WO2022182264A1 - Réflecteur de signal sans fil et procédé de communication sans fil l'utilisant - Google Patents

Réflecteur de signal sans fil et procédé de communication sans fil l'utilisant Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2022182264A1
WO2022182264A1 PCT/RU2021/000080 RU2021000080W WO2022182264A1 WO 2022182264 A1 WO2022182264 A1 WO 2022182264A1 RU 2021000080 W RU2021000080 W RU 2021000080W WO 2022182264 A1 WO2022182264 A1 WO 2022182264A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
wireless signal
signal
sensing
reflector
wireless
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/RU2021/000080
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Alexander Ivanovich SHERSTOBITOV
Vladimir Alexandrovich LYASHEV
Ian F. Akyildiz
Igor Vitalievich ZHILIN
Alexey Andreevich KRESHCHUK
Evgeny Mikhailovich KHOROV
Original Assignee
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. filed Critical Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Priority to PCT/RU2021/000080 priority Critical patent/WO2022182264A1/fr
Publication of WO2022182264A1 publication Critical patent/WO2022182264A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04B—TRANSMISSION
    • H04B17/00—Monitoring; Testing
    • H04B17/10—Monitoring; Testing of transmitters
    • H04B17/101—Monitoring; Testing of transmitters for measurement of specific parameters of the transmitter or components thereof
    • H04B17/103—Reflected power, e.g. return loss
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q1/00—Details of, or arrangements associated with, antennas
    • H01Q1/12—Supports; Mounting means
    • H01Q1/22—Supports; Mounting means by structural association with other equipment or articles
    • H01Q1/24—Supports; Mounting means by structural association with other equipment or articles with receiving set
    • H01Q1/241—Supports; Mounting means by structural association with other equipment or articles with receiving set used in mobile communications, e.g. GSM
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q21/00—Antenna arrays or systems
    • H01Q21/06—Arrays of individually energised antenna units similarly polarised and spaced apart
    • H01Q21/061—Two dimensional planar arrays
    • H01Q21/065—Patch antenna array
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q3/00—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system
    • H01Q3/44—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the electric or magnetic characteristics of reflecting, refracting, or diffracting devices associated with the radiating element
    • H01Q3/46—Active lenses or reflecting arrays
    • 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
    • H04B7/04013—Intelligent reflective surfaces
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04B—TRANSMISSION
    • H04B17/00—Monitoring; Testing
    • H04B17/20—Monitoring; Testing of receivers
    • H04B17/27—Monitoring; Testing of receivers for locating or positioning the transmitter
    • 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
    • H04B7/0837—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 pre-detection combining
    • H04B7/0842—Weighted combining
    • H04B7/086—Weighted combining using weights depending on external parameters, e.g. direction of arrival [DOA], predetermined weights or beamforming

Definitions

  • the present disclosure relates generally to the field of wireless communications, and particularly to a wireless signal reflector and a method for performing wireless communications by using the wireless signal reflector.
  • the SRE implies the ability to control a transmission environment through one or more special wireless signal reflectors referred to as, e.g., Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces (IRSs), Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs), and Large Intelligent Surfaces (LISs).
  • IFSs Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces
  • RISs Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces
  • LISs Large Intelligent Surfaces
  • the research already started in this direction is expected to achieve basic parameters of wireless network operation, such as a data rate, throughput, latency, energy consumption, reliability, etc., up to levels sufficient for dealing with future 6G wireless networks in which peak data rates should reach 1 Tbit/s.
  • an IRS control system estimates information about a transmission environment and reconfigures an IRS state according to the obtained estimation. Since the transmission environment characteristics change over time, the IRS control system should periodically update the IRS state. This may be done during the reconfiguration phase. Most of recent research works draw the main attention to the normal operation phase of the IRS. Thus, the existing IRS-control systems do not provide flexibility for the deployment of IRS-assisted wireless networks.
  • a wireless signal reflector e.g., an IRS
  • network objects e.g., a network node, a UE
  • a wireless signal reflector comprises a plurality of reflecting elements, a first sensing element and a second sensing element that are adjacent to each other, and a control unit.
  • the reflecting elements are configured to reflect a wireless signal from a source network object towards a target network object.
  • Each of the reflecting elements has controllable reflective properties, and the reflected wireless signal has a directivity pattern.
  • the first sensing element is configured to receive the wireless signal and generate a first sensing signal based on the wireless signal.
  • the second sensing element is configured to receive the wireless signal and generate a second sensing signal based on the wireless signal.
  • the control unit is configured to determine a direction of arrival of the wireless signal based on the first sensing signal and the second sensing signal.
  • the control unit is further configured to use the determined direction of arrival of the wireless signal to control the reflective properties of one or more reflecting elements of the plurality of reflecting elements such that they provide the directivity pattern of the reflected wireless signal.
  • the wireless signal reflector according to the first aspect may find appropriate configuration for its reflecting elements on its own, even without any help of the target network object. Given this, the wireless signal reflector according to the first aspect may operate in dynamically changing transmission environments, which is viable for cases when it is impossible to estimate the location of the target network object in advance.
  • the control unit is configured to determine the direction of arrival of the wireless signal by performing phase-difference measurements on the first sensing signal and the second sensing signal. By using the phase-difference measurements, it is possible to properly determine the direction of arrival of the wireless signal from the source network object.
  • the first sensing element and the second sensing element comprise patch antennas.
  • the patch antennas may be mounted next to each other on the same flat surface as the reflecting elements, thereby making the wireless signal reflector according to the first aspect more compact.
  • control unit is configured to control the reflective properties of the one or more reflecting elements by generating and sending an individual control signal to each of the one or more reflecting elements.
  • the possibility of using digital and analog control signals may increase the flexibility-in-use of the wireless signal reflector according to the first aspect.
  • individual control signals it is possible to control the reflecting elements more efficiently.
  • the wireless signal reflector further comprises a probing element configured to emit a reference signal towards the target network object.
  • the first sensing element and the second sensing element are further configured to receive the reference signal reflected from the target network object and generate a third sensing signal and a fourth second sensing signal, respectively.
  • control unit is further configured to: determine a distance to the target network object based on one of the third sensing signal and the fourth sensing signal; determine a direction of arrival of the reference signal based on the third sensing signal and the fourth sensing signal; and based on the determined distance to the target network object, the determined direction of arrival of the wireless signal, and the determined direction of arrival of the reference signal, control the reflective properties of the one or more reflecting elements to provide the directivity pattern of the reflected wireless signal.
  • control unit is configured to determine the distance to the target network object by performing at least one of round-trip time measurements and amplitude measurements on one of the third sensing signal and the fourth sensing signal. By using these measurements, it is possible to properly determine the distance to the target network object. Moreover, the possibility of choosing among the round-trip time measurements, the amplitude measurements, and their combination may increase the flexibility-in-use of the wireless signal reflector according to the first aspect.
  • control unit is configured to determine the direction of arrival of the reference signal by performing phase-difference measurements on the third sensing signal and the fourth sensing signal. By using the phase-difference measurements, it is possible to properly determine the direction of arrival of the reference signal from the target network object.
  • control unit comprises a power meter configured to perform the amplitude measurements, and a mixer and a low-pass filter which are configured to perform the phase-difference measurements.
  • This configuration of the control unit is easy to implement and at the same time provides the acceptable accuracy of the amplitude measurements and the phase-difference measurements.
  • the probing element, the first sensing element, and the second sensing element are arranged in at least two transceiving patch antennas.
  • the reflector has a planar layered structure comprising an upper layer and a lower layer.
  • the upper layer comprises the plurality of reflecting elements, the probing element, the first sensing element, and the second sensing element, and the lower layer comprises the control unit.
  • the probing element is configured to emit the reference signal with a wavelength selected based on a spacing between the first sensing element and the second sensing element. With such a wavelength, it is possible to increase the accuracy of determining the direction of arrival of the reference signal from the target network object.
  • the wireless signal reflector further comprises an amplifier configured to amplify each of the third sensing signal and the fourth sensing signal to a predefined signal level. This may increase the accuracy of determining the distance to the target network object.
  • the probing element is configured to emit the reference signal as a predefined signal sequence or a defined coded signal. This may make the wireless signal reflector according to the first aspect more flexible in use, as well as may increase the accuracy of determining the distance to the target network object and the direction of arrival of the reference signal from the target network node.
  • a method for performing wireless communications comprises the step of reflecting, by a wireless signal reflector, a wireless signal from a source network object towards a target network object.
  • the wireless signal reflector comprises a plurality of reflecting elements, a first sensing element and a second sensing element adjacent to each other, and a control unit.
  • Each of the reflecting elements has controllable reflective properties, and the reflected wireless signal has a directivity pattern.
  • the step of reflecting comprises: receiving the wireless signal by the first sensing element and the second sensing elements; based on the wireless signal, generating a first sensing signal and a second sensing signal by the first sensing element and the second sensing element, respectively; determining, by the control unit, a direction of arrival of the wireless signal based on the first sensing signal and the second sensing signal; and based on the determined direction of arrival of the wireless signal, controlling, by the control unit, the reflective properties of one or more reflecting elements of the plurality of reflecting elements to provide the directivity pattern of the reflected wireless signal.
  • each of the source network object and the target network object comprises one of a UE, a network node, and another wireless signal reflector. This may allow one to transmit wireless signals between different network objects, thereby making the method according to the second aspect more flexible in use.
  • FIG. 1 schematically shows an IRS in accordance with the prior art
  • FIG. 2 schematically shows a discretized IRS in accordance with the prior art
  • FIG. 3 schematically shows one possible operational principle of each meta-atom of the IRS shown in FIG. 2;
  • FIG. 4 shows a schematic block diagram of a wireless signal reflector in accordance with one exemplary embodiment
  • FIG. 5 shows the wireless signal reflector implemented as a planar layered structure in accordance with one exemplary embodiment
  • FIG. 6 shows a schematic isometric view of an upper layer of the planar layered structure shown in FIG. 5;
  • FIG. 7 shows a schematic circuit of a control unit of the wireless signal reflector in accordance with one exemplary embodiment
  • FIG. 8 explains how to implement a Direction of Arrival (DoA) estimation algorithm
  • FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of a method for performing wireless communications in accordance with one exemplary embodiment
  • FIG. 10 shows a schematic diagram of an IRS-assisted wireless communication network in accordance with one exemplary embodiment
  • FIG. 11 shows a schematic diagram of a multi-IRS-assisted wireless communication network in accordance with one exemplary embodiment
  • FIG. 12 shows an estimated angle of arrival (AoA) of a wireless signal as a function of a spacing between adjacent sensing elements of the wireless signal reflector implemented as an IRS;
  • FIG. 13 schematically shows how a receiver (RX) representing a target network node may be located or oriented relative to an IRS like the wireless signal reflector shown in FIG. 5;
  • FIG. 14 shows an error rate of the estimated AoA as a function of an angle of departure of the wireless signal relative to the RX.
  • a wireless signal reflector may refer to a device configured to reflect or forward a wireless signal coming from a source network object to a target network object, without having to perform any processing of the wireless signal.
  • the wireless signal reflector may be implemented as an IRS, RIS, LIS, etc.
  • the present disclosure is not limited to these certain wireless signal reflectors, and any other types of the wireless signal reflector are possible as long as they allow implementing the aspects disclosed herein. In particular, it is important that such a wireless signal reflector could have controllable reflective properties.
  • a network object may refer to a device configured to participate in wireless communications in a wireless communication network.
  • a network object may be implemented as a user equipment (UE), a network node, or a wireless signal reflector.
  • the UE may refer to a mobile device, a mobile station, a terminal, a subscriber unit, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, a cordless phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless communication device, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device or medical equipment, a biometric sensor, a wearable device (for example, a smart watch, smart glasses, a smart wrist band, etc.), an entertainment device (for example, an audio player, a video player, etc.), a vehicular component or sensor, a smart meter/sensor, an unmanned vehicle (e.g., an industrial robot, a quadcopter, etc.), industrial manufacturing equipment, a global positioning system (GPS) device, an Internet-of-Things (loT) device, an Industrial loT (lloT) device, a machine-type communication (MTC) device, a group of Massive
  • the network node may relate to a fixed point of communication for the UE in a particular wireless communication network.
  • the network node may be implemented as a Radio Access Network (RAN) node referred to as a base transceiver station (BTS) in terms of the 2G communication technology, a NodeB in terms of the 3G communication technology, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB) in terms of the 4G communication technology, and a gNB in terms of the 5G New Radio (NR) communication technology.
  • the RAN node may serve different cells, such as a macrocell, a microcell, a picocell, a femtocell, and/or other types of cells.
  • the macrocell may cover a relatively large geographic area (for example, at least several kilometers in radius).
  • the microcell may cover a geographic area less than two kilometers in radius, for example.
  • the picocell may cover a relatively small geographic area, such, for example, as offices, shopping malls, train stations, stock exchanges, etc.
  • the femtocell may cover an even smaller geographic area (for example, a home).
  • the RAN node serving the macrocell may be referred to as a macro node
  • the RAN node serving the microcell may be referred to as a micro node, and so on.
  • FIG. 1 schematically shows an IRS 100 in accordance with the prior art.
  • the IRS 100 is shown to reflect an electromagnetic field 102 of a wireless signal coming, for example, from a network node towards a UE.
  • the IRS is implemented as a substrate of small thickness (usually much less than a wavelength of the wireless signal), which may change its reflective properties such that a phase distribution of the reflected electromagnetic field 102 will change properly (as schematically shown by a big gradient-filled arrow in FIG. 1). As shown in FIG. 1, the phase distribution changes from - ⁇ to + ⁇ .
  • the first approach consists in using reconfigurable or “smart” metamaterials, such as smart glass.
  • the second approach implies a “discretization” of the whole surface of the substrate into small reflecting elements which may be referred to as “meta-atoms”.
  • FIG. 2 schematically shows a discretized IRS 200 in accordance with the prior art.
  • the IRS 200 is implemented by using the above-mentioned second approach.
  • an electromagnetic field 202 of an incoming wireless signal is reflected by multiple meta-atoms 204 constituting the IRS 200.
  • Each meta-atom 204 has controllable reflective properties (e.g., a controllable phase).
  • the meta-atoms 204 may be implemented as printed circuit board (PCB) antennas, also referred to as patch antennas.
  • FIG. 3 schematically shows one possible operational principle of each meta-atom 204 of the IRS 200. As exemplarily shown in FIG.
  • the IRS 200 comprises a substrate 300, three meta- atoms 204 provided on the substrate 300, as well as two control or switch elements 302 provided between the meta-atoms 204.
  • the switch elements 302 may be implemented as varactors, pin diodes, etc.
  • the electromagnetic field 202 incident on the middle meta-atom 204 induces a current 304.
  • the induced currents 304, 306, and 308 cause the incident electromagnetic field 202 of the wireless signal to reflect in a direction 310 at a certain reflection angle Q. It should be noted that the direction 310 may be changed by properly adjusting the induced currents 306 and 308 via the switch elements 302.
  • the existing control systems for IRSs are mostly based on the so-called centralized architecture, according to which a central control unit responsible for controlling IRS states (i.e. reflective properties) of all available IRSs and control units included in the IRSs themselves are connected by wires. Therefore, the centralized architecture does not provide enough flexibility for the deployment of IRS-assisted wireless communications networks. In other words, the existing IRSs need to receive wired control signals from the central control unit in order to be able to configure themselves during operation depending on changing network conditions (e.g., changing directions of arrival of wireless signals).
  • the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein provide a technical solution that allows mitigating or even eliminating the above-sounded drawbacks peculiar to the prior art.
  • the technical solution disclosed herein involves using at least two adjacent sensing elements in a wireless signal reflector to determine a direction of arrival of a wireless signal coming from a source network object to a target network object via the wireless signal reflector. The determined direction of arrival of the wireless signal is then used to properly control reflective properties of reflecting elements in the wireless signal reflector.
  • the wireless signal reflector may be further provided with at least one probing element configured to probe the target network object with a reference signal. With this configuration, the wireless signal reflector may control the reflective properties of the reflecting elements on its own (i.e. without having to communicate with a remote central control unit). Given this, the wireless signal reflector may operate in dynamically changing transmission environments.
  • FIG. 4 shows a schematic block diagram of a wireless signal reflector 400 in accordance with one exemplary embodiment.
  • the wireless signal reflector 400 may be considered as an intermediate on the propagation path of a wireless signal from a source network object to a target network object.
  • the wireless signal reflector 400 may be especially used when the source and target network objects are not in each other’s field of view.
  • the wireless signal reflector 400 comprises multiple reflecting elements 402-1 , 402-2, 402-3, ..., 402-n, two sensing elements 404-1 , 404-2, and a control unit 406.
  • the reflecting elements 402-1 , 402-2, 402-3, ..., 402-n and the sensing elements 404-1 , 404-2 are assumed to be arranged on the same surface of the wireless signal reflector 400.
  • the sensing elements 404-1 , 404-2 should be arranged next to each other to provide proper measurements, as will be discussed later.
  • the reflecting elements 402-1 , 402-2, 402-3,..., 402-n may be made of any suitable metamaterials (e.g., smart glass), the reflective properties of which are altered by applying control signals thereto.
  • the control signals may be represented by analog or digital control signal.
  • the sensing elements 404-1 , 404-2 may be implemented as patch antennas or any other antennas which may be mounted on the same surface. It should be noted that the number, arrangement and interconnection of the constructive elements constituting the wireless signal reflector 400, which are shown in FIG.
  • control unit 406 may be implemented as multiple control subunits each used for controlling one of the reflecting elements 402-1 , 402-2, 402-3,..., 402- n, and/or the number of the sensing elements 404-1 , 404-2 may be more than two, depending on particular applications.
  • the operational principle of the wireless signal reflector 400 is as follows. Assume that a wireless signal is transmitted from a network node to a UE via the wireless signal reflector 400. Each of the sensing elements 404-1, 404-2 receives the wireless signal and generates a sensing signal in response to the received wireless signal. The sensing signals are fed to the control unit 406 which uses them to determine a direction of arrival of the wireless signal. Said determination may be done by performing phase-difference measurements on the sensing signals. Further, the control unit 406 controls the reflective properties of the reflecting elements
  • the reflecting elements 402-1 , 402-2, 402-3,..., 402-n reflect the wireless signal (i.e. its electromagnetic field) with a required directivity pattern.
  • the wireless signal reflector 400 comprises one probing element 408.
  • the probing element 408 is an optional constructive element of the wireless signal reflector 400, which may be used to improve the efficiency and quality of controlling the reflective properties of the reflecting elements.
  • the control unit 406 may instruct the probing element 408 to probe the target network object with a reference signal, for example, configured as a predefined signal sequence or a predefined coded signal.
  • the reference signal emitted by the probing element 408 is reflected by the target network object and then received by the sensing elements 404-1 , 404-2.
  • each of the sensing elements 404-1 , 404-2 generates an additional sensing signal.
  • the additional sensing signals are then fed to the control unit 406 which uses one of the sensing signals to determine a distance to the target network object and uses both the sensing signals to determine a direction of arrival of the reflected reference signal.
  • the distance to the target network object may be determined by performing round-trip time measurements and/or amplitude measurements on one of the additional sensing signals, while the direction of arrival of the reference signal may be determined similar to the determination of the direction of arrival of the wireless signal, i.e. by performing the phase-difference measurements on both the additional sensing signals.
  • the control unit 406 may then use the determined distance to the target network object and the determined direction of arrival of the reference signal in addition to the determined direction of arrival of the wireless signal in order to properly control the reflective properties of the reflecting elements 402-1, 402-2, 402-3, ..., 402-n, i.e. to provide the required directivity pattern of the reflected wireless signal. It should be noted that there may be mbre than one probing element 408 simultaneously probing the target network object with multiple reference signals, or the wireless signal reflector 400 may be free of the probing element 408 at all (in such case, the reflective properties will be controlled based on the determined direction of arrival of the wireless signal only).
  • the probing element(s) 408 and the sensing elements 404-1, 404-2 may be combined into two or more transceiving patch antennas. By so doing, it is possible to increase the compactness of the wireless signal reflector 400.
  • the probing element(s) 408 may be configured to emit the reference signal(s) with a wavelength selected based on a spacing between the sensing elements 404- 1 , 404-2.
  • the wavelength of the reference signal(s) By selecting the wavelength of the reference signal(s) in this manner, it is possible to increase the accuracy of determining the directions of arrival of the reference signal and the wireless signal.
  • the spacing between the sensing elements 404-1 , 404-2 is less than the wavelength of the reference signal(s), it is possible to use only one of the additional sensing signals in the round-trip time measurements and/or amplitude measurements which are aimed at determining the distance to the target network object.
  • FIG. 5 shows the wireless signal reflector 400 implemented as a planar layered structure 500 in accordance with one exemplary embodiment.
  • the planar layered structure 500 is a discretized IRS comprising an upper layer 502 which comprises the reflecting elements 402-1 , 402-2, 402-3, ..., 402-n in the form of meta-atoms, and four combined sensing/probing elements arranged next to each other in the center of the upper layer 502. It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the sensing and probing elements may be separated from each other, if required and depending on particular applications.
  • the planar layered structure 500 further comprises a substrate 504 serving as a support for the upper layer 502, a lower layer 506 comprising the control unit 406, and a shielding layer 508 separating the substrate 504 and the lower layer 506 to avoid the impact of electromagnetic interference on the control unit 406.
  • FIG. 6 shows a schematic isometric view of the upper layer 502 of the planar layered structure 500 in accordance with one exemplary embodiment.
  • the upper layer 502 comprises a greater number of the probing/sensing elements. More specifically, the probing/sensing elements are shown to be arranged in four 2-by-2 configurations 600 among the meta-atoms to precisely detect the directions of arrival of the wireless signal and the reference signal and the distance to the target network object.
  • FIG. 7 shows a schematic circuit of the control unit 406 of the wireless signal reflector 400 in accordance with one exemplary embodiment.
  • the control unit 406 comprises low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), an analog mixer, a low-pass filter (LPF), an RF power (PWR) sensor, and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs).
  • LNAs low-noise amplifiers
  • LPF low-pass filter
  • PWR RF power
  • ADCs analog-to-digital converters
  • the probing/sensing elements are assumed to be implemented as four adjacent patch antennas (schematically shown as grey- filled boxes) in the 2-by-2 configuration 600.
  • the patch antennas are connected to the control unit 406 which is shown in FIG. 7 in a simplified form — only for one of the several pairs of the patch antennas.
  • the patch antennas may have two ports, one port per polarization. This would give 8 antenna ports in total, 8 LNAs and some other components per probing/sensing element.
  • the idea of the circuit shown in FIG. 7 is to obtain both amplitudes and phase differences with reasonable sensitivity and, at the same time, circuit simplicity.
  • the LNAs are used to achieve the sensitivity.
  • the sensing signal generated by each of the two adjacent patch antennas in response to receiving the wireless signal or the reflected reference signal is amplified by the LNAs to a level that is suitable for analog signal processing.
  • the measured amplitude may be used to obtain a coarse estimation of the distance to the target network object relative to the adjacent patch antennas.
  • the phase shift between the sensing signals generated by the two adjacent patch antennas allows measuring the direction of arrival (DoA) of the wireless signal towards the source network object or the DoA of the reference signal toward the target network object.
  • DoA direction of arrival
  • the circuit of the control unit 406 shown in FIG. 7 allows such DoA measurement in both coordinates (elevation and azimuth) and for both polarizations.
  • FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of a method 900 for performing wireless communications in accordance with one exemplary embodiment. More specifically, the method 900 comprises reflecting a wireless signal from a source network object (e.g., a UE or network node) towards a target network object (e.g., another UE or network node) using a wireless signal reflector that may be implemented as the wireless signal reflector 400.
  • the method 900 involves using the wireless signal reflector comprising a plurality of reflecting elements (like the reflecting elements 402-1, 402-2, 402-3, ..., 402-n), a first sensing element and a second sensing element adjacent to each other (like the sensing elements 404-1 , 404-2), and a control unit (like the control unit 406).
  • Each of the reflecting elements is intended to have controllable reflective properties, so that the wireless signal is reflected with a required directivity pattern.
  • the method 900 is performed as follows.
  • Each of the first and second sensing elements receives the wireless signal in a step S902 and uses the wireless signal to generate a sensing signal in step S904. It should be again noted that the number of the sensing elements and, consequently, the sensing signals may vary depending on particular applications.
  • the method 900 further proceeds to a step S906, in which the control unit determines a direction of arrival of the wireless signal based on the two sensing signals. Further, the method 900 goes on to a step S908, in which the control unit uses the determined direction of arrival of the wireless signal to control the reflective properties of one or more of the reflecting elements to provide the required directivity pattern of the reflected wireless signal.
  • FIG. 10 shows a schematic diagram of an IRS-assisted wireless communication network 1000 in accordance with one exemplary embodiment.
  • the network 1000 is intended to operate in accordance with the method 900.
  • the network 1000 comprises a source network object 1002 represented by a network node (e.g., an access point), a target network object 1004 represented by a UE (e.g., a laptop), and the wireless signal reflector 400 implemented as a digitized IRS like the one shown in FIG. 5.
  • the UE 1004 is "hidden” from the network node 1002 behind a wall. Given this, the use of the wireless signal reflector 400 is especially recommended to provide a proper quality of communications between the network node 1002 and the UE 1004.
  • the wireless signal reflector 400 reflects a wireless signal coming from the network node 1002 towards the UE 1004 with a required directivity pattern, which is achieved as explained earlier.
  • the IRS-assisted wireless communication network may be implemented as part of a larger wireless network such as IEEE 802.11 (for indoor applications) or even as part of a cellular mobile communications, such as 5G NR. It should be noted that the wireless signal reflector, particularly implemented as an IRS, may be added to wireless communication networks without having to significantly change the upper layers of the Open Systems Interconnection model (OSI) model (only the physical layer requires minor changes).
  • OSI Open Systems Interconnection model
  • FIG. 11 shows a schematic diagram of a multi-IRS-assisted wireless communication network 1100 in accordance with one exemplary embodiment. Similar to the network 1000, the network 1100 also operates in accordance with the method 900. As shown in FIG. 11 , the network 1100 comprises a transmitter (Tx) 1102 serving as a source network object (e.g., a transmitter of one network node or UE), a receiver (Rx) 1104 serving as a target network object (e.g., a receiver of another network node or UE), and two wireless signal reflectors 400 each implemented as an IRS, like the one shown in FIG. 5. A wireless signal transmitted by the transmitter 1102 to the receiver 1104 is successively reflected by each of the IRSs 400 with required directivity patterns, which are achieved as explained earlier.
  • Tx transmitter
  • Rx receiver
  • two wireless signal reflectors 400 each implemented as an IRS, like the one shown in FIG. 5.
  • a wireless signal transmitted by the transmitter 1102 to the receiver 1104 is successively reflected by each of the
  • IRS-assisted wireless communication networks like the ones shown in FIGs. 10 and 11 , have the following advantages over non-IRS-assisted wireless communication networks:
  • probing element(s) of one IRS and sensing element(s) of another IRS may exchange signals to measure their DoA, thereby allowing one to determine the locations of the IRSs;
  • the round-trip time (RTT) and/or amplitude (e.g., received signal strength indicator (RSSI)) of reference signals may be measured between two IRSs and between a transmitter or receiver and one of the IRSs in order to calculate the distances therebetween (see “d1”, “d2”, and “d3” in FIG. 11);
  • RTT round-trip time
  • RSSI received signal strength indicator
  • multiple IRSs may allow one to identify the locations of transmitter/receiver pairs during a handshake
  • the sensing elements may identify the transmitter and measure its location during preamble transmission time, as well as configure themselves before actual data transmission begins (this procedure may be utilized for multiple IRSs, and a packet preamble might be expanded to allow for more IRSs in a route).
  • FIG. 12 shows an estimated AoA as a function of a spacing between the adjacent sensing elements of the wireless signal reflector 400 implemented as an IRS. More specifically, the accuracy of AoA estimation was studied for the spacing between the sensing elements ranging from 0.05 to 0.5 of the wavelength of the wireless signal. As follows from FIG. 12, the accuracy decreases as the spacing between the adjacent sensing elements increases. It also follows that the error rate of the estimated AoA is on the order of 0.001%, which is very small.
  • FIG. 13 schematically shows how a receiver (RX) representing the target network node may be located or oriented relative to an IRS like the one shown in FIG. 5.
  • RX receiver
  • FIG. 13 possible different positions of the RX are shown as empty circles, while the position of the IRS is shown as an empty rectangular.
  • FIG. 14 shows the error rate of the estimated AoA as a function of an angle of departure of the wireless signal relative to the RX.
  • FIG. 14 shows how the estimated AoA depends on the different positions of the RX.
  • the error rate increases as the distance between the RX and the IRS (designated as “wall” in FIG. 14, meaning that the IRS is arranged on the wall) decreases because the assumption that all sensing elements of the IRS receive the same power becomes less accurate. For the same reason, the error rate increases as the angle of departure decreases. It should be noted that the error rate is 0 at the angle of departure equal to 90 degrees (from the IRS plane) because the above- mentioned assumption on the same power is satisfied.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Aerials With Secondary Devices (AREA)

Abstract

La présente divulgation concerne un réflecteur de signal sans fil utilisé pour réfléchir un signal sans fil d'un objet de réseau source à un objet de réseau cible. À cet effet, le réflecteur de signal sans fil utilise au moins deux éléments de détection adjacents pour déterminer une direction d'arrivée (DoA) du signal sans fil. La DoA déterminée du signal sans fil est ensuite utilisée pour commander correctement les propriétés réfléchissantes d'éléments réfléchissants dans le réflecteur de signal sans fil. Pour augmenter l'efficacité de commande des propriétés réfléchissantes, le réflecteur de signal sans fil peut en outre être pourvu d'au moins un élément de sondage configuré pour sonder l'objet de réseau cible avec un signal de référence. Au moyen de cette configuration, le réflecteur de signal sans fil peut commander les propriétés réfléchissantes des éléments réfléchissants sans avoir à communiquer avec une unité de commande centrale à distance. Ainsi, le réflecteur de signal sans fil peut fonctionner dans des environnements de transmission à changement dynamique.
PCT/RU2021/000080 2021-02-24 2021-02-24 Réflecteur de signal sans fil et procédé de communication sans fil l'utilisant WO2022182264A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/RU2021/000080 WO2022182264A1 (fr) 2021-02-24 2021-02-24 Réflecteur de signal sans fil et procédé de communication sans fil l'utilisant

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/RU2021/000080 WO2022182264A1 (fr) 2021-02-24 2021-02-24 Réflecteur de signal sans fil et procédé de communication sans fil l'utilisant

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2022182264A1 true WO2022182264A1 (fr) 2022-09-01

Family

ID=75377846

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/RU2021/000080 WO2022182264A1 (fr) 2021-02-24 2021-02-24 Réflecteur de signal sans fil et procédé de communication sans fil l'utilisant

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2022182264A1 (fr)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN116721608A (zh) * 2023-06-13 2023-09-08 云谷（固安）科技有限公司 反射面组件、显示面板和无线通信装置

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0971438A1 (fr) * 1998-07-06 2000-01-12 Societé Francaise du Radiotéléphone SRF Procédé d'orientation de faisceau(x) rayonnant(s) radioélectrique(s) pour la communication entre une station de base et un radiotéléphone mobile, et station de base correspondante
US20110122012A1 (en) * 2008-07-24 2011-05-26 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Distance measurement
US20200186398A1 (en) * 2017-05-22 2020-06-11 Greenerwave Waveform shaping device and wave receiver

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0971438A1 (fr) * 1998-07-06 2000-01-12 Societé Francaise du Radiotéléphone SRF Procédé d'orientation de faisceau(x) rayonnant(s) radioélectrique(s) pour la communication entre une station de base et un radiotéléphone mobile, et station de base correspondante
US20110122012A1 (en) * 2008-07-24 2011-05-26 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Distance measurement
US20200186398A1 (en) * 2017-05-22 2020-06-11 Greenerwave Waveform shaping device and wave receiver

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN116721608A (zh) * 2023-06-13 2023-09-08 云谷（固安）科技有限公司 反射面组件、显示面板和无线通信装置
CN116721608B (zh) * 2023-06-13 2024-03-08 云谷（固安）科技有限公司 反射面组件、显示面板和无线通信装置

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US11784699B2 (en) Method and apparatus for focused data communications
US10444324B2 (en) Single node location system and method
Lemic et al. Localization as a feature of mmWave communication
US8792915B2 (en) Method and system for device positioning utilizing distributed transceivers with array processing
US5719584A (en) System and method for determining the geolocation of a transmitter
EP2494829B1 (fr) Système d'estimation d'emplacements sans fil au moyen d'émetteurs-récepteurs radio à diversité de polarisation
JP2011149809A (ja) セルラー式携帯電話測位システム
WO2022182264A1 (fr) Réflecteur de signal sans fil et procédé de communication sans fil l'utilisant
EP4235204A1 (fr) Procédé d'estimation d'angle d'arrivée pour espacements d'antenne arbitraires et dispositif de communication correspondant
WO2023099938A1 (fr) Orientation relative avec précision ultra-fine
AU2012203040B2 (en) System for wireless locations estimation using radio transceivers with polarization diversity

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application

Ref document number: 21716563

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A1

NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: DE

122 Ep: pct application non-entry in european phase

Ref document number: 21716563

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A1