U.S. patent application number 17/674853 was filed with the patent office on 2022-06-02 for electronic device, wireless communication method and computer-readable medium.
This patent application is currently assigned to Sony Group Corporation. The applicant listed for this patent is Sony Group Corporation. Invention is credited to Xin GUO, Yanzhao HOU, Yuming LIU, Zhaoqi PENG, Wei REN, Xiaofeng TAO, Min ZHU.
Application Number | 20220173781 17/674853 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | |
Filed Date | 2022-06-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20220173781 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
HOU; Yanzhao ; et
al. |
June 2, 2022 |
ELECTRONIC DEVICE, WIRELESS COMMUNICATION METHOD AND
COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to an electronic device, a
wireless communication method and a computer-readable medium.
According to one embodiment, an electronic device for wireless
communication comprises a processing circuit, wherein the
processing circuit is configured to conduct control so as to send a
reference signal for a direct link to the other user equipment or
to receive same from the other user equipment; the processing
circuit is also configured to conduct control so as to carry out
beamforming-based direct link communication with the other user
equipment; and at least one of a sending beam and a receiving beam
for direct link communication is determined based on the
measurement of the reference signal.
Inventors: |
HOU; Yanzhao; (Beijing,
CN) ; TAO; Xiaofeng; (Beijing, CN) ; PENG;
Zhaoqi; (Beijing, CN) ; GUO; Xin; (Beijing,
CN) ; LIU; Yuming; (Beijing, CN) ; ZHU;
Min; (Beijing, CN) ; REN; Wei; (Beijing,
CN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Sony Group Corporation |
Tokyo |
|
JP |
|
|
Assignee: |
Sony Group Corporation
Tokyo
JP
|
Appl. No.: |
17/674853 |
Filed: |
February 18, 2022 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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16764883 |
May 18, 2020 |
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PCT/CN2019/077581 |
Mar 11, 2019 |
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17674853 |
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International
Class: |
H04B 7/06 20060101
H04B007/06; H04B 1/44 20060101 H04B001/44; H04B 7/08 20060101
H04B007/08; H04L 5/00 20060101 H04L005/00; H04L 25/02 20060101
H04L025/02; H04W 72/04 20060101 H04W072/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 15, 2018 |
CN |
201810214849.7 |
Claims
1. An electronic device for wireless communication, comprising
processing circuitry configured to perform control to: transmit to
or receive from another user equipment at least one reference
signal for a sidelink; and perform beamforming-based sidelink
communication with the another user equipment, wherein at least one
of a transmission beam and a reception beam for the sidelink
communication is determined based on a measurement with respect to
the reference signal.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.
No. 16/764,883, filed May 18, 2020, which is based on PCT filing
PCT/CN2019/077581, filed Mar. 11, 2019, which claims priority to CN
201810214849.7, filed Mar. 15, 2018, the entire contents of each
are incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present disclosure in general relates to the technical
field of wireless communication, and in particular to an electronic
device for wireless communication, a wireless communication method,
and a computer-readable medium.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Communication with a high frequency band (for example, a
frequency band greater than 6 GHz) may result in a large path loss
and a large phase noise, thus a beamforming process is
required.
[0004] Different from an omnidirectional reception communication,
in the beamforming-based communication, it is required to select a
transmission (Tx) beam or a reception (Rx) beam. In addition, beam
alignment can be performed to further improve the signal-to-noise
ratio and avoid interference.
SUMMARY
[0005] Brief summary of the present disclosure is given
hereinafter, so as to provide basic understanding in some aspects
of the present disclosure. However, it is to be understood that
this summary is not an exhaustive overview of the present
disclosure. It is neither intended to identify key or critical
parts of the present disclosure, nor intended to define the scope
of the present disclosure. It merely functions to present some
concepts of the present disclosure in a simplified form to be used
as a prelude to a more detailed description stated later.
[0006] According to an embodiment, an electronic device for
wireless communication is provided, which includes processing
circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform
control to transmit to or receive from another user equipment a
reference signal for a sidelink. The processing circuitry is also
configured to perform control to perform beamforming-based sidelink
communication with the another user equipment. At least one of a
transmission beam and a reception beam for the sidelink
communication is determined based on a measurement with respect to
the reference signal.
[0007] According to another embodiment, a wireless communication
method is provided. The method includes a step of transmitting to
or receiving from another user equipment a reference signal for a
sidelink. The method also includes a step of performing
beamforming-based sidelink communication with the another user
equipment. At least one of a transmission beam and a reception beam
for the sidelink communication is determined based on measurement
with respect to the reference signal.
[0008] According to still another embodiment, an electronic device
for wireless communication is provided, which includes a processing
circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to allocate a
communication resource for transmitting a reference signal. The
reference signal is used for determining at least one of a
transmission beam and a reception beam for beamforming-based
sidelink communication between user equipments.
[0009] According to still another embodiment, a wireless
communication method is provided, which includes a step of
allocating a communication resource for transmitting a reference
signal. The reference signal is used for determining at least one
of a transmission beam and a reception beam for beamforming-based
sidelink communication between user equipments.
[0010] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a
computer-readable medium is further provided. The computer-readable
medium includes executable instructions that, when executed by an
information processing apparatus, cause the information processing
apparatus to implement the method according to the above
embodiments.
[0011] With the embodiments of the present disclosure, the
reliability and stability of the beamforming-based sidelink
communication can be improved.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] The present disclosure can be understood better with
reference to the detail description given in conjunction with the
drawings in the following. The same or similar element is indicated
by the same or similar reference numeral throughout all the
drawings. The drawings together with the following detailed
description are incorporated into and form a part of the
specification and serve to further illustrate the preferred
embodiments of the present disclosure and to explain the principles
and advantages of the present disclosure by way of example. In the
drawings:
[0013] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of
an electronic device at a user equipment side according to an
embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0014] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of
an electronic device at a user equipment side according to another
embodiment:
[0015] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of
an electronic device at a user equipment side according to still
another embodiment;
[0016] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of
an electronic device at a user equipment side according to still
another embodiment:
[0017] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of
an electronic device at a user equipment side according to still
another embodiment;
[0018] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of
an electronic device at a user equipment side according to still
another embodiment;
[0019] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process example of a
wireless communication method at a user equipment side according to
an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0020] FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of
an electronic device at a base station side according to an
embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0021] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of
an electronic device at a base station side according to another
embodiment:
[0022] FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a process example of a
wireless communication method at a base station side according to
an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0023] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an example structure of a
computer that implements the method and apparatus of the present
disclosure;
[0024] FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic
configuration of a smartphone to which the technology of the
present disclosure may be applied;
[0025] FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic
configuration of a gNB (a base station in a 5G system) to which the
technology of the present disclosure may be applied;
[0026] FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic
configuration of a car navigation device to which the technology of
the present disclosure may be applied;
[0027] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a beam
configuration;
[0028] FIG. 16 is a signaling flowchart for illustrating an example
process of position-based beamforming;
[0029] FIG. 17 is a signaling flowchart for illustrating an example
process of determining and configuring a beam management mode;
[0030] FIGS. 18 to 20 are signaling flowcharts for illustrating
example processes of configuring related parameters and resources
for beam measurement;
[0031] FIGS. 21 to 26 are signaling flowcharts for illustrating
example processes of beam determination;
[0032] FIGS. 27 to 30 are signaling flowcharts for illustrating
example processes of beam tracking; and
[0033] FIGS. 31 to 35 are signaling flowcharts for illustrating a
beam recovery mechanism.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0034] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described
below with reference to the drawings. Elements and features
described in one drawing or one embodiment of the present
disclosure may be combined with elements and features in one or
more other drawings or embodiments. It should be noted that, for
the purpose of clarity, representations and descriptions of
components and processes not related to the present disclosure and
known to those skilled in the art are omitted in the drawings and
the description.
[0035] As shown in FIG. 1, an electronic device 100 at a user
equipment side according to an embodiment includes a processing
circuitry 110. The processing circuitry 110 may be implemented, for
example, by a specific chip, a chipset, a central processing unit
(CPU), or the like.
[0036] According to an embodiment, the user equipment may include a
vehicle. Although a vehicle may be used as an example of the user
equipment in the following description of the example embodiment,
the present disclosure is not limited thereto, but may be used in
various application scenarios of a new radio (NR) sidelink, such as
a machine type communication (MTC), device-to-device (D2D)
communication, vehicle-to-device (V2X) communication, internet of
things (IOT) communication, and the like. The V2X communication may
include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication,
vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication,
vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, and the like.
[0037] The processing circuitry 110 includes a transceiving control
unit 111 and a communication control unit 113. It should be noted
that, although the transceiving control unit 111 and the
communication control unit 113 are shown in the form of functional
blocks in the drawing, it will be appreciated that the functions of
these units may also be implemented by the processing circuitry 110
as a whole, which is not necessarily implemented by discrete actual
components in the processing circuitry 110. In addition, although
the processing circuitry 110 is shown by a block in the drawing,
the electronic device 100 may include multiple processing
circuitries, and the functions of the transceiving control unit 111
and the communication control unit 113 may be distributed into the
multiple processing circuitries, such that these functions can be
performed by cooperation of the multiple processing
circuitries.
[0038] The transceiving control unit 111 is configured to perform
control to transmit to or receive from another user equipment a
reference signal for a sidelink.
[0039] The communication control unit 113 is configured to perform
control to perform beamforming-based sidelink communication with
the another user equipment. At least one of a transmission beam and
a reception beam for the sidelink communication is determined based
on a measurement with respect to the above reference signal.
[0040] In the sidelink communication, two resource allocation modes
are mainly adopted, namely, a base station scheduling mode (Mode
3), and a user equipment (UE) autonomous selection mode (Mode 4).
Next, a triggering mode of the beamforming-based sidelink
communication is briefly described in combination with different
resource allocation modes.
[0041] In the case of the Mode 3, the beamforming-based sidelink
communication may be determined by a base station such as gNB, or
may be determined by a transmitter. In the case of the Mode 4, the
beamforming-based sidelink communication may be determined by a
transmitter or a receiver.
[0042] More specifically, triggering conditions of the
beamforming-based sidelink communication may include, for example,
the following that service requirements (such as a delay, a data
rate, a bandwidth, or a priority) request the communication to be
performed in a frequency band, for example greater than 6 GHz,
however, the communication range or communication quality (such as
a path loss and an estimated signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)) in the
high frequency band cannot meet the service requirements.
[0043] In addition, if a UE, such as a vehicle, is configured by a
base station to perform communication in a high frequency band by
using the beamforming technology or a chip of the UE is
pre-configured to perform communication in a high frequency band by
using the beamforming technology, the beamforming-based sidelink
communication may be performed.
[0044] Next, the reference signal for the sidelink is described.
According to an embodiment, a sidelink reference signal dedicated
to beam management which is also referred to herein as SL-BMRS may
be set. In addition, when the UE is located within the coverage of
the base station, a sounding reference signal (SRS) may be
multiplexed as a beam measurement reference signal for the
sidelink. In addition, in a case that one of the transmitter and
the receiver is used for synchronization reference, a sidelink
synchronization signal (SLSS) may be used as a beam measurement
reference signal.
[0045] Accordingly, according to an embodiment, the reference
signal for the sidelink includes a sounding reference signal, a
sidelink synchronization signal, or a sidelink beam management
reference signal SL-BMRS.
[0046] Next, an example mode of multiplexing SRS or SLSS as a beam
measurement reference signal will be described.
[0047] In the example mode of multiplexing SRS, when a vehicle is
within the coverage of a base station, a set of subframe numbers
available to transmit SRS in a cell is configured through a system
information block SIB 2 (for example, through a srs-SubframeConfig
field of SoundingRS-UL-ConfigCommon). In addition, each vehicle may
be configured with a specific SRS resource set by a high layer
through the parameter SRS-ResourceSetConfig. In each resource set,
the high layer may configure a number K of SRS resources for the
vehicle through the parameter SRS-ResourceConfig, where K is equal
to or greater than one, and a maximum value of K may be indicated
by SRS capability. When the SRS may be multiplexed as a sidelink
beam measurement reference signal, the high layer may set the
parameter SRS-SetUse to "SL-BeamManagement". In this case, in each
SRS resource set, there is only one SRS resource to be transmitted
at the same time. When beam scanning is performed with respect to
multiple beams, SRS resources in different SRS resource sets may be
transmitted simultaneously.
[0048] In the example mode of multiplexing SLSS, in a Mode 4
scenario, when a transmitter or a receiver is a synchronous
reference vehicle, the SLSS may be used for beam measurement, but a
priority of the SLSS may be set to be lower than that of the
SL-BMRS, and the beam measurement configuration mode may be the
same as that of the SL-BMRS.
[0049] In addition, according to an embodiment, the transceiving
control unit Ill is configured to perform control to transmit, on
multiple beams, multiple reference signals which respectively
corresponds to the multiple beams to the another user equipment.
For example, the information may be transmitted or received through
a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH).
[0050] Specifically, the reference signal SL-BMRS is unique to each
vehicle, and each beam may have its own beam ID, corresponding
SL-BMRS, and a resource position occupied by the SL-BMRS. If a
receiver needs to measure a transmission beam, the receiver may
first configure measurement information of each beam, which
includes a type of the beam measurement reference signal, an ID of
an identification beam, a time-frequency resource position
corresponding to a measurement reference signal SL-BMRS, and the
like.
[0051] Accordingly, according to an embodiment, the transceiving
control unit 111 is configured to perform control to transmit to or
receive from another user equipment a type (SL-BMRS/SLSS/SRS) of
the reference signal, a time-frequency resource position of the
reference signal, a beam identification corresponding to the
reference signal, and the like.
[0052] Table 1 shows an example of measurement information of a
beam.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Configuration SL RS #k RS index Frequency
Time Beam ID (K) (SL-BMRS/SLSS/SRS) position position
[0053] FIG. 15 shows an example of a beam configuration, where each
beam has its own identification and may be individually configured
with a reference signal.
[0054] In addition, according to an embodiment, position-based
beamforming may be adopted in a sidelink. Accordingly, the
transceiving control unit 111 may be configured to perform control
to acquire position information of the another user equipment
and/or provide position information of a current user equipment to
the another user equipment. The determination of at least one of
the transmission beam and the reception beam for the sidelink
communication is further based on the position information. For
example, the position information may include, but is not limited
to, latitude, longitude, orientation, and speed. In addition, in an
embodiment, the determination of at least one of the transmission
beam and the reception beam for the sidelink communication may be
only based on the position information, and not based on the
reference signal for the sidelink described in the above
embodiment. In other words, the embodiment in which the
determination of the beam is based on the position information and
the embodiment in which the determination of the beam is based on
the reference signal may be combined with each other, or may be
implemented independently. For example, in a case of performing
beam determination based on position information, by directly
exchanging position information between the transmitter and the
receiver, the transmitter may select a transmission beam based on
the position information of the receiver, and the receiver may also
select a reception beam based on the position information of the
transmitter.
[0055] Taking the V2X application scenario as an example, the
position information may include orientation, latitude, longitude,
and speed of a vehicle. The vehicle may acquire its own position
information through positioning technologies such as the Global
Positioning System (GPS), and transmit the position information to
a communication object through a sidelink or the network (for
example, via gNB or a roadside unit (RSU)).
[0056] For example, in a Mode 4 scenario, a vehicle may
periodically broadcast its position information and vehicle
identification to the surroundings, so that vehicles on both sides
of the communication can each transmit position information and
vehicle identification on the broadcast channel.
[0057] Accordingly, according to an embodiment, the transceiving
control unit 111 may be configured to perform control to broadcast
position information of a current user equipment and/or receive
broadcasted position information of the another user equipment.
[0058] In a Mode 3 scenario, in addition to receiving broadcasted
position information, when requesting for a sidelink resource from
a base station, the vehicle may also request for acquiring the
position information of the receiver.
[0059] FIG. 16 shows an example process of position-based
beamforming. First, the transmitter and the receiver perform
position sharing. Then, the transmitter may perform beamforming
based on the position information, and transmit a beamforming
signal to the receiver.
[0060] In addition, beam management may be performed in different
modes. As shown in FIG. 2, according to an embodiment, the
electronic device 200 at the user equipment side includes a
processing circuitry 210. The processing circuitry 210 includes a
transceiving control unit 211, a communication control unit 213,
and a determination unit 215. Configurations of the transceiving
control unit 211 and the communication control unit 213 are
respectively similar to that of the transceiving control unit 111
and the communication control unit 113 described above with
reference to FIG. 1.
[0061] The determination unit 215 is configured to determine a beam
management mode for the sidelink communication.
[0062] For example, the beam management mode may include: a first
mode in which both the transmission beam and the reception beam are
determined based on the measurement with respect to the reference
signal; and a second mode in which only one of the transmission
beam and the reception beam is determined based on the measurement
with respect to the reference signal.
[0063] The communication control unit 213 is configured to perform
control to perform the sidelink communication with the another user
equipment based on the determined beam management mode.
[0064] According to an embodiment, the determination unit 215 may
determine the beam management mode based on stability of the
sidelink.
[0065] In the following description of the example embodiment, the
first mode may also be referred to as a "feedback-based beam
management mode", and the second mode may also be referred to as a
"feedback-free beam management mode".
[0066] Still taking the V2X application scenario as an example, for
example, the feedback-free beam management mode may be adopted in
the following conditions:
[0067] driving routes of vehicles are the same and a relative
position and a relative speed are stable;
[0068] the transmitter records a communication beam pair link (BPL)
condition with the receiver in a previous predetermined period of
time, when a ratio (which may be defined as a parameter A) of beams
with better quality (for example, the reference signal received
power (RSRP) is greater than a predetermined threshold) is greater
than a certain threshold, the transmitter determines that the
transmission path with the receiver is good (for example, there is
no obstruction and there is a small interference between them),
then the feedback-free beam management may be performed; or
[0069] the vehicle is performing other service with a higher
priority, and cannot transmit or receive feedback.
[0070] In addition, the transceiving control unit 211 may be
further configured to perform control to transmit indication
information related to a beam management mode to another user
equipment.
[0071] FIG. 17 shows an example process for determining and
configuring a beam management mode.
[0072] As shown in FIG. 17, first, the transmitter and the receiver
perform position sharing. It should be noted that this step is
optional. For example, in a case of determining a beam management
mode based on a condition that is not related to position
information in the above conditions, position sharing is not
required.
[0073] Next, the transmitter determines the beam management mode.
However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the
beam management mode may also be determined by the receiver or
determined by the network side (for example, gNB or RSU).
[0074] Then, the transmitter transmits indication information
(FBConfIndicator) of the beam management mode to the receiver, so
that the receiver can detect its operation configuration according
to the indication information.
[0075] For example, the indication information may include two bits
of information. Table 2 shows an example of the meaning of the
indication information.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Configuration indication (FBConfIndicator)
00 01 11 Support No feedback is transmitted No feedback is
transmitted during feedback during the bean the bean determination,
tracking determination and tracking and failure recovery processes
processes
[0076] Next, an example mode of configuring related parameters and
resources for beam measurement is described.
[0077] According to an embodiment, the reference signal for
sidelink is transmitted using a resource allocated by the base
station. For example, the resource may be allocated through radio
resource control (RRC) signaling.
[0078] FIG. 18 shows an example process for a measurement
configuration in a case of Mode 3.
[0079] As shown in FIG. 18, in step 1, the transmitter requests for
a sidelink resource from the base station. Next, in step 2, the
base station may allocate resources for SL-BMRS/SRS through RRC
signaling, and notify the transmitter of the time-frequency
resource position information.
[0080] In addition, in step 3, the base station may configure,
through RRC signaling, the receiver to perform beam measurement, to
determine an optimal transmission beam. The configuration content
may include, for example, a type of a beam measurement reference
signal of the transmission beam, a time-frequency resource position
of the beam measurement reference signal, and a correspondence
between the beam measurement reference signal and the beam ID. In
addition, if beam management is based on feedback, the measurement
result reporting step may also be configured, for example, the
time-frequency resource required for reporting the measurement
result in the PSCCH channel on the frequency band of less than 6
GHz can be configured.
[0081] Accordingly, for a receiver, that is, in a case that the
transceiving control unit 111 is configured to perform control to
receive a reference signal for a sidelink from another user
equipment, according to an embodiment, the transceiving control
unit 111 may also be configured to perform control to receive the
following information transmitted by the base station: a type of
the reference signal, a time-frequency resource position of the
reference signal, and a beam identification corresponding to the
reference signal.
[0082] FIGS. 19 and 20 show example processes of a measurement
configuration in a case of Mode 4. FIG. 19 corresponds to a case
where the transmitter transmits a beam measurement reference signal
for beam determination, and FIG. 20 corresponds to a case where the
receiver transmits a beam measurement reference signal for beam
determination.
[0083] As shown in FIG. 19, for example, the transmitter configures
beam measurement information on the PSCCH (<6 GHz) for the
receiver through dedicated signaling, which may include a type
(SL-BMRS/SLSS) of the measurement reference signal, a resource
position occupied by the beam measurement reference signal and the
corresponding beam ID. If a feedback-based beam management mode is
adopted, the measurement result reporting step may be further
configured, that is, when the report is performed after the
measurement.
[0084] As shown in FIG. 20, for example, the receiver configures
beam measurement information on the PSCCH (<6 GHz) for the
transmitter through dedicated signaling, which may include a type
(SL-BMRS/SLSS) of the measurement reference signal, a resource
position occupied by the beam measurement reference signal and the
corresponding beam ID. If a feedback-based beam management mode is
adopted, the measurement result reporting step may be further
configured, that is, when the report is performed after the
measurement.
[0085] Next, an example mode of a beam determination process is
described. The configuration of the electronic device according to
the example embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2
again.
[0086] As shown in FIG. 2, according to an embodiment, the
electronic device 200 at the user equipment side includes a
processing circuitry 210. The processing circuitry 210 includes a
transceiving control unit 211, a communication control unit 213,
and a determination unit 215. Configuration of the communication
control unit 213 is similar to that of the communication control
unit 113 described above with reference to FIG. 1.
[0087] The transceiving control unit 211 is configured to perform
control to transmit the reference signal to the another user
equipment. In other words, this embodiment corresponds to the user
equipment of the transmitter.
[0088] In addition, the transceiving control unit 211 is further
configured to perform control to receive feedback information
transmitted by the another user equipment based on the measurement
with respect to the reference signal.
[0089] The determination unit 215 is configured to determine a
transmission beam for the sidelink communication based on the
feedback information.
[0090] FIG. 21 shows an example process for feedback-based beam
determination in a case of Mode 3.
[0091] As shown in FIG. 21, the transmitter transmits the sidelink
reference signal to the receiver. In addition, the base station
performs sidelink authorization for the transmitter.
[0092] After the configuration of the base station, the receiver
measures the reference signal corresponding to the transmission
beam, and reports the measurement result (such as RSRP) and the
corresponding beam ID of each beam to the transmitter. Therefore,
the transmitter may determine the transmission beam according to
the feedback information of the receiver, and perform sidelink
transmission.
[0093] In addition. FIG. 24 shows an example process for
feedback-based beam determination in a case of Mode 4.
[0094] As shown in FIG. 24, in step 1, the transmitter selects a
resource for transmitting a beam measurement reference signal from
a pre-configured resource pool (for example, by a base station).
When the transmitter is used as a synchronization reference, SLSS
may be transmitted as a beam measurement reference signal for beam
determination.
[0095] In step 2, the receiver measures the reference signal.
[0096] In step 3, the receiver reports the measurement result RSRP
and the corresponding beam ID of each beam to the transmitter in
the pre-configured PSCCH (for example, <6 GHz) resource pool
(for example, by the base station).
[0097] In step 4, the transmitter transmits a beam indication to
the receiver on the PSCCH (<6 GHz), the content of which
includes the ID of the transmission beam which is selected
according to the beam measurement result reported by the receiver.
In addition, the sidelink control information (SCI) associated with
data transmission may be transmitted to the receiver (for example,
through a frequency band of greater than 6 GHz) to indicate
transmission information.
[0098] Accordingly, according to an embodiment, the transceiving
control unit 211 may be further configured to perform control to
notify the another user equipment (the receiver) of the
transmission beam determined by the determination unit 215.
[0099] Next, an example embodiment in the feedback-free beam
management mode will be described.
[0100] FIG. 22 shows an example process for feedback-free beam
determination in a case of Mode 3.
[0101] Different from the example process shown in FIG. 21, as
shown in FIG. 22, after the configuration of the base station, the
receiver performs RSRP measurement on the transmission beam and
performs beam scanning on the reception beam (as shown in FIG. 23).
The optimal reception beam is selected, to form an optimal beam
pair link with the transmission beam.
[0102] In addition, the embodiment of the present disclosure also
includes an electronic device at the user equipment side
corresponding to the receiver side. As shown in FIG. 3, an
electronic device 300 according to the embodiment includes a
processing circuitry 310. The processing circuitry 310 includes a
transceiving control unit 311, a communication control unit 313, a
measurement control unit 315, and a determination unit 317. The
communication control unit 313 is similar to the communication
control unit 113 described in the above embodiment.
[0103] The transceiving control unit 311 is configured to perform
control to receive a reference signal for a sidelink from another
user equipment (a transmitter).
[0104] The measurement control unit 315 is configured to perform
control to measure the reference signal.
[0105] The determination unit 317 is configured to determine a
reception beam for a beamforming-based sidelink based on a
measurement with respect to the reference signal.
[0106] It should be noted that the embodiment is not limited to the
above feedback-based beam management mode or the feedback-free beam
management mode. In other words, regardless of whether the receiver
feeds back the measurement result on the reference signal to the
transmitter, the receiver can determine the reception beam based on
the measurement with respect to the reference signal.
[0107] In addition, in an embodiment, in a case where the
feedback-free beam management mode is adopted, the determination of
the reception beam may be only based on position information, and
not based on the reference signal for a sidelink. For example, the
receiver may select the reception beam based on the position
information of the transmitter.
[0108] Corresponding to the feedback-based beam management mode,
according to an embodiment, the transceiving control unit 311 may
be further configured to transmit feedback information to the
another user equipment (the transmitter) based on the measurement
with respect to the reference signal.
[0109] In addition, in a case that the feedback-free beam
management mode is adopted, the transmitter may determine a
transmission beam for the sidelink communication based on the
position information of the another user equipment (the receiver),
and may transmit the reference signal for the sidelink on the
determined transmission beam.
[0110] FIG. 25 and FIG. 26 show example processes of performing
beam determination by using a feedback-free beam management mode in
the case of Mode 4. FIG. 25 corresponds to a case where the
transmitter is used as a synchronization reference, and FIG. 26
corresponds to a case where the receiver is used as a
synchronization reference.
[0111] As shown in FIG. 25, when the transmitter is a synchronous
reference, in step 1, the transmitter may transmit SLSS as a beam
measurement reference signal. In step 2, the receiver selects a
reception beam based on the measurement with respect to the
reference signal. In step 3, the transmitter transmits the SCI to
the receiver, and in step 4, a sidelink transmission is
performed.
[0112] As shown in FIG. 26, when the receiver is a synchronous
reference, in step 1, the receiver may transmit SLSS to the
transmitter as a beam measurement reference signal, which may be
transmitted using resources in a resource pool pre-configured by
the base station, for example.
[0113] In step 2, after receiving the SLSS transmitted by the
receiver, the transmitter may perform SLSS-based RSRP measurement,
perform the transmission beam scanning and utilize channel
reciprocity, so as to select an optimal beam pair link.
[0114] In step 3, the transmitter may transmit SCI to the receiver
to indicate information of data transmission, and may transmit beam
indication signal to indicate a beam ID of the reception beam.
[0115] In step 4, the transmitter and the receiver perform sidelink
transmission using the corresponding beam.
[0116] After the beam determination is performed in the above
example mode and the sidelink transmission is performed based on
the determined beam, a beam tracking process may further be
performed.
[0117] Specifically, the receiver may measure and monitor each beam
pair link between the transmitter and the receiver, that is, the
transmitter may periodically transmit reference signals for beam
measurement on all the transmission beams (which may include the
transmission beams selected for transmission), to perform beam
tracking.
[0118] In Mode 3, the receiver may be configured by the base
station, for example, through RRC signaling. An example process is
as shown in FIG. 27. In Mode 4, the receiver may be configured by
the transmitter on the resources in the pre-configured resource
pool through dedicated control signaling. An example process is as
shown in FIG. 28.
[0119] The beam tracking configuration transmitted by the base
station or by the transmitter to the receiver may include, for
example, the content listed in Table 3 below.
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Configuration Reference signal indication
Periodically transmitted SL-BMRS/SLSS/SRS Beam ID Measurement
results of which beams are to be reported Time interval between
reference When is the measurement result to be signal and reporting
reported by the receiver Period Frequency for reporting
(periodic/semi-static reporting) the measurement result Trigger
event Metrics in the domain can be RSRP, (non-periodic reporting)
receiver timing, or the like
[0120] FIG. 29 shows an example process for feedback-based beam
tracking.
[0121] In step 1, the transmitter periodically transmits a
measurement reference signal of each possible transmit beam (which
may be determined, for example, by a geographical position) on the
(pre-configured) configured resources by the base station, to
perform beam tracking.
[0122] In step 2, the receiver measures the reference signal, and
feeds back the beam report to the transmitter in step 3.
[0123] In step 4, after receiving the measurement result, the
transmitter, for example, determines whether to perform beam
adjustment according to fluctuation/distribution state of the
measurement result (which is related to a beam failure threshold).
For example, if quality of the beam pair link fluctuates frequently
near a threshold, it is required to adjust the beam to be wider,
such that the beam is easier to track.
[0124] In step 5, the receiver determines whether a beam failure
occurs. Trigger conditions for the beam failure may include, for
example:
[0125] 1. RSRP based on the measurement reference signal is less
than Th.sub.RSRP during the beam tracking process;
[0126] 2. the duration of condition 1 is greater than Th.sub.Time
(this threshold may be different depending on delay requirements of
different services).
[0127] In a case of a beam failure, a beam recovery process may be
performed in step 6.
[0128] Taking the V2X application as an example, reasons and
triggering conditions of the sidelink beam failure may, for
example, include: uneven beams caused by high-speed mobility of
vehicles; excessive changes in relative positions of vehicles;
insertion of a new vehicle between vehicles; line-of-sight is
changed to non-line-of-sight between the transmitter and the
receiver; resource conflicts occur in a resource pool corresponding
to the beam; and the like. For different triggering reasons,
different beam failure schemes may be adopted. For example, for a
case where a new vehicle is inserted, the newly inserted vehicle
may be used as a relay without changing the beam direction. For the
case where the line-of-sight is changed to non-line-of-sight, a
surrounding vehicle may be used as a relay or a roadside equipment
may be used as a relay, to assist the communication.
[0129] FIG. 30 shows an example process for feedback-free beam
tracking.
[0130] In step 1, the transmitter adjusts the transmission beam
according to the position information during transmission.
[0131] In step 2, the transmitter periodically transmits a
measurement reference signal of each possible transmit beam (which
is determined by a geographical position) on the (pre-configured)
configured resources by the base station, to perform beam
tracking.
[0132] In step 3, the receiver measures the reference signal.
[0133] In step 4, the receiver determines whether a beam failure
occurs.
[0134] In the case of a beam failure, a beam recovery process may
be performed in step 5.
[0135] Next, a configuration of an electronic device of the example
embodiment related to beam tracking is described. As shown in FIG.
4, an electronic device 400 according to the embodiment includes a
processing circuitry 410. The processing circuitry 410 includes a
transceiving control unit 411 and a communication control unit 413,
which are similar to the transceiving control unit 111 and the
communication control unit 113 described in the above
embodiment.
[0136] In addition, in order to perform beam tracking, the
transceiving control unit 411 is further configured to perform
control to periodically transmit, on multiple beams, multiple
reference signals which correspond to the multiple beams to another
user equipment.
[0137] According to an embodiment, the processing circuitry 410 may
further include an adjustment unit 415. The transceiving control
unit 411 is further configured to perform control to receive
feedback information of the another user equipment with respect to
the periodically transmitted reference signal. The adjustment unit
415 is configured to perform beam adjustment based on the feedback
information. For example, the beam adjustment may include
increasing a beam width.
[0138] FIG. 5 shows a configuration of an electronic device of the
example embodiment related to beam tracking which corresponds to a
receiver. As shown in FIG. 5, an electronic device 500 according to
the embodiment includes a processing circuitry 510. The processing
circuitry 510 includes a transceiving control unit 511, a
communication control unit 513, and a measurement control unit 515.
Configurations of the transceiving control unit 511 and the
communication control unit 513 are similar to that of the
corresponding units described above.
[0139] The measurement control unit 515 is configured to perform
control to perform measurement with respect to multiple reference
signals which are periodically transmitted by the another user
equipment (the transmitter) on multiple beams and which
respectively correspond to the multiple beams.
[0140] Next, an example mode of the beam recovery process is
described.
[0141] FIG. 31 shows an example process for feedback-based beam
failure recovery.
[0142] In step 1, the transmitter and receiver perform beam
tracking.
[0143] In a case that the receiver determines that a beam failure
occurs (Yes in step 2), in step 3, the receiver may first enter a
self-repair process, that is, the receiver may rescan all the
reception beams. If there is an available reception beam, the
receiver will select this reception beam to form a new beam pair
link; if all the reception beams are unavailable, the receiver
transmits a request to the transmitter (step 5) for beam
recovery.
[0144] The resources for the receiver to report the beam failure
request and the transmitter to respond may be PSCCH resources
(<6 GHz). In Mode 3, the resources may be configured by the base
station through RRC signaling. In Mode 4, the vehicle may
autonomously select resources in the pre-configured resource pool
to transmit the beam failure recovery request and the response.
[0145] In step 6, after transmitting the failure recovery request,
the receiver may monitor the response of transmitter. If no
response is monitored within a monitoring window (which may be
pre-configured and may be related to service time delay
requirements), the receiver may retransmit the request. When the
number of times for transmitting the request exceeds a threshold
(which may be pre-configured and may be related to the service time
delay requirements), the receiver may stop monitoring, abandon this
communication, and search for another communication object.
[0146] In step 7, the transmitter may explicitly or implicitly
notify the receiver of the beam failure recovery mechanism it has
selected in the failure recovery response, and a basis of selection
and a manner of notification may be configured by RRC signaling,
for example.
[0147] In step 8, the beam failure recovery is performed
continually. For example, anew set of candidate beams may be set,
and beam scanning and determination processes and the like can be
performed.
[0148] FIG. 32 shows an example process for feedback-free beam
failure recovery.
[0149] Similar to the example process shown in FIG. 31, after
detecting a beam failure, the receiver first enters the self-repair
process in step 3, that is, the receiver will rescan all the
reception beams. If there is an available reception beam, the
receiver will select this reception beam to form a new beam pair
link; if all the reception beams are unavailable, the self-repair
process fails.
[0150] In step 4, the failed transmission beam is monitored
continuously, when a monitoring period of time exceeds a time
threshold (which is determined by service time delay requirements),
this communication is abandoned, and another communication object
may be searched.
[0151] Next, a configuration example of an embodiment of an
electronic device related to beam recovery is described. Referring
back to FIG. 4, the electronic device 400 according to the
embodiment includes a processing circuitry 410. The processing
circuitry 410 includes a transceiving control unit 411 and a
communication control unit 413, which are similar to the
transceiving control unit 111 and the communication control unit
113 described in the above embodiment.
[0152] The transceiving control unit 411 is further configured to
perform control to receive indication information indicating a link
failure transmitted by the another user equipment (the
receiver).
[0153] In addition, the processing circuitry 410 may further
include an adjustment unit 415 configured to adjust a beam set or a
beam width for transmitting a reference signal in response to the
indication information.
[0154] Next, a configuration example of an embodiment of an
electronic device related to beam recovery that corresponds to a
receiver is described. As shown in FIG. 6, the electronic device
600 according to the embodiment includes a processing circuitry
610. The processing circuitry 610 includes a transceiving control
unit 611, a communication control unit 613, and a scan control unit
615. Configuration of the transceiving control unit 611 and the
communication control unit 613 are similar to that of the
corresponding units described above.
[0155] The scan control unit 615 is configured to perform control
to perform reception beam scanning in a case where sidelink
communication through a current reception beam fails.
[0156] According to an embodiment, the transceiving control unit
611 is further configured to perform control to transmit indication
information indicating a link failure to the another user equipment
(the transmitter), in a case where the reception beam scanning
fails.
[0157] In addition, the transceiving control unit 611 may be
further configured to perform control to monitor response
information of the another user equipment (the transmitter) within
a predetermined period of time, after transmitting the indication
information.
[0158] Example embodiments related to beam recovery are described
above. In addition, in some embodiments, a recovery mode for the
sidelink communication may be determined based on service
requirements. The recovery mode may include, for example, a
reselect-request recovery mode, a multi-beam mode, and a beam
widening mode. The service requirements may include, for example, a
reliability requirement and a time delay sensitivity
requirement.
[0159] As an example, services may be classified according to QoS
(Quality of Service), which may correspond to, for example, PPPP
(pass-through packet priority). The transmitter may select an
appropriate beam failure recovery mechanism according to a range of
the PPPP and inform the receiver of the beam failure recovery
mechanism.
[0160] Table 4 below lists several non-security-related services
and specific requirements.
TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Usage 16(1)/ codes 3 6 10 11 12 13 16(2)
Time 10 ms 100 ms 100 ms 100 ms 20 ms 20 ms 50 ms/ delay 10 ms
Realiability 90% 99% high high high high 90%/ 99.99% Bandwidth high
-- -- -- -- -- -- Data large 1600 byte 6500 byte 53 Mbp 2.75 Mbp 65
Mbps 10 Mbps/ rate/size (25 Mbp) (5-10 Hz) 6500 byte 700 Mbps
Range/x high City 50 m 10 seconds 5 seconds 10 seconds 5 seconds
100 m/ second* (250 m) County 500 m (maximum 500 m relative
High-speed speed) road [m/s]) 1000 m
[0161] According to the reliability and delay requirements of
services, the services may be divided into three types (the
corresponding services are indicated by the usage codes in the
above table); high reliability and insensitive to time delay (6,
10, 11); low reliability and sensitive to time delay (3, 12, 13, 16
(1)), high reliability and insensitive to time delay (16 (2)).
[0162] For different types of services, a reselect-request recovery
mechanism, a multi-beam mechanism, and a beam widening mechanism
may be applied, respectively.
[0163] In an actual scenario, the transmitter may select a recovery
mechanism based on service requirements. First, QoS may correspond
to a specific range of PPPP. The actual value of the PPPP is 0 to
8. The services may be divided into, for example, three levels
based on the size of the PPPP, and the transmitter may directly
select an appropriate beam failure recovery mechanism according to
the known PPPP. The correspondence is as shown in Table 5
below.
TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 PPPP Usage codes Failure recovery mechanism
0-3 3,12,13,16(1) Multi-beam mechanism and beam widening mechanism
4-6 6,10,11 Reselect-request recovery mechanism 7 16(2) Other
techniques are required
[0164] It should be noted that the values of the PPPP given in
Table 5 are only examples. The actual value of the PPPP depends on
a specific implementation of an operator and a manufacturer.
[0165] FIGS. 33 to 35 show example processes for a reselect-request
recovery mechanism, a multi-beam mechanism, and a beam widening
mechanism triggered by a receiver, respectively.
[0166] As shown in FIG. 33, in step 1, after monitoring a beam
failure, the receiver may measure and scan all the transmission
beams again based on the periodic beam reference signal to select a
new available candidate beam. In step 2, the receiver transmits a
recovery request to the transmitter, which may include an ID of the
candidate beam. In step 3, the receiver monitors a response of the
transmitter within a predetermined time window. In step 4, the
transmitter transmits a response, which may include a beam ID for
retransmission and a SCI corresponding to a retransmission message.
In step 5, the retransmission is performed.
[0167] As shown in FIG. 34, in step 1, in the beam determination
process, instead of determining only one beam pair link for
transmission, the transmitter and the receiver may select a
candidate beam set, and measure and update the candidate beam set
during a beam tracking process. Next, processes of beam tracking,
measurement and reporting are performed in steps 2 to 4. In step 5,
after receiving a failure report, the transmitter may use the most
recently updated candidate beam set for transmission, and may
transmit the corresponding beam ID and the SCI corresponding to the
retransmission information to the receiver in the failure response
message. In step 6, a message is transmitted on the candidate beam
pair link.
[0168] The multi-beam mechanism may be triggered by the receiver
after the beam failure. Alternatively, multiple candidate beam pair
links may be used for transmission simultaneously by the
transmitter after the beams are determined in consideration of
improving the reliability or reducing interaction time delay caused
after the beam failure.
[0169] FIG. 35 shows an example process for a beam widening
mechanism, in which (a) corresponds to a case of triggering by a
transmitter, and (b) corresponds to a case of triggering by a
receiver.
[0170] In the case of triggering by the transmitter, as shown in
(a) of FIG. 35, beam tracking is performed in step 1, and in step
2, the transmitter determines whether a wider beam is required, and
in step 3, a wider beam is used to transmit a message when
necessary.
[0171] In the case of triggering by the receiver, as shown in (b)
of FIG. 35, beam tracking is performed in step 1, and in step 2,
the receiver determines that the beam fails, and failure request
and response are performed in step 3 and step 4. In step 5, a wider
beam is used to transmit a message when necessary.
[0172] In addition, beam failure recovery may also be performed in
combination with other technologies when necessary, such as carrier
aggregation (widening bandwidth) or enhanced hybrid automatic
repeat request (HARQ) mechanism based on a channel busy rate
(CBR)/channel quality.
[0173] It should also be noted that the above example embodiment of
determining a recovery mode for sidelink communication based on
service requirements may be applied to feedback-based beam
management and feedback-free beam management.
[0174] In the above description of the electronic device according
to the embodiments of the present disclosure, it is apparent that
some processes and methods are also disclosed. Next, a description
of a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is
given without repeating the details that have been described
above.
[0175] As shown in FIG. 7, a wireless communication method at a
user equipment side according to an embodiment includes the
following steps S710 and S720.
[0176] In S710, a reference signal for a sidelink is transmitted to
or received from another user equipment.
[0177] In S720, beamforming-based sidelink communication is
performed with the another user equipment. At least one of a
transmission beam and a reception beam for the sidelink
communication is determined based on the measurement with respect
to the above reference signal.
[0178] In addition, the embodiments of the present disclosure
further include a device and method at a base station side. Next, a
description of the embodiment for the base station side will be
given without repeating the details corresponding to the above
embodiments.
[0179] As shown in FIG. 8, according to an embodiment, an
electronic device 800 at a base station side includes a processing
circuitry 810. The processing circuitry 810 includes an allocation
unit 811 configured to allocate a communication resource for
transmitting a reference signal. The reference signal is used for
determining at least one of a transmission beam and a reception
beam for beamforming-based sidelink communication between user
equipments.
[0180] As shown in FIG. 9, according to another embodiment, an
electronic device 900 at a base station side includes a processing
circuitry 910. The processing circuitry 910 includes an allocation
unit 911 (a configuration of which is similar to that of the above
allocation unit 811) and a transmission control unit 913.
[0181] The transmission control unit 913 is configured to perform
control to transmit at least one of the following information to
one of the user equipments: a type of the reference signal; a
time-frequency resource position of the reference signal; and a
beam identification corresponding to the reference signal.
[0182] FIG. 10 shows a wireless communication method at a base
station side according to an embodiment, which includes a step of
allocating a communication resource for transmitting a reference
signal. The reference signal is used for determining at least one
of a transmission beam and a reception beam for beamforming-based
sidelink communication between user equipments.
[0183] An embodiment of the present disclosure further includes a
wireless communication apparatus (at a user equipment side or a
base station side), which includes a transceiver device and an
electronic device as described in the above embodiments.
[0184] In addition, an embodiment of the present disclosure further
includes a computer-readable medium, which includes executable
instructions that, when executed by an information processing
apparatus, cause the information processing apparatus to implement
the method according to the above embodiments.
[0185] An embodiment of the present disclosure further includes a
wireless communication apparatus at a user equipment side and a
wireless communication apparatus at a base station side. The
wireless communication apparatus includes a transceiver device and
a processor described in conjunction with the above
embodiments.
[0186] As an example, various steps of the above methods and
various modules and/or units of the above devices may be
implemented by software, firmware, hardware, or a combination
thereof. When implemented by software or firmware, a program
constituting software for implementing the above method may be
installed from a storage medium or a network to a computer (for
example, a general-purpose computer 1100) shown in FIG. 11) having
a dedicated hardware structure, which, when installed with various
programs, can perform various functions and the like.
[0187] In FIG. 11, a central processing unit (CPU) 1101 executes
various processing according to a program stored in a read-only
memory (ROM) 1102 or a program loaded to a random access memory
(RAM) 1103 from a memory section 1108. Data required for various
processing and the like of the CPU 1101 may be stored in the RAM
1103 as needed. The CPU 1101, the ROM 1102 and the RAM 1103 are
linked to each other via a bus 1104. An input/output interface 1105
is also linked to the bus 1104.
[0188] The following components are linked to the input/output
interface 1105: an input section 1106 (including a keyboard, a
mouse, and the like), an output section 1107 (including a display
such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD)
and the like, and a loudspeaker and the like), a storage section
1108 (including a hard disk and the like), and a communication
section 1109 (including a network interface card such as a LAN
card, a modem and the like). The communication section 1109
performs communication processing via a network such as the
Internet. A driver 1110 may also be linked to the input/output
interface 1105 as needed. A removable medium 1111 such as a
magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magnetic optical disk, a
semiconductor memory and the like may be installed onto the driver
1110 as needed, so that a computer program read therefrom is
installed into the storage section 1108 as needed.
[0189] In the case where the above series of processing are
implemented by software, programs forming the software are
installed from a network such as the Internet or a storage medium
such as the removable medium 1111.
[0190] It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that
the storage medium is not limited to the removable medium 1111
shown in FIG. 11, which has a program stored therein and is
distributed separately from the device to provide the program to
the user. The removable medium 1111 may be, for example, a magnetic
disk (including a floppy disk (registered trademark)), an optical
disk (including a compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) and a
digital versatile disk (DVD)), a magneto-optical disk (including a
mini disc (MD) (registered trademark)), and a semiconductor memory.
Alternatively, the storage medium may be a ROM 1102, a hard disk
included in the storage section 1108 in which programs are stored,
and the like, and may be distributed to the user along with a
device in which they are incorporated.
[0191] An embodiment of the present disclosure also relates to a
program product storing a machine-readable instruction code. The
instruction code, when being read and executed by a machine,
performs the above method according to the embodiment of the
present disclosure.
[0192] Accordingly, a storage medium for carrying the above program
product storing the machine-readable instruction code is also
included in the present disclosure. The storage medium includes,
but is not limited to, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a
magneto-optical disk, a memory card, a memory stick, and the
like.
[0193] Embodiments of the present application also relate to the
following electronic devices. In the case where the electronic
device is used at the base station side, the electronic device may
be implemented as any type of evolved Node B (eNB), such as a macro
eNB and a small eNB. A small eNB may be an eNB covering a cell
smaller than a macro cell, such as a pico eNB, a micro eNB, and a
home (femto) eNB. Instead, the electronic device may be implemented
as any other type of base station, such as a NodeB and a base
transceiver station (BTS). Preferably, the electronic device may be
implemented as a gNB in a 5G system. The electronic device may
include: a main body (which is also referred to as a base station
device) configured to control wireless communication; and one or
more remote radio heads (RRHs) arranged at a place different from
the main body. In addition, various types of terminals described
below may operate as base stations by temporarily or
semi-persistently performing functions of a base station.
[0194] In the case where the electronic device is used at the user
equipment side, the electronic device may be implemented as a
mobile terminal (such as a smartphone, a tablet personal computer
(PC), a notebook PC, a portable game terminal, a
portable/dongle-type mobile router, and a digital camera device) or
an in-vehicle terminal (such as a car navigation device). In
addition, the electronic device may be a wireless communication
module (such as an integrated circuit module including a single or
multiple chips) mounted on each of the terminals described
above.
[0195] [Application Example of a Terminal Device]
[0196] FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic
configuration of a smart phone 2500 to which the technology
according to the present disclosure may be applied. The smart phone
2500 includes a processor 2501, a memory 2502, a storage device
2503, an external connection interface 2504, a camera 2506, a
sensor 2507, a microphone 2508, an input device 2509, a display
device 2510, a speaker 2511, a wireless communication interface
2512, one or more antenna switches 2515, one or more antennas 2516,
a bus 2517, a battery 2518, and an auxiliary controller 2519.
[0197] The processor 2501 may be, for example, a CPU or a system on
a chip (SoC), and controls functions of an application layer and
another layer of the smart phone 2500. The memory 2502 includes RAM
and ROM, and stores a program that is executed by the processor
2501, and data. The storage device 2503 may include a storage
medium such as a semiconductor memory and a hard disk. The external
connection interface 2504 is an interface for connecting an
external device (such as a memory card and a universal serial bus
(USB) device) to the smart phone 2500.
[0198] The camera 2506 includes an image sensor (such as a charge
coupled device (CCD) and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor
(CMOS)), and generates a captured image. The sensor 2507 may
include a group of sensors such as a measurement sensor, a gyro
sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and an acceleration sensor. The
microphone 2508 converts sounds that are inputted to the smart
phone 2500 into audio signals. The input device 2509 includes, for
example, a touch sensor configured to detect touch on a screen of
the display device 2510, a keypad, a keyboard, a button, or a
switch, and receives an operation or information inputted by a
user. The display device 2510 includes a screen (such as a liquid
crystal display (LCD) and an organic light-emitting diode (OLED)
display), and displays an output image of the smart phone 2500. The
speaker 2511 converts audio signals that are outputted from the
smart phone 2500 into sounds.
[0199] The wireless communication interface 2512 supports any
cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced), and
performs wireless communication. The wireless communication
interface 2512 may generally include, for example, a base band (BB)
processor 2513 and a radio frequency (RF) circuit 2514. The BB
processor 2513 may perform, for example, encoding/decoding,
modulating/demodulating, and multiplexing/demultiplexing, and
performs various types of signal processing for wireless
communication. In addition, the RF circuit 2514 may include, for
example, a frequency mixer, a filter, and an amplifier, and
transmits and receives wireless signals via the antenna 2516. The
wireless communication interface 2512 may be a chip module having
the BB processor 2513 and the RF circuit 2514 integrated thereon.
The wireless communication interface 2512 may include multiple BB
processors 2513 and multiple RF circuits 2514, as shown in FIG. 12.
Although FIG. 12 shows the example in which the wireless
communication interface 2512 includes the multiple BB processors
2513 and the multiple RF circuits 2514, the wireless communication
interface 2512 may include a single BB processor 2513 or a single
RF circuit 2514.
[0200] Furthermore, in addition to a cellular communication scheme,
the wireless communication interface 2512 may support another type
of wireless communication scheme such as a short-distance wireless
communication scheme, a near field communication scheme, and a
wireless local area network (LAN) scheme. In this case, the
wireless communication interface 2512 may include the BB processor
2513 and the RF circuit 2514 for each wireless communication
scheme.
[0201] Each of the antenna switches 2515 switches connection
destinations of the antennas 2516 among multiple circuits (such as
circuits for different wireless communication schemes) included in
the wireless communication interface 2512.
[0202] Each of the antennas 2516 includes a single or multiple
antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in an
MIMO antenna), and is used by the wireless communication interface
2512 to transmit and receive wireless signals. The smart phone 2500
may include multiple antennas 2516, as shown in FIG. 12. Although
FIG. 12 shows the example in which the smart phone 2500 includes
multiple antennas 2516, the smart phone 2500 may include a single
antenna 2516.
[0203] Furthermore, the smart phone 2500 may include the antenna
2516 for each wireless communication scheme. In this case, the
antenna switches 2515 may be omitted from the configuration of the
smart phone 2500.
[0204] The bus 2517 connects the processor 2501, the memory 2502,
the storage device 2503, the external connection interface 2504,
the camera 2506, the sensor 2507, the microphone 2508, the input
device 2509, the display device 2510, the speaker 2511, the
wireless communication interface 2512, and the auxiliary controller
2519 to each other. The battery 2518 supplies power to various
components of the smart phone 2500 shown in FIG. 12 via feeder
lines, which are partially shown as dashed lines in FIG. 12. The
auxiliary controller 2519 operates a minimum necessary function of
the smart phone 2500, for example, in a sleep mode.
[0205] In the smart phone 2500 shown in FIG. 12, the transceiver
device of the wireless communication apparatus at the user
equipment side according to the embodiment of the present
disclosure may be implemented by the wireless communication
interface 2512. At least a part of the functions of the processing
circuitry and/or each unit of the electronic device or the wireless
communication apparatus at the user equipment side according to the
embodiment of the present disclosure may also be implemented by the
processor 2501 or the auxiliary controller 2519. For example, the
power consumption of the battery 2518 may be reduced by performing
a part of the functions of the processor 2501 by the auxiliary
controller 2519. In addition, the processor 2501 or the auxiliary
controller 2519 may perform, by executing a program stored in the
memory 2502 or the storage device 2503, at least part of the
functions of the processing circuitry and/or each unit of the
electronic device or the wireless communication apparatus at the
user equipment side according to the embodiment of the present
disclosure.
[0206] [Application Example of a Base Station]
[0207] FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a example of a schematic
configuration of a gNB to which the technology of the present
disclosure may be applied. A gNB 2300 includes multiple antennas
2310, and a base station device 2320. The base station device 2320
may be connected to each antenna 2310 via a radio frequency (RF)
cable.
[0208] Each of the antennas 2310 includes a single or multiple
antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in a
multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna), and is used by the
base station device 2320 to transmit and receive wireless signals.
As shown in FIG. 13, the gNB 2300 may include multiple antennas
2310. For example, the multiple antennas 2310 may be compatible
with multiple frequency bands used by the gNB 2300.
[0209] The base station device 2320 includes a controller 2321, a
memory 2322, a network interface 2323, and a wireless communication
interface 2325.
[0210] The controller 2321 may be, for example, a CPU or a DSP, and
operates various functions of a higher layer of the base station
device 2320. For example, the controller 2321 generates a data
packet based on data in a signal processed by the wireless
communication interface 2325, and transfers the generated packet
via the network interface 2323. The controller 2321 may bundle data
from multiple baseband processors to generate bundled packet, and
transfer the generated bundled packet. The controller 2321 may have
logical functions of performing control such as wireless resource
control, wireless bearer control, mobility management, admission
control, and scheduling. The control may be performed in
conjunction with an adjacent gNB or a core network node. The memory
2322 includes RAM and ROM, and stores a program that is executed by
the controller 2321, and various types of control data (such as a
terminal list, transmitting power data, and scheduling data).
[0211] The network interface 2323 is a communication interface for
connecting the base station device 2320 to a core network 2324. The
controller 2321 may communicate with a core network node or another
gNB via the network interface 2323. In that case, the gNB 2300 and
the core network node or another gNB may be connected to each other
through a logical interface (such as an S1 interface and an X2
interface). The network interface 2323 may be a wired communication
interface or a wireless communication interface for a wireless
backhaul line. If the network interface 2323 is a wireless
communication interface, the network interface 2323 may use a
higher frequency band for wireless communication than a frequency
band used by the wireless communication interface 2325.
[0212] The wireless communication interface 2325 supports any
cellular communication scheme (such as Long Term Evolution (LTE)
and LTE-Advanced), and provides wireless connection to a terminal
positioned in a cell of the gNB 2300 via the antenna 2310. The
wireless communication interface 2325 may typically include, for
example, a BB processor 2326 and an RF circuit 2327. The BB
processor 2326 may perform, for example, coding/decoding,
modulation/demodulation and multiplexing/de-multiplexing, and
perform various types of signal processes of the layer (for example
L1, media access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC) and packet
data convergence protocol (PDCP)). Instead of the controller 2321,
the BB processor 2326 may have a part or all of the above logical
functions. The BB processor 2326 may be a memory storing
communication control programs, or a module including a processor
which is configured to execute the programs and a related circuit.
Updating the program may allow the functions of the BB processor
2326 to be changed. The module may be a card or a blade that is
inserted into a slot of the base station device 2320.
Alternatively, the module may be a chip that is mounted on the card
or the blade. In addition, the RF circuit 2327 may include, for
example, a frequency mixer, a filter or an amplifier, and transmits
and receives wireless signals via the antenna 2310.
[0213] As shown in FIG. 13, the wireless communication interface
2325 may include multiple BB processors 2326. For example, the
multiple BB processors 2326 may be compatible with multiple
frequency bands used by the gNB 2300. As shown in FIG. 13, the
wireless communication interface 2325 may include multiple RF
circuits 2327. For example, the multiple RF circuits 2327 may be
compatible with multiple antenna elements. Although FIG. 13 shows
an example in which the wireless communication interface 2325
includes multiple BB processors 2326 and multiple RF circuits 2327,
the wireless communication interface 2325 may include a single BB
processor 2326 or a single RF circuit 2327.
[0214] In the gNB 2300 shown in FIG. 13, the transceiver device of
the wireless communication apparatus at the base station side
according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may be
implemented by the wireless communication interface 2325. At least
a part of the functions of the processing circuitry and/or each
unit of the electronic device or the wireless communication
apparatus at the base station side according to the embodiment of
the present disclosure may also be implemented by the controller
2321. For example, the controller 2321 may perform, by executing a
program stored in the memory 2322, at least part of the functions
of the processing circuitry and/or each unit of the electronic
device or the wireless communication apparatus at the base station
side according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0215] [Application Example of a Car Navigation Device]
[0216] FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an example of a schematic
configuration of a car navigation device 2120 to which the
technology according to the present disclosure may be applied. The
car navigation device 2120 includes a processor 2121, a memory
2122, a global positioning system (GPS) module 2124, a sensor 2125,
a data interface 2126, a content player 2127, a storage medium
interface 2128, an input device 2129, a display device 2130, a
speaker 2131, a wireless communication interface 2133, one or more
antenna switches 2136, one or more antennas 2137, and a battery
2138.
[0217] The processor 2121 may be, for example, a CPU or a SoC, and
controls a navigation function and another function of the car
navigation device 2120. The memory 2122 includes RAM and ROM, and
stores a program that is executed by the processor 2121, and
data.
[0218] The GPS module 2124 uses GPS signals received from a GPS
satellite to measure a position (such as a latitude, a longitude,
and an altitude) of the car navigation device 2120. The sensor 2125
may include a group of sensors such as a gyro sensor, a geomagnetic
sensor, and an air pressure sensor. The data interface 2126 is
connected to, for example, an in-vehicle network 2141 via a
terminal that is not shown, and acquires data generated by the
vehicle, such as vehicle speed data.
[0219] The content player 2127 reproduces content stored in a
storage medium (such as a CD and a DVD) that is inserted into the
storage medium interface 2128. The input device 2129 includes, for
example, a touch sensor configured to detect touch on a screen of
the display device 2130, a button, or a switch, and receives an
operation or information inputted by a user. The display device
2130 includes a screen such as a LCD or an OLED display, and
displays an image of the navigation function or a content that is
reproduced. The speaker 2131 outputs a sound of the navigation
function or a content that is reproduced.
[0220] The wireless communication interface 2133 supports any
cellular communication scheme (such as LTE and LTE-Advanced), and
performs wireless communication. The wireless communication
interface 2133 may generally include, for example, a BB processor
2134 and an RF circuit 2135. The BB processor 2134 may perform, for
example, encoding/decoding, modulating/demodulating, and
multiplexing/demultiplexing, and performs various types of signal
processing for wireless communication. In addition, the RF circuit
2135 may include, for example, a frequency mixer, a filter, and an
amplifier, and transmits and receives wireless signals via the
antenna 2137. The wireless communication interface 2133 may also be
a chip module that has the BB processor 2134 and the RF circuit
2135 integrated thereon. The wireless communication interface 2133
may include multiple BB processors 2134 and multiple RF circuits
2135, as shown in FIG. 14. Although FIG. 14 shows the example in
which the wireless communication interface 2133 includes the
multiple BB processors 2134 and the multiple RF circuits 2135, the
wireless communication interface 2133 may include a single BB
processor 2134 or a single RF circuit 2135.
[0221] Furthermore, in addition to a cellular communication scheme,
the wireless communication interface 2133 may support another type
of wireless communication scheme such as a short-distance wireless
communication scheme, a near field communication scheme, and a
wireless LAN scheme. In that case, the wireless communication
interface 2133 may include the BB processor 2134 and the RF circuit
2135 for each wireless communication scheme.
[0222] Each of the antenna switches 2136 switches connection
destinations of the antennas 2137 among multiple circuits (such as
circuits for different wireless communication schemes) included in
the wireless communication interface 2133.
[0223] Each of the antennas 2137 includes a single or multiple
antenna elements (such as multiple antenna elements included in an
MIMO antenna), and is used by the wireless communication interface
2133 to transmit and receive wireless signals. The car navigation
device 2120 may include multiple antennas 2137, as shown in FIG.
14. Although FIG. 14 shows the example in which the car navigation
device 2120 includes the multiple antennas 2137, the car navigation
device 2120 may include a single antenna 2137.
[0224] Furthermore, the car navigation device 2120 may include the
antenna 2137 for each wireless communication scheme. In that case,
the antenna switches 2136 may be omitted from the configuration of
the car navigation device 2120.
[0225] The battery 2138 supplies power to various components of the
car navigation device 2120 shown in FIG. 14 via feeder lines that
are partially shown as dashed lines in the FIG. 14. The battery
2138 accumulates power supplied form the vehicle.
[0226] In the car navigation device 2120 shown in FIG. 14, the
transceiver device or the transceiver unit of the wireless
communication apparatus according to the embodiment of the present
disclosure may be implemented by the wireless communication
interface 2133. At least a part of the functions of the processing
circuit and/or each unit of the electronic device or the wireless
communication apparatus according to the embodiment of the present
disclosure may also be implemented by the processor 2121.
[0227] The technology of the present disclosure may also be
implemented by an in-vehicle system (or a vehicle) 2140 including
one or more components of car navigation device 2120, the
in-vehicle network 2141 and a vehicle module 2142. The vehicle
module 2142 generates vehicle data (such as a vehicle speed, an
engine speed, and fault information), and outputs the generated
data to the in-vehicle network 2141.
[0228] In the above description of specific embodiments of the
present disclosure, the features described and/or illustrated for
one embodiment may be used in one or more other embodiments in the
same or similar manner, may be combined with features in the other
embodiments, or may replace the features in the other
embodiments.
[0229] It should be emphasized that the term
"including/comprising", when used herein, refers to the presence of
a feature, an element, a step or a component, but does not exclude
the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements,
steps or components.
[0230] In the above embodiments and examples, numerals are used to
indicate each step and/or unit. It should be understood by those
skilled in the art that these reference signs are used only for
convenience of description and drawing, and do not indicate their
order or make any other limitation.
[0231] In addition, the method of the present disclosure is not
limited to being performed in the chronological order described in
the specification, but may also be performed in other chronological
order, in parallel, or independently. Therefore, the performing
order of the method described in this specification does not limit
the technical scope of the present disclosure.
[0232] Although the present disclosure has been disclosed above
through the description of specific embodiments of the present
disclosure, it should be understood that all the embodiments and
examples described above are illustrative and not restrictive.
Those skilled in the art may make various modifications,
improvements, or equivalents to the present disclosure within the
spirit and scope of the claims. These modifications, improvements
or equivalents should also be considered to be included in the
protection scope of the present disclosure.
* * * * *