Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
  • H04B7/02—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas
  • H04B7/04—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas using two or more spaced independent antennas
  • H04B7/0413—MIMO systems
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
  • H04B7/02—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas
  • H04B7/04—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas using two or more spaced independent antennas
  • H04B7/06—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas using two or more spaced independent antennas at the transmitting station
  • H04B7/0602—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas using two or more spaced independent antennas at the transmitting station using antenna switching
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
  • H04B7/02—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas
  • H04B7/04—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas using two or more spaced independent antennas
  • H04B7/08—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas using two or more spaced independent antennas at the receiving station
  • H04B7/0802—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas using two or more spaced independent antennas at the receiving station using antenna selection
  • H04B7/0805—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas using two or more spaced independent antennas at the receiving station using antenna selection with single receiver and antenna switching
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L5/00—Arrangements affording multiple use of the transmission path
  • H04L5/0001—Arrangements for dividing the transmission path
  • H04L5/0003—Two-dimensional division
  • H04L5/0005—Time-frequency
  • H04L5/0007—Time-frequency the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A) or DMT
  • H04L5/001—Time-frequency the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A) or DMT the frequencies being arranged in component carriers
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L5/00—Arrangements affording multiple use of the transmission path
  • H04L5/0001—Arrangements for dividing the transmission path
  • H04L5/0014—Three-dimensional division
  • H04L5/0023—Time-frequency-space
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L5/00—Arrangements affording multiple use of the transmission path
  • H04L5/003—Arrangements for allocating sub-channels of the transmission path
  • H04L5/0048—Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L5/00—Arrangements affording multiple use of the transmission path
  • H04L5/14—Two-way operation using the same type of signal, i.e. duplex
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L5/00—Arrangements affording multiple use of the transmission path
  • H04L5/14—Two-way operation using the same type of signal, i.e. duplex
  • H04L5/1469—Two-way operation using the same type of signal, i.e. duplex using time-sharing
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B1/00—Details of transmission systems, not covered by a single one of groups H04B3/00 - H04B13/00; Details of transmission systems not characterised by the medium used for transmission
  • H04B1/005—Details of transmission systems, not covered by a single one of groups H04B3/00 - H04B13/00; Details of transmission systems not characterised by the medium used for transmission adapting radio receivers, transmitters andtransceivers for operation on two or more bands, i.e. frequency ranges
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B1/00—Details of transmission systems, not covered by a single one of groups H04B3/00 - H04B13/00; Details of transmission systems not characterised by the medium used for transmission
  • H04B1/38—Transceivers, i.e. devices in which transmitter and receiver form a structural unit and in which at least one part is used for functions of transmitting and receiving
  • H04B1/40—Circuits
  • H04B1/44—Transmit/receive switching
  • H04B1/48—Transmit/receive switching in circuits for connecting transmitter and receiver to a common transmission path, e.g. by energy of transmitter

Definitions

• a multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) transceiver in a communication device can include a plurality of RF (radio frequency) chains, a plurality of antennas, a plurality of switching components, and control circuitry operatively coupled to the plurality of switching components.
• a total quantity of RF chains is equal to a first value
• a total quantity of antennas is equal to a second value that is less than the first value.
• the plurality of RF chains includes a first plurality of RF chains to support communication on a first RF band and a second plurality of RF chains to support communication on a second RF band.
• the plurality of antennas includes a first antenna configured to communicate on the first RF band, a second antenna configured to communicate on the second RF band different from the first RF band, and a third antenna configured to communicate on the first and second RF bands.
• control circuitry may be configured to selectively cause the first switching component to toggle between (i) a state in which a first one of the first plurality of RF chains is electrically coupled to the first antenna and a second one of the plurality of the RF chains is electrically coupled to the third antenna, and (ii) a state in which the first one of the first plurality of the RF chains is electrically coupled to the third antenna and the second one of the first plurality of RF chains is electrically coupled to the first antenna.
• each switching component in the plurality of switching components is a triple pole triple throw switch.
• the two first-band transmit chains include a first first-band transmit chain and a second first-band transmit chain, configured for transmitting signals in the first frequency band, each one of the two first-band transmit chains being switchably coupled to one of the two first-band antennas or a first one of the two dual-band antennas; and two second-band transmit chains.
• the two second-band transmit chains include a first second-band transmit chain and a second second-band transmit chain, configured for transmitting signals in the second frequency band, each one of the two second-band transmit chains being switchably coupled to one of the two second-band antennas or a second one of the two dual -band antennas.
• the first first-hand transmit chain in the first antenna switching state, is coupled to the first first-hand antenna;
• the first second-hand transmit chain is coupled to the first dual-band antenna
• the second first-hand transmit chain is coupled to the second first-hand antenna
• the second second-hand transmit chain is coupled to the second second-hand antenna.
• the first first-hand transmit chain is coupled to the first dual-band antenna
• the first second-hand transmit chain is coupled to the first second-hand antenna
• the second first-hand transmit chain is coupled to the second dual-band antenna
• the second second-hand transmit chain is coupled to the second second-hand antenna.
• each one of the two first-hand transmit chains is switchably coupled to any one of the two first-hand antennas and the two dual-band antennas
• each one of the two second-hand transmit chains is switchably coupled to any one of the two second-hand antennas and the two dual-band antennas.
• a method for wireless communication includes providing a communication device having four first-band receive chains, four second-band receive chains, two first-band transmit chains, two second-band transmit chains, and six antennas.
• the method includes performing 4x4 MIMO (multiple- input multiple-output) down link (DL) communication with a base station, in the first and second frequency bands with carrier aggregation (CA).
• the method also includes performing 2x2 MIMO up link (UL) communication with the base station, in the first and second frequency bands, in TDD (time division duplexing), and performing up link antenna switching to connect a given transmit chain to one of two antennas based on a signal from the base station.
• FIG. 13 is a simplified block diagram illustrating another example of the communication device of FIG. 11 according to some embodiments of the present invention.
• FIG. 14 is a simplified block diagram illustrating another example of the communication device of FIG. 11 according to some embodiments of the present invention.
• the present disclosure describes systems and methods for antenna switching on devices. Some embodiments provide for sounding reference signal (SRS) uplink (UL) antenna switching on devices that employ six total antennas to support the use of different frequency bands, such as 5G new radio (NR) bands n78+n79 downlink (DL) carrier aggregation (CA) with 4x4 MIMO operation.
• SRS sounding reference signal
• UL uplink
• NR new radio
• DL downlink
• CA carrier aggregation
• FIG. 2A is a simplified block diagram illustrating a down link (DL) 4x4 MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) configuration with four antennas for receiving streams according to some embodiments of the present invention.
• the base station transmits four different signals (or streams) via four transmit antennas to one user equipment (UE).
• the UE is equipped with four antennas to receive the signals.
• FIG. 2A shows four receive chains for frequency band Band-x: BAND-x RX Chain-0, BAND-x RX Chain-1, BAND-x RX Chain-2, and BAND-x RX Chain-3.
• an RF chain refers to RF front-end modules (e.g., amplifiers, filters, switches, mixers, A/D converters, etc.) that support a radio frequency signal handling of a wireless antenna.
• a receive chain refers to RF front-end modules that support receiving a radio frequency signal from a wireless antenna.
• a transmit chain refers to RF front-end modules that support transmitting a radio frequency signal through a wireless antenna.
• An RF chain can include a receive chain, a transmit chain, or a combination thereof.
• receive chain BAND-x RX Chain-1 and transmit chain BAND-x TX Chain-1 share one antenna, ANT-0 BAND-x.
• FIG. 3 A is a simplified block diagram illustrating an example of the transmitting path switching used to support 2T4R (more specifically 1T2R+1T2R, with 2TX chain, 4 Antennas) sounding reference signal (SRS) scenario according to some embodiments of the present invention.
• SRS sounding reference signal
• uplink (UL) transmission the transmit chain may switch to a different antenna based on an instruction from a base station.
• time division duplex a single frequency band is used for both transmit and receive. Then it shares that band by assigning alternating time slots to transmit and receive operations.
• carrier aggregation is implemented such that the n-78 band and the n-79 band are assigned to the same user.
• the 5G-NR device in this scheme could be a non- standalone (NSA) mode device using an LTE anchor, or a standalone (SA) mode device.
• SA standalone
• the system utilizes TDD slot synchronization between both n78 and n79 bands, since most current diplexers available in the market, would not be able to provide enough transmit- receive isolation between the n78 and n79 bands due the proximity of the frequency bands..
• Embodiments support simultaneous operation of n78 and n79 bands (DL CA), while also supporting DL 4x4 MIMO (e.g., FIG. 2) and 2T4R/1T4R (e.g., FIGS. 3A and 3B) for each of these bands.
• DL CA DL 4x4 MIMO
• 2T4R/1T4R e.g., FIGS. 3A and 3B
• a total quantity of RF chains included in the plurality of RF chains is equal to a first value
• a total quantity of antennas included in the plurality of antennas is equal to a second value that is less than the first value.
• the total quantity of RF chains included in the plurality of RF chains is equal to a first value
• the plurality of RF chains comprises a first plurality of RF chains 410 (including 410-1 and 410-2) comprising electronics configured to support communication on a first RF band, and a second plurality of RF chains 420 (including 420-1 and 420-2) comprising electronics configured to support communication on a second RF band.
• the control circuitry may be configured to selectively cause the second switching component 440-2 to toggle between (i) a state in which a first one of the second plurality of RF chains 420-1 is electrically coupled to the second antenna 430-2 and a second one of the second plurality of RF chains 420-2 is electrically coupled to the third antenna 430-3, and (ii) a state in which the first one of the second plurality of RF chains 420-1 is electrically coupled to the third antenna 430-3 and the second one of the second plurality of RF chains 420-2 is electrically coupled to the second antenna 430-2.
• the transceiver 400 is configured to communicate with a base station (not shown). In some such embodiments, the transceiver 400 is configured to selectively cause the first 440-1 and/or second 440-2 switching component to toggle from states in response to receiving a command to do so from the base station. In at least some of these embodiments, the transceiver 400 is configured to communicate with the base station in accordance with a time division duplexing (TDD) protocol. Furthermore, in some such embodiments, the transceiver 400 is configured to selectively cause the first 440-1 and/or second 440-2 switching component to toggle from states in accordance with an SRS protocol.
• TDD time division duplexing
• the transceiver 400 further comprises a diplexer 450-1.
• the first 440-1 and second 440-2 switching components are electrically coupled to the third antenna 430-3 by way of the diplexer 450-1.
• the plurality of switching components further includes a third switching component 440-3 electrically coupled to two of the first plurality of RF chains (410-3 and 410-4), the fourth antenna 430-4, and the sixth antenna 430-6.
• a fourth switching component 440-4 is electrically coupled to two of the second plurality of RF chains (420-3 and 420-4), the fifth antenna 430-5, and the sixth antenna 430-6.
• each switching component in the plurality of switching components is a triple pole triple throw switch.
• the first and second bands correspond to n78 and n79 bands, respectively.
• At least a portion of the RF chains comprises electronics configured to support RF transmission.
• At least a portion of the RF chains comprises electronics configured to support RF reception.
• the six antennas also include two second-band antennas 632, including a first second-band antenna 632-1 and a second second-band antenna 632-2 configured for communication in a second frequency band.
• the six antennas further include two dual -band antennas 635, including a first dual band antenna 635-1 and a second dual-band antenna 635-2, configured for communication in both the first frequency band and second frequency band.
• the first first-band receive chain 610-1 is switchably coupled to either the first first-band antenna 631-1 or the first dual -band antenna 635-1 through a first switch 640-1.
• the first first-band transmit chain 615-1 is switchably coupled to either the first first-band antenna 631-1 or the first dual -band antenna 635-1 through a first switch 640-1.
• the third first-band receive chain 610-3 is switchably coupled to either the first dual-band antenna 635-1 or the first first-band antenna 631-1 through the first switch 640-1.
• the third second-band receive chain 620-3 is switchably coupled to either the first dual -band antenna 635-1 or the first second-band antenna 632-1 through a second switch 670-2.
• the fourth first-band receive chain 610-4 is switchably coupled to either the second dual -band antenna 635-2 or the second first-band antenna 631-2 through the third switch 640- 3.
• the fourth second-band receive chain 620-4 is switchably coupled to either the second dual -band antenna 635-2 or the second second-band antenna 632-2 through a fourth switch 640-4.
• the second second-band transmit chain 625-2 is switchably coupled to either the second dual-band antenna 635-2 or the second second-band antenna 632-2 through a fourth switch 640-4.
• the second second-band receive chain 620-2 is switchably coupled to either the second second-band antenna 632-2 or the second dual -band antenna 635-2 through the fourth switch 640-4.
• Each DPDT switch is configured to couple two receive chains and a transmit chain to two alternative antennas. Therefore, each of the two poles of the DPDT switch is coupled to a respective receive chain, and a transmit chain shares a pole of the DPDT switch with one of the receive chains. Further, the first frequency band is identified as the n78 band, and the second frequency band is identified as the n79 band.
• Each DPDT switch provides 1T2R switching of n78 or n79 transmit (TX) chain connected to that switch.
• the two diplexers (750-1 and 750-2) are n78+n79 diplexers, used to combine n78 and n79 paths for shared antennas.
• the first first-band (n78-band) receive chain 710-1 is switchably coupled to either the first first-band (n78-band) antenna 731-1 or the first dual -band antenna 735-1 through a first switch 740-1.
• the third first-band (n78- band) receive chain 710-3 is switchably coupled to either the first dual -band (n78/n79-band) antenna 735-1 or the first first-band (n78-band) antenna 731-1 through the first switch 740-1.
• the third second-hand (n79-band) receive chain 720-3 is switchably coupled to either the first dual -band (n78/n79-band) antenna 735-1 or the first second-hand (n79-band) antenna 732-1 through a second switch 740-2.
• the first second-hand (n79-band) receive chain 720-1 is switchably coupled to either the first second-hand (n79-band) antenna 732-1 or the first dual -band (n78/n79-band) antenna 735-1 through the second switch 740-2.
• the four first-hand receive chains and the four second-hand receive chains are configured to perform 4x4 MIMO (multiple-input multiple- output) down link (DL) communication, in the first and second frequency bands, respectively, with a base station with carrier aggregation (CA).
• the two first-hand transmit chains and the two second-hand transmit chains are configured to perform 2x2 MIMO up link (UL) communication, in the first and second frequency bands, respectively, in TDD (time division duplexing) with a base station with UL antenna switching according to 1T2R SRS (sounding reference signal) protocol.
• the UL antenna switching includes a first switching state and a second antenna switching state, as described below with reference to FIGS. 7B and 7C.
• only two TX chains in either the n78 band or the n79 band can be active at a time, whereas eight RX chains, i.e., four RX chains in the n78 band and four RX chains in the n79 band can be simultaneously active to support carrier aggregation (CA).
• CA carrier aggregation
• first first-band (n78-band) transmit chain 715-1 shares a second pole of the first switch 740-1 with the third first-band (n78-band) receive chain 710-3
• first second-band (n79-band) transmit chain 725-1 shares a second pole of the second switch 740-2 with the third second-band (n79-band) receive chain 720-3.
• the operation of communication device 900 is otherwise similar to the operation of communication device 700 of FIG. 7 A as described above.
• communication device 1100 in FIG. 11A also includes eight receive chains (710-1, 710-2, 710-3, 710-4, 720-1, 720-2, 720- 3, and 720-4), four transmit chains (715-1, 715-2, 725-1, and 725-2), six antennas (731-1,
• the second first-hand (n78-band) transmit chain 715-2 shares a first pole of the third switch 1140-3 with the second first-hand (n78-band) receive chain 710-2.
• the second second-hand (n79-band) transmit chain 725-2 shares a first pole of the fourth switch 1140-4 with the second second-hand (n79-band) receive chain 720-2.
• FIG. 13 is a simplified block diagram illustrating another example of the communication device of FIG. 11 A according to some embodiments of the present invention.
• communication device 1300 is similar to communication device 1100 of FIG. 11 A, with the exception that the first first-band (n78-band) transmit chain 715-1 shares a second pole of the first switch 1140-1 with the third first-band (n78-band) receive chain 710-3, and the first second-band (n79-band) transmit chain 725-1 shares a second pole of the second switch 1140-2 with the third second-band (n79-band) receive chain 720-3.
• the operation of communication device 1300 is otherwise similar to the operation of communication device 1100 of FIG. 11 A as described above.
• FIG. 15 is a simplified flowchart illustrating a method for operating a communication device according to some embodiments of the present invention.
• the method enables a communication device, such as a user equipment, to perform MIMO communication with a base station in multiple frequency bands using a limited number of antennas.
• the embodiments described herein relate to a switching scheme for a six antenna approach. However, this scheme can also be adapted to any suitable situation involving the use of shared antennas for n78 and n79 or other suitable frequency bands.
• Embodiments support simultaneous operation of n78 and n79 bands (DL CA), while also supporting DL 4x4 MIMO (e.g., FIG. 2 Figure 3) and 2T4R/1T4R (e.g., FIGS.
• connections are provided for simultaneously connecting four antennas to n78 TX/RX chains and four antennas to n79 TX/RX chains.
• the method includes providing a communication device having four first-hand receive chains, four second-hand receive chains, two first-hand transmit chains, two second hand transmit chains, and six antennas. Examples of the communication device are described above in connection with FIGS. 4-14. In the examples of FIGS. 4-14, the communication device has six antennas including two first-hand antennas, two second-hand antennas, and two dual-band antennas, the two dual-band antennas configured to operate in the first-hand and the second-hand.
• the method includes performing 4x4 MIMO (multiple-input multiple- output) down link (DL) communication with a base station, in the first and second frequency bands with carrier aggregation (CA).
• 4x4 MIMO multiple-input multiple- output
• DL down link
• CA carrier aggregation
• the method includes performing up link antenna switching to connect a given transmit chain to one of two antennas based on a signal from the base station.
• the transmit chains and the receiver chains are coupled to the antennas using four 2P2T switches and two diplexers.
• the antenna switching is performed according to a 2T4R (two transmitter and four receiver) SRS (sounding reference signal) protocol.
• the idea is to use two pairs of 3P3T switches along with n78-n79 diplexers and arrange the ports to support both 2T4R and 1T4R SRS.
• This approach also permits use of antenna sharing between n78 and n79, which helps reduce the total number of antennas in the device, while minimizing the amount of switching on a path and reduced insertion loss compared to cascaded switches and/or using 4P4T switches.
• Use of two pairs of 3P3T switches helps in locating RF front end components near their respective antennas and hence improving link budget of the device.
• FIG. 15 provides a particular method of operating a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Other sequences of steps may also be performed according to alternative embodiments. For example, alternative embodiments of the present invention may perform the steps outlined above in a different order. Moreover, the individual steps illustrated in FIG. 15 may include multiple sub-steps that may be performed in various sequences as appropriate to the individual step. Furthermore, additional steps may be added or removed depending on the particular applications. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize many variations, modifications, and alternatives.

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• 2020
  • 2020-09-29 WO PCT/US2020/053334 patent/WO2021067309A1/en not_active Ceased
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