U.S. patent application number 15/032036 was filed with the patent office on 2016-09-08 for method and apparatus for transmitting signal in wireless communication system.
This patent application is currently assigned to LG ELECTRONICS INC.. The applicant listed for this patent is LG ELECTRONICS INC.. Invention is credited to Jaehoon CHUNG, Jiwon KANG, Kitae KIM, Hyunsoo KO.
Application Number | 20160261325 15/032036 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 53004651 |
Filed Date | 2016-09-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160261325 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
KO; Hyunsoo ; et
al. |
September 8, 2016 |
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING SIGNAL IN WIRELESS
COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Abstract
The present invention relates to a wireless communication
system. A base station for transmitting a signal in a wireless
communication system supporting multi user-multiple input and
multiple output (MU-MIMO), according to another embodiment of the
present invention, comprises: a radio frequency unit (RF); and a
processor, wherein the processor can be configured to generate
beams for subgroups including a plurality of terminals using analog
beamforming, compensate beam phase difference which occurs between
beams of subgroups using digital beamforming, after analog
beamforming, and transmit, to the terminals, signals generated
based on analog beamforming and digital beamforming.
Inventors: |
KO; Hyunsoo; (Seoul, KR)
; CHUNG; Jaehoon; (Seoul, KR) ; KANG; Jiwon;
(Seoul, KR) ; KIM; Kitae; (Seoul, KR) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
LG ELECTRONICS INC. |
Yeongdeungpo-gu Seoul |
|
KR |
|
|
Assignee: |
LG ELECTRONICS INC.
Seoul
KR
|
Family ID: |
53004651 |
Appl. No.: |
15/032036 |
Filed: |
November 4, 2014 |
PCT Filed: |
November 4, 2014 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/KR2014/010516 |
371 Date: |
April 25, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61899815 |
Nov 4, 2013 |
|
|
|
61909370 |
Nov 26, 2013 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04B 7/0626 20130101;
H04B 7/0695 20130101; H04B 7/0617 20130101; H04B 7/0452 20130101;
H04B 7/0691 20130101; H04L 5/0023 20130101; H04L 5/0048 20130101;
H04W 72/0413 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04B 7/06 20060101
H04B007/06; H04B 7/04 20060101 H04B007/04 |
Claims
1. A method for transmitting a signal by a base station in a
wireless access system supporting multi user-multiple input and
multiple output (MU-MIMO), the method comprising: generating beams
for a subgroup containing a plurality of user equipments (UEs)
using analog beamforming; compensating for a phase difference
between the beams of the subgroup through digital beamforming after
the analog beamforming is performed; and transmitting, to the UEs,
a signal generated based on the analog beamforming and the digital
beamforming.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the subgroup
corresponds to an antenna subgroup formed by grouping antennas,
wherein the antennas arrayed in a row are divided into two or more
antenna subgroups.
3. The method according to claim 2, wherein a phase value
constituting a precoder of the digital beamforming is determined
according to a number of antennas constituting the antenna
subgroup.
4. The method according to claim 2, wherein an amount of phase
change of a beamforming weight applied to the antennas belonging to
each antenna subgroup is common to the antenna subgroups.
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the phase difference
between the beams of the subgroup is compensated by using a
precoder of the digital beamforming.
6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving
channel state information estimated based on channel information
synthesized by the analog beamforming.
7. A base station for transmitting a signal in a wireless access
system supporting multi user-multiple input and multiple output
(MU-MIMO), the base station comprising: a radio frequency (RF)
unit; and a processor, wherein, the processor is configured to:
generate beams for a subgroup containing a plurality of user
equipments (UEs) using analog beamforming; compensate for a phase
difference between the beams of the subgroup through digital
beamforming after the analog beamforming is performed; and
transmit, to the UEs, a signal generated based on the analog
beamforming and the digital beamforming.
8. The base station according to claim 7, wherein the subgroup
corresponds to an antenna subgroup formed by grouping antennas,
wherein the antennas arrayed in a row are divided into two or more
antenna subgroups.
9. The base station according to claim 8, wherein a phase value
constituting a precoder of the digital beamforming is determined
according to a number of antennas constituting the antenna
subgroup.
10. The base station according to claim 8, wherein an amount of
phase change of a beamforming weight applied to the antennas
belonging to each antenna subgroup is common to the antenna
subgroups.
11. The base station according to claim 7, wherein the phase
difference between the beams of the subgroup is compensated by
using a precoder of the digital beamforming.
12. The base station according to claim 7, wherein there processor
is configured to receive channel state information estimated based
on channel information synthesized by the analog beamforming.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to a wireless communication
system and, more particularly, to a method for transmitting a
signal using analog beamforming and digital beamforming in a
wireless access system supporting multi user-multiple input and
multiple output (MU-MIMO) and an apparatus supporting the same.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] Multiple input multiple output (MIMO) increases the
efficiency of data transmission and reception using multiple
transmit antennas and multiple receive antennas instead of a single
transmission antenna and a single reception antenna. A receiver
receives data through multiple paths when multiple antennas are
used, whereas the receiver receives data through a single antenna
path when a single antenna is used. Accordingly, MIMO can increase
a data transmission rate and throughput and improve coverage.
[0003] A single cell MIMO scheme can be classified into a single
user-MIMO (SU-MIMO) scheme for receiving a downlink signal by a
single UE in one cell and a multi user-MIMO (MU-MIMO) scheme for
receiving a downlink signal by two or more UEs.
[0004] Channel estimation refers to a procedure for compensating
for signal distortion due to fading to restore a reception signal.
Here, the fading refers to sudden fluctuation in signal intensity
due to multipath-time delay in a wireless communication system
environment. For channel estimation, a reference signal (RS) known
to both a transmitter and a receiver is required. In addition, the
RS can be referred to as a RS or a pilot signal according to
applied standard.
[0005] A downlink RS is a pilot signal for coherent demodulation
for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical control
format indicator channel (PCFICH), a physical hybrid indicator
channel (PHICH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), etc.
A downlink RS includes a common RS (CRS) shared by all user
equipments (UEs) in a cell and a dedicated RS (DRS) for a specific
UE. For a system (e.g., a system having extended antenna
configuration LTE-A standard for supporting 8 transmission
antennas) compared with a conventional communication system (e.g.,
a system according to LTE release-8 or 9) for supporting 4
transmission antennas, DRS based data demodulation has been
considered for effectively managing RSs and supporting a developed
transmission scheme. That is, for supporting data transmission
through extended antennas, DRS for two or more layers can be
defined. DRS is pre-coded by the same pre-coder as a pre-coder for
data and thus a receiver can easily estimate channel information
for data demodulation without separate precoding information.
[0006] A downlink receiver can acquire pre-coded channel
information for extended antenna configuration through DRS but
requires a separate RS other than DRS in order to non-pre-coded
channel information. Accordingly, a receiver of a system according
to LTE-A standard can define a RS for acquisition of channel state
information (CSI), that is, CSI-RS.
DISCLOSURE
Technical Problem
[0007] An object of the present invention devised to solve the
problem lies in a method and apparatus for transmitting a signal in
a wireless communication system based on the discussion above.
[0008] Objects of the present invention are not limited to the
aforementioned objects, and other objects of the present invention
which are not mentioned above will become apparent to those having
ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following
description.
Technical Solution
[0009] The object of the present invention can be achieved by
providing a method for transmitting a signal by a base station in a
wireless access system supporting multi user-multiple input and
multiple output (MU-MIMO), the method including generating beams
for a subgroup containing a plurality of user equipments (UEs)
using analog beamforming, compensating for a phase difference
between the beams of the subgroup through digital beamforming after
the analog beamforming is performed, and transmitting, to the UEs,
a signal generated based on the analog beamforming and the digital
beamforming.
[0010] In another aspect of the present invention, provided herein
is a base station for transmitting a signal in a wireless access
system supporting multi user-multiple input and multiple output
(MU-MIMO), the base station including a radio frequency (RF) unit,
and a processor, wherein, the processor is configured to generate
beams for a subgroup containing a plurality of user equipments
(UEs) using analog beamforming, compensate for a phase difference
between the beams of the subgroup through digital beamforming after
the analog beamforming is performed, and transmit, to the UEs, a
signal generated based on the analog beamforming and the digital
beamforming.
[0011] Embodiments according to the above aspects of the present
invention may include the following details in common.
[0012] The subgroup may correspond to an antenna subgroup formed by
grouping antennas, wherein the antennas arrayed in a row may be
divided into two or more antenna subgroups.
[0013] A phase value constituting a precoder of the digital
beamforming may be determined according to a number of antennas
constituting the antenna subgroup.
[0014] An amount of phase change of a beamforming weight applied to
the antennas belonging to each antenna subgroup may be common to
the antenna subgroups.
[0015] The phase difference between the beams of the subgroup may
be compensated by using a precoder of the digital beamforming.
[0016] Channel state information estimated based on channel
information synthesized by the analog beamforming may be
received.
[0017] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that
that the effects that could be achieved with the present invention
are not limited to what has been particularly described hereinabove
and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly
understood from the following detailed description.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0018] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a
further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of
the invention and together with the description serve to explain
the principle of the invention. In the drawings:
[0019] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a structure
of a downlink radio frame;
[0020] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a resource
grid for one downlink slot;
[0021] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a downlink
subframe;
[0022] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a structure of an uplink
subframe;
[0023] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a wireless
communication system having multiple antennas;
[0024] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating legacy CRS and DRS
patterns;
[0025] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a DM RS
pattern;
[0026] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating examples of a CSI-RS
pattern;
[0027] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for
periodically transmitting a CSI-RS;
[0028] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for
non-periodically transmitting a CSI-RS;
[0029] FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary RF receiver employed in a
wireless access system;
[0030] FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary RF transmitter employed in
a wireless access system;
[0031] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of configuration of a
duplexer;
[0032] FIG. 14 illustrates a duplexer in a frequency band;
[0033] FIGS. 15 and 16 illustrate an example of configuration of a
transmit terminal and receive terminal which are capable of
performing digital beamforming;
[0034] FIGS. 17 and 18 illustrate an example of configuration of a
transmit terminal and receive terminal which are capable of
performing analog beamforming;
[0035] FIG. 19 illustrates an exemplary structure of an individual
antenna employing one transceiver and one PA;
[0036] FIG. 20 illustrates an exemplary structure of an individual
antenna employing one transceiver and a plurality of PSs/PAs;
[0037] FIG. 21 illustrates an exemplary structure of a shared
antenna employing one transceiver and a plurality of PSs/PAs;
[0038] FIG. 22 illustrates an exemplary structure of an individual
antenna employing one transceiver and a plurality of PSs/PAs;
[0039] FIG. 23 illustrates an exemplary structure of a shared
antenna employing one transceiver and a plurality of PSs/PAs;
[0040] FIG. 24 illustrates an embodiment of distinguishing among
multiple users in hybrid beamforming according to the present
invention;
[0041] FIG. 25 illustrates another embodiment of distinguishing
among multiple users in hybrid beamforming according to the present
invention;
[0042] FIG. 26 illustrates an exemplary structure of an antenna
array according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0043] FIG. 27 illustrates another exemplary structure of an
antenna array according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0044] FIG. 28 illustrates an exemplary structure of a reference
signal generator according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
[0045] FIG. 29 illustrates an example of multiple short OFDM
symbols which are longer than the existing one OFDM symbol
period;
[0046] FIG. 30 illustrates a method for performing transmission
such that OFDM symbols overlap; and
[0047] FIG. 31 illustrates a BS and a UE which are applicable to an
embodiment of the present invention.
BEST MODE
[0048] The embodiments described below correspond to predetermined
combinations of elements and features and characteristics of the
present invention. Moreover, unless mentioned otherwise, the
characteristics of the present invention may be considered as
optional features of the present invention. Herein, each element or
characteristic of the present invention may also be operated or
performed without being combined with other elements or
characteristics of the present invention. Alternatively, the
embodiment of the present invention may be realized by combining
some of the elements and/or characteristics of the present
invention. Additionally, the order of operations described
according to the embodiment of the present invention may be varied.
Furthermore, part of the configuration or characteristics of any
one specific embodiment of the present invention may also be
included in (or shared by) another embodiment of the present
invention, or part of the configuration or characteristics of any
one embodiment of the present invention may replace the respective
configuration or characteristics of another embodiment of the
present invention.
[0049] In the description of the present invention, the embodiments
of the present invention will be described by mainly focusing on
the data transmission and reception relation between a base station
and a user equipment. Herein, the base station may refer to a
terminal node of the network that performs direct communication
with the user equipment (or user terminal). In the description of
the present invention, particular operations of the present
invention that are described as being performed by the base station
may also be performed by an upper node of the base station.
[0050] More specifically, in a network consisting of multiple
network nodes including the base station, diverse operations that
are performed in order to communicate with the terminal (or user
equipment) may be performed by the base station or network nodes
other than the base station. Herein, the term `Base Station (BS)`
may be replaced by other terms, such as fixed station, Node B,
eNode B (eNB), ABS (Advanced Base Station), or Access Point (AP).
Relay may be replaced by other terms, such as Relay Node (RN),
Relay Station (RS), and so on. Furthermore, `Terminal` may be
replaced by other terms, such as UE (User Equipment), MS (Mobile
Station), MSS (Mobile Subscriber Station), SS (Subscriber Station),
and so on.
[0051] It should be noted that specific terms disclosed in the
present invention are proposed for convenience of description and
better understanding of the present invention, and the use of these
specific terms may be changed to other formats within the technical
scope or spirit of the present invention.
[0052] In some instances, well-known structures and devices are
omitted in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the present
invention and important functions of the structures and devices are
shown in block diagram form. The same reference numbers will be
used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like
parts.
[0053] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are supported
by standard documents disclosed for at least one of wireless access
systems including an institute of electrical and electronics
engineers (IEEE) 802 system, a 3rd generation partnership project
(3GPP) system, a 3GPP long term evolution (LTE) system, an
LTE-advanced (LTE-A) system, and a 3GPP2 system. In particular,
steps or parts, which are not described to clearly reveal the
technical idea of the present invention, in the embodiments of the
present invention may be supported by the above documents. All
terminology used herein may be supported by at least one of the
above-mentioned documents.
[0054] The following embodiments of the present invention can be
applied to a variety of wireless access technologies, for example,
code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple
access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), orthogonal
frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), single carrier
frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), and the like. CDMA
may be embodied through wireless (or radio) technology such as
universal terrestrial radio access (UTRA) or CDMA2000. TDMA may be
embodied through wireless (or radio) technology such as global
system for mobile communication (GSM)/general packet radio service
(GPRS)/enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE). OFDMA may be
embodied through wireless (or radio) technology such as institute
of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE
802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802-20, and evolved UTRA (E-UTRA). UTRA is a
part of universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS). 3rd
generation partnership project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE) is
a part of E-UMTS (Evolved UMTS), which uses E-UTRA. 3GPP LTE
employs OFDMA in downlink and employs SC-FDMA in uplink.
LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) is an evolved version of 3GPP LTE. WiMAX can
be explained by IEEE 802.16e (wirelessMAN-OFDMA reference system)
and advanced IEEE 802.16m (wirelessMAN-OFDMA advanced system). For
clarity, the following description focuses on IEEE 802.11 systems.
However, technical features of the present invention are not
limited thereto.
[0055] With reference to FIG. 1, the structure of a downlink radio
frame will be described below.
[0056] In a cellular orthogonal frequency division multiplexing
(OFDM) wireless packet communication system, uplink and/or downlink
data packets are transmitted in subframes. One subframe is defined
as a predetermined time period including a plurality of OFDM
symbols. The 3GPP LTE standard supports a type-1 radio frame
structure applicable to frequency division duplex (FDD) and a
type-2 radio frame structure applicable to time division duplex
(TDD).
[0057] FIG. 1 illustrates the type-1 radio frame structure. A
downlink radio frame is divided into 10 subframes. Each subframe is
further divided into two slots in the time domain. A unit time
during which one subframe is transmitted is defined as a
Transmission Time Interval (TTI). For example, one subframe may be
1 ms in duration and one slot may be 0.5 ms in duration. A slot
includes a plurality of OFDM symbols in the time domain and a
plurality of resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain. Because
the 3GPP LTE system adopts OFDMA for downlink, an OFDM symbol
represents one symbol period. An OFDM symbol may be referred to as
an SC-FDMA symbol or symbol period. An RB is a resource allocation
unit including a plurality of contiguous subcarriers in a slot.
[0058] The number of OFDM symbols in one slot may vary depending on
a cyclic prefix (CP) configuration. There are two types of CPs:
extended CP and normal CP. In the case of the normal CP, one slot
includes 7 OFDM symbols. In the case of the extended CP, the length
of one OFDM symbol is increased and thus the number of OFDM symbols
in a slot is smaller than in the case of the normal CP. Thus when
the extended CP is used, for example, 6 OFDM symbols may be
included in one slot. If channel state gets poor, for example,
during fast movement of a UE, the extended CP may be used to
further decrease inter-symbol interference (ISI).
[0059] In the case of the normal CP, one subframe includes 14 OFDM
symbols because one slot includes 7 OFDM symbols. The first two or
three OFDM symbols of each subframe may be allocated to a physical
downlink control channel (PDCCH) and the other OFDM symbols may be
allocated to a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).
[0060] The above-described radio frame structures are purely
exemplary and thus it is to be noted that the number of subframes
in a radio frame, the number of slots in a subframe, or the number
of symbols in a slot may vary.
[0061] FIG. 2 illustrates the structure of a downlink resource grid
for the duration of one downlink slot. FIG. 2 corresponds to a case
in which an OFDM includes normal CP. Referring to FIG. 2, a
downlink slot includes a plurality of OFDM symbols in the time
domain and includes a plurality of RBs in the frequency domain.
Here, one downlink slot includes 7 OFDM symbols in the time domain
and an RB includes 12 subcarriers in the frequency domain, which
does not limit the scope and spirit of the present invention. An
element on a resource grid is referred to as a resource element
(RE). For example, RE a(k,l) refers to RE location in a kth
subcarrier and a first OFDM symbol. In the case of the normal CP,
one RB includes 12.times.7 REs (in the case of the extended CP, one
RB includes 12.times.6 REs). An interval between subcarriers is 15
kHz and thus one RB includes about 180 kHz in the frequency domain.
NDL is number of RBs in a downlink slot. NDL depends on a downlink
transmission bandwidth configured by BS scheduling.
[0062] FIG. 3 illustrates the structure of a downlink subframe. Up
to three OFDM symbols at the start of the first slot in a downlink
subframe are used for a control region to which control channels
are allocated and the other OFDM symbols of the downlink subframe
are used for a data region to which a PDSCH is allocated. A basic
unit of transmission is one subframe. That is, a PDCCH and a PDSCH
are allocated across two slots. Downlink control channels used in
the 3GPP LTE system include, for example, a physical control format
indicator channel (PCFICH), a physical downlink control channel
(PDCCH), and a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)
indicator channel (PHICH). The PCFICH is located in the first OFDM
symbol of a subframe, carrying information about the number of OFDM
symbols used for transmission of control channels in the subframe.
The PHICH delivers an HARQ ACKnowledgment/Negative ACKnowledgment
(ACK/NACK) signal in response to an uplink transmission. Control
information carried on the PDCCH is called downlink control
information (DCI). The DCI transports uplink or downlink scheduling
information, or uplink transmission power control commands for UE
groups. The PDCCH delivers information about resource allocation
and a transport format for a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH),
resource allocation information about an uplink shared channel
(UL-SCH), paging information of a paging channel (PCH), system
information on the DL-SCH, information about resource allocation
for a higher-layer control message such as a random access response
transmitted on the PDSCH, a set of transmission power control
commands for individual UEs of a UE group, transmission power
control information, voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) activation
information, etc. A plurality of PDCCHs may be transmitted in the
control region. A UE may monitor a plurality of PDCCHs. A PDCCH is
formed by aggregating one or more consecutive Control Channel
Elements (CCEs). A CCE is a logical allocation unit used to provide
a PDCCH at a coding rate based on the state of a radio channel. A
CCE corresponds to a plurality of RE groups. The format of a PDCCH
and the number of available bits for the PDCCH are determined
according to the correlation between the number of CCEs and a
coding rate provided by the CCEs. An eNB determines the PDCCH
format according to DCI transmitted to a UE and adds a cyclic
redundancy check (CRC) to control information. The CRC is masked by
an identifier (ID) known as a radio network temporary identifier
(RNTI) according to the owner or usage of the PDCCH. When the PDCCH
is directed to a specific UE, its CRC may be masked by a cell-RNTI
(C-RNTI) of the UE. When the PDCCH is for a paging message, the CRC
of the PDCCH may be masked by a paging indicator identifier
(P-RNTI). When the PDCCH carries system information, particularly,
a system information block (SIB), its CRC may be masked by a system
information ID and a system information RNTI (SI-RNTI). To indicate
that the PDCCH carries a random access response in response to a
random access preamble transmitted by a UE, its CRC may be masked
by a random access-RNTI (RA-RNTI).
[0063] FIG. 4 illustrates the structure of an uplink subframe. An
uplink subframe may be divided into a control region and a data
region in the frequency domain. A Physical Uplink Control Channel
(PUCCH) carrying uplink control information is allocated to the
control region and a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)
carrying user data is allocated to the data region. To maintain the
property of a single carrier, a UE does not transmit a PUSCH and a
PUCCH simultaneously. A PUCCH for a UE is allocated to an RB pair
in a subframe. The RBs of the RB pair occupy different subcarriers
in two slots. Thus it is said that the RB pair allocated to the
PUCCH is frequency-hopped over a slot boundary.
[0064] Modeling of MIMO System
[0065] A multiple input multiple output (MIMO) system increases
transmission/reception efficiency of data using multiple
transmission (Tx) antennas and multiple reception (Rx) antennas.
MIMO technology does not depend upon a single antenna path in order
to receive all messages but instead can combine a plurality of data
fragments received through a plurality of antennas and receive all
data.
[0066] MIMO technology includes a spatial diversity scheme, a
spatial multiplexing scheme, etc. The spatial diversity scheme can
increase transmission reliability or can widen a cell diameter with
diversity gain and thus is appropriate for data transmission of a
UE that moves a high speed. The spatial multiplexing scheme can
simultaneously transmit different data so as to increase data
transmission rate without increase in a system bandwidth.
[0067] FIG. 5 illustrates the configuration of a MIMO communication
system having multiple antennas. As illustrated in FIG. 5(a), the
simultaneous use of a plurality of antennas at both the transmitter
and the receiver increases a theoretical channel transmission
capacity, compared to use of a plurality of antennas at only one of
the transmitter and the receiver. Therefore, transmission rate may
be increased and frequency efficiency may be remarkably increased.
As channel transmission rate is increased, transmission rate may be
increased, in theory, to the product of a maximum transmission rate
Ro that may be achieved with a single antenna and a transmission
rate increase Ri.
R.sub.i=min(N.sub.T,N.sub.R) [Equation 1]
[0068] For instance, a MIMO communication system with four Tx
antennas and four Rx antennas may achieve a four-fold increase in
transmission rate theoretically, relative to a single-antenna
system. Since the theoretical capacity increase of the MIMO system
was verified in the middle 1990s, many techniques have been
actively proposed to increase data rate in real implementation.
Some of the techniques have already been reflected in various
wireless communication standards for 3G mobile communications,
future-generation wireless local area network (WLAN), etc.
[0069] Concerning the research trend of MIMO up to now, active
studies are underway in many respects of MIMO, inclusive of studies
of information theory related to calculation of multi-antenna
communication capacity in diverse channel environments and multiple
access environments, studies of measuring MIMO radio channels and
MIMO modeling, studies of time-space signal processing techniques
to increase transmission reliability and transmission rate,
etc.
[0070] Communication in a MIMO system will be described in detail
through mathematical modeling. It is assumed that NT Tx antennas
and NR Rx antennas are present in the system.
[0071] Regarding a transmission signal, up to NT pieces of
information can be transmitted through the NT Tx antennas, as
expressed in Equation 2 below.
[0072] [Equation 2]
s=.left brkt-bot.s.sub.1,s.sub.2, . . . ,s.sub.N.sub.T.right
brkt-bot..sup.T
[0073] A different transmission power may be applied to each piece
of transmission information, s.sub.1, s.sub.2, . . . ,
s.sub.N.sub.T. Let the transmission power levels of the
transmission information be denoted by P.sub.1, P.sub.2, . . . ,
P.sub.N.sub.t, respectively. Then the transmission power-controlled
transmission information vector is given as
s=[s.sub.1,s.sub.2, . . .
,s.sub.N.sub.T].sup.T=[P.sub.1s.sub.1,P.sub.2s.sub.2, . . .
,P.sub.N.sub.Ts.sub.N.sub.T].sup.T [Equation 3]
[0074] The transmission power-controlled transmission information
vectors may be expressed as follows, using a diagonal matrix P of
transmission power.
s ^ = [ P 1 0 P 2 0 P N T ] [ s 1 s 2 s N T ] = Ps [ Equation 4 ]
##EQU00001##
[0075] NT transmission signals x.sub.1, x.sub.2, . . . ,
x.sub.N.sub.T may be generated by multiplying the transmission
power-controlled information vector s by a weight matrix W. The
weight matrix W functions to appropriately distribute the
transmission information to the Tx antennas according to
transmission channel states, etc. These NT transmission signals
x.sub.1, x.sub.2, . . . , x.sub.N.sub.T are represented as a vector
x, which may be determined by Equation 5 below.
x = [ x 1 x 2 x i x N T ] = [ w 11 w 12 w 1 N T w 21 w 22 w 2 N T w
i 1 w i 2 w iN t w N T 1 w N T 2 w N T N T ] [ s ^ 1 s ^ 2 s ^ j s
^ N T ] = W s ^ = WPs [ Equation 5 ] ##EQU00002##
[0076] Here, w.sub.ij refers to a weight between an ith Tx antenna
and jth information.
[0077] A reception signal x may be considered in different ways
according to two cases (e.g., spatial diversity and spatial
multiplexing). In the case of spatial multiplexing, different
signals are multiplexed and the multiplexed signals are transmitted
to a receiver, and thus, elements of information vector (s) have
different values. In the case of spatial diversity, the same signal
is repeatedly transmitted through a plurality of channel paths and
thus elements of information vectors (s) have the same value. A
hybrid scheme of spatial multiplexing and spatial diversity can
also be considered. That is, that same signal may be transmitted
through three Tx antennas and the remaining signals may be
spatial-multiplexed and transmitted to a receiver.
[0078] In the case of NR Rx antennas, a reception signal of each
antenna may be expressed as the vector shown in Equation 6
below.
y=[y.sub.1,y.sub.2, . . . ,y.sub.N.sub.R].sup.T [Equation 6]
[0079] When a channel modeling is executed in the MIMO
communication system, individual channels can be distinguished from
each other according to transmission/reception (Tx/Rx) antenna
indexes. A channel passing the range from a Tx antenna j to an Rx
antenna i is denoted by hij. It should be noted that the index
order of the channel hij is located before a reception (Rx) antenna
index and is located after a transmission (Tx) antenna index.
[0080] FIG. 5(b) illustrates channels from NT Tx antennas to an Rx
antenna i. The channels may be collectively represented in the form
of vector and matrix. Referring to FIG. 5(b), the channels passing
the range from the NT Tx antennas to the Rx antenna i can be
represented by the Equation 7 below.
h.sub.i.sup.T=[h.sub.i1,h.sub.i2, . . . ,h.sub.iN.sub.T] [Equation
7]
[0081] All channels passing the range from the NT Tx antennas to NR
Rx antennas are denoted by the matrix shown in Equation 8
below.
H = [ h 1 T h 2 T h i T h N R T ] = [ h 11 h 12 h 1 N T h 21 h 22 h
2 N T h i 1 h i 2 h iN T h N R 1 h N R 2 h N R N T ] [ Equation 8 ]
##EQU00003##
[0082] Additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) is added to an actual
channel which has passed the channel matrix. The AWGN (n1, n2, . .
. , nNR) added to each of NR reception (Rx) antennas can be
represented by Equation 9 below.
n=[n.sub.1,n.sub.2, . . . ,n.sub.N.sub.R]T [Equation 9]
[0083] A reception signal calculated by the above-mentioned
equations can be represented by Equation 10 below.
y = [ y 1 y 2 y i y N R ] = [ h 11 h 12 h 1 N T h 21 h 22 h 2 N T h
i 1 h i 2 h iN T h N R 1 h N R 2 h N R N T ] [ x 1 x 2 x i x N R ]
+ [ n 1 n 2 n i n N R ] = Hx + n [ Equation 10 ] ##EQU00004##
[0084] The number of rows and the number of columns of a channel
matrix H indicating a channel condition are determined by the
number of Tx/Rx antennas. In the channel matrix H, the number of
rows is equal to the number (NR) of Rx antennas, and the number of
columns is equal to the number (NT) of Tx antennas. Namely, the
channel matrix H is denoted by an NR.times.NT matrix.
[0085] The rank of a matrix is defined as the smaller between the
number of independent rows and the number of independent columns in
the channel matrix. Accordingly, the rank of the channel matrix is
not larger than the number of rows or columns of the channel
matrix. The rank of a channel matrix H, rank(H) satisfies the
following constraint.
rank(H).ltoreq.min(N.sub.T,N.sub.R) [Equation 11]
[0086] For MIMO transmission, `rank` indicates the number of paths
for independent transmission of signals and `number of layers`
indicates the number of streams transmitted through each path. In
general, a transmission end transmits layers, the number of which
corresponds to the number of ranks used for signal transmission,
and thus, rank have the same meaning as number of layers unless
there is no different disclosure.
[0087] Reference Signals (RSs)
[0088] In a wireless communication system, a packet is transmitted
on a radio channel. In view of the nature of the radio channel, the
packet may be distorted during the transmission. To receive the
signal successfully, a receiver should compensate for the
distortion of the reception signal using channel information.
Generally, to enable the receiver to acquire the channel
information, a transmitter transmits a signal known to both the
transmitter and the receiver and the receiver acquires knowledge of
channel information based on the distortion of the signal received
on the radio channel. This signal is called a pilot signal or an
RS.
[0089] In the case of data transmission and reception through
multiple antennas, knowledge of channel states between transmission
(Tx) antennas and reception (Rx) antennas is required for
successful signal reception. Accordingly, an RS should be
transmitted through each Tx antenna.
[0090] RSs in a mobile communication system may be divided into two
types according to their purposes: RS for channel information
acquisition and RS for data demodulation. Since its purpose lies in
that a UE acquires downlink channel information, the former should
be transmitted in a broad band and received and measured even by a
UE that does not receive downlink data in a specific subframe. This
RS is also used in a situation like handover. The latter is an RS
that an eNB transmits along with downlink data in specific
resources. A UE can estimate a channel by receiving the RS and
accordingly can demodulate data. The RS should be transmitted in a
data transmission area.
[0091] A legacy 3GPP LTE (e.g., 3GPP LTE release-8) system defines
two types of downlink RSs for unicast services: a common RS (CRS)
and a dedicated RS (DRS). The CRS is used for acquisition of
information about a channel state, measurement of handover, etc.
and may be referred to as a cell-specific RS. The DRS is used for
data demodulation and may be referred to as a UE-specific RS. In a
legacy 3GPP LTE system, the DRS is used for data demodulation only
and the CRS can be used for both purposes of channel information
acquisition and data demodulation.
[0092] CRSs, which are cell-specific, are transmitted across a
wideband in every subframe. According to the number of Tx antennas
at an eNB, the eNB may transmit CRSs for up to four antenna ports.
For instance, an eNB with two Tx antennas transmits CRSs for
antenna port 0 and antenna port 1. If the eNB has four Tx antennas,
it transmits CRSs for respective four Tx antenna ports, antenna
port 0 to antenna port 3.
[0093] FIG. 6 illustrates a CRS and DRS pattern for an RB
(including 14 OFDM symbols in time by 12 subcarriers in frequency
in case of a normal CP) in a system where an eNB has four Tx
antennas. In FIG. 6, REs labeled with `R0`, `R1`, `R2` and `R3`
represent the positions of CRSs for antenna port 0 to antenna port
4, respectively. REs labeled with `D` represent the positions of
DRSs defined in the LTE system.
[0094] The LTE-A system, an evolution of the LTE system, can
support up to eight Tx antennas. Therefore, it should also support
RSs for up to eight Tx antennas. Because downlink RSs are defined
only for up to four Tx antennas in the LTE system, RSs should be
additionally defined for five to eight Tx antenna ports, when an
eNB has five to eight downlink Tx antennas in the LTE-A system.
Both RSs for channel measurement and RSs for data demodulation
should be considered for up to eight Tx antenna ports.
[0095] One of significant considerations for design of the LTE-A
system is backward compatibility. Backward compatibility is a
feature that guarantees a legacy LTE terminal to operate normally
even in the LTE-A system. If RSs for up to eight Tx antenna ports
are added to a time-frequency area in which CRSs defined by the LTE
standard are transmitted across a total frequency band in every
subframe, RS overhead becomes huge. Therefore, new RSs should be
designed for up to eight antenna ports in such a manner that RS
overhead is reduced.
[0096] Largely, new two types of RSs are introduced to the LTE-A
system. One type is CSI-RS serving the purpose of channel
measurement for selection of a transmission rank, a modulation and
coding scheme (MCS), a precoding matrix index (PMI), etc. The other
type is demodulation RS (DM RS) for demodulation of data
transmitted through up to eight Tx antennas.
[0097] Compared to the CRS used for both purposes of measurement
such as channel measurement and measurement for handover and data
demodulation in the legacy LTE system, the CSI-RS is designed
mainly for channel estimation, although it may also be used for
measurement for handover. Since CSI-RSs are transmitted only for
the purpose of acquisition of channel information, they may not be
transmitted in every subframe, unlike CRSs in the legacy LTE
system. Accordingly, CSI-RSs may be configured so as to be
transmitted intermittently (e.g. periodically) along the time axis,
for reduction of CSI-RS overhead.
[0098] When data is transmitted in a downlink subframe, DM RSs are
also transmitted dedicatedly to a UE for which the data
transmission is scheduled. Thus, DM RSs dedicated to a particular
UE may be designed such that they are transmitted only in a
resource area scheduled for the particular UE, that is, only in a
time-frequency area carrying data for the particular UE.
[0099] FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary DM RS pattern defined for
the LTE-A system. In FIG. 7, the positions of REs carrying DM RSs
in an RB carrying downlink data (an RB having 14 OFDM symbols in
time by 12 subcarriers in frequency in case of a normal CP) are
marked. DM RSs may be transmitted for additionally defined four
antenna ports, antenna port 7 to antenna port 10 in the LTE-A
system. DM RSs for different antenna ports may be identified by
their different frequency resources (subcarriers) and/or different
time resources (OFDM symbols). This means that the DM RSs may be
multiplexed in frequency division multiplexing (FDM) and/or time
division multiplexing (TDM). If DM RSs for different antenna ports
are positioned in the same time-frequency resources, they may be
identified by their different orthogonal codes. That is, these DM
RSs may be multiplexed in Code Division Multiplexing (CDM). In the
illustrated case of FIG. 7, DM RSs for antenna port 7 and antenna
port 8 may be located on REs of DM RS CDM group 1 through
multiplexing based on orthogonal codes. Similarly, DM RSs for
antenna port 9 and antenna port 10 may be located on REs of DM RS
CDM group 2 through multiplexing based on orthogonal codes.
[0100] FIG. 8 illustrates exemplary CSI-RS patterns defined for the
LTE-A system. In FIG. 8, the positions of REs carrying CSI-RSs in
an RB carrying downlink data (an RB having 14 OFDM symbols in time
by 12 subcarriers in frequency in case of a normal CP) are marked.
One of the CSI-RS patterns illustrated in FIGS. 8(a) to 8(e) is
available for any downlink subframe. CSI-RSs may be transmitted for
eight antenna ports supported by the LTE-A system, antenna port 15
to antenna port 22. CSI-RSs for different antenna ports may be
identified by their different frequency resources (subcarriers)
and/or different time resources (OFDM symbols). This means that the
CSI-RSs may be multiplexed in FDM and/or TDM. CSI-RSs positioned in
the same time-frequency resources for different antenna ports may
be identified by their different orthogonal codes. That is, these
DM RSs may be multiplexed in CDM. In the illustrated case of FIG.
8(a), CSI-RSs for antenna port 15 and antenna port 16 may be
located on REs of CSI-RS CDM group 1 through multiplexing based on
orthogonal codes. CSI-RSs for antenna port 17 and antenna port 18
may be located on REs of CSI-RS CDM group 2 through multiplexing
based on orthogonal codes. CSI-RSs for antenna port 19 and antenna
port 20 may be located on REs of CSI-RS CDM group 3 through
multiplexing based on orthogonal codes. CSI-RSs for antenna port 21
and antenna port 22 may be located on REs of CSI-RS CDM group 4
through multiplexing based on orthogonal codes. The same principle
described with reference to FIG. 8(a) is applicable to the CSI-RS
patterns illustrated in FIGS. 8(b) to 8(e).
[0101] The RS patterns of FIGS. 6 to 8 are only exemplary, and
application of various embodiments of the present invention is not
limited to a specific RS pattern. That is, various embodiments of
the present invention may equally be applied to even a case where
RS patterns different from those of FIGS. 6 to 8 are defined and
used.
[0102] CSI-RS Configuration
[0103] Among the plurality of CSI-RSs and the plurality of IMRs,
which are configured for the UE, one CSI process may be defined by
associating one CSI-RS resource for signal measurement with one
interference measurement resource (IMR) for interference
measurement. The UE feeds back CSI information derived from
different CSI processes to the network (for example, base station)
by using an independent period and subframe offset.
[0104] In other words, each CSI process has independent CSI
feedback configuration. Association information on the CSI-RS
resource and the IMR resource and CSI feedback configuration may be
notified from the base station to the UE through higher layer
signaling such as RRC per CSI process. For example, it is assumed
that three CSI processes are configured for the UE as illustrated
in Table 1.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Signal Measurement CSI Process Resource
(SMR) IMR CSI process 0 CSI-RS 0 IMR 0 CSI process 1 CSI-RS 1 IMR 1
CSI process 2 CSI-RS 2 IMR 2
[0105] In Table 1, CSI-RS 0 and CSI-RS 1 respectively represent
CSI-RS received from a cell 1 which is a serving cell of the UE and
CSI-RS received from a cell 2 which is a neighboring cell which
joins cooperation. It is assumed that IMR configured for each CSI
process of Table 1 is configured as illustrated in Table 2.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 IMR eNB 1 eNB 2 IMR 0 Muting Data
transmission IMR 1 Data transmission Muting IMR 2 Muting Muting
[0106] In IMR 0, the cell 1 performs muting, the cell 2 performs
data transmission, and the UE is configured to measure interference
from the other cells except the cell 1. Likewise, in IMR 1, the
cell 2 performs muting, the cell performs data transmission, and
the UE is configured to measure interference from the other cells
the cell 2. Also, in IMR 2, both the cell 1 and the cell 2 perform
muting, and the UE is configured to measure interference from the
other cells except the cell 1 and the cell 2.
[0107] Accordingly, as illustrated in Table 1 and Table 2, CSI
information of the CSI process 0 represents optimized RI, PMI and
CQI information if data are received from the cell 1. CSI
information of the CSI process 1 represents optimized RI, PMI and
CQI information if data are received from the cell 2. CSI
information of the CSI process 2 represents optimized RI, PMI and
CQI information if data are received from the cell 1 and if there
is no interference from the cell 2.
[0108] It is preferable that a plurality of CSI processes
configured for one UE share dependent values. For example, in case
of joint transmission (JP) of the cell 1 and the cell 2, if a CSI
process 1 which regards a channel of the cell 1 as a signal part
and a CSI process 2 which regards a channel of the cell 2 as a
signal part are configured for one UE, the CSI process 1 and the
CSI process 2 need to have the same rank and subband indexes in
order to easily perform JT scheduling.
[0109] A period or pattern for transmission of the CSI-RS may be
configured by the base station. In order to measure the CSI-RS, the
UE should know CSI-RS configuration for each CSI-RS antenna port of
a cell to which the UE belongs. The CSI-RS configuration may
include a downlink subframe index to which the CSI-RS is
transmitted, time-frequency location (for example, CSI-RS pattern
as shown in FIGS. 8(a) to 8(e)) of a CSI-RS resource element (RE)
within a transmission subframe, and a CSI-RS sequence (sequence
used for CSI-RS and generated pseudo-randomly in accordance with a
predetermined rule on the basis of a slot number, cell ID, a CP
length, etc.). That is, a plurality of CSI-RS configurations may be
used by a given base station, and the base station may notify UEs
within a cell of a CSI-RS configuration, which will be used for the
UEs, among a plurality of CSI-RS configurations.
[0110] Also, since the CSI-RS for each antenna port is needed to be
identified from another one, resources to which the CSI-RS for each
antenna port is transmitted should be orthogonal to one another. As
described with reference to FIG. 8, the CSI-RSs for each antenna
port may be multiplexed in accordance with an FDM mode, a TDM mode
and/or a CDM mode by using orthogonal frequency resources,
orthogonal time resources and/or orthogonal code resources.
[0111] When the base station reports information (CSI-RS
configuration) on CSI-RS to UEs within a cell, the base station
should first notify the UEs of information on time-frequency into
which the CSI-RS for each antenna port is mapped. In more detail,
the information on time may include subframe numbers to which the
CSI-RS is transmitted, a transmission period of the CSI-RS,
subframe offset for transmission of the CSI-RS, and OFDM symbol
number to which a CSI-RS resource element (RE) of a specific
antenna is transmitted. The information on frequency may include a
frequency spacing to which the CSI-RS resource element (RE) of a
specific antenna is transmitted, offset or shift value of RE on a
frequency axis, etc.
[0112] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of periodically
transmitting a CSI-RS. The CSI-RS may be transmitted periodically
with a period (for example, a period of 5 subframes, a period of 10
subframes, a period of 20 subframes, a period of 40 subframes, or a
period of 80 subframes) of an integer multiple of one subframe.
[0113] In FIG. 9, one radio frame includes 10 subframes (subframe
numbers 0 to 9). For example, in FIG. 9, a transmission period of
the CSI-RS of the base station is 10 ms (that is, 10 subframes),
and CSI-RS transmission offset is 3. Each offset value may be
varied for each base station, whereby CSI-RSs of various cells may
uniformly be distributed on the time. If the CSI-RS is transmitted
with a period of 10 ms, the offset value may have one of 0 to 9.
Similarly, if the CSI-RS is transmitted with a period of 5 ms, the
offset value may have one of 0 to 4, if the CSI-RS is transmitted
with a period of 20 ms, the offset value may have one of 0 to 19,
if the CSI-RS is transmitted with a period of 40 ms, the offset
value may have one of 0 to 39, and if the CSI-RS is transmitted
with a period of 80 ms, the offset value may have one of 0 to 79.
This offset value represents a value of a subframe at which the
base station starts CSI-RS transmission with a predetermined
period. If the base station notifies the UE of a transmission
period and offset value of the CSI-RS, the UE may receive the
CSI-RS of the base station at the location of the corresponding
subframe by using the notified value. The UE measures a channel
through the received CSI-RS, and as a result, may report
information such as CQI, PMI and/or RI (Rank Indicator) to the base
station. Herein, CQI, PMI and RI may collectively be referred to as
CQI (or CSI) except that CQI, PMI and RI are described separately.
Also, the transmission period and offset of the CSI-RS may
separately be designated per CSI-RS configuration.
[0114] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of
non-periodically transmitting a CSI-RS. In FIG. 10, one radio frame
includes 10 subframes (subframe numbers 0 to 9). A subframe to
which the CSI-RS is transmitted may be represented by a specific
pattern as shown in FIG. 10. For example, a CSI-RS transmission
pattern may be configured in a unit of 10 subframes, and CSI-RS
transmission at each subframe may be designated by a 1-bit
indicator. A CSI-RS pattern transmitted at subframe indexes 3 and 4
within 10 subframes (subframe indexes 0 to 9) is shown in the
example of FIG. 10. The indicator may be provided to the UE through
higher layer signaling.
[0115] Various configurations for CSI-RS transmission may be
configured as described above. In order that the UE performs
channel measurement by normally receiving the CSI-RS, the base
station needs to notify the UE of CSI-RS configuration. Embodiments
of the present invention related to notification of CSI-RS
configuration to the UE will be described hereinafter.
[0116] Configuration of RF Terminals
[0117] FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary RF receiver employed in a
wireless access system.
[0118] Referring to FIG. 11, an antenna 1101 receives an
electromagnetic signal in the air and converts the same into an
electrical signal in a wire.
[0119] Next, since the signal received through the antenna contains
undesired frequencies, a band select filter 1102 performs bandpass
filtering to amplify only a desired frequency band. If multiple
channels are in use, the band select filter may need to pass all
channels (in-band). If the same antenna is used, a duplexer may
perform the function of the band select filter.
[0120] Next, a low noise amplifier (LNA) 1103 amplifies the
received signal containing noise in the air such that the signal is
amplified with the noise attenuated as much as possible.
[0121] Next, in order to prevent a image frequency in the signal
amplified by the LNA from being delivered to a mixer, an image
reject filter (IRF) 1104 performs bandpass filtering again.
Additionally, the IRF removes spurious frequencies, and the RF
terminal is separated from the IF terminal to ensure stability of
the receiver.
[0122] Next, an RF down mixer 1105 down-converts the frequency of a
low-noise amplified RF signal to a frequency in the IF band.
[0123] Next, an RF local oscillator (RF LO) 1106 supplies an LO
frequency for frequency synthesis to the RF down mixer. For
communication requiring channel selection, the LO frequency may be
changed to perform channel selection.
[0124] Next, a phase locked loop (PLL) 1107 tunes the output
frequency of the RF LO to a predetermined frequency such that the
output frequency does not vary. That is, the PLL serves to perform
frequency tuning of shifting and fixing the output frequency of the
RF LO to a desired frequency by precisely adjusting the voltage of
the VCO used as the RF LO through input for control.
[0125] Next, the signals converted to IF frequencies contain
several channels, and a channel select filter 1108 selects a
desired channel from among the channels through bandpass filtering.
Since spacing between the channels is narrow, a filter having a
good skirt property is needed.
[0126] The weak received signal may not be amplified sufficiently
by the LNA of the RF terminal alone, and accordingly the signal
needs to be amplified significantly through an IF AMP after channel
filtering. When precise power adjustment is needed, an IF amplifier
1109 adjusts the gain of the IF AMP to VGA or AGC.
[0127] Next, an IF down mixer 1110 finishes channel selection and
amplification and removes the carrier frequency, thereby changing
the signal to the baseband, which is a frequency band containing
the original signal. That is, the IF down mixer 1110 performs down
conversion mixing.
[0128] Next, an IF local oscillator (IF LO) supplies an LO
frequency to the IF mixer for converting the IF into the baseband.
To fix the LO frequency, an IF PLL may be additionally used.
[0129] FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary RF transmitter employed in
a wireless access system.
[0130] A drive amplifier (DA) 1201 will be described first. In
contrast with the Rx terminal, the Tx terminal has a predetermined
input signal. In many cases, a power amplifier (PA) serving to
amplify the input signal to a signal of a significantly large power
does not have sufficient gain due to the structure thereof. In
addition, in order for the PA to sufficiently amplify the power of
the signal, the input signal needs to have power of a certain
level. The DA serves to solve lack of gain of the PA and create
sufficient input power for the PA.
[0131] Next, a description of a band select filter (BSF) 1202 will
be given. Since the DA is an amplifier having nonlinearity, an
unnecessary frequency output component may be produced. To avoid
amplifying such frequency component in the PA, the BSF passes only
channel bands in use.
[0132] Next, a power amplifier (PA) 1203 is the most important
constituent in the RF and Tx units. The PA serves to amplify power
to allow the terminal end to send a signal having a sufficient
power.
[0133] Next, a description of an isolator will be given. The
transmit terminal is not intended to receive a signal, but there is
a possibility that a signal is input to the transmit terminal
through an antenna. Accordingly, signal echo needs to be fixed such
that signals are delivered only in a specific direction. Signals
directed in the output direction are allowed to be delivered, but
signals coming in the opposite direction are terminated in order to
prevent reverse signal delivery. That is, introduction of a signal
in the reverse direction is prevented to prevent disturbance of
impedance of the PA output terminal. Thereby, damage to the PA may
be prevented.
[0134] Next, a description of a band select filter (BSF) 1205 will
be given. As in the case of the DA terminal, nonlinear spurious
frequency components may appear at the rear side of the nonlinear
amplifier. Accordingly, in order to remove such components and to
emit only a desired frequency band, bandpass filtering is performed
for the last time. For a system sharing an antenna with the receive
terminal, the duplexer may perform this function.
[0135] Next, an antenna 1206 serves to finally radiate electrical
signal change in a wire in the form of an electromagnetic wave.
[0136] Hereinafter, a description will be given of a duplexer and a
diplexer.
[0137] Multiplexing refers to sharing and distributing multiple
signals. A multiplexer refers to a constituent configured to send
multiple signals through one line and to re-collect or distribute
the same.
[0138] Duplexing refers to sharing one path by two signals. In a
system, "two signals" refers to a transmitted signal and a received
signal. Schemes for sharing transmitted and received signals using
one transmission line or antenna may include TDD and FDD. When one
antenna needs to be shared for a transmit frequency and a receive
frequency in FDD, a duplexer is needed in order to make the
transmit signal frequency and the receive signal frequency to be
delivered through the transmit terminal, the receive terminal and
the antenna as intended without being mixed with each other. That
is, the duplexer serves to divide the transmit terminal and the
receive terminal while using the same antenna. As the duplexer is
used, the transmit terminal and the receive terminal may be
supported with one antenna, and thus the antenna may be efficiently
shared.
[0139] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of configuration of a
duplexer. Referring to FIG. 13, the duplexer may be configured by
arranging a band pass filter (BPF) which passes only a transmit
frequency and a BPF which passes only a receive frequency next to
each other and properly matching the middle of the filters with an
antenna.
[0140] FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary duplexer in a frequency
band. S21 and S13 denote transmission of power from port 1 to port
2 and port 3, respectively. According to properties of the filters,
each BPF may have a high degree of pass at the BPF pass frequency.
S23 denotes transmission of power between the transmit terminal and
the receive terminal. This power is suppressed to the lowest level
in both the transmit/receive frequency bands.
[0141] The diplexer refers to dividing a transmit terminal and a
receive terminal while using the same antenna. The diplexer may be
configured using an LPF and an HPF. For example, when a signal is
transmitted and received using a wired path, the diplexer may be
used if there are only a transmitted signal and received signal in
the closed line without any other frequencies. The diplexer may
also be used when a multi-band terminal supports both 100 MHz
cellular CDMA and 1.8 GHz PCS CDMA simultaneously.
[0142] Hereinafter, phase shift will be described.
[0143] Phase shift refers to electrically or mechanically changing
the phase of a signal. Phase shift may be used by an RF analog
signal processing terminal for beam control and phase modulation of
a phased array antenna.
[0144] As a first method of changing the phase, the length of the
line may be mechanically changed. For example, when two coaxial
metal lines are arranged to overlap each other, the length of the
line may be changed by pushing in and withdrawing one coaxial pipe.
With this method, the phase may be continuously changed and loss is
low. On the other hand, it takes a long time to change the phase
and the phase change is large since the phase is changed
mechanically.
[0145] As a second method for changing the phase, cable switching
may be used. This is one of phase shift methods for electrically
changing the length. This method may be implemented by deploying
multiple transmission lines having different lengths and switching
the path among the cables using a switch. With this method, a
compact design may be implemented and it takes a short time to
change the phase. On the other hand, since this method is
implemented in a digitized manner, it is not possible to
continuously change the phase value and high loss is produced
compared to the case of the mechanical change method. For example,
a 4-bit phase shifter operating according to the cable switching
method may change the phase from 0 to 337.5 in increments of
22.5.
[0146] A third method for changing the phase is reflection. Similar
to light whose phase is changed when the light is reflected from an
object, an electrical signal is reflected at a point where
impedance changes along with change of the phase. Specifically, the
insertion phase may be adjusted according to the value of a device
connected in the middle of the transmission line. With this method,
insertion loss may increase and the impedance property may be
deteriorated.
[0147] A fourth method for changing the phase is divided into
loaded line type and hybrid coupled type. This method is also one
of phase shift methods for electrically changing the length. This
method is often used for a digital phase shifter. Loaded line type
is used by a phase shifter producing phase shift within 45.degree.,
and hybrid coupled type is used by a phase shifter producing phase
shift greater than or equal to 45.degree.. For example, the phase
may be changed using change of reactance which occurs when a PIN
diode is turned on/off.
[0148] A fifth method for changing the phase is to use a vector
modulator phase shifter. According to this method, a signal having
a necessary phase is obtained by adjusting the amplitudes of two
orthogonal components according to a desired phase and combining
the components at a synthesizer.
[0149] Hybrid Beamforming
[0150] FIGS. 15 and 16 illustrate an example of configuration of a
transmit terminal and receive terminal which are capable of
performing digital beamforming.
[0151] In the digital beamforming technique, a baseband terminal
changes the phase and amplitude for beamforming for each antenna
port, using a signal processing technique. The digital beamforming
technique enables independent and precise beamforming in each
frequency band. Accordingly, the digital beamforming technique
requires an independent baseband signal processing block for each
antenna port.
[0152] FIGS. 17 and 18 illustrate configuration of a transmit
terminal and receive terminal which are capable of performing
analog beamforming.
[0153] In the analog beamforming technique, an RF terminal changes
the phase and amplitude of a signal delivered in the baseband for
each antenna element to form a beam. Since beamforming is performed
by the RF terminal, a relatively small number of baseband signal
processing blocks is used and thus baseband hardware complexity may
be low. However, according to the analog beamforming technique,
variable beamforming is performed in the time domain, while the
same beamforming is performed over the full band in the frequency
domain. Thereby, a degree of freedom in beamforming is low and the
accuracy of the created beam is low.
[0154] Massive MIMO-based wireless communication may improve signal
quality and performance and energy efficiency and remove multi-user
interference, using multiple antennas. As the number of antennas
increases, these advantages may be enhanced. On the other hand, as
the number of antennas increases, the number of baseband signal
processing blocks also increases and thus signal processing
complexity and hardware complexity may increase.
[0155] To lower hardware complexity while maintaining the gain of
massive MIMO, hybrid beamforming, combining digital beamforming and
analog beamforming, may be used.
[0156] Digital beamforming has a high degree of freedom for
performing different beamforming in respective frequency bands.
However, if analog beamforming, which creates the same beam in a
frequency band in use, is combined with digital beamforming, the
degree of freedom for beamforming may decrease compared to
beamforming implemented using the digital beamforming technique
alone. Such combination may lower the degree of freedom for
multi-user transmission, thereby lowering the multi-user gain which
may be obtained through massive MIMO.
[0157] Accordingly, in using the hybrid beamforming technique, a
method for selecting an optimum beamforming coefficient which may
maintain the degree of freedom for multi-user transmission is
required.
Embodiment 1
[0158] This embodiment relates to the hybrid beamforming technique
for multi-user transmission.
[0159] According to the hybrid beamforming technique, analog
beamforming and digital beamforming are performed simultaneously.
When hybrid beamforming is employed in a massive BMIMO system, it
is important to maintain the resolution of beams and the degree of
freedom for massive multi-user transmission. In Embodiment 1, a
hybrid beamforming technique satisfying the two requirements will
be described.
[0160] First, analog beamforming is described below. For analog
beamforming, an RF terminal having a phase shifter is used. Analog
beamforming superposes beams emitted from multiple antenna elements
to concentrate the energy of the beams in a specific direction to
create a sharp beam (in a doughnut shape or pencil shape). Herein,
the beamforming direction may be adjusted by changing the value of
phase shift.
[0161] The analog beamforming causes phase change in one analog
signal and causes the signal to be transmitted or received through
multiple antennas. With analog beamforming, phase change varying
with time may be implemented. On the other hand, since the phase of
the signal changes in the analog domain, signals sharing a
transmission band at the same time are given the same phase. That
is, wideband transmission is performed, but narrowband beamforming
is difficult to implement.
[0162] If N independent phase shifters are used for analog
beamforming, N independent beams which are spatially
distinguishable may be formed. The independently formed beams may
be allocated to one user and thus N paths may be established.
Alternatively, the beams may be allocated to N users to perform
multi-user transmission. To transmit N different data through N
beams, N independent basebands are required.
[0163] Next, digital beamforming is described below. Digital
beamforming is associated with MIMO transmission employing passive
antennas.
[0164] According to MIMO transmission employing passive antennas,
broad beams radiated from multiple passive antennas are superposed
through digital processing and the energy thereof is concentrated
in a specific direction to create a sharp beam. The sharp beams
created through beamforming are within the range of azimuth angles
at which broad beams formed by the passive antennas are
transmitted.
[0165] In the MIMO system employing passive antennas, digital
beamforming combines beams formed by passive antennas through
digital domain processing to create a directional beam. Creation of
directionality may be performed independently for each narrowband.
In addition, since digital beamforming adjusts the coefficient in
the digital domain, a high-resolution beam may be formed.
[0166] According to MU-MIMO transmission employing passive
antennas, broad beams formed by multiple passive antennas are
superposed through digital processing to create multiple sharp
beams. Thereafter, beams which are as orthogonal as possible are
selectively used to perform simultaneous transmission to attenuate
interference between users in performing transmission to specific
users. That is, in performing multi-user transmission, beams of the
analog domain are not spatially distinguished from each other, but
beams created by the digital beamformer are spatially
distinguished.
[0167] Hereinafter, a description will be given of hybrid
beamforming for supporting multi-user transmission based on the
analog beamforming and the digital beamforming described above.
[0168] In hybrid beamforming, a degree of freedom for calculating
beamforming weights is given not only in the digital domain but
also in the analog domain. In the MIMO system performing digital
beamforming through a baseband operation, if an RF terminal having
a variable phase shifter and a power amplifier is introduced to an
antenna element to perform analog beamforming, hybrid beamforming
for performing digital beamforming and analog beamforming
simultaneously may be implemented.
[0169] Conventional technologies associated with hybrid beamforming
mainly focus on determining an optimum weight for hybrid
beamforming from a single user perspective. Research on hybrid
beamforming has proposed methods of calculating an optimum weight
in consideration of weights of the digital domain and analog
domain. Such research focuses on calculating an optimum weight from
a single user perspective. In addition, an optimum beamforming
weight is calculated on the assumption that creating multiple beams
in the analog domain is intended to collect energy of multi-path
transmission.
[0170] It is difficult to apply the optimum weight for hybrid
beamforming conventionally researched in the single user
perspective to multi-user transmission. Beamforming performed in
the time domain may be beamforming for a single user. Accordingly,
if multi-user transmission having different channel situations for
respective users needs to be performed, it is difficult to adopt
the method of calculating beamforming weights in consideration of a
single user.
[0171] Accordingly, there is a need for a hybrid beamforming method
for supporting multiple multi-user transmissions, which are the
benefit of massive MIMO.
[0172] Hereinafter, a description will be given of an antenna type
and a beamforming method which are assumed in embodiments of the
present invention.
[0173] FIG. 19 illustrates an exemplary structure of an individual
antenna employing one transceiver and one PA.
[0174] Referring to FIG. 19, K (=N) antenna elements and N
transceivers (TRXs) are used. Each TRX is mapped to one antenna
element and has one PA. In the structure of FIG. 19, N antenna
elements may be used to perform full digital beamforming.
[0175] FIG. 20 illustrates an exemplary structure of an individual
antenna employing one transceiver and a plurality of PSs/PAs.
[0176] Referring to FIG. 20, K (>N) antenna elements, N TRXs and
antennas which are independent for respective TRXs are used. Each
TRX is mapped to M antenna elements, and has M PSs/PAs. Analog
beamforming is performed using M antenna elements, and digital
beamforming is performed using N TRXs.
[0177] FIG. 21 illustrates an exemplary structure of a shared
antenna employing one transceiver and a plurality of PSs/PAs.
[0178] Referring to FIG. 21, K (>N) antenna elements and N TRXs
are used, and the antenna is shared by the TRXs. Each TRX is mapped
to M antenna elements, and has M PSs/PAs. Analog beamforming is
performed using M antenna elements, and digital beamforming is
performed using N TRXs. Herein, multiple analog beamforming
operations may be performed through one antenna.
[0179] FIG. 22 illustrates an exemplary structure of an individual
antenna employing one transceiver and a plurality of PSs/PAs.
[0180] Referring to FIG. 22, K (>N) antenna elements, N TRXs,
and antennas which are independent for the respective TRXs are
used. Each TRX is mapped to M antenna elements and has M PSs/PAs.
In contrast with the example of FIG. 20, the transmit terminal has
multiple PSs/PAs, while the receive terminal has a single RF
receiver. The TX terminal performs analog beamforming using M
antenna elements, and performs digital beamforming using N TRXs.
The RX terminal performs fixed beamforming, and performs digital
beamforming using N TRXs.
[0181] FIG. 23 illustrates an exemplary structure of a shared
antenna employing one transceiver and a plurality of PSs/PAs.
[0182] Referring to FIG. 23, K (>N) antenna elements and N TRXs
are used, and the antennas are shared by the TRXs. Each TRX is
mapped to M antenna elements, and has M PSs/PAs. In contrast with
the example of FIG. 21, the transmit terminal has multiple PSs/PAs,
while the receive terminal has a single RF receiver. The Tx
terminal performs analog beamforming using M antenna elements, and
performs digital beamforming using N TRX. In addition, multiple
analog beamforming operations may be performed through one antenna.
The Rx terminal performs fixed beamforming, and performs digital
beamforming using N TRXs.
[0183] Hereinafter, a description will be given of a method for
distinguishing between multiple users using hybrid beamforming.
First, a wide area is divided into several sections. Specifically,
multiple broad beams are created using an analog beamformer. Next,
a divided section is divided into narrow regions. That is, a few
analog beams directed to similar places are synthesized through
digital processing to create a narrow beam.
Embodiment 1-1
[0184] Embodiment 1-1 of the present invention relates to a method
for distinguishing between multiple users using hybrid
beamforming.
[0185] FIG. 24 illustrates an embodiment of distinguishing among
multiple users in hybrid beamforming according to one embodiment of
the present invention.
[0186] First, antenna elements are grouped into subgroups. For
example, using a method such as the methods of FIGS. 20 and 22,
antenna elements may be grouped into subgroups.
[0187] Thereafter, analog beamforming is performed for each
subgroup. An analog beam formed by a subgroup has a wide beamwidth.
The analog beamformer forms beams in various directions to
distinguish among several spaces.
[0188] A signal processor of the digital domain synthesizes
multiple beams formed by subgroups. Using independent space-channel
characteristics of users in the space within a range in which an
analog beam is directed, a weight for synthesizing multiple beams
may be generated. Using the weight, multiple users may be
distinguished from each other.
[0189] For example, when antenna subgroups #1 to #4 create 4
independent beams (through analog beamforming), 4 independent radio
channels may be established. The 4 radio channels are mapped to 4
antenna ports. Then, multi-stream transmission (digital
beamforming) is performed using a transmit precoder that supports
the 4 antenna ports.
[0190] FIG. 25 illustrates an embodiment of distinguishing among
multiple users in hybrid beamforming.
[0191] Referring to FIGS. 21 and 23, signals generated by multiple
phase shifters (PSs)/power amplifiers (PAs) are synthesized and
transmitted through one antenna element. Analog beamforming is
performed for each PS/PA, and beams are created in various
directions to distinguish among spaces. That is, if multiple
PSs/PAs are used, beams may be created in various directions.
[0192] In addition, as shown in FIG. 25, multiple PSs/PAs may be
configured for each antenna subgroup. In this case, multiple beams
may be created in each antenna subgroup.
[0193] The signal processor of the digital domain may generate
signals such that analog signals (independent signals) having
different waveforms according to the respective PSs/PAs may be
generated by the DAC and transmitted. Precoding of the digital
beamformer serves to synthesize analog beams generated by the
antenna subgroups and multiple PSs/PAs.
[0194] For example, if two independent beams are generated by each
of antenna subgroups #1 and #2 (through analog beamforming), and
thus all 4 beams (analog beams) are generated, 4 independent radio
channels may be established. The 4 radio channels are mapped to 4
antenna ports. Then, multi-stream transmission is performed using a
transmit precoder supporting the 4 antenna ports (digital
beamforming).
Embodiment 1-2
[0195] Embodiment 1-2 of the present invention relates to an analog
beamforming method for effectively performing hybrid beamforming in
performing multi-user transmission.
[0196] The structures of FIGS. 20 and 22 allow each subgroup to
have a degree of freedom for creation of beams such that the
respective subgroups may transmit beams simultaneously in different
directions. The structures of FIGS. 21 and 23 may provide a degree
of freedom for creation of beams to respective PSs/PAs, thereby
allowing the PSs/PAs to transmit beams in different directions
simultaneously. The structure of FIG. 25 may provide a degree of
freedom for creation of beams to each subgroup and each PS/PA,
thereby allowing the subgroups and PSs/PAs to transmit beams in
different directions simultaneously.
[0197] Distinguishing among areas means that spaces to which analog
beams are directed are different from each other. Analog beams
improve the channel condition by concentrating energy in a specific
direction. That is, an area where the energy is concentrated is
significantly different from the other areas where the energy is
not concentrated in terms of channel conditions. SDMA and TDMA may
be employed to transmit signals to users within an area covered by
a transmission point, using a beamforming technique. Embodiment 1-2
proposes an analog beamforming method for effectively performing
hybrid beamforming in performing multi-user transmission.
[0198] First, a description will be given of an analog beamforming
method for effectively performing hybrid beamforming for multi-user
transmission when the SDMA is used.
[0199] In the SDMA, multiple beams are formed at the same time. If
beams concentrating energy in different directions are transmitted
simultaneously, signals may be transmitted to users in different
areas using the different beams with signal interference
attenuated. However, if many subgroups use many beams in different
directions simultaneously, the distance between beams decreases and
thus interference between the beams is likely to occur.
Interference between beams may be effectively attenuated if the
subgroups select and transmit beams which are far away from each
other rather than simply transmitting different beams.
[0200] As a first method for selectively transmitting beams far
away from each other simultaneously from the subgroups in the SDMA,
at least two subgroups generate beams in the same direction. Each
PS/PA belonging to a subgroup forms an independent beam.
[0201] As a second method for selectively transmitting beams far
away from each other simultaneously from subgroups in the SDMA,
multiple users are distinguished from each other using digital
beamforming for signals of subgroups forming beams in the same
direction.
[0202] Next, a description will be given of an analog beamforming
method for effectively performing hybrid beamforming for multi-user
transmission in the TDMA.
[0203] If beams concentrating energy in one direction are
persistently transmitted, the channel condition spectrum from the
good condition to the bad condition within an area covered by a
transmission point is wider than when an omnidirectional antenna is
used. To address this issue, an area where the energy is
concentrated may be differently configured in a time unit. In this
case, each subgroup transmits an independent beam, and the
direction of beams transmitted from the respective subgroups may be
set differently according to time. However, if the direction of the
beams changes with time, measurement and reporting become
complex.
[0204] Accordingly, as a first method to simplify measurement and
CSI reporting, the transmission direction of a beam may be changed
based on a subframe (a basic unit for scheduling in the time
domain). As a second method, a time unit for performing the same
measurement may be designated to reflect change in the channel
condition according to change in the transmission direction of the
beam. For example, a subframe set for performing the same
measurement may be defined using a bitmap and be indicated through
a higher layer signal. As a third method, subgroups forming beams
in the same direction may maintain the subgroup combination for
performing beamforming even if the beams change with time.
Embodiment 1-3
[0205] Embodiment 1-3 relates to a digital beamforming method for
effectively performing hybrid beamforming in multi-user
transmission.
[0206] Features of antenna ports in terms of transmission and
channel measurement in the legacy MIMO system will be described
first. The channels of antenna ports used for signal transmission
(e.g., antenna port (AP) 5 and APs 7 to 14 in LTE) change according
to a transmission precoding weight applied in the frequency domain
and time domain. On the other hand, antenna ports used for
measurement (e.g., APs 15 to 22 defined in LTE) have only
time-varying channel characteristics according to Doppler
effect.
[0207] Digital beamforming in the hybrid beamforming may be handled
using a method similar to the method used for the legacy MIMO
system. That is, if a synthesized channel established by the analog
beamformer described above is considered as an antenna port, the
hybrid BF may be viewed as a MIMO transmission method (digital BF)
employing multiple antenna ports created through analog
beamforming. In contrast with the antenna ports of the legacy MIMO
system, the channel situation may be changed by analog beamforming.
For example, the channel may be changed according to the number of
antenna subgroups, a method for configuring subgroups, a
beamforming technique applied to the subgroups, and the like.
[0208] As a method for effectively performing digital beamforming
in hybrid beamforming, the type and value of a precoding weight
used for digital beamforming in hybrid beamforming is determined
according to the number of transmitted beams generated by analog
beamforming and a precoding weight used for analog beamforming. For
example, if the number of transmitted beams is 4, a transmit
precoder having 4 antenna ports is used. In this case, the
transmission precoding weight is selected in consideration of a
transmission precoding weight used for analog beamforming. If the
precoding weight for analog beamforming is maintained for a
specific time and then changed, the precoding weight for the
digital beamforming should be changed no later than the time at
which precoding of analog beamforming is changed.
[0209] As another method, digital beamforming may serve to
compensate for a phase difference among N channels created by an
A-beam. In addition, digital beamforming may be performed on a
narrowband basis. In digital beamforming, M (<=N) independent
signals may be transmitted over the N channels created by the
A-beam. To transmit M independent signals, a transmit precoder is
configured.
Embodiment 1-4
[0210] Embodiment 1-4 relates to a scheduling method for supporting
multi-user transmission in hybrid beamforming.
[0211] First, it is preferable in a long-term to distinguish among
users through analog beamforming. Specifically, a user set to which
analog beamforming is to be applied is created according to an
analog beamforming weight.
[0212] Next, users are distinguished from each other through
digital beamforming in a short term. Users who use analog beams
directed in similar directions are distinguished from each other by
a beam created by synthesizing multiple analog beams through
digital processing.
Embodiment 2
[0213] Embodiment 2 relates to a method for applying antenna
subgrouping for efficient hybrid beamforming.
[0214] Training sequences for analog beamforming are transmitted.
In performing analog beamforming, the RF terminal applies values of
phase and amplitude to respective antenna elements, and thus
training sequences for selecting proper phase/amplitude values are
transmitted.
[0215] Alternatively, analog beamforming is performed for each
antenna subgroup. If antenna elements are grouped into antenna
subgroups, analog beamforming may be performed subgroup by
subgroup. In this case, analog beamforming may be independently
performed for each subgroup. For example, when one antenna subgroup
consists of 4 antenna elements, independent phase and amplitude
values may be applied to each of the 4 antenna elements to perform
beamforming. A degree of freedom enabling beamforming for 16
subgroups in different directions is provided.
[0216] In Embodiment 2, a description will be given of methods for
designating and indicating a subgroup which is a basic unit of
analog beamforming performed using antenna elements in hybrid
beamforming and an operation of a receive terminal of discovering
and reporting a precoding weight for analog beamforming.
Embodiment 2-1
[0217] Embodiment 2-1 relates to defining an antenna subgroup as a
set of antenna elements.
[0218] An antenna subgroup (AS), which is a set of antenna elements
(AEs), may serve as a basic unit of analog beamforming. According
to hardware design, multiple phase shifters (PSs)/power amplifiers
(PAs) and a signal synthesizer may be implemented in an AS, and
signals may be designed to be transmitted/received through one
antenna such that multiple analog beams can be generated by one
AS.
[0219] In a system having numerous AEs, ASs may be configured in
various combinations. Various antenna arrays including linear
array, planar array and circular array may be implemented according
to how the antennas are arranged. For simplicity, a uniform planar
array (UPA) will be described as an example. Various combinations
may be used to configure one subgroup according to how many AEs are
defined to be used in the vertical domain (V-D) and horizontal
domain (H-D). For example, suppose that a massive antenna having 64
AEs arranged in 8 rows along the V-D and 8 columns along the H-D is
used. In this case, 4 combinations (1, 2, 4, 8) are obtained in
each domain, and thus 16 combinations are provided for the
subgroup.
[0220] The AS configuration (the number of AEs of the V-D.times.the
number of AEs of the H-D) may be expressed using multiples of 2
including 1 as the number of AEs of the V-D and the number of AEs
of the H-D as follows.
[0221] If there are 64 AEs provided, AS combinations of
(1.times.1), (1.times.2), (1.times.4), (1.times.8), (2.times.1),
(2.times.2), (2.times.4), (2.times.8), (4.times.1), (4.times.2),
(4.times.4), (4.times.8), (8.times.1), (8.times.2), (8.times.4) and
(8.times.8) may be derived.
[0222] Similarly, when 32 AEs (8.times.4) are provided, 12 AS
combinations of (1.times.1), (1.times.2), (1.times.4), (2.times.1),
(2.times.2), (2.times.4), (4.times.1), (4.times.2), (4.times.4),
(8.times.1), (8.times.2) and (8.times.4) may be derived.
[0223] When 16 AEs (4.times.4) are provided, 9 AS combinations of
(1.times.1), (1.times.2), (1.times.4), (2.times.1), (2.times.2),
(2.times.4), (4.times.1), (4.times.2) and (4.times.4) may be
derived.
[0224] When multiple ASs are configured, various beam patterns may
be created by configuring the sets constituting the respective ASs
differently. In this case, diversity of analog beamforming may be
obtained, but there may be corresponding restrictions. When BF
weights suitable for subgroups are calculated, weights suitable for
the respective subgroups need to be discovered. If this operation
is performed at the UE side, calculation complexity as well as
reporting overhead may increase. In addition, when digital
beamforming is performed to synthesize beams created by analog
beamforming, performance is likely to be degraded due to gain
imbalance between beams having different beamforming gains of
analog beamforming. Accordingly, sets constituting respective ASs
are preferably configured identically in a minimum unit for digital
beamforming.
[0225] A first method according to Embodiment 2-1 is to apply the
same subgrouping pattern to at least one antenna subgroup. The same
subgrouping pattern may be applied to all antenna subgroups.
[0226] If the same subgrouping pattern is applied to antenna
subgroups, complexity of calculation of a precoding weight for
analog beamforming may be reduced. In addition, if antenna
subgroups use analog beamforming precoding weights having the same
phase increment/amplitude increment, complexity of calculation for
beamforming and reporting overhead may be reduced.
[0227] A second method according to Embodiment 2-1 is to apply
analog beamforming precoding weights having the same phase
increment/amplitude increment to at least one of antenna subgroups
to which the same subgrouping pattern is applied. Further, analog
beamforming precoding weights having the same phase
increment/amplitude increment may be applied to all antenna
subgroups to which the same subgrouping pattern is applied.
[0228] Different subgrouping patterns may be applied to an AS
according to time. Change of a subgrouping pattern means change of
a channel state. In view of a temporal relationship between
measurement of a channel and application of a pattern, a
subgrouping pattern is preferably maintained at least for a
duration in which CSI is reported and used for data transmission.
For example, when the CSI reporting period is 5 ms, a subgrouping
pattern is maintained for at least 10 ms.
[0229] As a method to dynamically change various subgrouping
patterns, a time duration for which multiple subgrouping patterns
are applied may be defined as a time set. In this case, the time
set is maintained for at least one period of reporting. For
example, M subgrouping patterns may be applied such that the
patterns are dynamically changed for N time units, and a
subgrouping pattern is maintained for a minimum time (e.g., a time
interval of 10 subframes) which is taken to perform dynamic change
of the patterns.
[0230] A third method according to Embodiment 2-1 is to apply the
same subgrouping method to a selected antenna subgroup pattern for
a certain time.
[0231] Information about subgroups may be provided through higher
layer signaling. For example, the information may be provided
through RRC signaling. This information may be UE-specific
information or cell-specific information. A few candidate
techniques may be configured as subgrouping techniques and one of
the techniques may be designated using an indicator. The
subgrouping technique designated by the indicator may be equally
applied to one or more antenna subgroups.
[0232] A fourth method according to Embodiment 3 is to signal
information about the subgroups to the UE through higher
information.
Embodiment 2-2
[0233] Embodiment 2-2 relates to configuring an antenna subgroup as
a block to generate an independent channel for signal
transmission.
[0234] In relation to signals generated in a baseband (BB), an AS
may be defined as a block to create an independent channel over
which some of multiple signal sequences generated in the baseband
are transmittable. For example, suppose that there are N ASs which
form K analog beams, and M independent signal sequences are
generated in the baseband and converted into analog signals through
a digital-analog-converter (DAC). In this case, the M analog
signals are transmitted through K*N analog beams.
[0235] A method to measure a channel and discover a precoding
weight changes according to configuration of antenna subgroups or
the number of beams transmitted from a subgroup. If the UE measures
channels of antenna elements and discovers and reports analog
beamforming precoding weights suitable for the respective
subgroups, the UE discovers and reports weights suitable for a
pattern of subgroups. To this end, a weight set to be used for the
respective subgroups may be defined. For example, different weights
need to be applied to configurations 4.times.2 and 2.times.2.
[0236] That is, a weight set varies according to antenna subgroup
configurations. Further, when the UE measures a channel and
discovers and reports a proper weight, the UE may discover a weight
for the employed antenna subgrouping. In addition, a weight set for
antenna subgrouping may be indicated or may be defined, tied with
an antenna subgrouping pattern.
Embodiment 3
[0237] Embodiment 3 of the present invention relates to CSI for
hybrid beamforming.
[0238] Specifically, in Embodiment 3, a description will be given
of a method for reporting a channel state to support hybrid
beamforming through which digital beamforming is performed after
analog beamforming.
[0239] As a coarse beam, a beam having a broad width is used and
directed in an approximate spatial direction. On the other hand, a
fine beam employs a sharp beam which may be accurately directed to
the position of a user. For example, when beamforming using 2 Tx
antennas is compared with beamforming using 16 Tx antennas, a beam
from the 2 Tx antennas has a greater width than a beam from the 16
Tx antennas. In addition, when a 3 dB beamwidth point is defined as
a point to which different beams are directed, spacing between the
beams is wider in the case of beamforming with 16 Tx antennas than
in the case of beamforming with 2 Tx antennas. When variable
beamforming is performed, the beamforming weight varies according
to channel state. The beamforming weight for the coarse beam is
less sensitive to change of the channel state than the beamforming
weight for the fine beam.
[0240] For analog beamforming, the beamforming resolution may be
determined by properties of elements such as a phase shifter and a
power amplifier. Although it is possible to perform adaptive
beamforming according to the situation of a UE, precise beamforming
is limited due to limits of the elements. Accordingly, analog
beamforming is proper for generation of a coarse beam.
[0241] On the other hand, digital beamforming is proper for
generation of a fine beam because a degree of freedom for
adjustment of the phase and amplitude in various ranges in the
baseband is provided.
[0242] A first feature of channel state reporting according to the
present invention is that CSI for analog beamforming is reported in
a long interval/wideband. On the other hand, CSI for digital
beamforming is reported with a periodicity shorter than or equal to
the periodicity of reporting of the CSI for analog beamforming. In
addition, the CSI for digital beamforming may be reported in a
wideband or subband.
[0243] When a UE selects and reports a precoding weight for analog
beamforming, information about the weight for analog beamforming is
intermittently reported using a small number of bits, but
robustness to reporting is important since precoding to be used for
later transmission is determined based on the reported weight. As a
method to robustly report information about analog beamforming, a
very low MCS may be used, or CRC may be added to the information to
check presence or absence of an error. As a transmission resource
for reporting of the information, an uplink control channel or a
part of the uplink data channel may be used. When the uplink
control channel is used, the information may be transmitted at a
low coding rate through QPSK modulation. In this case, the
precoding weight for analog beamforming is coded and transmitted
separately from feedback information such as other CSI or hybrid
ARQ A/N and information such as an SRS request.
[0244] A specific indicator may be defined for precoding weight
information for analog beamforming, and indicate a value reflecting
spatial information about the horizontal domain or vertical
domain.
[0245] The second feature of channel state reporting according to
the present invention is that the precoding weight information for
analog beamforming is measured and reported by the UE. This
information may be reported through the uplink control channel or a
part of the uplink data shared channel.
[0246] The CSI for analog beamforming and the CSI for digital
beamforming are distinguished by the types thereof and reported at
different times. For example, the CSI for analog beamforming is
reported in a long interval. On the other hand, the CSI for digital
beamforming is reported in a short interval.
[0247] The CSI for analog beamforming may be acquired through
reporting from the UE or may be acquired using a signal (e.g., SRS)
transmitted on uplink. What is important is that precoding used for
analog beamforming is applied for a period longer than the period
of application of digital beamforming. In this case, the CSI for
digital beamforming may be acquired by defining a channel
established by analog beamforming as an antenna port. In addition,
the CSI acquired in this manner is reported through an uplink
control channel or an uplink shared channel.
[0248] A third feature of channel state reporting according to the
present invention is that a channel established by analog
beamforming is defined as an antenna port, and a reference signal
for the antenna port is used to measure the channel to calculate
CSI for performing digital beamforming. The CSI for digital
beamforming is reported through an uplink control channel or a
uplink shared channel.
[0249] Information about measurement and reporting of the CSI for
digital beamforming is determined according to a beam pattern
selected by analog beamforming. The number of beams generated
through analog beamforming is variable. In addition, when N beams
are generated, synthesized channels are changed if the beamforming
weight changes.
[0250] For example, when N beams are transmitted through analog
beamforming, channels of N antenna ports are measured for digital
beamforming, and elements are selected from a precoding matrix for
the N antenna ports and reported.
[0251] In addition, when the precoding weight generated through
analog beamforming is variable, multiple channels need to be
measured for digital beamforming. In this case, a message of
multiple reference signal transmission indications (including the
number of antenna ports and frequency/time/code resource allocation
information) is delivered to the UE.
[0252] In addition, when the number of beams generated through
analog beamforming is variable, the number of antenna ports on
which channels need to be measured for digital beamforming is also
variable. In this case, a message of multiple reference signal
transmission indications (including the number of antenna ports and
frequency/time/code resource allocation information) is delivered
to the UE.
[0253] A fourth feature of channel state reporting according to the
present invention is that channel state measurement and reporting
information for digital beamforming are determined according to a
beamforming method for analog beamforming.
[0254] CSI for performing digital beamforming is calculated by
measuring a channel from a reference signal corresponding to an
antenna port which is transmitted according to a beam pattern
selected by analog beamforming. CSI feedback for digital
beamforming is defined in the PUSCH/PUCCH reporting mode.
[0255] In addition, a codebook for performing digital beamforming
may change according to a beam pattern selected by analog
beamforming.
[0256] In hybrid beamforming, analog beamforming and digital
beamforming are performed simultaneously. A radiation pattern
generated by analog beamforming determines signal transmission
coverage. In a multi-antenna system using the AAS, a degree of
freedom for adjusting the tilting angle of the antenna through
analog beamforming is given. If the tilting angle is adaptively
changed according to distribution of users in a cell, improvement
of system performance and energy efficiency may be expected. A
method for performing analog beamforming adaptive to users in a
cell will be described below. Beamforming may be determined by the
BS based on channel information measured and reported by the UE, or
may be determined by the BS according to an uplink signal measured
by the BS.
[0257] First, a description will be given of determination of
beamforming based on channel information measured by the UE.
[0258] In the legacy multi-antenna system, the BS performs fixed
analog beamforming, and thus the UE reports only one value of RSRP
measurement. If the BS has multiple beamforming patterns, a method
for selecting a beamforming pattern suitable for data transmission
is needed.
[0259] As a first method, the BS generates multiple analog beams,
and the UE measures a synthesized channel generated by beamforming
and reports the same to the BS.
[0260] For example, channel information that the UE needs to
measure is designated with an antenna port, and RSRP measurement is
performed on multiple antenna ports. Multiple pieces of RSRP
information measured by the UE are reported over a relevant
reporting channel. In this case, the RSRP information may be
reported along with information related to the antenna port. In
addition, as a method to compress the size of the information, only
some RSRPs in the information measured by the UE may be reported.
In this case, RSRP information and a relevant indicator are
reported together. For example, antenna port indexes may be
arranged in order, and a bit flag of one antenna port selected from
a bit string may be turned on.
[0261] As another example, channel information that the UE needs to
measure is designated with an antenna port, and RSRP measurement is
performed on one antenna port. In this case, a unit in which the
measurement is performed may be defined as a time unit. For
example, a time unit in which measurement is to be performed is
designated through a higher layer signal, and the measured
information is reported in the time unit. Herein, multiple time
units may be configured. The measured information is reported in a
reporting order determined according to respective time units. When
multiple pieces of information are reported simultaneously, the
ordering of the pieces of information may be designated. In
reporting the information on individual resources, the information
may be configured for each of the resources.
[0262] As a second method, the UE synthesizes channels using an
agreed analog beamforming set, and measures and reports the
synthesized channels to the BS.
[0263] For example, the BS transmits an RS for an antenna element
on which analog beamforming is not performed. The BS signals a set
for performing analog beamforming to the UE and the UE combines the
antenna element with a beamforming weight using the indicated set.
Then, RSRP measurement is performed based on the synthesized
channels. The UE may report all measured channel information to the
BS. Alternatively, the UE may report only some set information
preferred by the UE in order to compress the information.
[0264] In addition, the aforementioned methods may be performed
according to an instruction from the BS or the capability of the
UE. There may be a UE supporting the aforementioned method and a UE
which does not support the method. The UEs report the capabilities
thereof to the BS. The BS may instruct the UE having a capability
to use the aforementioned reporting method. The UE may perform a
new measurement method according to an indicator of the BS.
[0265] As a third method, the BS performs the measurement and
determination operations. Specifically, the BS measures channel
states through an uplink signal, and determines a weight for analog
beamforming for downlink signal transmission.
[0266] The BS may determine the weight for analog beamforming
through the receive terminal. This operation may be implemented by
a hardware structure or signal processing method for uplink signal
processing in various manners. When multiple UEs transmit signals
simultaneously, the received signals include signals and channels
which serve various purposes. Among the signals, a reference signal
for channel measurement is distinctively used to perform channel
measurement for uplink transmission.
[0267] For example, when an analog-beamformed signal received on
uplink is used, an analog beamforming weight is determined using a
reference signal for data transmission. The reference signal for
data transmission has undergone digital beamforming. Accordingly,
various analog beamforming operations may be performed to discover
an optimum analog beamforming value. Reference signals for data
transmission of a user are extracted from multiple
analog-beamformed signals. Channel states of the multiple
analog-beamformed reference signals for data transmission are
measured, and an analog beamforming weight is selected based on the
measured channel states.
[0268] As another example, received signals for respective antenna
elements may be collected on uplink to determine a weight for
performing analog beamforming. In this case, a reference signal for
channel state measurement of the UE may be extracted from the
received signals.
[0269] An analog beamforming weight for downlink transmission is
determined based on the analog beamforming weights selected through
the foregoing examples. The analog beamforming weight for downlink
transmission may change in a time unit. The synthesized downlink
channel also changes according to the weight changing in the time
unit, and a corresponding RSRP measurement method is required. The
BS may designate a time unit in which RSRP measurement is performed
for the UE.
Embodiment 4
[0270] Embodiment 4 of the present invention relates to a method
for compensating a phase difference between narrowbands.
[0271] When analog beamforming is used, an undesired beam is
transmitted due to a phase difference between a high frequency and
a low frequency which occurs in wideband transmission.
[0272] Analog beamforming is basically synchronizing phases of
signals in a desired direction by differing times to transmit (or
receive) the signals according to the direction in which the
signals are transmitted (or received) with respect to an array of
multiple antennas. Since the phase of a sine wave varies with time,
transmission (or reception) delay may mean that the phase of a
signal is changed. The phase change according to transmission (or
reception) delay varies according to the frequency used for
transmission (or reception). In the same delay situation, a small
phase change occurs at a low frequency, while a large phase change
occurs at a high frequency.
[0273] For analog beamforming, multiplication with a weight is
performed in the analog domain to perform multi-antenna
transmission or reception. That is, a beamforming weight is
constantly used in a transmission band. If the transmission band is
narrow, the difference in phase change between a high frequency and
a low frequency is small within the band. However, if the
transmission band is wide, the difference may be large. In
addition, if the central frequency used for transmission is low
when the same transmission band is used, difference in phase change
is small within the transmission band. If the central frequency is
high, the difference may be large.
[0274] Hybrid beamforming is likely to be used for wideband
transmission or high frequency band transmission.
[0275] In the case of high-frequency transmission, for example, the
legacy cellular system (e.g., LTA) is designed to perform
transmission mainly in a band around 2 GHz with a maximum bandwidth
of 20 MHz, but transmission in a higher band (around, for example,
3.5 GHz, 5 GHz, etc.) is recently under discussion.
[0276] In addition, to increase the transmission capacity,
high-frequency wideband transmission, for which a wide frequency
band may be secured, is attempted. Among the bands higher than or
equal to 5 GHz, the bands around 10 GHz, 28 GHz and 60 GHz have
been proposed as frequency bands for future generation wideband
mobile communication.
[0277] Introduction of massive MIMO to the aforementioned wideband
and high-frequency band transmission situations is under
discussion. In addition, as a method to simplify implementation of
massive MIMO, hybrid beamforming is likely to be introduced. The
phase difference between frequency bands which occurs when analog
beamforming is applied to wideband transmission is a challenge that
needs to be overcome to improve performance of hybrid
beamforming.
[0278] The basic principle of beamforming is that transmitted and
received signals are caused to have the same phase through linear
phase rotation between antennas to obtain maximum gain when the
signals are synthesized. The value of linear phase rotation to be
adopted between antennas varies among bands. If one representative
value of phase rotation is applied to wideband transmission,
maximum gain may be not be obtained when the signals are
synthesized because of the difference between the representative
value and the linear phase values that should be applied to the
antennas according to the bands. In an extreme case, sympathies of
signals may result in attenuation of the signal amplitude depending
on the amount of phase change. Beam direction mismatch according to
phase difference may occur more sensitively as the beam becomes
sharp. On the other hand, for a broad beam, beam direction mismatch
according to phase difference may occur less sensitively. In
massive MIMO, energies are combined using many antennas, and thus
extremely sharp beams may be generated. Accordingly, beam direction
mismatch according to phase difference occurs sensitively in
massive MIMO.
[0279] A cause of the phase difference and corresponding
sensitivity are described below. When the same phase rotation is
applied to a wideband, a phase difference is produced. Herein, as
the beamwidth decreases, the sensitivity increases. On the other
hand, if the same phase is applied to a narrowband, a small phase
difference is produced. In addition, as the beam becomes broad,
sensitivity to phase difference is lowered.
[0280] In this embodiment, it is proposed that a broad beam be
generated in the analog domain and phase rotation be applied to a
narrowband in the digital domain. To this end, this embodiment
proposes an antenna configuration method and a method for
configuring and applying a precoder of a digital beamformer.
Embodiment 4-1
[0281] Embodiment 4-1 relates to generation of a broad beam in the
analog domain and application of phase rotation to a narrowband in
the digital domain.
[0282] According to the method of Embodiment 4-1, broad beams are
generated by reducing the number of elements for performing
beamforming in the analog domain. Thereby, sensitivity to change in
the beam direction according to the phase change is lowered. In
addition, phase differences among the antenna elements are averaged
on a synthesized channel, a sharp beam is formed in a desired
direction by applying digital beamforming to synthesized channels
containing the average phase difference.
Embodiment 4-2
[0283] Embodiment 4-2 relates to the structure of an antenna array.
Specifically, antenna subgrouping is performed on a row or column
having two or more antenna elements.
[0284] Analog beamforming changes the phase and amplitude for
antenna elements.
[0285] Antenna elements may be grouped into subgroups, and analog
beamforming may be performed for each subgroup. To generate an
analog beam having a broad beamwidth, analog beamforming is
performed using a small number of antenna elements. To this end,
two or more antenna subgroups are configured.
[0286] FIG. 26 illustrates an exemplary structure of an antenna
array according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0287] Referring to FIG. 26, when 10 antenna elements are arranged
in a row, two subgroups may be configured by grouping every five
antenna elements into one subgroup. In this case, two beams having
a beamwidth greater than the beamwidth produced using 10 antenna
elements are formed. A beam generated by each subgroup is more
robust to phase error than the beams of the 10 antenna
elements.
[0288] FIG. 27 illustrates another exemplary structure of an
antenna array according to an embodiment of the present
invention.
[0289] Referring to FIG. 27, if 20 antenna elements are arranged
such that each row has 10 antenna elements (10.times.2), and every
5 antenna elements are grouped into one subgroup, each row may have
two subgroups and thus four subgroups may be configured.
Embodiment 4-3
[0290] Embodiment 4-3 relates to a method for compensating phase
difference between narrowbands which occurs when analog beamforming
is applied to a wideband. Specifically, a method for applying
beamforming weights having the same amount of phase change to the
respective elements may be used.
[0291] For example, in the case of FIG. 26 where 5 antenna elements
from the same row are grouped into one subgroup, when precoding
weights applied to the 5 antenna elements in the subgroup are
defined as W=[W0 W1 W2 W3 W4], a beamforming weight W having the
same phase change is applied to each subgroup. W1 and W2 are
defined as follows.
W1=[1expj(.alpha.)expj(2.alpha.)expj(3.alpha.)expj(4.alpha.)],
W2=[expj(.beta.)expj(.beta.)*expj(.alpha.)expj(.beta.)*expj(2.alpha.)exp-
j(.beta.)*expj(3.alpha.)xpj(.beta.)*expj(4.alpha.)]
[0292] W1 and W2 have the same amount of phase change of precoding
weights applied to the respective elements as expj(.alpha.).
[0293] In addition, when each row is configured by two subgroups in
the example of FIG. 27, weights having the same amount of phase
change for the respective elements may be applied to subgroups 1,
2, 3 and 4. W1 to W4 are defined as follows.
W1=[1expj(.alpha.)expj(2.alpha.)expj(3.alpha.)expj(4.alpha.)]
W2=[expj(.beta.)expj(.beta.+a)expj(.beta.+2.alpha.)expj(.beta.+3.alpha.)-
expj(.beta.+4.alpha.)]
W3=[expj(.gamma.)expj(.gamma.+.alpha.)expj(.gamma.+2.alpha.)expj(.gamma.-
+3.alpha.)expj(.gamma.+4.alpha.)]
W4=[expj(.gamma.+.beta.)expj(.gamma.+.beta.+.alpha.)expj(.gamma.+.beta.+-
2.alpha.)expj(.gamma.+.beta.+3.alpha.)expj(.gamma.+.beta.+4.alpha.)]
[0294] The elements of Wn have the same amount of phase change as
expj(.alpha.). In addition, elements from different rows which are
in the same column have the same amount of phase change as
expj(.gamma.) (W1(1)=1, W3(1)=expj(.gamma.)),
(W2(4)=expj(.beta.+4.alpha.),
W4(4)=expj(.gamma.+.beta.+4.alpha.)).
Embodiment 4-4
[0295] In Embodiment 4-4, performing digital beamforming per
narrowband is described.
[0296] A new channel is established in a subgroup through an analog
beam. There may be a phase difference between channels generated in
the respective subgroups. The phase difference is compensated for
using a precoder of the digital domain. Channels may change
significantly, correlation between channels of the subgroups may be
low, or the phase difference between channels of the samples may
change according to narrowbands if the transmission band is wide.
The digital beamformer serves to compensate for the phase
difference between the subgroups, and performs precoding in the
digital domain on the narrowband basis.
[0297] For example, when a channel of Subband k generated by analog
beamforming of Subgroup n is Ch n(k), suppose that the phase of Ch
n(k) is .angle.Ch n(k).
[0298] The phase difference between Ch1(1) of Subgroup1 and Ch2(1)
of Subgroup2 in Subband 1 is defined as
a=.angle.Ch1(1)-.angle.Ch2(1), and the phase difference between
Ch1(2) of Subgroup1 and Ch2(2) of Subgroup2 in Subband 2 is defined
as b=.angle.Ch1(2)-.angle.Ch2(2). If the difference between the
subbands is large, the channels of the subbands are independent of
each other, and the phase differences a and b for the respective
subbands have different values. By performing precoding for each
subband, the phase difference caused by analog beamforming is
compensated for.
[0299] When it is assumed that correlation between antennas is
significantly high, channels of the respective antenna elements are
approximated with linear phase change. The difference in the amount
of phase change between the antenna elements of the channels of
subbands 1 and 2 is 2.delta., the channels of Subbands 1 and 2 may
be expressed as follows.
H ( 1 ) = [ H 1 ( 1 ) H 2 ( 1 ) ] = H ( 1 ) .times. [ 1 exp j (
.alpha. - .delta. ) exp j ( 2 .alpha. - 2 .delta. ) exp j ( 3
.alpha. - 3 .delta. ) exp j ( 4 .alpha. - 4 .delta. ) exp j ( 5
.alpha. - 5 .delta. ) exp j ( 6 .alpha. - 6 .delta. ) exp j ( 7
.alpha. - 7 .delta. ) exp j ( 8 .alpha. - 862 .delta. ) exp j ( 9
.alpha. - 9 .delta. ) ] ##EQU00005## H ( 2 ) = [ H 1 ( 2 ) H 2 ( 2
) ] = H ( 2 ) .times. [ 1 exp j ( .alpha. - .delta. ) exp j ( 2
.alpha. - 2 .delta. ) exp j ( 3 .alpha. - 3 .delta. ) exp j ( 4
.alpha. - 4 .delta. ) exp j ( 5 .alpha. - 5 .delta. ) exp j ( 6
.alpha. - 6 .delta. ) exp j ( 7 .alpha. - 7 .delta. ) exp j ( 8
.alpha. - 862 .delta. ) exp j ( 9 .alpha. - 9 .delta. ) ]
##EQU00005.2##
[0300] When precoding weights having phase increased by
expj(.alpha.) are applied to the two subgroups, the following
equations are used.
W1=[expj(.alpha.)expj(2.alpha.)expj(3.alpha.)expj(4.alpha.)]
W2=[expj(.beta.)expj(.beta.+.alpha.)expj(.beta.+2.alpha.)expj(.beta.+3.a-
lpha.)expj(.beta.+4.alpha.)]
[0301] Using the precoding weights above, the following synthesized
channels may be obtained.
Heq ( 1 ) = [ Heq 1 ( 1 ) Heq 2 ( 1 ) ] = [ H 1 ( 1 ) W 1 H H 2 ( 1
) W 2 H ] = 5 H ( 1 ) exp j ( - 2 .delta. ) [ 1 exp j ( - 5 .delta.
) ] Heq ( 2 ) = [ Heq 1 ( 2 ) Heq 2 ( 2 ) ] = [ H 1 ( 2 ) W 1 H H 2
( 2 ) W 2 H ] = 5 H ( 2 ) exp j ( 2 .delta. ) [ 1 exp j ( 5 .delta.
) ] ##EQU00006##
[0302] The digital beamformer compensates for the phase difference
between the subgroups. If the correlation between the antenna
elements is low or the antenna elements are far from each other,
the antenna elements have independent channels. In this case, when
the channels are synthesized through beamforming, the amount of
phase change on the antenna elements does not increase
linearly.
Embodiment 4-5
[0303] Embodiment 4-5 relates to a method for reporting channel
states to support digital beamforming.
[0304] To support downlink digital beamforming, CSI needs to be
reported. Methods for reporting the CSI may include implicit
feedback of reporting an agreed index value (e.g., Rank
Indication/Precoding Matrix Indication/Channel Quality Indication,
etc.) into which the CSI is converted and explicit feedback of
directly reporting the channel. In both cases, channel information
measured on the narrowband basis is reported to the BS. Herein, the
channel information refers to CSI estimated based on information
about channels synthesized by analog beamforming for each
subgroup.
[0305] The UE may estimate channel states of antenna elements of a
subgroup, and discover and report a weight proper for beamforming.
In this case, the UE reports a beamforming weight to be applied to
the subgroup to the BS. The beamforming weight is selected and
reported on the assumption that the beamforming weight is applied
to the transmission bandwidths in common.
Embodiment 5
[0306] Embodiment 5 relates to a method for transmitting a training
sequence for analog BF in hybrid BF.
[0307] To perform downlink beamforming, the BS needs to acquire
downlink channel information. To this end, (1) the UE may measure
and report a downlink channel, or (2) the BS may measure an uplink
channel and use the same for downlink transmission. In this
embodiment, a description will be given of a reference signal
transmission method and physical signal structure which are used
for the UE to measure a downlink channel in downlink hybrid
beamforming.
[0308] A reference signal for the digital beamforming technique is
designed such that orthogonal resources (frequencies, times, codes,
etc.) are allocated to the antenna ports to acquire channel
information about the respective antenna ports.
[0309] However, the reference signal defined for the antenna ports
is not proper for the operation of distinguishing and estimating
channels of antenna elements. For example, when N antenna ports are
mapped to N TRXs, and each TRX performs transmission through M
antenna elements, an orthogonal resource allocated to one antenna
port is transmitted through M antenna elements, and the receive
terminal synthesizes the signals of the M antenna elements and
receives the same as a signal of one antenna port.
[0310] That is, if a reference signal allocated to estimate
channels of antenna ports is used, a channel created by synthesized
signals of multiple antenna elements is estimated, and thus the M
antenna elements are undistinguishable from each other.
Accordingly, to estimate the channels of antenna elements, a new
method for transmitting a reference signal needs to be
introduced.
[0311] Hereinafter, a description will be given of a method for
transmitting downlink reference signals according to the present
invention.
[0312] As a first method for transmitting reference signals for
antenna elements in the digital domain, antenna element specific
resources are allocated. This method may be used for simultaneous
transmission or transmission at different times. In this case, the
phase of the reference signals for antenna elements may be reversed
in consideration of analog beamforming.
[0313] As a second method for transmitting a reference signal for
antenna elements in the digital domain, beam specific resources may
be allocated.
[0314] As a third method for transmitting reference signals for
antenna elements in the analog domain, a reference signal generator
may generate a reference signal sequence and synthesize the same
with a signal generated from a TRX. FIG. 28 illustrates an
exemplary structure of the reference signal generator according to
an embodiment of the present invention.
[0315] Referring to FIG. 28, when TRXs are mapped to independent
antenna elements, resources (n.times.M) distinguished by antenna
elements may be used. Alternatively, when TRXs are mapped to
independent antenna elements, resources (M resources)
distinguishing among M elements may be used. When signal
transmissions are performed simultaneously in the time domain,
reference signals may be synthesized and transmitted using antenna
switching.
[0316] If the channel of an antenna element mapped to a single TRX
is estimated, channels of the respective antenna elements may be
estimated.
[0317] For example, training sequences are transmitted according to
the respective antenna elements. Regarding the physical structure,
a block to generate reference signals distinguished from signals
transmitted from the TRXs is used.
[0318] Herein, the sequences represent orthogonal sequences for the
antenna elements. When the sequences are transmitted at the same
time, they may be distinguished by frequency resources/code
resources. In addition, a sequence may be transmitted together with
a data signal.
[0319] An antenna port refers to a signal synthesized by analog
beamforming, and an antenna element refers to a unit forming the
basis of analog beamforming. To select a beamforming weight for
performing analog beamforming, channel measurement on the antenna
elements is required. To acquire spatial information about the
antenna elements, various reference signal transmitting methods may
be used. Reference signals for the antenna elements may be
transmitted in the digital domain or analog domain.
Embodiment 5-1
[0320] According to Embodiment 5-1, when a reference signal is
transmitted in the digital domain, analog beamforming is not
performed for a duration of transmission of the reference signal.
To this end, a specific resource is allocated to each antenna
element. Herein, the resource refers to a time, a frequency, a
code, or the like.
[0321] For example, reference signals may be configured to be
transmitted at different times for respective antenna elements.
When a reference signal is transmitted in the digital domain, time
taken for the transmission is at least one OFDM symbol duration. A
reference signal for one antenna element is transmitted for one
OFDM symbol duration, and a reference signal for another antenna
element is transmitted for the next time duration.
[0322] A signal branching into the respective antenna elements is
generated by one TRX. If the same signal is transmitted from the
respective elements at the same time, it is difficult for the
receive terminal to acquire reference signals corresponding to the
respective antenna elements. As a method for distinguishing between
the reference signals for the respective antenna elements in
transmitting the signals, turning on/off antennas may be performed.
For example, a signal to be transmitted from an antenna element may
be amplified or attenuated by reducing gain of the power amplifier
of the antenna element. At a specific time, the PA of one antenna
element is amplified, while the PAs of the other antenna elements
are attenuated. This operation is performed for the respective
antenna elements in rotation. Even if the same reference signal is
transmitted from the antenna elements, only one antenna may be
caused to transmit the reference signal by turning on/off the
antenna elements.
[0323] As another example, reference signals may be transmitted at
times agreed upon among the antenna elements to prevent the
reference signals from being synthesized. Considering antenna
subgroups, time orthogonal reference signal resources may be
allocated to the antenna elements contained in one antenna
subgroup, and frequency orthogonal resources or code resources may
be allocated to antenna elements from different antenna
subgroups.
[0324] Since the same reference signal is transmitted from the
respective antenna elements in one antenna subgroup, antenna
element transmissions are distinguished from each other by time. On
the other hand, subgroups are capable of generating independent
signals, and thus different reference signals may be transmitted
from the respective subgroups. Accordingly, reference signals
provided with different frequency orthogonal resources or code
resources may be allocated to the subgroups and transmitted.
Moreover, the reference signals may be transmitted by assigning
different time resources.
Embodiment 5-2
[0325] Embodiment 5-2 relates to a method for transmitting an
analog-beamformed reference signal when the reference signal is
transmitted in the digital domain. To this end, a specific resource
is allocated to each analog beam.
[0326] Transmitting an analog-beamformed reference signal means
that a reference signal for distinguishing an analog beamforming
weight set from the other possible analog beamforming weight sets
is allocated. Resource allocation may be configured to be performed
independently in a beamforming unit to allocate a reference signal
for distinguishing one beamforming operation from another. In this
case, complexity may be significantly lowered, compared to the
complexity obtained when a precoding weight for performing analog
beamforming is discovered by measuring channels for the respective
antenna elements.
Embodiment 5-3
[0327] Embodiment 5-3 relates to a method for transmitting
reference signals for antenna elements in the analog domain.
[0328] The reference signal generator as illustrated in FIG. 28
generates a reference signal sequence and synthesizes the same with
a signal generated from a TRX. In this case, the reference may be
allocated to an antenna element specific resource. For example,
when time orthogonal resources are allocated, the respective
antenna elements use independent time resources. In this case, a
time resource may be designed to have a length shorter than one
OFDM symbol. As another example, code resources may be allocated.
Different code resources may be used for the respective antenna
elements to distinguish between respective antenna channels. When a
ZC sequence is used, signals may be distinguished from each other
using different cyclic shift values.
[0329] If TRXs are mapped to independent antenna elements, N*M
resources distinguished by the antenna elements may be used. If a
reference signal is used to distinguish between signals of the
respective antenna elements in a TRX, an antenna element may be
shared between TRXs, and an antenna element resource may be
independently allocated in a TRX.
[0330] Training sequences allocated to the respective antenna
elements may be transmitted. In generating and transmitting a
signal in the analog domain, orthogonal resources distinguished by
time may be allocated to the respective antenna elements. In this
case, it may take a considerable time to estimate the channels of
the antenna elements for performing analog beamforming. In
addition, if a training sequence is transmitted at a time
distinguished from a time for which signals for data transmission
are transmitted, the time for data transmission may be shortened by
nature of analog signals, and thus system performance may be
degraded.
[0331] According to this embodiment, training sequences are
transmitted in the analog domain with the data transfer rate
maintained.
[0332] As a first method for this embodiment, a training sequence
for analog beamforming and an existing signal may be synthesized
and transmitted in the analog domain. These two signals are
synthesized in a superposition manner, and the synthesized signals
are transmitted simultaneously. The training sequence or the
existing signal is repeatedly transmitted, and covered by an
orthogonal code.
[0333] For example, the training sequence and the existing signal
are repeatedly transmitted and mapped to an orthogonal code cover.
A physical signal structure is shown below. h_n(t) denotes a
channel impulse response at time t. s_k(t) denotes a training
sequence transmitted through the k-th antenna element, and r_k(t)
denotes an existing signal transmitted through the k-th antenna
element. After N time units, the channel and the received signal
are expressed with t+N.
y(t)=h_k(t).quadrature.(s_k(t)+r_k(t))+n(t)
y(t+N)=h_k(t+N).quadrature.(s_k(t)-r_k(t))+n(t+N)
[0334] A signal for one OFDM symbol may be repeated over two OFDM
symbols. Alternatively, a signal may be repeatedly transmitted
within one OFDM symbol period.
[0335] Repetitive synthesis of signals in the analog domain may be
determined in association with a period for which a signal is
generated and repeated in the digital domain.
[0336] A desired signal may be restored from a signal synthesized
and transmitted as described above through simple
addition/subtraction.
y(t)+y(t+N)=h_k(t).quadrature.(s_k(t)+r_k(t))+n(t)+h_k(t+N).quadrature.(-
s_k(t)-r_k(t))+n(t+N)
[0337] When it is assumed that the channel undergoes little change,
it may be considered that h_k (t)=h_k (t+N), and thus the following
equation may be obtained.
y(t)+y(t+N)=h_k(t).quadrature.(s_k(t)+r(t)+s_k(t)-r_k(t))+n(t)+n(t+N)
[0338] If the existing signals transmitted through the respective
antenna elements are all mapped to r_n(t) and -r_n(t), and s_k(t)
is mapped to antenna elements, the following equation may be
obtained.
y(t)+y(t+N)=(h_l(t).quadrature.2(s_l(t)))+ . . .
+(h_k(t).quadrature.2(s_k(t))+n(t)+n(t+N)
[0339] That is, signals of the respective antenna elements may be
distinguished from each other using time orthogonal resources or
orthogonality of code resources.
Embodiment 6
[0340] Embodiment 6 relates to an uplink reference signal for
hybrid beamforming.
[0341] According to Embodiment 6, a training sequence is
transmitted to allow multiple users to select weight vectors for
downlink beamforming on UL.
[0342] Hereinafter, a description will be given of a method for
variably performing uplink reception analog beamforming.
[0343] For uplink reception analog beamforming, a BS selects a
beamforming weight proper for analog beamforming from a received
signal. To this end, the BS needs to have a function of selecting
an analog beamforming weight.
[0344] An analog beamforming weight selector selects a proper
beamforming vector by applying a beamforming weight vector for
analog beamforming to signals received from the respective antenna
elements. To this end, the BS may use signals transmitted from the
UE. PRACH, SRS, DMRS, PUSCH, and PUCCH may be possible
candidates.
[0345] Preferably, a precoding weight is selected using signals
obtained by performing time and frequency synchronization of
transmitting signals. This is because timing/frequency
synchronization affects precoding weight selection. Accordingly,
using PRACH is not desirable.
[0346] As a first example which is easy to implement, the SRS may
be used.
[0347] The SRS is used as information for acquiring CSI of a UE to
perform determination of MCS and transmission precoding for uplink
transmission and band allocation. In addition, the SRS is used as
information for determining downlink transmission precoding.
Channel information is acquired from the SRS to perform digital
beamforming. A channel estimated through the SRS is acquired
through signal processing in the digital domain.
[0348] The legacy SRS is transmitted through one OFDM symbol, and
frequency and code resources within the OFDM symbol are allocated
to acquire channels of multiple users and a multi-antenna channel
of a single user. The frequency resources are distinguished by
grouping subcarriers into a cluster (a set of contiguous
subcarriers), and the subcarriers within a frequency resource
distinguished by a cluster are divided in an interleaved manner
(using odd-numbered subcarriers or even-numbered subcarriers). In
the digital domain signal processing, multiple users may be
distinguished from each other through frequency allocation
performed with the aforementioned method.
[0349] However, even if resources distinguished by frequency are
used, it may be difficult to distinguish among synthesized
multi-user signals when the processing is performed in the time
domain. If the legacy SRS is used to distinguish signals of
multiple users from signals received for respective antenna
elements to perform analog beamforming, (1) a signal transmission
method for distinguishing signals of multiple users in the analog
domain or (2) a processor for performing analog beamforming by
distinguishing multi-user signals in the digital domain is
needed.
[0350] Hereinafter, a description will be given of a signal
transmission method for distinguishing multi-user signals in the
analog domain.
[0351] Analog beamforming serves to concentrate or suppress energy
of signals transmitted or received in a specific direction using a
transmit weight or receive weight for each antenna element. To
perform analog beamforming, a proper weight needs to be used for
antenna elements. The weight may be selected based on the CSI. The
CSI is measurable by the receive terminal, and may be used for
reception beamforming and transmission beamforming.
[0352] The BS may acquire CSI from an uplink signal transmitted
from the UE and calculate a weight for reception. This weight may
be used as a transmission beamforming weight after proper
calibration. In acquiring CSI through uplink signals transmitted by
the UE, interference between multiple users is a big issue.
[0353] In analog beamforming, an analog terminal acquires CSI by
training signals. Analog signals are processed in the time domain.
If multi-user signals are transmitted at the same time, the
multi-user signals are distinguished by orthogonality of
transmission sequences. In a system based on OFDMA or SC-FDMA,
users performing digital beamforming are assigned resources divided
in the frequency domain, and thus relatively many users may be
covered by digital beamforming. On the other hand, for analog
beamforming, training is attempted in the time domain, and thus it
is difficult to distinguish among users by using resources divided
by frequency in the time domain.
[0354] To address this issue, time domain resources may be divided
and transmitted through an uplink reference signal.
[0355] If N resources distinguished by frequency are usable to
transmit a signal within one OFDM symbol duration, it is assumed
that the capacity for distinguishing among multiple users is N. As
a simple method, one OFDM symbol period may be divided into N time
units and each time resource may be allocated to the UE to create
the number of orthogonal resources created by N frequency resources
in the time domain. However, if time resources simply divided by N
are used, signal distortion may occur due to the multi-path of a
spatial channel. Accordingly, even if a signal period is set to be
short, a proper guard time needs to be configured.
[0356] According to this embodiment, when multiple time resources
are divided within the existing OFDM symbol duration, each of the
divided time resources may have a guard time.
Embodiment 6-1
[0357] Embodiment 6-1 relates to a method for dividing multiple
time resources by designing a duration shorter than an OFDM symbol
duration. For example, when an OFDM symbol duration consists of
Nfft+Ncp samples, a short OFDM symbol duration may consist of
(Nfft+Ncp)/M samples. Alternatively, the short symbol duration may
consist of (Nfft/M)+(Ncp)' samples. That is, a signal having a
short duration corresponding to Nfft/M is generated, and a short
OFDM symbol of a short duration having about Ncp/M or (Ncp)'
samples is configured.
[0358] As a method to create this short OFDM symbol, the same
sampling frequency as used for the legacy OFDM symbol is used
(which is intended to maintain the same sampling time), and
subcarrier spacing is increased by M times. In a system having
subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, wide subcarrier spacing such as 30
kHz (M=2) or 60 kHz (M=4) may be adopted. M is a multiple of 2. If
subcarrier spacing corresponding to a multiple of 2 is used, the
waveform may be maintained without being distorted when the same
sampling time as used for the legacy OFDM symbol is used.
[0359] When 1024 FFT is performed on the conditions of subcarrier
spacing of 15 kHz, system bandwidth of 9 MHz, and guard frequency
of 6.36 MHz, an OFDM symbol having 1024 samples may be obtained in
the time domain. If 1/2 FFT (512) is performed by doubling the
subcarrier spacing (to 30 kHz) with the system bandwidth (9 MHz)
and the guard frequency (6.36 MHz) maintained, an OFDM symbol
having 512 samples in the time domain may be obtained. This symbol
has a duration exactly half the absolute time duration
(1024.times.Ts) of an OFDM symbol having the conventional
subcarrier spacing (15 kHz) since the same sampling time (Ts) is
used.
[0360] The UE generates an uplink reference signal by increasing
the subcarrier spacing at the same sampling frequency, converts the
generated reference signal into an analog signal through a DAC and
transmits the analog signal over an RF.
Embodiment 6-2
[0361] Embodiment 6-2 relates to designing a CP of a short period
in a signal having an OFDM symbol duration of a short period.
However, multiple users may be at different locations, and thus
undergo different path losses according to the locations.
Considering the different path losses of the multiple users, the CP
length applied to the legacy OFDM symbol is preferably used.
Embodiment 6-3
[0362] In the case of Embodiment 6-2, if multiple OFDM symbols
having a short period are arranged for the legacy OFDM period, the
multiple short OFDM symbols may become longer than the period of
the legacy OFDM symbol. FIG. 29 illustrates a case where multiple
short OFDM symbols become longer than one legacy OFDM symbol
period.
[0363] To address this issue, Embodiment 6-3 proposes that
transmission be performed with OFDM symbols overlapping each other.
When there are M signals having a short OFDM symbol period, the
signals are allocated to different users. FIG. 30 illustrates a
method for performing transmission with OFDM symbols overlapping
each other.
[0364] For example, suppose that the leading OFDM symbol of a short
period is allocated to user A, and the following OFDM symbol of the
short period is allocated to user B. User A transmits the leading
short OFDM symbol at the existing OFDM symbol transmission time,
and user B transmits the corresponding short OFDM symbol a little
earlier than the existing OFDM symbol transmission time. The
receive terminal may receive the short OFDM symbol transmitted by
user A at the reception start time of the existing OFDM symbols,
and receive the short OFDM symbol transmitted by user B at the last
time at which a legacy OFDM symbol is received.
[0365] The reference signal for performing analog beamforming is
utilized as a signal for acquiring approximate spatial information,
and accordingly sensitivity of performance of spatial information
acquisition is less affected by the reference signal when weak
interference occurs between signals. In addition, if the end part
of the leading OFDM symbol overlaps the CP of the following signal,
the BS may minimize interference between symbols by configuring a
proper time window.
Embodiment 6-4
[0366] A training sequence for performing analog beamforming is
configured with an OFDM symbol of a short period. In this case,
sequences (e.g., ZC sequences) having similar correlation
properties may be used in the frequency and time domain as
sequences mapped to the respective subcarriers. Signals generated
by mapping such sequences have similar properties in the frequency
domain and time domain, and are thus advantageous for the
de-spreading operation performed in the time domain.
Embodiment 6-5
[0367] Embodiment 6-5 relates to a method for transmitting a
reference signal or training sequence for analog beamforming at a
time different from the time interval for transmission of an
existing signal.
[0368] The time for which a training sequence is transmitted may be
set according to an indicator delivered from the BS to the UE. The
BS may indicate the transmission period of training sequences that
the UEs need to transmit, different from the transmission periods
of the other signals. For example, the training sequences may be
configured to be transmitted at times different from the
transmission period of the legacy SRS.
[0369] The UE does not transmit other signals at a time when a
training sequence is transmitted. For example, if a data signal, an
RACH or a control signal to be transmitted is triggered at a time
to transmit a training sequence, transmission of the training
sequence is prioritized.
Embodiment 6-6
[0370] Embodiment 6-6 relates to a method for performing analog
beamforming by distinguishing multi-user signals in the digital
domain.
[0371] As a first method, in the case where analog beamforming is
performed by distinguishing multi-user signals in the digital
domain, a block capable of purely extracting signals from antenna
elements and performing digital processing of the signals is
designed, and a weight for analog beamforming is determined based
on the channels estimated for the respective antenna elements.
[0372] The UE transmits reference signals according to an
instruction from the BS. The BS converts the signals received from
the respective antenna elements into digital signals, and extracts
reference signals from the digital signals. Analog beamforming is
performed based on the channel states of the respective antenna
elements acquired from the reference signals.
[0373] Such block is distinguished from a block for data
demodulation. While data demodulation is performed based on a
signal obtained after reception analog beamforming, the block for
acquiring CSI performs signal processing based on signals directly
extracted from the antenna elements.
[0374] As a second method, reference signals having undergone
multiple analog beamforming operations are collected to determine a
weight for performing analog beamforming.
[0375] When there are multiple signals for which analog beamforming
has been performed with multiple beamforming weights, reference
signals are extracted from the signals on which multiple analog
beamforming operations have been performed. Signals transmitted
from individual users are subjected to multiple analog beamforming
operations, and reference signals of the corresponding users are
extracted from the signals having undergone the multiple analog
beamforming operations.
[0376] Signal strengths of the extracted reference signals are
measured and compared according to an analog beamforming value. A
proper analog beamforming weight is determined through comparison
of the signal strengths. In the same manner, analog beamforming
weight selection is attempted for many users, and selected
beamforming weight values are stored. Users for which the same
weight is selected are grouped into one group and this information
is utilized in receiving and transmitting data.
[0377] FIG. 31 illustrates a BS and a UE which are applicable to an
embodiment of the present invention.
[0378] When a wireless communication system includes a delay,
communication on the backhaul link is performed between a BS and
the relay, and communication on the access link is performed
between the relay and the UE. Accordingly, the BS or the UE shown
in the figure may be replaced by the relay depending on the
situation.
[0379] Referring to FIG. 31, a wireless communication system
includes a BS 3110 and a UE 3120. The BS 3110 includes a processor
3113, a memory 3114 and radio frequency (RF) units 3111 and 3112.
The processor 3113 may be configured to implement the procedures
and/or methods proposed in the present invention. The memory 3114
is connected to the processor 3113 and stores various kinds of
information related to operation of the processor 3113. The RF unit
3116 is connected to the processor 3113 and transmits and/or
receives radio signals. The UE 3120 includes a processor 3123, a
memory 3124 and RF units 3121 and 3122. The processor 3123 may be
configured to implement the procedures and/or methods proposed in
the present invention. The memory 3124 is connected to the
processor 3123 and stores various kinds of information related to
operation of the processor 3113. The RF units 3121 and 3122 are
connected to the processor 3123 and transmit and/or receive radio
signals. The BS 3110 and/or the UE 3120 may have a single antenna
or multiple antennas.
[0380] The embodiments described above are constructed by combining
elements and features of the present invention in a predetermined
form. The elements or features should be considered selective
unless explicitly mentioned otherwise. Each of the elements or
features can be implemented without being combined with other
elements. In addition, some elements and/or features may be
combined to configure an embodiment of the present invention. The
ordering of the operations discussed in the embodiments of the
present invention may be changed. Some elements or features of one
embodiment may also be included in another embodiment, or may be
replaced by corresponding elements or features of another
embodiment. It is apparent that claims which are not explicitly
cited in each other in the appended claims may be presented in
combination as an embodiment of the present invention or included
as a new claim by subsequent amendment after the application is
filed.
[0381] In this specification, a specific operation described as
being performed by a BS may be performed by an upper node in some
cases. That is, it is apparent that various operations performed
for communication with a UE in a network constituted by a plurality
of network nodes including a BS may be performed by the BS or other
network nodes. The term `BS` may be replaced with the term `fixed
station`, `Node B`, `eNode B (eNB)`, `Access Point (AP)`, etc.
[0382] The embodiments of the present invention may be implemented
through various means, for example, hardware, firmware, software,
or a combination thereof. When implemented by hardware, a method
according to embodiments of the present invention may be embodied
as one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs),
one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), one or more digital
signal processing devices (DSPDs), one or more programmable logic
devices (PLDs), one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs),
a processor, a controller, a microcontroller, a microprocessor, or
the like.
[0383] When implemented by firmware or software, an embodiment of
the present invention may be embodied as a module, a procedure, or
a function that performs the functions or operations described
above. Software code may be stored in a memory unit and executed by
a processor.
[0384] The memory unit is located at the interior or exterior of
the processor and may transmit and receive data to and from the
processor via various known means.
[0385] Preferred embodiments of the present invention have been
described in detail above to allow those skilled in the art to
implement and practice the present invention. Although the
preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described
above, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various
modifications and variations can be made in the present invention
without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention
disclosed in the appended claims. For example, those skilled in the
art can use the respective constituents disclosed in the
embodiments described above in a combining manner. Thus, the
present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments
described herein, but is intended to accord with the widest scope
corresponding to the principles and novel features disclosed
herein.
[0386] The present invention may be carried out in specific forms
other than those set forth herein without departing from the spirit
and essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore,
the above embodiments should be construed in all aspects as
illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention should
be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents,
and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of
the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein. The
present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments
described herein, but is intended to accord with the widest scope
corresponding to the principles and novel features disclosed
herein. In addition, it is apparent that claims which are not
explicitly cited in each other in the appended claims may be
presented in combination as an embodiment of the present invention
or included as a new claim by subsequent amendment after the
application is filed.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
[0387] The present invention is applicable to wireless
communication apparatuses such as the UE, a relay and a BS.
* * * * *