阅读说明：本技术 在无线通信系统中操作设备 (Operating a device in a wireless communication system ) 是由 E·本特松 F·卢塞克 于 2018-07-30 设计创作，主要内容包括：本申请涉及用于操作无线通信设备(20)的方法。根据一个实施方式,该方法包括：在该无线通信设备(20)与另外的无线通信设备(30、40、50)之间的无线链路上使用第一极化(501)发送至少一个第一信号(301),在该无线链路上使用第二极化(502)发送至少一个第二信号(302),并且在该无线链路上使用第三极化(503)发送至少一个第三信号(303)。所述第一极化(501)、所述第二极化(502)和所述第三极化(503)彼此不同。基于该至少一个第一信号(301)、该至少一个第二信号(302)和该至少一个第三信号(303),探测与所述至少一个第一信号(301)、所述至少一个第二信号(302)和所述至少一个第三信号(303)相关联的无线链路的信道。(The present application relates to a method for operating a wireless communication device (20). According to one embodiment, the method comprises: at least one first signal (301) is transmitted using a first polarization (501) over a wireless link between the wireless communication device (20) and a further wireless communication device (30, 40, 50), at least one second signal (302) is transmitted using a second polarization (502) over the wireless link, and at least one third signal (303) is transmitted using a third polarization (503) over the wireless link. The first polarization (501), the second polarization (502) and the third polarization (503) are different from each other. Probing channels of a wireless link associated with the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303) based on the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303).)

1. A method of operating a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

-transmitting at least one first signal (301) using a first polarization (501) over a radio link between the wireless communication device (20) and a further wireless communication device (30, 40, 50),

-transmitting at least one second signal (302) over the wireless link using a second polarization (502),

-transmitting at least one third signal (303) on the radio link using a third polarization (503), and

-based on the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303): detecting channels of the wireless link associated with the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303),

wherein the first polarization (501), the second polarization (502) and the third polarization (503) are different from each other.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second light sources are selected from the group consisting of,

wherein the at least one first signal (301) comprises a plurality of first signals forming a first angular beam sweep (401),

wherein the at least one second signal (302) comprises a plurality of second signals forming a second angular beam sweep (402), and

wherein the at least one third signal (303) comprises a plurality of third signals forming a third beam sweep (403).

3. The method according to any one of the preceding claims,

wherein a first angle between a direction of the first polarization (501) and a direction of the second polarization (502) is in a range of 80% to 120% of a second angle between a direction of the second polarization (502) and a direction of the third polarization (503).

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each of the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303) carries data comprising a corresponding unique identifier.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein probing the channel of the wireless link comprises:

-receive from the further wireless communication device (30, 40, 50) a received signal power and the identifier associated with at least one of the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303).

6. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each of the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303) is allocated a corresponding uplink resource, wherein probing the channel of the radio link comprises:

-receiving an indication in the allocated corresponding uplink resource from the further wireless communication device (30, 40, 50), the indication indicating that the further wireless communication device (30, 40, 50) received at least one of the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303).

7. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each of the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303) is allocated a corresponding uplink resource, wherein probing the channel of the radio link comprises:

-receiving from the further wireless communication device (30, 40, 50) a received signal power associated with at least one of the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303) in the allocated corresponding uplink resource.

8. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one first signal (301) comprises a first synchronization signal, the at least one second signal (302) comprises a second synchronization signal, and the at least one third signal (303) comprises a third synchronization signal.

9. The method according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the at least one first signal (301) comprises a first pilot signal, the at least one second signal (302) comprises a second pilot signal, and the at least one third signal (303) comprises a third pilot signal.

10. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303) is broadcast.

11. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least two of the first polarization (501), the second polarization (502) and the third polarization (503) are orthogonal to each other.

12. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, the method comprising:

-transmitting at least one fourth signal (304) using a fourth polarization (504),

wherein a first angle between the direction of the first polarization (501) and the direction of the second polarization (502), a second angle between the direction of the second polarization (502) and the direction of the third polarization (503), and a third angle between the direction of the third polarization (503) and the direction of the fourth polarization (504) are all equal.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first angle, the second angle, and the third angle are each 30 °.

14. A method of operating a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

-receiving at least one of at least one first signal (301) having a first polarization, at least one second signal (302) having a second polarization and at least one third signal (303) having a third polarization on a wireless link between the wireless communication device (30, 40, 50) and a further wireless communication device (20), and

-transmitting, for at least one of the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303), corresponding channel sounding information for a radio link associated with the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303) to the further wireless communication device (20).

15. The method of claim 14, wherein each of the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302), and the at least one third signal (303) contains a corresponding unique identifier.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the channel sounding information comprises at least one of a received signal power and an identifier associated with the received signal (301, 302, 303).

17. The method according to any of claims 14-16, wherein each of the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303) is allocated a corresponding uplink resource, wherein the sounding information is reported in the allocated corresponding uplink resource.

18. A wireless communication device, the wireless communication device comprising:

-an antenna arrangement (22), and

-a logic (21) coupled to the antenna device (22) and configured to:

-transmitting at least one first signal (301) using a first polarization (501) over a radio link between the wireless communication device (20) and a further wireless communication device (30, 40, 50),

-transmitting at least one second signal (302) over the wireless link using a second polarization (502),

-transmitting at least one third signal (303) on the radio link using a third polarization (503), and

-based on the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303): detecting channels of the wireless link associated with the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303),

wherein the first polarization (501), the second polarization (502) and the third polarization (503) are different from each other.

19. The wireless communication device of claim 18, wherein the wireless communication device (20) is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 2 to 13.

20. A wireless communication device, the wireless communication device comprising:

-an antenna arrangement (32, 33), and

-a logic (31) coupled to the antenna arrangement (32, 33) and configured to:

-receiving at least one of at least one first signal (301), at least one second signal (302) and at least one third signal (303) over a wireless link between the wireless communication device (30, 40, 50) and a further wireless communication device (20), and

-reporting, for each received signal of at least one of the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303), corresponding channel sounding information for a radio link associated with the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303) to the further wireless communication device (20).

21. The wireless communication device of claim 20, wherein the wireless communication device (30, 40, 50) is configured to perform the method of any of claims 15-17.

22. A method of operating a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

-transmitting, by a wireless communication device (20) of the wireless communication system (10), at least one first signal (301) using a first polarization (501) over a radio link between the wireless communication device (20) and a further wireless communication device (30, 40, 50) of the wireless communication system (10),

-transmitting, by the wireless communication device (20), at least one second signal (302) over the wireless link using a second polarization (502),

-transmitting, by the wireless communication device (20), at least one third signal (303) over the wireless link using a third polarization (503),

-receiving at least one of the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303) over the wireless link at the further wireless communication device (30, 40, 50),

-sending, by the further wireless communication device (30, 40, 50), for at least one of the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303), corresponding channel sounding information of a radio link associated with the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303) to the wireless communication device (20), and

-based on the received channel sounding information: detecting channels of the wireless link associated with the at least one first signal (301), the at least one second signal (302) and the at least one third signal (303),

wherein the first polarization (501), the second polarization (502) and the third polarization (503) are different from each other.

23. A computer program product comprising program code executable by at least one processor of a wireless communication device, wherein execution of the program code causes the at least one processor to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 17.

Technical Field

Various examples of the present invention relate to methods for operating a wireless communication device in a wireless communication system, and more particularly, to methods for operating a wireless communication device according to multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques. Furthermore, the invention relates to a wireless communication device and a communication system using the method.

Background

The increased use of mobile voice and data communications may require more efficient use of available radio frequency resources. Improvements in data transmission performance and reliability may be achieved by so-called multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques, which may be used in wireless radio communication systems for transmitting information between devices, for example between a base station and user equipment. User devices may include mobile devices such as mobile phones, mobile computers, tablet computers, or wearable devices, as well as stationary devices such as personal computers or cash registers. In a system using MIMO technology, a device may use multiple transmit and receive antennas. For example, the base station and the user equipment may each include multiple transmit and receive antennas. MIMO technology forms the basis of coding techniques that use the temporal and spatial dimensions to transmit information. The enhanced coding provided in MIMO systems may increase the spectral and energy efficiency of wireless communications.

The spatial dimension may be used by spatial multiplexing. Spatial multiplexing is a transmission technique in MIMO communications for transmitting independent and individually coded data signals, so-called streams, from individual transmit antennas or combinations of transmit antennas of a plurality of transmit antennas. Thus, the spatial dimension is reused or multiplexed more than once.

By full-size mimo (fdmimo) is meant a technique of arranging signals transmitted to antennas in the form of beams capable of driving multiple receivers in three dimensions. For example, a base station may comprise a large number of active antenna elements in a two-dimensional grid, and the use of FDMIMO technology enables many spatially separated users to be supported simultaneously on the same time/frequency resource block. This may reduce interference from overlapping transmissions to other receivers and increase signal power. The beams may form virtual sectors, which may be static or dynamic from the base station perspective. The large number of antennas of the base station spatially concentrates the radio energy in transmission, and directionally-sensitive reception, which improves spectral efficiency and radiation efficiency. In order to adjust the transmitted signal at each individual antenna of the base station according to the currently active receiving user equipment, the base station logic may need information about the radio channel properties between the user equipment and the base station antenna. Vice versa, in order to adjust the transmitted signal at each individual antenna of the user equipment, the user equipment logic may need information about the radio channel properties between the base station and the user equipment antennas. For this purpose, so-called channel sounding may be performed to determine radio channel properties between the user equipment and the base station. Channel sounding may include transmitting a predefined signal, such as a pilot signal, which may allow the base station and user equipment to set their configured antenna parameters to transmit signals to gather radio energy or to receive radio signals from a particular direction.

As the operating frequency increases and thus the wavelength decreases, the antenna aperture becomes smaller, and thus the received power can be increased using multiple antennas. In particular, in the case of high transmission frequencies, for example above 30GHz, and multiple antennas with small apertures, the reception sensitivity can depend significantly on the polarization of the transmitted radio-frequency signal. However, particularly in case that the user equipment is a mobile device, the polarization of the antenna of the user equipment may vary with respect to the antenna arrangement of the base station.

In a evolving standard, such as in 3GPP RAN1 release 15, it is defined that a base station broadcasts a beamformed synchronization signal (a so-called SS burst). The different SS bursts for different directions are distributed over both the time and frequency domains, such that each beam appears on each sub-band over time. The user equipment may listen to the SS bursts and may use the received signal to calibrate frequency and timing. To find the direction associated with the strongest SS burst, the user equipment may scan or adjust its receive beam. However, depending on the current structure of the antenna of the user equipment, the polarization of the SS burst signal may not be optimal for the user equipment. To improve receive beam adjustment for the user equipment, the base station may repeat individual SS bursts with orthogonal polarizations. However, since the user equipment may also receive SS burst signals transmitted in other sectors (e.g., neighboring sectors) or due to reflections, it may be difficult for the user equipment to find the strongest beam and optimize the polarization of the received beam.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the foregoing, there is a need for methods and apparatus that address at least some of the above-mentioned shortcomings of conventional MIMO systems. In particular, there is a need to improve the operation of devices in a wireless communication system to reduce interference and power loss of wireless communication due to polarization misalignment.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by the features of the independent claims. The dependent claims define embodiments of the invention.

According to the present invention, a method of operating a wireless communication device is provided. The wireless communication device may operate in a wireless communication system and may have an antenna arrangement configured to adjust a polarization of a signal (e.g., a radio frequency signal) to be transmitted via the antenna arrangement. For example, the wireless communication device may comprise a base station or an access point of a wireless communication system. According to the method, at least one first signal is transmitted on a radio link between the radio communication device and the further radio communication device using a first polarization. The further wireless communication device may comprise a user equipment, in particular a mobile terminal device. Further, on the wireless link, at least one second signal is transmitted using a second polarization and at least one third signal is transmitted using a third polarization. A channel of a wireless link associated with the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal, and the at least one third signal is probed based on the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal, and the at least one third signal. The first polarization, the second polarization and the third polarization are different from each other.

For example, each of the first polarization, the second polarization, and the third polarization may be a corresponding linear polarization. Accordingly, the direction of the first linearly polarized electric field vector, the direction of the second linearly polarized electric field vector, and the direction of the third linearly polarized electric field vector may be different from each other.

For example, transmitting signals using the first polarization, the second polarization, and the third polarization may correspond to a polarized beam sweep.

The wireless link may include a plurality of propagation channels.

In general, to probe a wireless link, a reference signal may be transmitted from a wireless communication device (e.g., a base station) to another wireless communication device (e.g., a user equipment). Such a reference signal may typically have a well-defined symbol sequence and/or transmit power such that a radio link may be probed based on the reception characteristics of the reference signal. As defined above, the reference signal comprises a first signal, a second signal and a third signal having different polarizations. The further wireless communication device may feed back information about the reception characteristics of the received reference signal, e.g. the received signal power, to the wireless communication device. By changing the polarization from one signal to another in small steps, in particular steps smaller than 90 °, further wireless communication devices can identify and report beams where a single polarization is dominant. A single polarization may dominate due to the polarization characteristics of the antenna of the environment or another wireless communication device. Thus, the wireless communication device may preferably use the polarization and direction of such a dominant beam to communicate with further wireless communication devices.

The at least one first signal may include a plurality of first signals forming a first angular beam sweep, the at least one second signal may include a plurality of second signals forming a second angular beam sweep, and the at least one third signal may include a plurality of third signals forming a third angular beam sweep. For example, multiple spatial sectors may be defined in a cell supported by a wireless communication device. A wireless communication device may perform a first beam sweep covering all or at least some of a plurality of spatial sectors using a plurality of first signals having a first polarization. For example, a respective one of the plurality of first signals may be assigned to each of a plurality of spatial sectors. When performing the first beam sweep, the wireless communication device may then transmit a plurality of first signals to the plurality of allocated spatial sectors, e.g., using MIMO techniques or beamforming. Alternatively, to perform the first beam sweep, the wireless communication device may broadcast a plurality of first signals simultaneously to a plurality of allocated spatial sectors. After the wireless communication device has performed the first beam sweep, the wireless communication device performs a second beam sweep in the same manner using a second signal having a second polarization. Thus, after the second beam scan has been performed, a third beam scan may be performed using a third signal having a third polarization. Further beam scanning may be performed using other signals having other polarizations, e.g. four or more beam scanning, e.g. five to ten beam scanning.

It will be appreciated that the transmit direction may be changed as part of inner rings, each inner ring corresponding to a spatial beam sweep, and each iteration step along the inner ring corresponding to a change in transmit direction. Differently, the polarization may be changed as part of the outer loop. For each iteration step along the outer loop, a complete inner loop may be implemented. Thus, the spatial beam scan can be nested with respect to the polarized beam scan.

The communication of payload data may be performed between the wireless communication device and the further wireless communication device independently of beam sweeping channel sounding, e.g. using other time and frequency radio resources than those used for the respective examples. For example, between the second and third angular beam sweeps, further signals encoding payload data may be transmitted. The further signal may be transmitted using a further polarization selected based on a comparison of the channels probed based on the at least one first signal and the at least one second signal.

A first angle between a direction of the first polarization and a direction of the second polarization may be substantially equal to a second angle between the direction of the second polarization and a direction of the third polarization. In other words, the polarization angles may be equally distributed. For example, the first polarization may be 0 °, the second polarization may be 45 ° and the third polarization may be 90 ° with respect to a common reference, such as a vertical or horizontal reference. "substantially equal" may include, for example, the first angle being in the range of 80% to 120% of the second angle. In the above example, the angle between the second polarization and the third polarization is 45 °, so the angle between the first polarization and the second polarization may be in the range of 36 ° to 54 °.

In another example, the first polarization may be 0 °, the second polarization may be 30 °, the third polarization may be 60 °, and the fourth polarization of the fourth signal transmitted by the wireless communication device and used for channel sounding a channel of the wireless link may be 90 °. In this example, the angular separation between the polarizations is substantially equal to 30 °.

In various examples, each of the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal, and the at least one third signal includes a respective unique identifier, e.g., each of the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal, and the at least one third signal may carry data that includes the corresponding unique identifier. When providing the feedback information, the further wireless communication device may identify the received signal by the unique identifier. Thus, probing the channel of the wireless link may comprise receiving from the further wireless communication device a received signal power and an identifier associated with at least one of the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal and the at least one third signal.

In other examples, respective uplink resources are allocated to each of the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal, and the at least one third signal. The uplink resource may relate to a time and frequency radio resource defined in the wireless communication system. To probe a channel of the radio link, an indication in the allocated corresponding uplink resource is received from the further wireless communication device. The indication indicates that the further wireless communication device received at least one of the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal and the at least one third signal.

For example, probing the channel of the wireless link may include: the wireless communication device receives, from the further wireless communication device, information in the allocated corresponding uplink resource relating to a received signal power associated with at least one of the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal and the at least one third signal.

The first signal may include a first synchronization signal, the second signal may include a second synchronization signal, and the third signal may include a third synchronization signal. In particular, the first, second and third signals may comprise shaped synchronization signals (so-called SS bursts) or pilot signals for synchronizing devices operating in the communication system and for analyzing a communication channel between wireless communication devices operating in the wireless communication system, e.g. by channel sounding.

In various examples, the first signal, the second signal, and the first signal may be broadcast, for example, the first signal, the second signal, and the first signal may be transmitted using a broadcast channel.

In a further example, at least two of the first polarization, the second polarization and the third polarization (and, if defined, the further polarizations) may be orthogonal to each other. For example, the first polarization may be orthogonal to the third polarization and the second polarization may have a value between the first polarization and the third polarization. Thus, the entire polarization range of the linear polarization can be covered.

According to various examples, another method for operating a wireless communication device is provided. The wireless communication device may operate in a wireless communication system and may comprise, for example, a user device, particularly a mobile user device, such as a mobile phone, a mobile computer, a tablet computer, a wearable device, an internet-of-things (IoT) device, or a mobile accessory. Wearable devices or mobile accessories may include wearable computers, also known as carry-on computers or simple wearable computers, which are miniature electronic devices that can be worn by a user under, along with, or over clothing. According to the method, at least one of at least one first signal, at least one second signal and at least one third signal is received on a wireless link between a wireless communication device and a further wireless communication device (e.g. a base station). Reporting, for at least one of the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal and the at least one third signal, corresponding channel sounding information for a radio link associated with the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal and the at least one third signal to the further wireless communication device, e.g. by sending one or more respective messages. Based on the channel sounding information, the further wireless communication device may adjust the payload data transmission, e.g. by configuring the appropriate polarization.

Each of the at least one first, at least one second and at least one third signal may comprise a corresponding unique identifier.

The channel sounding information may include at least one of a received signal power, a signal-to-noise ratio, and an identifier associated with the received signal, which may be one of the first signal, the second signal, and the third signal. Thus, the unique identifier may help identify the signal for which the channel sounding information provided by the wireless communication device is intended.

In various examples, respective uplink resources are allocated to each of the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal, and the at least one third signal. And reporting the detection information in the allocated corresponding uplink resources. The uplink resources may include time and/or frequency resources defined in the wireless communication system.

For example, the first signal may include a first synchronization signal, the second signal may include a second synchronization signal, and the third signal may include a third synchronization signal. In another example, the first signal, the second signal, and the third signal may each comprise a pilot signal for channel sounding a communication channel between a further wireless communication device (e.g., a base station or an access point of a wireless communication system) and a receiving wireless communication device (e.g., a user equipment).

According to another aspect, a wireless communication device is provided. The wireless communication device may operate in a wireless communication system, for example, as a base station or access point. The wireless communication device includes an antenna apparatus and logic coupled to the antenna apparatus. The antenna arrangement may be configured to adjust the polarization of signals to be transmitted via the antenna arrangement. The logic is configured to transmit, via the antenna apparatus, at least one first signal using a first polarization over a wireless link between the wireless communication device and a further wireless communication device, at least one second signal using a second polarization over the wireless link, and at least one third signal using a third polarization over the wireless link. The logic is further configured to detect a channel of a wireless link associated with the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal, and the at least one third signal based on the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal, and the at least one third signal. The first polarization, the second polarization and the third polarization are different from each other.

The wireless communication device may be configured to perform the above-described method and embodiments thereof as a transmitting wireless communication device, e.g. as a base station.

According to another aspect, a wireless communication device is provided. The wireless communication device may operate in a wireless communication system, for example as a user equipment. The wireless communication device includes an antenna apparatus and logic coupled to the antenna apparatus. The logic is configured to receive at least one of the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal, and the at least one third signal over a wireless link between the wireless communication device and a further wireless communication device via the antenna arrangement. The logic is further configured to report, for each received signal of at least one of the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal and the at least one third signal, corresponding channel sounding information for a radio link associated with the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal and the at least one third signal to a further wireless communication device.

The wireless communication device may be configured to perform the above method, for example as a user equipment.

In accordance with another aspect, a method of operating a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes transmitting, by a wireless communication device of the wireless communication system, at least one first signal using a first polarization over a wireless link between the wireless communication device and another wireless communication device of the wireless communication system. The method also includes transmitting, by the wireless communication device, at least one second signal using a second polarization over the wireless link, and transmitting, by the wireless communication device, at least one third signal using a third polarization over the wireless link. Further, according to the method, at least one of the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal and the at least one third signal is received over a wireless link at a further wireless communication device. By the further wireless communication device, for at least one of the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal and the at least one third signal, corresponding channel sounding information for a radio link associated with the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal and the at least one third signal is sent to the wireless communication device. A channel of a wireless link associated with the at least one first signal, the at least one second signal, and the at least one third signal is probed at the wireless communication device based on the received channel sounding information. The first polarization, the second polarization and the third polarization are different from each other.

Further, there is provided a wireless communication system including the above-mentioned wireless communication apparatus, for example, at least one wireless communication apparatus serving as a transmitting wireless communication apparatus, for example, a base station or an access point of the wireless communication system; and at least one wireless communication device, e.g. user equipment, acting as a receiving wireless communication device. The wireless communication system may be configured to perform the above-described method.

Finally, a computer program or a computer program product comprising program code is provided. The computer program product may comprise a non-transitory memory, such as a CD, DVD, disk or flash memory storing the program code. The program code may be stored in a memory (e.g., RAM or ROM) and executed by at least one processor or control logic of the wireless communication device or another wireless communication device, for example. Execution of the program code causes at least one processor to perform the above-described method.

Although specific features described in the foregoing summary and the following detailed description are described in connection with specific embodiments and aspects of the invention, it should be understood that features of the exemplary embodiments and aspects may be combined with each other, unless specifically noted otherwise.

Drawings

Various examples of the invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 schematically shows a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows a flow chart of a communication between a base station and a user equipment according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 shows a flow chart illustrating communication between a base station and a user equipment according to further embodiments of the present invention.

Fig. 4 schematically shows method steps performed by a base station according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 schematically shows method steps performed by a user equipment according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail. It should be understood that features of the various exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined with each other, unless otherwise indicated. The same reference numbers in different drawings identify similar or identical elements. Any coupling between components or devices shown in the figures may be direct or indirect unless specifically stated otherwise.

Fig. 1 shows a wireless communication system 10 according to an embodiment. The wireless communication system 10 includes a base station 20 and a plurality of user equipment devices. In fig. 1, three user equipment devices 30, 40 and 50 are shown. The base station 20 may support so-called Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology, and thus the base station 20 may have a large number of antennas, e.g. tens or more than a hundred antennas.

The base station 20 comprises an antenna arrangement 22, which antenna arrangement 22 comprises a plurality of antennas, which antennas are indicated by circles in fig. 1. An exemplary one of the plurality of antennas is indicated by reference numeral 23. The antennas 23 may be arranged as a two-dimensional or three-dimensional antenna array on a carrier. The base station 20 may also include an associated (not shown) transceiver for the antenna 23. The base station 20 also includes base station logic 21. The base station logic 21 is coupled to the antenna arrangement 22 and comprises, for example, a controller, computer or microprocessor on which a computer program may be executed to perform the method steps as described below. The computer program may for example be stored in a non-transitory storage medium or similar computer program product. Although only one antenna arrangement 22 is shown in fig. 1, the base station 20 may comprise more than one antenna arrangement, e.g. two, three, four or more, e.g. several tens of antenna arrangements, which may cooperate with each other and which may be close to or spaced apart from each other.

The antenna arrangement 22 may be configured to transmit signals, e.g. radio frequency signals, into a particular direction, a so-called spatial sector. Three of these sectors are shown in fig. 1 and are indicated by reference numerals 60, 61 and 62. The configuration of sectors 60 to 62 may be static or dynamic. The transmission of radio frequency signals to a particular direction may be achieved by beamforming techniques known in the MIMO art.

The antenna arrangement 22 may be equipped with a dual or multi-polarized antenna and may therefore have the capability of transmitting and/or receiving signals having any polarization, e.g. a first linear polarization, a second linear polarization and a third linear polarization. For example, the first and third polarizations are orthogonal to each other, and the second polarization may be between the first and third polarizations, with a polarization angle of, for example, 45 ° with respect to the first polarization. In other examples, antenna arrangement 22 may be capable of transmitting and receiving signals in four different polarizations, for example, having polarization angles of 0 °, 30 °, 60 °, and 90 ° with respect to a geographic reference (e.g., horizontal).

In the communication system 10, as shown in fig. 1, a plurality of user equipment devices may be provided, such as mobile phones, mobile and stationary computers, tablet computers, smart wearable devices or smart mobile devices. Three exemplary user equipment devices 30, 40 and 50 are shown in fig. 1. Each user equipment device 30, 40 and 50 may be configured to communicate with the base station 20.

Hereinafter, the user equipment 30 will be described in more detail. However, user device 40 or user device 50 may include similar features as user device 30 and may therefore function similarly. The user equipment 30 includes one or more antennas. In the exemplary embodiment shown in fig. 1, the user equipment 30 comprises two antennas 32 and 33. For example, the antennas 32, 33 may each comprise an antenna plate or an antenna array, or the antennas 32, 33 may be formed by an antenna array comprising a plurality of antennas. Further, the user equipment 30 comprises logic 31. Logic 31 may comprise, for example, a controller or microprocessor on which a computer program may be executed to perform the method steps described below. The computer program may for example be stored in a non-transitory storage medium or similar computer program product. The user device 30 may comprise further components, such as a graphical user interface and a battery, but for clarity reasons these components are not shown in fig. 1. The antennas 32, 33 of the user equipment 30 may be arranged spaced apart from each other, e.g. the two antennas 32 and 33 may be arranged near the edge on the top side of the user equipment. Alternatively, one or more antennas may be disposed on the top side of the user device 30, while some other antennas may be disposed on the bottom side of the user device 30.

The above configuration can be advantageously used in the following cases, for example. For example, a wireless communication device, such as base station 20 or an access point, may be capable of communicating in any polarization. Further wireless communication devices, such as user equipment 30, may be limited to a single polarization. Further, at least one of the devices may be mobile. Furthermore, the uplink and downlink antennas/antenna panels may be different and thus not applicable to each other, or the number of uplink and downlink may be different.

The operation of the base station 20 in relation to the user equipment devices 30, 40 and 50 will be described in more detail in connection with fig. 2 to 5. Although reference will be made primarily to user equipment 30 in fig. 2 to 5, the same operational steps may be performed when operating base station 20 in conjunction with user equipment 40 or user equipment 50.

Fig. 2 shows a flow chart of an exemplary signaling between a base station BS 20 and a user equipment UE 30. In a first beam sweep 401, the base station 20 transmits a plurality of first downlink signals 301 in a first polarization 501. The downlink signal 301 may include, for example, a pilot signal or a synchronization signal. As illustrated in fig. 1, a first beam sweep 401 may include, for example, transmitting downlink signal 301 in a first polarization 501 in the direction of sector 60, transmitting downlink signal 301 in the first polarization 501 in the direction of sector 61, and transmitting downlink signal 301 in the first polarization 501 in the direction of sector 62. Downlink signals 301 may then be transmitted in the direction of sectors 60 through 62 or may be broadcast simultaneously or transmitted at least partially simultaneously using spatial multiplexing, e.g., using MIMO techniques.

Each first downlink signal 301 may include a unique identifier.

The user equipment 30 may receive at least one or some of the first downlink signals 301 of the first beam sweep 401. For example, the user equipment 30 may determine a corresponding received power for each received first downlink signal 301. The received power may depend on the channel characteristics of the radio link between the base station 20 and the user equipment 30. Furthermore, the received power may depend on the first polarization 501. Such as antennas 32 and 33 of the antenna. The user equipment 30 may be more sensitive in some polarizations than in others. Based on the received first downlink signal 301, the user equipment 30 may report the corresponding channel sounding information 601 to the base station 20. For example, the channel sounding information may be reported in a separate message and may include, for example, the received power and an identifier of each received first downlink signal 301. Additionally or alternatively, the channel sounding information may include a signal-to-noise ratio determined by the user equipment 30 for each first downlink signal 301 received. In another example, a respective uplink resource may be allocated to each of the first downlink signals 301 and the sounding information is reported in the allocated respective uplink resource. The uplink resource may be allocated to a time and frequency radio resource defined in the wireless communication system.

As further shown in fig. 2, a second beam sweep 402 may be performed by the base station 20. In the second beam sweep 402, the base station 20 transmits a plurality of second downlink signals 302 at a second polarization 502. As can be seen in fig. 1, the second beam sweep 402 may include directional transmissions 302 in the respective sectors 60 through 62. As described above in connection with the first beam sweep 401, the user equipment 30 may receive at least one or some of the second downlink signals 302 of the second beam sweep 402 and may report corresponding channel sounding information 602 related to the second downlink signals 302. Second beam sweep 402 may differ from first beam sweep 401 primarily in that second polarization 502 differs from first polarization 501. As indicated in fig. 2, the first polarization 501 may be a vertical polarization and the second polarization 502 may have a polarization that is inclined by 45 ° with respect to the first polarization 501.

As further shown in fig. 2, a third beam scan 403 may be performed by the base station 20. In the third beam sweep 402, the base station 20 transmits a plurality of third downlink signals 303 at a third polarization 503. As shown in fig. 1, third beam sweep 403 may include directional transmissions 303 in respective sectors 60 through 62. As described above in connection with the first beam sweep 401 and the second beam sweep 402, the user equipment 30 may receive at least one or some of the third downlink signals 303 of the third beam sweep 403 and may report corresponding channel sounding information 603 related to the third downlink signals 303. Third beam sweep 402 may differ from first beam sweep 401 and second beam sweep 402 primarily in that third polarization 503 differs from first polarization 501 and second polarization 502. As shown in fig. 2, the third polarization 503 may be a horizontal polarization, and thus have a polarization that is inclined by 45 ° with respect to the second polarization 502 and is orthogonal to the first polarization 501.

The first signal 301, the second signal 302 and the third signal 303 may be separated from each other by using a time division multiple access Technique (TDMA) and may thus be transmitted one after the other. Alternatively, the first signal 301 and the second signal 302 may be separated from each other by using a frequency division multiple access technique (FDMA) or a code division multiple access technique (CDMA). When FDMA or CDMA is used, the first signal 301, the second signal 302, and the third signal 303 may be transmitted simultaneously.

The first signal, the second signal, and the third signal may be the same signal except for polarization. Alternatively, the first, second and third signals may comprise at least partially the same information, e.g. synchronization information or channel sounding (pilot) information, but with different unique identifiers.

At 703, the base station 20 determines an antenna configuration for communicating payload data between the base station 20 and the user equipment 30 based on the channel sounding information reported in 601, 602 and 603. In other words, based on the first downlink signal, the second downlink signal, and the third downlink signal, the base station 20 performs channel sounding of the radio link associated with the first downlink signal, the second downlink signal, and the third downlink signal. For example, the base station 20 may determine for which of the first, second and third downlink signals the user equipment 30 has reported the highest received power, and may configure the antenna arrangement 22 such that payload delivery is made with the user equipment 20 using the directionality 410 and polarization 510 of the downlink signal that achieves the highest received power. With this antenna configuration, payload data 610 may be communicated between the base station 20 and the user equipment 30.

Fig. 3 shows another flow diagram of another exemplary signaling between the base station 20 and the user equipment 30. In contrast to the signaling described in connection with fig. 2, in this example, in each sector, four beam scans 401 to 404 including downlink signals 301 to 304 are performed, and the user equipment 30 reports channel sounding information not for each beam scan immediately after the beam scan, but in an aggregated manner at the end of the fourth beam scan 404.

In particular, the base station 20 transmits a first beam sweep 401 comprising a plurality of first downlink signals 301 in a first polarization 501. As shown in fig. 1, a first beam sweep 401 may include, for example, transmitting downlink signal 301 in a first polarization 501 in the direction of sector 60, transmitting downlink signal 301 in the first polarization 501 in the direction of sector 61, and transmitting downlink signal 301 in the first polarization 501 in the direction of sector 62. Signals 301 may be transmitted to sectors 60-62 using spatial multiplexing (e.g., using MIMO techniques). A second beam sweep 402 comprising a plurality of second downlink signals 302 is performed using a second polarization 502 to cover sectors 60 through 62. Subsequently, a third beam scan 403 including a plurality of third downlink signals 303 is performed using a third polarization 503, and a fourth beam scan 404 including a plurality of fourth downlink signals 304 is performed using a fourth polarization 504. Essentially, the four beam sweeps 401 to 404 differ in the polarizations 501 to 504 used. For example, as shown in fig. 3, the polarization changes from polarization 501 to polarization 504 are substantially equal, in particular 30 °, such that the first polarization 501 is a vertical polarization, the second polarization 502 is rotated 30 ° to the right with respect to the first polarization 501, the second polarization is rotated 60 ° to the right with respect to the first polarization 501, and the fourth polarization 504 is orthogonal (90 °) to the first polarization 501.

Each of the first downlink signal 301, the second downlink signal 302, the third downlink signal 303 and the fourth downlink signal 304 may include a unique identifier.

The user equipment 30 may receive at least some of the first downlink signal 301, the second downlink signal 302, the third downlink signal 303 and the fourth downlink signal 304 of the first beam sweep 401, the second beam sweep 402, the third beam sweep 403 and the fourth beam sweep 404. For example, the user equipment 30 may determine a corresponding received power for each received downlink signal 301 to 304. The received power may depend on the channel characteristics of the radio link between the base station 20 and the user equipment 30. Furthermore, the received power may depend on the polarizations 501 to 504. Based on the received first downlink signal 301, second downlink signal 302, third downlink signal 303 and fourth downlink signal 304, the user equipment 30 may report the corresponding channel sounding information 605 to the base station 20. For example, the channel sounding information may be reported in a separate message and may include, for example, a received power and an identifier for each of the downlink signals 301 to 304. Additionally or alternatively, the channel sounding information may comprise a signal-to-noise ratio determined by the user equipment 30 for each of the received downlink signals 301 to 304. In another example, the channel sounding information includes, for example, a list of pairs respectively containing received power and an identifier. The list may comprise only a predefined number of pairs, including the pair with the highest received power value, e.g. a list of the best five or ten pairs.

At 703, the base station 20 may determine an antenna configuration for communicating payload data between the base station 20 and the user equipment 30 based on the channel sounding information reported in 605. For example based on a list of pairs of received powers and identifiers. Base station 20 may select the best pair and may configure antenna arrangement 22 such that payload transfer 610 with user equipment 20 is performed using the directionality 410 and polarization 510 associated with the downlink signal identified by the identifier of the best pair. The base station 20 may communicate the payload 610 with the user equipment 30 using the antenna configuration.

The base station may store a list of received pairs, for example in a volatile memory of the base station logic 21. In the event of a communication error, for example due to a degradation in communication quality using the configured directivity 410 and polarization 510, the base station 20 may select a sub-optimal pair from the list received from the user equipment 30, and may configure the antenna arrangement 22 such that payload delivery with the user equipment 20 is performed using the directivity and polarization associated with the downlink signal identified by the identifier of the sub-optimal pair. Accordingly, reconfiguration of the antenna apparatus can be performed without additional channel sounding, so that communication reliability can be improved. However, the above-described probing process may be repeated at regular intervals, or may be triggered upon degraded signal transfer, so that the list of pairs may be updated.

Fig. 4 shows in detail the method steps performed by the base station. In step 701, the base station 20 may transmit a polarized beam sweep, such as beam sweeps 401 through 404. For example, in the first spatial sector 60, multiple signals may be transmitted, each signal having a different polarization. Then, in the second spatial sector 61, a plurality of signals may be transmitted, each signal having a different polarization. This can be continued for each spatial sector to cover the cell supported by the base station. Alternatively, beam scanning may be performed to cover all or some of the sectors 60 to 62 of the cell supported by the base station 20, with each beam scanning being performed using a different polarization. The different polarizations may be chosen such that the polarization angles have the same angular offset, e.g. if n polarization angles are to be used, the offset between the polarization angles may be chosen to be 90 °/(n-1). For example, if four beam scans with different polarization angles are to be performed, the polarization angles may be selected to be 0 °, 30 °, 60 °, and 90 °.

In step 702, the base station 20 may receive feedback from a user equipment device in the wireless communication system. Each user equipment device may report a respective received signal power for each received signal. Furthermore, each user equipment device may report other parameters for each received signal, which parameters may relate to the channel of the radio link between the probing base station 20 and the corresponding user equipment, e.g. signal to noise ratio. To identify the received signals, each signal may comprise an identifier, which is included in the feedback information from the user equipment to the base station 20.

In step 703, the base station 20 may determine, for each user equipment, an antenna configuration for communicating data, e.g., payload data and control data, with the corresponding user equipment. For example, the user equipment may select the spatial sector and polarization that results in the highest received signal power or best signal-to-noise ratio, or a combination thereof. This determined antenna configuration is used to configure the antenna arrangement 22 of the base station 20 when communicating with the corresponding user equipment.

In step 705, data is communicated with the user equipment using the antenna configuration configured in step 704. The data may include control and/or payload information.

At step 706, a beam failure may be detected. For example, the user equipment may report a reception quality degradation, or the base station may determine a beam failure due to frequent retransmission requests from the user equipment. If no beam failure is detected, or the number of beam failures within a certain time interval is below a threshold, further data may be communicated in step 705. In case of a beam failure, the base station 20 may determine another antenna configuration for communication with the respective user equipment in step 703. For example, as described above, the user equipment may have reported a list of pairs of received powers and identifiers. The base station 20 may select another one of the plurality of pairs, e.g., the second or third one of the plurality of pairs, and may communicate with the configuration in step 705.

Fig. 5 shows in detail the method steps performed by the respective user equipment devices 30, 40, 50. In step 801, the user equipment 30, 40, 50 receives the signal of the polarized beam sweep transmitted by the base station 20 in step 701. For each received signal, the user equipment 30, 40, 50 may determine the corresponding channel sounding information in step 802. For example, the user equipment 30, 40, 50 may determine the received signal power and/or the signal to noise ratio. In step 803, the user equipment 30, 40, 50 may report the channel sounding information to the base station 20. For example, after each received signal, the user equipment 30, 40, 50 may report the corresponding channel sounding information, e.g. in a specific message or in a specific radio resource allocated to the received signal. Additionally or alternatively, the user equipment 30, 40, 50 may collect a plurality of channel sounding information determined for a plurality of received signals and may transmit a list comprising the collected channel sounding information to the base station 20. Each signal may include an identifier that uniquely identifies the signal, and the user equipment 30 may report channel sounding information in conjunction with the identifier, enabling the base station 20 to assign the channel sounding information to the signal transmitted by the base station 20. In step 804, the base station 20 may configure its antenna system based on the reported channel sounding information, and may communicate data with the user equipment 30, 40, 50 in step 804.

In summary, the base station 20 is able to use more than two polarization angles, so that the polarization can be changed in steps smaller than 90 °. The base station 20 performs beam scanning using at least three different polarization angles to probe the channels of the radio link between the base station and the user equipment devices 30, 40, 50 within the coverage area of the base station 20. The respective user equipment 30, 40, 50 reports the channels seen for the respective channels. This may ensure that a single polarization dominated beam caused by the environment or polarization characteristics of the user equipment antennas 32, 33 is identified and reported by the user equipment 30, 40, 50.

Due to the optimization of the polarization of the transmitted signal, the communication quality can be improved, so that a higher signal-to-noise ratio can be achieved even at lower power levels. Thus, the above method may be particularly advantageous at very high frequencies (e.g. above 30GHz, in particular e.g. at 80GHz) which may lead to the use of array antennas and improved directivity. In turn, for any polarization, it becomes important to select the best beam.