Method and apparatus for line-of-sight antenna arrays

Abstract

A network node includes an antenna array having a plurality of antenna sub-arrays. A switching device is coupled to the antenna array, the switching device being configured to connect at least two input signals to respective ones of the plurality of antenna sub-arrays. A processor is configured to determine a channel capacity, wherein based on the channel capacity, the processor is configured to control the switching device to switch a connection of the at least two input signals to different ones of the plurality of antenna sub-arrays to change one or more of an inter-distance between the respective ones of the plurality of antenna sub-arrays and a down-tilting angle of the antenna array.

Description

technical field [0001] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and in particular, to dynamic switching of input signals to antenna subarrays. Background technique [0002] In the context of next-generation wireless networks, with around 2020 as the target commercialization time, mmWave radios are considered for building two types of backhaul nodes, aggregated and non-aggregated backhaul nodes. Millimeter waves are radio waves having wavelengths between about 1 mm and 10 mm corresponding to frequencies from about 30 GHz to 300 GHz. Due to the large available spectrum band, mmWave is preferred for carrying high bit rate data on the backhaul link. However, spectrum bands other than the band between 30GHz and 300GHz can also be used for the backhaul link. [0003] One way to increase the channel capacity of mmWave based backhaul links is to use Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) configurations, often using LoS MIMO, for backhaul...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0007] The problem with using a ULA system is the antenna subarray configuration (i.e. the antenna subarray spacing D t and D r and the downward slope angle θ t and θ r ) is fixed during network operation and cannot be changed

Therefore, it is difficult to achieve maximum or optimal channel capacity under certain conditions

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