one cell in a weak electric field environment around the wireless terminal and performed via the primary antenna Cell search; and when the secondary antenna is in the driving state, selecting one of the plurality of antennas based on whether the finger of the rake receiver has been allocated and based on the operating state of the wireless terminal, to The signal quality in at least one cell in a weak electric field environment around the wireless terminal is measured, and the cell search is performed via the selected one of the plurality of antennas, wherein the driving state is via the selected one of the plurality of antennas. The signal received by the secondary antenna is delivered to the state where the rake receiver is located. For the wireless terminal described in item 14 of the scope of patent application, wherein the communication processor is further configured to perform the following operations: if the finger has been allocated or the operating state is not an idle state, Determine candidate antennas among the antennas; if the signal quality corresponding to the candidate antenna meets the preset reference signal quality, Select the candidate antenna; if the signal quality corresponding to the candidate antenna fails to meet the preset reference signal quality, exclude the candidate antenna from the multiple antennas and select the remaining antenna; if it has not been allocated If the finger or the operating state is an idle state, it is determined whether the signal quality corresponding to the unselected antenna that has not been selected for the previous cell search among the plurality of antennas is higher than that of all the antennas that have been selected for the previous cell search. The signal quality of the selected antenna is good by the preset reference or exceeds the preset reference; if the signal quality corresponding to the unselected antenna is better than the signal quality corresponding to the selected antenna, the preset reference or If the signal quality corresponding to the unselected antenna is not better than the signal quality corresponding to the selected antenna, the predetermined reference or If the preset reference is exceeded, the selected antenna is selected. The wireless terminal according to item 14 of the scope of patent application, wherein the communication processor is further configured to perform the following operations: if the operating state is the active state, it is determined that the finger has been allocated; and If the operating state is an idle state or a cell search state, it is determined that the finger has not been allocated.

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