阅读说明：本技术 通信系统及其运作方法 (Communication system and operation method thereof ) 是由 方士豪 许仁源 陈治宇 张献文 于 2018-07-18 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种通信系统及其运作方法。通信系统包括智能天线单元电性连接多个天线、天线选择单元、一个或多个信号处理单元以及一控制单元。控制单元经配置来：设定该多个天线为一个或多个天线区域,各天线区域包括选自该多个天线中的一个或多个天线。设定多个天线区域组态,每一天线区域组态包括调配给该一个或多个信号处理单元的一个或多个区域,其中各天线区域组态中的区域选自该一个或多个天线区域。选择该多个天线区域组态其中之一以运作用户设备的通信传输,该选择出的天线区域组态中各区域所对应的信号处理单元依据对应区域所调配到的天线波束数量运作波束扫描。(A communication system and a method for operating the same. The communication system comprises an intelligent antenna unit electrically connected with a plurality of antennas, an antenna selection unit, one or more signal processing units and a control unit. The control unit is configured to: setting the plurality of antennas to one or more antenna areas, each antenna area including one or more antennas selected from the plurality of antennas. Setting a plurality of antenna area configurations, each antenna area configuration comprising one or more areas allocated to the one or more signal processing units, wherein the area in each antenna area configuration is selected from the one or more antenna areas. Selecting one of the plurality of antenna area configurations to operate communication transmission of the user equipment, wherein the signal processing unit corresponding to each area in the selected antenna area configuration operates beam scanning according to the number of antenna beams allocated to the corresponding area.)

1. A method of operating a communication system for communicating with at least one user equipment, the method comprising:

Setting a plurality of antennas included in a smart antenna unit to be one or more antenna areas, each antenna area including one or more antennas selected from the plurality of antennas;

Setting a plurality of antenna area configurations, wherein each antenna area configuration comprises one or more areas allocated to one or more signal processing units, and the area in each antenna area configuration is selected from the one or more antenna areas; and

selecting one of the plurality of antenna area configurations to operate communication transmission of at least one user equipment, wherein the signal processing unit corresponding to each area in the selected antenna area configuration operates beam scanning according to the number of antenna beams allocated to the corresponding area.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the regions in each antenna region configuration is allocated to one or more of the one or more signal processing units.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of regions in each antenna region configuration are allocated to one or more of the one or more signal processing units.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the antennas of each antenna field configuration form a beam of one of: a continuous beam, a discontinuous beam, or a partially continuous beam partially discontinuous beam.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of antennas in each antenna area configuration is one of: all of the same number, all of different numbers, or some of the same number.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of signal processing units corresponding to each antenna region configuration is one of: all of which are the same, all of which are different, or some of which are the same.

7. the method of claim 1, wherein the one or more antennas of each antenna area form one or more antenna area configurations.

8. the method of claim 1, wherein one of the antenna area configurations is selected to operate communication transmission of at least one UE according to a user indicator and a predetermined threshold corresponding to the user indicator.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the user indicator is average user resource usage and the method further comprises:

sorting the antenna area configurations according to the maximum supported data rate of the antenna area configurations; and

And dynamically selecting one of the antenna area configurations according to the average resource utilization rate of the user and the corresponding first preset critical value.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein the user indicator is an average transmission rate of the user, and the method further comprises:

Sorting the antenna area configurations according to the maximum supported data rate of the antenna area configurations; and

And dynamically selecting one of the antenna area configurations according to the user average transmission rate and the corresponding second preset threshold value.

11. A communication system, comprising:

at least one user equipment;

the intelligent antenna unit is electrically connected with the plurality of antennas;

The antenna selection unit is electrically connected with the intelligent antenna unit and selects an antenna from the plurality of antennas;

One or more signal processing units electrically connected to the smart antenna unit and the antenna selection unit, each signal processing unit including at least one processor and at least one storage device; and

a control unit electrically connected to the antenna selection unit and the one or more signal processing units, the control unit configured to:

Setting the plurality of antennas to one or more antenna regions, each antenna region including one or more antennas selected from the plurality of antennas;

Setting a plurality of antenna area configurations, each antenna area configuration comprising one or more areas allocated to the one or more signal processing units, wherein the area included in each antenna area configuration is selected from the one or more antenna areas; and

Selecting one of the plurality of antenna area configurations to operate communication transmission of the at least one user equipment, wherein the signal processing unit corresponding to each area in the selected antenna area configuration operates beam scanning according to the number of antenna beams allocated to the corresponding area.

12. The communication system of claim 11, wherein one of the regions in each antenna region configuration is assigned to one or more of the one or more signal processing units.

13. The communication system of claim 11, wherein a plurality of regions in each antenna region configuration are allocated to one or more of the one or more signal processing units.

14. The communication system of claim 11, wherein the antennas of each zone form a beam that is one of: a continuous beam, a discontinuous beam, or a partially continuous beam partially discontinuous beam.

15. The communication system of claim 11, wherein the number of antennas in each antenna area configuration for each area is one of: all of the same number, all of different numbers, or some of the same number.

16. The communication system of claim 11, wherein the number of signal processing units corresponding to each of the antenna area configurations is one of: all of which are the same, all of which are different, or some of which are the same.

17. The communication system of claim 11, wherein the one or more antennas of each antenna area constitute one or more antenna area configurations.

18. The communication system of claim 11, wherein one of the plurality of antenna area configurations is selected to operate communication transmissions of at least one user equipment according to a user indicator and a predetermined threshold corresponding to the user indicator.

19. The communication system of claim 18, wherein the user indicator is a user average resource usage, and the control unit is further configured to:

sorting the antenna area configurations according to the maximum supported data rate of the antenna area configurations; and

and dynamically selecting one of the antenna area configurations according to the average resource utilization rate of the user and the corresponding first preset critical value.

20. the communication system of claim 18 wherein the user indicator is an average transmission rate of users, and the control unit is further configured to:

Sorting the antenna area configurations according to the maximum supported data rate of the antenna area configurations; and

And dynamically selecting one of the antenna area configurations according to the user average transmission rate and the corresponding second preset threshold value.

Technical Field

the present application relates to a communication system and a method for operating the same.

Background

smart Antenna (Smart Antenna) technology has been conventionally applied to WiFi systems to improve the quality of transmitted signals. The intelligent Antenna system mainly comprises a plurality of Directional antennas (Directional antennas) in different directions, so that for users at different positions, a base station with the intelligent Antenna system can effectively adjust the direction of Antenna transmission by information returned by the users, the transmission efficiency of the users is maximized, and the overall data transmission rate of the system is improved. However, as user density increases or communication demand increases, the base station must maintain service area performance using multiple sets of smart antenna systems.

Moreover, the smart Antenna system generally utilizes a single Antenna Pattern (Antenna Pattern) for transmission, and even if the smart Antenna system is applied to a multi-base station coordination system, each base station generally selects a single Antenna Pattern formed by one or more antennas for signal transmission, and the Antenna patterns formed by other antennas are in an off state, which is less effective in improving signal Diversity (Diversity). Therefore, it is one of the research subjects to devise a communication transmission operation mechanism applicable to environment blocks with different user Distribution densities to deal with the requirement of different transmission resources required by the variation of user Distribution density in the environment blocks.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of a communication system and a method for operating the same are provided.

according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for operating a communication system for at least one ue to communicate is provided. The operation method of the communication system includes setting a plurality of antennas included in the smart antenna unit to one or more antenna areas, each antenna area including one or more antennas selected from the plurality of antennas. Setting a plurality of antenna area configurations, wherein each antenna area configuration comprises one or more areas allocated to one or more signal processing units, and the area in each antenna area configuration is selected from the one or more antenna areas. Selecting one of the plurality of antenna area configurations to operate communication transmission of the at least one user equipment, wherein the signal processing unit corresponding to each area in the selected antenna area configuration operates beam scanning according to the number of antenna beams allocated to the corresponding area.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication system is provided. The communication system comprises at least one user device, an intelligent antenna unit, a plurality of antennas, an antenna selection unit, a signal processing unit and a control unit, wherein the intelligent antenna unit is provided with the plurality of antennas, the antenna selection unit is electrically connected with the intelligent antenna unit, the antenna selection unit selects an antenna from the plurality of antennas, the signal processing unit or the signal processing units are electrically connected with the intelligent antenna unit and the antenna selection unit, each signal processing unit comprises at least one processor and at least one storage device, and the control unit is electrically connected with the antenna selection unit and the signal processing unit or the signal processing units. The control unit is configured to: setting the plurality of antennas to one or more antenna areas, each antenna area including one or more antennas selected from the plurality of antennas. The control unit further sets a plurality of antenna area configurations, each antenna area configuration including one or more areas allocated to the one or more signal processing units, wherein an area included in each antenna area configuration is selected from the one or more antenna areas. And selecting one of the plurality of antenna area configurations to operate communication transmission of the at least one user equipment, wherein the signal processing unit corresponding to each area in the selected antenna area configuration operates beam scanning according to the number of antenna beams allocated to the corresponding area.

In order to better understand the above and other aspects of the present disclosure, several exemplary embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings:

Drawings

fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a communication system in accordance with the present technology.

Fig. 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d are schematic diagrams illustrating different embodiments of setting a sector configuration (antenna configuration).

Fig. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method for operating a communication system according to the present technology.

fig. 4a and 4b are flow charts illustrating exemplary embodiments of a method for operating a communication system according to the present technology.

Description of the symbols:

100: communication system

10: user equipment

12: intelligent antenna unit

121: antenna with a shield

14: antenna selection unit

16: signal processing unit

161: processor with a memory having a plurality of memory cells

162: storage device

18: control unit

S1, S2, S3, S4: antenna area, area

s32, S34, S36, S362, S3622, S3624, S3626: step (ii) of

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 depicts a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a communication system 100 in accordance with the present technology. The communication system 100 includes at least one user equipment 10, a smart antenna unit 12 electrically connected to a plurality of antennas 121, an antenna selection unit 14, one or more signal processing units 16, and a control unit 18. The user equipment 10 is, for example, a smart phone, a personal computer, a notebook computer, an onboard device, a smart tv, a robot or a smart appliance, etc. which can perform wireless communication, but the invention is not limited thereto. The smart antenna unit 12 is electrically connected to a plurality of antennas 121 for wireless communication transmission, and the antennas 121 have directivity. For convenience, the directions of the antennas in all the diagrams of the present invention are not limited to the possible embodiments, and the directions of the antennas 121 in the smart antenna unit 12 may be set according to the system requirements and are not limited to those illustrated in the drawings. The antenna selection unit 14 is electrically connected to the smart antenna unit 12 for selecting an antenna from the plurality of antennas 121. The one or more signal processing units 16 are electrically connected to the smart antenna unit 12 and the antenna selection unit 14, and each signal processing unit 16 includes at least one processor 161 and at least one storage device 162. The control unit 18 is electrically connected to the antenna selection unit 14 and the one or more signal processing units 16.

in the embodiment of fig. 1, the number of antennas 121(a ₁, a ₂, a ₃, …, a _i, …, a _N-2, a _N-1, a _N) of the communication system 100 is N, the number of signal processing units 16 may be 1 to M, where N and M are natural numbers, the antenna selection unit 14 is capable of selecting a specific antenna or one or more antenna area configurations (antenna section configurations) I _i composed of several antennas to form (format) beams of different beam widths and different transmission angles for communication transmission by the user equipment 10.

In an exemplary embodiment, the control unit 18 is configured to set the plurality of antennas 121 to one or more antenna areas (sectors (S)) S _i, each antenna area including one or more antennas selected from the plurality of antennas 121 by the antenna selection unit 14, wherein the one or more antennas 121 of each antenna area may constitute one or more antenna area configurations I _i.

In an exemplary embodiment, the control unit 18 further sets a plurality of antenna area configurations I _i, each antenna area configuration I _i including one or more regions allocated to the one or more signal processing units 16, wherein a region S _j of each antenna area configuration I _i is selected from the one or more antenna regions S _i, and selects one of a plurality of antenna area configurations I _i for communication transmission by the at least one user equipment 10, wherein the signal processing unit 16 corresponding to each region of the selected antenna area configuration performs beam scanning according to the number of antenna beams allocated to the region.

In an exemplary embodiment, the antennas in each antenna field configuration I _i form beams that may be one of continuous beams, discontinuous beams, or partially continuous beams and partially discontinuous beams, in another exemplary embodiment, the number of antennas in each field S _j in each antenna field configuration I _i may be one of the same number, different numbers, or partially the same number and different portions, in yet another exemplary embodiment, the number of signal processing units 16 corresponding to each field S _j in each antenna field configuration I _i may be one of the same number, different numbers, or partially the same portions.

Fig. 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d respectively illustrate different exemplary configuration manners of antenna area configuration I _i, where the number of antennas 121 in these embodiments is 8, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto, fig. 2a sets all antennas to a single antenna area, antenna area configuration I ₁ includes an area S ₁, fig. 2b sets the antennas to 2 antenna areas, antenna area configuration I2 includes two areas S ₁, S ₂, antennas a ₁ -a ₄ in area S ₁, antennas a ₅ -a ₅ in area S ₅, fig. 2c sets the antennas to 4 antenna areas, antenna area I ₅ includes three areas S ₅, and S ₅ selected from the 4 antenna areas, area S ₅ includes antennas a ₅ a includes four antenna configuration areas S ₅ a including an antenna configuration includes an antenna configuration including an.

Referring to fig. 1, 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d, in an exemplary embodiment, one of the regions in each antenna area configuration I _i may be allocated to one or more of one or more signal processing units 16, in another exemplary embodiment, the regions in each antenna area configuration I _i may be allocated to one or more of one or more signal processing units 16, for example, in the embodiment of fig. 2a, the region S ₁ in the antenna area configuration I ₁ may be allocated to one signal processing unit 16, or to 2 signal processing units 16, in the embodiment of fig. 2b, the regions S ₁, S ₂ in the antenna area I ₂ may be allocated to the same signal processing unit 16, or respectively allocated to a respective corresponding one signal processing unit 16, in the embodiment of fig. 2c, the regions S ₁, S ₃ in the antenna area I ₃ may be allocated to the same signal processing unit 16, or to a respective corresponding one of the signal processing units 16, and in the embodiment, the antenna area S8516, S ₃, the same signal processing unit 16, or to a respective corresponding one of the signal processing unit 3916, or to multiple signal processing units 3916, and to a signal processing unit 9616, or to allocate a signal processing unit 966, or a signal processing unit, such as a signal processing unit, a.

Referring to fig. 3, an exemplary embodiment of a method of operating the communication system 100 according to the present technology is illustrated in a flowchart, in which the communication system 100 is configured to provide at least one ue 10 for communication, the method of operating the communication system 100 includes setting a plurality of antennas 121 included in a smart antenna unit 12 as one or more antenna regions S _i, each antenna region including one or more antennas selected from the plurality of antennas (step S32), setting a plurality of antenna region configurations I _i, each antenna region configuration I _i including one or more regions S _j allocated to one or more signal processing units 16, wherein a region S _j in each antenna region configuration I _i is selected from the one or more antenna regions S _i (step S34), and selecting one of the plurality of antenna region configurations I _i to operate communication transmission of the at least one ue 10, the signal processing units 16 corresponding to each of the selected antenna region configuration performing beam scanning according to the number of antenna beams allocated to the corresponding region (step S36).

Referring to fig. 4a, in one embodiment, the control unit 18 of the communication system 100 may be configured to select one of the antenna area configurations I _i according to a user indicator and a predetermined threshold corresponding to the user indicator to operate communication transmission of at least one ue 10 (step S362).

For convenience of explanation, each area S _j in each antenna area configuration I _i corresponds to one signal processing unit 16, in this configuration scenario, the maximum supported data rate of each area S _j is R _s, the maximum supported data rate of antenna area configuration I ₁ is R _s, the maximum supported data rate of antenna area configuration I ₂ is 2R _s, the maximum supported data rate of antenna area configuration I ₃ is 3R _s, and the maximum supported data rate of antenna area configuration I ₄ is 4R _s.

Referring to fig. 4b, in an embodiment, the user indicator may be a user average resource usage or a user average transmission rate, and the method further includes sorting the antenna region configurations according to their maximum supported data rates (step S3622), and dynamically selecting one of the antenna region configurations according to the user average resource usage and a corresponding first predetermined threshold (step S3624), or dynamically selecting one of the antenna region configurations according to the user average transmission rate and a corresponding second predetermined threshold (step S3626), wherein the user average resource usage and the user average transmission rate may be calculated from received user information, and selecting one of the antenna region configurations I _i for use according to the calculated user average resource usage or the user average transmission rate during a time period, i.e., which of the antenna region configurations is used for communication in communication system _i is dynamically switchable according to a current traffic state, and the method is operable by the communication control unit 100.

In an exemplary embodiment, antenna region configurations I _i may be ranked from low to high based on the maximum supported data rate of antenna region configurations I _i an exemplary algorithm is to calculate the user average transmission rate D _avg based on the user information and determine the value of I based on the value of D _avg and a first predetermined threshold T _D to select I _i for communication transmission, or calculate the user average resource usage R _avg based on the user information and determine the value of I based on the value of R _avg and a second predetermined threshold T _R, wherein if D _avg > T _D I-1 and the minimum value of I is 1, if D _avg < T _D I +1 and the maximum value of I is the number of antenna region configurations in the system, the algorithm is iterated over a set time interval to select antenna region configuration I _i for communication transmission based on the value of I.

The various exemplary embodiments of smart Antenna systems disclosed above can be applied to Antenna modules of future 5G systems to replace the problem of high Antenna complexity caused by Antenna arrays (Antenna Array), and the proposed technology is suitable for Small Cell applications. According to the embodiment of the multi-zone smart antenna system of the present invention, the base station can use a set of smart antenna units 12 in conjunction with the extendable signal processing unit 16 to handle the problem of different communication traffic requirements.

In summary, although the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Various modifications and alterations may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims.