Wireless communication methods and wireless communication devices

By configuring analog weight parameters in the receiving and transmitting devices and using omnidirectional beams and orthogonal pilot signals, the problem of high complexity in traditional beamforming training is solved, enabling fast and effective beamforming training and improving the communication efficiency of millimeter-wave systems.

CN115085786BActive Publication Date: 2025-10-28TOYOTA JIDOSHA KK
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Patent Information

Application Number
CN202210673489.3
Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Patents(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
Priority Date
2016-01-07
Filing Date
2016-12-29
Publication Date
2025-10-28
Estimated Expiration
2036-12-29

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Traditional beamforming training mechanisms are too complex in millimeter-wave systems, affecting communication setup time, and are particularly difficult to perform efficiently in multi-user massive antenna systems.

Method used

By configuring analog weight parameters using processors in the receiving and transmitting devices, antenna configuration for receiving common sequences and pilot signals is achieved. Combined with omnidirectional beamforming and orthogonal pilot signals, rapid beamforming training is realized.

Benefits of technology

It reduces the complexity of beamforming training, improves signal transmission quality, and shortens communication setup time, making it suitable for multi-user millimeter-wave massive MIMO antenna systems.

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Abstract

Wireless communication methods and wireless communication devices are disclosed. A user equipment having multiple antennas in a communication system includes one or more processors configured to: determine a downlink receive beam based on a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) received from a base station in the communication system, wherein the downlink receive beam is determined according to a maximizing received signal power criterion or a maximizing signal-to-interference ratio criterion; and determine an uplink transmit beam based on the downlink receive beam for transmitting a sounding reference signal (SRS) corresponding to the user equipment to transmit the SRS to the base station, wherein the multiple antennas are configured to receive one or more control commands from the base station, and the processor is further configured to acquire at least one of the following information based on the one or more control commands: a first time period for transmitting CSI-RS, the number of times CSI-RS is transmitted, a second time period for transmitting the SRS, and the number of times the SRS is transmitted.
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Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the patent application for an invention named "Wireless Communication Method and Wireless Communication Device" with the application date of December 29, 2016, application number 201680074945.5. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to a wireless communication method and a wireless communication device, and in particular, to a beamforming training method applicable to a multi-user massive antenna system and a device using this method. Background Art

[0003] In recent years, millimeter-wave technology and massive multi-input multi-output (Massive MIMO) technology have been regarded as key technologies for future fifth-generation mobile communication (5G), thus attracting extensive attention. The millimeter-wave band has a large amount of available spectrum resources, which can meet the growing demand for traffic. In addition, due to the short wavelength of millimeter waves, it is possible to deploy hundreds or even thousands of antennas in a small space, which is more conducive to the application of massive antenna technology in practical systems.

[0004] Figure 1 Schematically shows a single-base-station multi-user millimeter-wave massive antenna system. As Figure 1 shown, the base station 100 is equipped with M antennas and serves K user equipments UE1 - UEK, and each user equipment is equipped with N antennas. Under the traditional fully digital precoding architecture (one radio frequency link is only connected to one antenna unit), the data for K user equipments is mapped to M radio frequency links and antenna units through a fully digital precoding matrix W ∈ C M×K to obtain optimal precoding performance. However, this fully digital precoding architecture requires M radio frequency links, resulting in problems such as high hardware complexity and high power consumption. Therefore, Figure 1 the system shown adopts a fully connected hybrid precoding architecture. Under this architecture, the data streams for K user equipments are first mapped to K radio frequency links (K < M) by the digital precoder 110 using the digital precoding matrix B (B ∈ C K×K ). After the signals of each radio frequency link are up-converted, they are connected to M antennas via the analog phase shifter network 120 for transmission. Since each radio frequency link corresponds to multiple phase shifters and antenna units, a single radio frequency link can form a beam. Therefore, compared with the case where multiple radio frequency links are required to form a beam under the fully digital precoding architecture, the hardware cost is greatly reduced. The values of the phase shifters in the analog phase shifter network 120 form the analog precoding matrix F. Since the phase shifters only change the phase of the signal and do not change its amplitude, the analog precoding matrix F ∈ C M×K satisfies the constraint |[F]m,n | 2 =M -1 Accordingly, the signals received on each antenna of user equipment UE 1-UE K are connected to one or more respective radio frequency links via phase shifting network 140. Under this hybrid precoding architecture, the downlink signal transmission model can be represented as follows:

[0005]

[0006] Where y k H represents the received signal of the k-th user equipment. k Let F be the downlink channel matrix between the k-th user equipment and base station 100, and let F and B be the analog precoding matrix and digital precoding matrix, respectively. The k-th column f of the analog precoding matrix F... k w represents the analog transmission weight vector for the k-th user equipment (e.g., the phase setting for multiple phase shifters connected to the k-th RF link). k Let n represent the received weight vector of the k-th user equipment. k Let x represent Gaussian white noise, and let x represent the data sent to K user equipments (UEs) 1-UE K. Due to device limitations, the simulated transmission weight vector f is limited. k The received weight vector wk is typically selected from a predefined codebook, and more specifically, from the codebook Fc of the base station 100 and the codebook Wc of the user equipment UE, respectively.

[0007] In hybrid precoding architectures, analog transmit and receive weight vectors are typically designed separately from the digital precoding matrix B to reduce computational complexity. The process of selecting the optimal analog transmit / receive weight vector for each user equipment from the codebook is called beamforming training. Beamforming training can be performed using a criterion that maximizes the user's received power, expressed as follows:

[0008]

[0009] Among them, {w k,opt ,f k,opt} represents the optimal downlink receive weight vector / downlink transmit weight vector for the k-th user equipment.

[0010] In obtaining the analog received weight vector / transmitted weight vector {w k,opt ,f k,opt After that, the downlink equivalent channel H can be obtained. eq ∈C K×K , where [H eq ] i,j =w i,opt T H i fj,opt According to the theory of random matrices, when the number of antennas of base station 100 is much greater than the number of user equipment (UE) (i.e., M >> K), H eq Since the matrix is ​​diagonally dominant, linear digital precoding algorithms, such as the zero-forcing (ZF) algorithm, can be used to design the digital precoding matrix B, as shown below:

[0011] B = H eq H (H eq H eq H ) -1 Λ, where Λ is a diagonal matrix used for transmit power allocation among user equipment.

[0012] Traditional beamforming training mechanisms mainly include physical channel estimation, exhaustive search, multi-level feedback, and single-step feedback.

[0013] The physical channel estimation mechanism directly estimates the downlink physical channel H through pilot signals. k ∈C N×M The user equipment then calculates the optimal transmit / receive weight vector based on the estimated physical channel and feeds the transmit weight vector back to the base station. However, in millimeter-wave systems, both the base station and the user equipment are equipped with a large number of antennas, resulting in extremely high channel estimation complexity. Furthermore, because the pilots are not beamformed, the received signal-to-noise ratio is low, leading to low accuracy in channel estimation.

[0014] An exhaustive search mechanism searches for all possible transmit / receive weight vector pairs. The user equipment measures the channel quality for each transmit / receive weight vector pair to select the optimal weight vector pair and feeds back the transmit weight vector to the base station. While the exhaustive search mechanism can achieve optimal performance, it is extremely complex.

[0015] The multi-level feedback mechanism divides the training process into multiple layers using a pre-designed multi-level codebook, employing exhaustive search in each layer. Since the number of candidate codewords in each layer is relatively small, the complexity is reduced. However, the multi-level feedback mechanism requires sending weight vectors back to the base station multiple times, resulting in significant additional resource consumption. Furthermore, because the training process differs for each user device, all user devices must be trained individually, leading to higher overall complexity.

[0016] The single-feedback mechanism divides beamforming training into two processes. First, the base station searches for all possible transmit weight vectors, while the user equipment uses omnidirectional beams to receive signals and estimate channel quality, thereby selecting the optimal transmit weight vector and feeding it back to the base station. Then, the base station fixes the transmit weight vector, and the user searches for the optimal receive weight vector. Compared to the exhaustive search mechanism, the single-feedback mechanism reduces complexity but also incurs some performance loss. Furthermore, its complexity increases with the number of user equipment.

[0017] In summary, traditional beamforming training mechanisms mainly suffer from excessive complexity. In millimeter-wave systems, the complexity of beamforming training directly impacts communication setup time, a crucial performance indicator in mobile communication systems. Therefore, a fast beamforming training mechanism suitable for multi-user millimeter-wave massive MIMO antenna systems is needed.

[0018] The above description has been provided to aid in a better understanding of the embodiments of the present invention. However, it should be understood that this does not imply an admission that the above description pertains to prior art. The above description may also include content belonging to the embodiments of the present invention. Summary of the Invention

[0019] To address the aforementioned problems, this invention proposes a receiving-side device in a communication system, comprising one or more processors configured to: determine analog weight parameters of multiple antennas of the receiving-side device based on the receiving-side device's reception of a common sequence from a transmitting side; and determine an antenna configuration for transmitting a predetermined pilot signal corresponding to the receiving-side device based on the analog weight parameters, so as to transmit the predetermined pilot signal to the transmitting side.

[0020] The present invention also proposes a transmitting-side device for a communication network, comprising one or more processors configured to: generate a common sequence for transmission to a plurality of receiving-side devices; and, for each of the plurality of receiving-side devices, determine analog weight parameters for a plurality of antennas of the transmitting-side device based on reception of a predetermined pilot signal from the receiving-side device, wherein the predetermined pilot signal is transmitted by the receiving-side device based on the multi-antenna transmission weight parameters of the receiving-side device, wherein the multi-antenna transmission weight parameters are determined by the receiving-side device based on reception of the common sequence.

[0021] The present invention also proposes a training method in a communication system, comprising: generating a common sequence by a transmitting device to transmit to a plurality of receiving devices; each of the plurality of receiving devices determining a first analog weight parameter based on the reception of the common sequence, and determining an antenna configuration for transmitting a predetermined pilot signal corresponding to the receiving device based on the determined first analog weight parameter, so as to transmit the predetermined pilot signal to the transmitting device; and the transmitting device determining a second analog weight parameter for the receiving device based on the reception of the predetermined pilot signal, and determining an antenna configuration for transmitting data for the receiving device based on the determined second analog weight parameter, so as to transmit the data to the receiving device. Attached Figure Description

[0022] The invention can be better understood by referring to the description given below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which the same or similar reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to denote the same or similar parts. The drawings, together with the following detailed description, are incorporated in and form part of this specification, and are used to further illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention and explain the principles and advantages of the invention. In the drawings:

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic structural block diagram of a single-base station multi-user millimeter-wave massive MIMO antenna communication system to which this invention applies.

[0024] Figure 2 The structure of a fully connected phase-shifting network for a base station is illustrated schematically.

[0025] Figure 3 The structure of the sub-connection phase-shifting network of the base station is schematically shown.

[0026] Figure 4 The schematic diagram illustrates the structure of a user equipment equipped with multiple radio frequency links.

[0027] Figure 5 The schematic diagram illustrates the structure of a user equipment equipped with a single radio frequency link.

[0028] Figure 6 A flowchart of an example of beamforming training according to the present invention.

[0029] Figure 7 This is a view used to illustrate the downlink training according to the present invention.

[0030] Figure 8A and 8B This is a view used to illustrate the uplink training according to the present invention.

[0031] Figure 9This is a flowchart of another example of beamforming training according to the present invention.

[0032] Figure 10A and 10B The performance comparison of beamforming training according to the present invention with that of the prior art is shown.

[0033] Figure 11 This is a block diagram illustrating an example configuration of computer hardware. Detailed Implementation

[0034] Figure 1 A schematic block diagram of the communication system to which this invention is applicable is shown. For example... Figure 1 As shown, in base station 100, K user data streams are input to baseband digital precoder 110. Digital precoder 110 uses digital precoding matrix B to digitally precode the K data streams, mapping them to K radio frequency links with different weighting coefficients. Digital precoding is mainly used to eliminate interference between different data streams when multiple data streams multiplex the same physical transmission resources. It should be noted that since analog precoding can achieve spatially separated beam transmission, thereby reducing interference between different transport streams to some extent, digital precoding is not a necessary process in this invention. To reduce system complexity or cost, a digital precoder may be omitted in some embodiments. In addition, digital precoding is performed in the baseband section, so the digital precoder can be implemented, for example, by a baseband processor, and is therefore sometimes referred to as a baseband precoder. Furthermore, analog precoding is implemented in the radio frequency section under the control of processing circuitry, and is therefore sometimes referred to as analog beamforming.

[0035] It is important to note that while beamforming is a concept in existing technologies, most discussions are conducted within a one-to-one correspondence between RF links and antenna elements, lacking device constraints. From an implementation perspective, there is no need for repeated training to select codewords from a fixed codebook for actual transmission. Furthermore, existing technologies typically perform beamforming transmission only at the base station side, with the user equipment passively receiving signals without requiring adjustments to antenna configurations (e.g., RF devices). However, in this invention, the user equipment's RF link corresponds to multiple phase shifters and antenna elements, employing a specific antenna configuration scheme when receiving or transmitting signals to cooperate with the base station for high-quality signal transmission.

[0036] After digital precoding, the baseband signal is up-converted, amplified, and filtered in K RF links to form an RF signal.

[0037] K radio frequency links are connected to the analog phase shifter network 120, and the M outputs of the phase shifter network 120 are respectively connected to M antennas. The values of the phase shifters in the phase shifter network 120 form an analog precoding matrix (or called an analog beamforming matrix) F. Different from digital precoding, analog beamforming is mainly used to improve the received signal-to-noise ratio of the user equipment and overcome the signal path fading. Therefore, different beams usually need to be generated for different user equipments.

[0038] The processor 130 is used to generate or determine the digital precoding matrix B and the analog precoding matrix F. That is to say, the processor 130 is used to control the digital precoding process and the configuration of the phase shifters in the phase shifter network 120. It can be understood that the processor 130 in this article can be implemented as one or more high-level controllers, baseband processors and other processors, and the digital precoding matrix B and the analog precoding matrix F can be generated by different processors respectively.

[0039] Typically, the phase shifter network 120 includes two types: a fully connected phase shifter network and a sub-connected phase shifter network. Figure 2 The structure of the fully connected phase shifter network is schematically shown. As Figure 2 shown, each radio frequency link is connected to M phase shifters, and the output signals of every K (K < M) phase shifters are added by an adder and then connected to an antenna unit. Figure 3 The structure of the sub-connected phase shifter network is schematically shown. As Figure 3 shown, each radio frequency link is connected to M / K phase shifters, and each phase shifter is connected to an antenna unit.

[0040] In Figure 1 it is schematically shown that each user equipment UE is equipped with N receiving antennas. In fact, each user equipment UE can be equipped with different numbers of antennas, and the present invention is not limited thereto. Figure 4 The structure of the user equipment UE is shown in more detail. As Figure 4 shown, the signals received through N antenna units are connected to multiple radio frequency links (the number of radio frequency links is less than the number of antenna units) via the phase shifter network 410, and then the baseband received signals (not shown) are obtained after filtering, amplification, and down-conversion. The structure of the phase shifter network 410 is similar to that of the phase shifter network 120 on the base station side. The values of the phase shifters in the phase shifter network 410 form the analog reception weight matrix W of the user equipment UE. In addition, similar to the base station side, the reception weight matrix W is configured by the processor 420, that is, the values of the phase shifters in the phase shifter network 410 are configured.

[0041] In addition, Figure 5 it shows another structure of the user equipment UE, and this structure is more simplified than Figure 4 . In Figure 5In this configuration, the User Equipment (UE) has only one radio frequency (RF) link. Therefore, the signals received through the N antennas are summed and output to that RF link, eliminating the need for a phase-shifting network. In this case, the values ​​of the N phase shifters connected to the N antennas constitute the analog reception weight vector w of the UE. Similarly, the processor 510 configures the values ​​of the N phase shifters, i.e., configures the reception weight vector w.

[0042] In an example of this invention, a weight vector corresponds to a value pattern of multiple phase shifters, and the elements of the weight vector represent the phase values ​​of a set of phase shifters. The weight matrix includes multiple weight vectors, each used for multiple RF links. Furthermore, all available weight vectors constitute a beamforming codebook; in other words, each weight vector corresponds to a codeword in the beamforming codebook.

[0043] The above combination Figures 1-5 The communication system structure according to the present invention, as well as the structure of the base station and user equipment, are described. As described above, the received signal corresponding to the k-th data stream on the base station side (note that user equipment equipped with multiple radio frequency links can receive multiple data streams) can be expressed as:

[0044]

[0045] Among them, H k Let B ∈ C be the downlink channel matrix between the user equipment and the base station corresponding to the k-th data stream. K×K This is the digital precoding matrix B. Typically, the digital precoding matrix B is a diagonally dominated matrix, meaning its diagonal elements are larger. Therefore, after digital precoding, the signal on the k-th RF link will primarily originate from the k-th data stream. F∈C M×K It is a simulated precoding matrix, and the k-th column f of the simulated precoding matrix F. k This represents the simulated transmission weight vector used for the k-th radio frequency link (primarily carrying the k-th data stream). In, for example... Figure 2 In the structure of the fully connected phase-shifting network shown, since each RF link is connected to all antennas, the vector f k All elements are non-zero. In, for example... Figure 3 In the sub-connected phase-shifting network structure shown, since each RF link is only connected to a portion of the antennas, the vector f k Only the first To the One element is non-zero, and all other elements are zero.

[0046] Furthermore, wk represents the analog reception weight vector of the user equipment for the k-th data stream. When the phase-shifting network 410 on the user equipment side is a fully connected phase-shifting network or a sub-connected phase-shifting network, the vector wk and the aforementioned f... k similar.

[0047] Furthermore, x represents the signal transmitted by the base station corresponding to K data streams, and n k This represents Gaussian white noise.

[0048] As mentioned above, due to device constraints, the simulated transmission weight vector f k The simulated received weight vector wk can only be selected from a predefined codebook, that is, only one codeword from the predetermined codebook can be used. In this invention, the codebook on the base station side is defined as Fc, and the codebook on the user equipment side is defined as Wc. In particular, in the sub-connected phase-shifting network structure, the codebook refers to the set of all possible values ​​of the non-zero elements in the weight vector.

[0049] The following will combine Figure 6 The beamforming training process according to the present invention is described in detail.

[0050] like Figure 6 As shown, in step S601, the base station 100 first notifies all user equipment (UE) it serves of downlink training information via, for example, a broadcast channel. This downlink training information may include, for example, the time period for transmitting downlink training sequences (e.g., pilot signals), the number of times the downlink training sequences are transmitted, etc. The downlink training sequences are generated by the base station 100 (e.g., processor 130) and transmitted by the base station 100 to all UEs in step S602. For example, in the case of applying this invention to an Advanced Long Term Evolution (LTE-A) system, the downlink training sequences may be Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Common Reference Signal (CRS), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), etc., and the broadcast channel may be, for example, a Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH). In one example, when the downlink training information includes a time period for transmitting CSI-RS and includes information indicating that CSI-RS is transmitted only on specific subframes, since the time period contains a certain number of those specific subframes, the downlink training information may not necessarily include the number of times CSI-RS is transmitted.

[0051] In step S602, base station 100 utilizes omnidirectional beam f omni The downlink training sequence (CSI-RS) is broadcast multiple times to all user equipment (UE). Omnidirectional beam f omni Defined as satisfying The simulated transmission weight vector, where Let θ represent the base station transmit antenna response vector. These represent the horizontal and vertical angles of arrival, respectively, with C representing a constant.

[0052] For a downlink training sequence transmitted by base station 100, user equipment (UE) can estimate the equivalent channel coefficients when using a codeword from codebook Wc as the simulated receive weight vector. For another downlink training sequence broadcast by base station 100, the UE can estimate the equivalent channel when using a different codeword as the simulated receive weight vector. Thus, since the number of times the base station transmits downlink training sequences (e.g., P times) is equal to the number of codewords in the UE's codebook Wc (i.e., the codebook size), by receiving P transmitted downlink training sequences, the UE can estimate the equivalent channel for all codewords in codebook Wc.

[0053] Specifically, see Figure 7 This demonstrates that base station 100 utilizes an omnidirectional beam f omni The downlink training sequence is broadcast P times to user equipment UEs 1-K. For the first broadcast downlink training sequence, user equipment UEs 1-UEK respectively estimate the downlink training sequence using codeword w. 1 The equivalent channel coefficients are used as the receive weight vector. Then, for the downlink training sequence of the second broadcast, user equipment UE1-UEK respectively estimate the equivalent channel coefficients using codeword w. 2 The equivalent channel coefficients, used as the receive weight vector, are then calculated in this manner until estimation is completed for all P codewords in the codebook Wc. It is understood that, when multiple user equipments have different codebook Wc sizes, the base station 100 determines the number of times to repeatedly broadcast the training sequence, for example, based on the codebook size of the user equipment with the largest codebook, to ensure that each user equipment can perform a complete estimation.

[0054] Furthermore, user equipment with multiple radio frequency links (using a fully connected architecture) can estimate one codeword using each radio frequency link. Therefore, when receiving a downlink training sequence broadcast by base station 100, estimation can be performed on multiple codewords simultaneously. Theoretically, in this case, base station 100 can reduce the number of times it retransmits the downlink training sequence. However, in practice, since there are user equipment with both single and multiple radio frequency links, in order to ensure that user equipment with a single radio frequency link can perform complete estimation, base station 100 still needs to retransmit the downlink training sequence according to the codebook size P of the user equipment.

[0055] After the User Equipment (UE) completes the equivalent channel estimation for all codewords, it can select a downlink receiving weight vector that ensures the receiving quality of the downlink training sequence meets predetermined conditions based on the estimation results. Alternatively, preferably, it can select the receiving weight vector that provides the best receiving quality as the downlink receiving weight vector it will use in communication. Figure 6The step S603 is shown. The criteria for selection may include: 1) maximizing the received signal power criterion, and 2) maximizing the signal-to-interference ratio criterion, which are applicable to the user equipment (UE) equipped with a single radio frequency link and multiple radio frequency links, respectively.

[0056] For example, when a user equipment (UE) is equipped with a single radio frequency link, the criterion for maximizing received signal power can be expressed as follows:

[0057] {w opt}=argmax||w T Hf omni ||stw∈W c ,

[0058] Where w represents the downlink receive weight vector used in a single radio frequency link, as mentioned above, w is selected from each codeword in the codebook Wc, ​​and Wc represents the predefined analog beamforming codebook in the user equipment. H∈C N×M This represents the downlink channel matrix between the base station and the user equipment (N and M represent the number of antennas equipped in the user equipment and the base station, respectively), f omni This indicates that the base station uses an omnidirectional beam.

[0059] Furthermore, based on the symmetry of the uplink and downlink channel characteristics, w can be determined as above. opt Configure the values ​​of the phase shifters connected to a single radio frequency link of the user equipment (UE) to send uplink training sequences to the base station (described later).

[0060] When a user equipment (UE) is equipped with multiple radio frequency links, the criterion for maximizing the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) can be expressed as follows:

[0061]

[0062] in, N RF Indicates the number of radio frequency links equipped in the user equipment, w j Let w be the analog receive weight vector used in the j-th RF link, as described above. j The codewords are selected from the codebook Wc, ​​which represents the predefined analog beamforming codebook in the user equipment. H∈C N×M f represents the downlink channel matrix between the base station and the user equipment. omni This indicates that the base station uses an omnidirectional beam.

[0063] Based on the w determined above j,opt This is used to configure the values ​​of a set of phase shifters connected to the j-th radio frequency link of the user equipment (UE) to send uplink training sequences to the base station (described later). In one example, this w can be used j,optThis is used to configure the values ​​of each group of phase shifters connected to each radio frequency link of the user equipment (UE), that is, to perform the same configuration on each group of phase shifters.

[0064] As an extended example, a User Equipment (UE) with multiple radio frequency links can be trained simultaneously with two base stations (e.g., a macro base station and a small base station) using the dual connectivity technology specified in the LTE-A communication protocol, for example. In this case, the UE can obtain analog reception weight vectors w1 and w2 for the two base stations respectively. Then, the UE uses the determined weight vector w1 to configure the values ​​of a set of phase shifters connected to radio frequency link 1 for base station 1, and uses the determined weight vector w2 to configure the values ​​of a set of phase shifters connected to radio frequency link 2 for base station 2, thereby achieving analog beamforming transmission with two base stations simultaneously.

[0065] The downlink training process ends when the user equipment (UE) obtains the downlink receive weight vector for communication in step S603.

[0066] Subsequently, in step S604, the User Equipment (UE) calculates the uplink transmission weight vector based on the determined downlink receive weight vector, and then uses the calculated uplink transmission weight vector to transmit the uplink training sequence, thus initiating the uplink training process. For Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, since the channel characteristics of the uplink and downlink channels are reciprocal, the determined receive weight vector can be directly used as the UE's uplink transmission weight vector. However, for Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, the receive weight vector can be corrected to obtain a more accurate uplink transmission weight vector, which will be described in detail below.

[0067] In step S605, the base station 100 broadcasts uplink training information to all user equipment (UEs). This uplink training information may include, for example, the time period for sending uplink training sequences and the number of times uplink training sequences are sent. In one example, when the uplink training information includes the time period for sending uplink training sequences and information indicating that one uplink training sequence is sent in each subframe, since the time period contains a certain number of subframes, the uplink training information may not need to include the number of times uplink training sequences are sent. In another example, the base station has already included information about the radio frequency link, beamforming codebook, etc., in the system information to notify the UE when the UE accesses the network. In this case, the uplink training information may also not need to include the number of times uplink training sequences are sent. In other examples, uplink training can be pre-set to start after a predetermined time after downlink training ends, so the base station 100 does not need to specifically send uplink training information. Furthermore, the base station 100 uses a specific channel, such as dedicated signaling like RRC signaling, to notify the UE of the uplink training sequences allocated to it.

[0068] Then, the User Equipment (UE) transmits an uplink training sequence to the base station 100 based on the uplink transmission weight vector obtained in step S604, and the uplink training sequence and uplink training information obtained in step S605, as shown in step S606. Specifically, the uplink training sequences used by each UE are mutually orthogonal, including at least one of the following: the training sequences themselves are mutually orthogonal, and the physical transmission resources are mutually orthogonal. The uplink training sequence can be, for example, an orthogonal pilot signal, such as a sounding reference signal (SRS). When the uplink training sequence is an SRS, since the UE performs beamforming and transmits the SRS based on the downlink training results, it can more accurately implicitly feed back downlink channel information while providing resource scheduling reference to the base station, without requiring dedicated feedback signaling overhead.

[0069] For each user equipment (UE) transmitting an uplink training sequence, the base station 100 estimates the equivalent channel coefficients when each codeword in the codebook Fc is used as the uplink receiving weight vector, and determines the uplink receiving weight vector that makes the receiving quality of the uplink training sequence meet a predetermined condition (or the optimal receiving quality) based on the estimation results, as shown in step S607.

[0070] In particular, in a preferred example where base station 100 is configured with a fully connected phase-shifting network, since base station 100 typically has multiple radio frequency links, it can simultaneously estimate multiple codewords; that is, it can estimate the equivalent channel by using one codeword as the receive weight vector for each radio frequency link. Therefore, for an uplink training sequence transmitted once by a user equipment (UE), base station 100 can complete the estimation of K... RF Equivalent channel estimation of K codewords, where K RF This refers to the number of radio frequency links equipped in base station 100. Thus, assuming the predetermined codebook Fc size in base station 100 is Q, theoretically, a user equipment (UE) needs to send uplink training sequences Q / K times. RF .

[0071] Specifically, see Figure 8A This shows that user equipment UE1-UEK use their respective uplink transmission weight vectors w1-w K The uplink training sequence is transmitted multiple times. For example, for the first uplink training sequence transmitted by user equipment UE 1 with weight vector w1, base station 100, due to having K... RF One RF link, therefore it can target K RF individual code characters To estimate the equivalent channel coefficients. Then, for the uplink training sequence transmitted a second time by user equipment UE 1 with weight vector w1, base station 100 targets another K... RF individual code characters The equivalent channel coefficients are estimated using this method, and so on, until all Q codewords in the codebook Fc are estimated. For other user equipment UE2-UE K, the processing by base station 100 is the same as that for user equipment UE1.

[0072] Uplink training sequences transmitted by multiple user equipment (UEs) 1-UE K are received overlappingly on the antennas of base station 100. However, since the uplink training sequences transmitted by each UE are orthogonal, base station 100 can resolve the sequence transmitted by each UE and perform uplink training separately for each UE. In this case, the resources consumed by the uplink training process are independent of the number of users. Therefore, as many UEs as possible can transmit uplink training sequences simultaneously, provided the number of available orthogonal pilot signals (uplink training sequences) allows, thereby saving overall training overhead. Preferably, the phase-shifting network 120 of base station 100 employs... Figure 2 In the fully connected phase-shifting network structure shown, each radio frequency link is connected to all antennas, thus allowing the reception of signals on all transmission paths to be experienced. In this case, all user equipment (UE) served by the base station 100 can simultaneously send uplink training sequences, so that the base station 100 can simultaneously perform uplink training for all UEs and select the reception weight vector for each UE.

[0073] On the other hand, the phase-shifting network 120 of base station 100 adopts Figure 3 In the case of the sub-connected phase-shifting network structure shown, each radio frequency link of the base station 100 can be configured to receive uplink training sequences sent by all user equipment (UEs) using the same receive weight vector, and perform equivalent channel estimation. For example... Figure 8B As shown, for the uplink training sequence first transmitted by user equipment UE 1 with weight vector w1, the K of base station 100 RF Each radio frequency link uses codeword f 1 The received weight vector is used for reception, and the equivalent channel coefficients are estimated. Then, for the uplink training sequence transmitted a second time by user equipment UE 1 with weight vector w1, the K of base station 100... RF Each radio frequency link uses codeword f 2 The equivalent channel coefficients are then received and estimated, and this process continues until estimation is completed for all Q codewords in the codebook Fc. In this case, although the training overhead is slightly greater than that of the base station 100 equipped with a fully connected phase-shifting network, it still has a significant advantage over existing methods such as exhaustive search mechanisms.

[0074] For uplink training of a user equipment (UE), after the base station 100 completes equivalent channel estimation for all Q codewords in the beamforming codebook Fc, it selects an uplink receiving weight vector based on the estimation results to ensure that the receiving quality of the uplink training sequence meets predetermined conditions. The selection criteria include: 1) maximizing the received signal power criterion and 2) maximizing the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR). These criteria are applicable to scenarios where the UE is equipped with a single radio frequency link and scenarios with multiple radio frequency links, respectively.

[0075] When a user equipment (UE) is equipped with a single radio frequency link, the criterion for maximizing received signal power can be expressed as follows:

[0076] {f opt}=argmax||f T Hw||stf∈F c ,

[0077] Where f represents the base station-side received weight vector used for the uplink training sequence sent by user equipment 100. As mentioned above, f is selected from each codeword in codebook Fc, where Fc represents a predetermined analog beamforming codebook in base station 100. H∈C M×N The uplink channel matrix between the user equipment (UE) and the base station 100 is represented by N and M, which represent the number of antennas equipped in the user equipment and the base station, respectively, and w represents the uplink transmission weight vector used by the user equipment (UE).

[0078] Based on the f determined above opt Configure the values ​​of a set of phase shifters connected to the RF link of the base station 100 for the user equipment UE to transmit data for the user equipment UE (described later).

[0079] When a user equipment (UE) is equipped with multiple radio frequency links, the criterion for maximizing the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) can be expressed as follows:

[0080]

[0081] in N RF f represents the number of radio frequency links equipped with user equipment 100. j This represents the base station-side received weight vector used for the j-th radio frequency link of user equipment 100, as described above, f j The codewords are selected from the codebook Fc, where Fc represents the predefined analog beamforming codebook in base station 100. H∈C M×N w represents the uplink channel matrix between user equipment and base station 100. j This represents the transmit weight vector used by the j-th radio frequency link of user equipment 100.

[0082] Based on the f determined abovej,opt Configure the values ​​of a set of phase shifters connected to the radio frequency link of the j-th radio frequency link of the user equipment (UE) in the base station 100 to transmit data for the user equipment (described later).

[0083] Then, in step S608, base station 100 calculates the downlink transmission weight vector for communication based on the determined uplink receive weight vector. For time division duplex (TDD) systems, since the channel characteristics of the uplink and downlink channels are reciprocal, the determined receive weight vector can be directly used as the transmission weight vector. However, for frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, the uplink receive weight vector needs to be corrected to obtain the downlink transmission weight vector.

[0084] As described in steps S604 and S608, in the case of an FDD system, both the user equipment (UE) and the base station 100 need to correct the determined reception weight vector to obtain the transmission weight vector. This process will be described in detail below.

[0085] In general, the correction method for the received weight vector is related to the antenna configuration and codebook design. The following presents a correction method under a common linear equidistant antenna array and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) codebook design.

[0086] Assume the electromagnetic wave wavelengths corresponding to the uplink and downlink frequencies are λ and λ, respectively. up and λ down The antenna spacing is d. The FFT codebook consists of a codebook matrix. Given that each column of the matrix is ​​a receive / transmit weight vector, where N a N represents the number of antennas. c The value is the codebook size. The element in the i-th row and m-th column of matrix C takes the value...

[0087]

[0088] Under the above conditions, when the downlink reception weight vector determined by user equipment 100 in step S603 is the k-th element in the codebook matrix... down When selecting a column, in step S604, the k-th column in the codebook matrix is ​​chosen. up The column serves as the transmit weight vector for uplink transmission, where k up It is given by the following formula:

[0089]

[0090] Furthermore, when the uplink reception weight vector determined by base station 100 in step S607 is the k-th element in the codebook matrix... up When selecting a column, in step S608, the k-th column in the codebook matrix is ​​chosen. downThe column serves as the transmit weight vector for downlink transmission, where k down It is given by the following formula:

[0091]

[0092] After base station 100 obtains the downlink transmission weight vector in step S608, the uplink training process ends. Subsequently, base station 100 performs digital precoding processing in step S609.

[0093] Specifically, base station 100 first estimates the equivalent channel matrix, and the least squares (LS) estimate of the (i,j)th element of the equivalent channel matrix is ​​as follows:

[0094]

[0095] Where, f j,opt It is the uplink receiving weight vector used by base station 100, y j Base station 100 uses f j,opt The sequence of signals received at that time. i,opt H is the optimal uplink transmission vector obtained by the i-th user equipment (assuming that the user equipment has a single radio frequency link) during the downlink training phase. i Φ is the downlink channel matrix between the base station and the i-th user equipment. i It is the orthogonal pilot signal used by the i-th user equipment.

[0096] Then, base station 100 uses the zero-forcing (ZF) algorithm to calculate the digital precoding matrix B. The digital precoding matrix B can be represented as follows:

[0097] B = H eq H (H eq H eq H ) -1 Λ, where Λ is a diagonal matrix representing the transmit power allocation among user equipment.

[0098] Through the above processing, base station 100 has obtained the digital precoding matrix B, and therefore can perform digital precoding on K data streams. On the other hand, base station 100 has obtained the downlink transmission weight vector for each user equipment (UE) (or each of its radio frequency links), that is, obtained the analog precoding matrix F, and therefore can configure the values ​​of the phase shifters in the analog phase shifting network 120. Thus, using the above configuration, base station 100 can transmit actual data (different from the training sequence) to user equipment UE in step S610. Correspondingly, user equipment UE can also receive the actual data using the reception weight vector determined in step S603.

[0099] It should be noted that, for clarity, in the context of... Figure 6 The description of the process illustrates the execution of each step by the base station 100 and the user equipment UE, but it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the processing or calculation of each step may be performed by the processor 130 of the base station 100 or the processor 420, 510 of the user equipment UE.

[0100] Figure 6 The beamforming training process shown can be applied to the periodic training mode between the base station 100 and the user equipment UE. That is, the base station 100 periodically notifies the user equipment UE of downlink training information (as shown in step S601) to start the training process. Figure 9 The beamforming training process in non-periodic training mode is shown.

[0101] like Figure 9 As shown, in step S901, user equipment 100 performs channel quality measurement. When the measured channel quality is lower than a predetermined threshold, user equipment 100 actively sends a training request to base station 100, as shown in step S902. In response to the user equipment UE's request, similar to step S601, base station 100 broadcasts downlink training information to user equipment UE in step S903, thereby starting the training process. Subsequent steps S904-S912 are similar to... Figure 6 Steps S602-S610 are the same, so they will not be repeated here.

[0102] The embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. According to the present invention, during downlink training, the base station broadcasts a downlink training sequence, and all user equipment can participate in the training simultaneously. The required number of probing pairs (NPP) is P, where P is the beamforming codebook size in the user equipment. During uplink training, all user equipment with orthogonal uplink training sequences can participate in the training simultaneously, and the base station is equipped with K... RF Each RF link can simultaneously perform equivalent channel estimation for different codewords, therefore the required number of probe beam pairs is Q / K. RF Where Q is the beamforming codebook size of the base station. Therefore, the overall complexity of the beamforming training mechanism according to the present invention is Q / K. RF +P, and its complexity does not increase with the number of users, making it very suitable for multi-user millimeter-wave communication systems. Furthermore, the beamforming training mechanism according to the present invention does not require feedback operations from user equipment to the base station.

[0103] Figure 10A and 10BThe figures illustrate the average downlink achievable rates for users under different channel conditions, achieved by the fast multi-user beamforming training mechanism according to the present invention, and by existing exhaustive search and single-feedback mechanisms. In the figures, the horizontal axis represents the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and the vertical axis represents the average downlink achievable rate, where N... cl N represents the number of channel scattering clusters. ray The figure shows that τ represents the number of sub-paths contained in each scattering cluster, and τ represents the training sequence length. As can be seen from the figure, when the number of scatterers in the millimeter-wave channel is small, i.e., the channel is sparse, the fast multi-user beamforming training mechanism and the single-feedback mechanism almost approach the optimal performance of the exhaustive search mechanism. With the increase in the number of scatterers in the channel, both schemes experience a small performance loss, but the performance of the beamforming training mechanism of this invention is still better than that of the single-feedback mechanism. Furthermore, with the increase of the signal-to-noise ratio, the performance of the beamforming training mechanism of this invention in noisy environments rapidly converges to the performance in noise-free environments, i.e., the upper bound of the mechanism's performance.

[0104] This invention can be applied to a variety of products. For example, the base station in the above embodiments can be implemented as any type of evolved Node B (eNB), such as macro eNB and small eNB. A small eNB can be an eNB covering a cell smaller than a macro cell, such as a pico eNB, micro eNB, and femtocell eNB. Alternatively, the base station can be implemented as any other type of base station, such as a NodeB and a Base Transceiver Station (BTS). A base station may include: a subject configured to control wireless communication (also called a base station device); and one or more remote radio heads (RRHs) located in a different location from the subject. Additionally, various types of terminals can also function as base stations by temporarily or semi-persistently performing base station functions.

[0105] On the other hand, the user equipment in the above embodiments can be implemented as a communication terminal (such as a smartphone, tablet PC, laptop PC, portable gaming terminal, portable / dongle-type mobile router, and digital camera device), or an in-vehicle terminal (such as a car navigation device). The user equipment can also be implemented as a terminal performing machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, also known as a machine-type communication (MTC) terminal. Furthermore, the user equipment can also be a wireless communication module (such as an integrated circuit module comprising a single chip) installed on each of the aforementioned terminals.

[0106] Furthermore, the processor in this invention can be implemented as a baseband processor or a combination of a baseband processor and a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a digital signal processor (DSP).

[0107] The devices or modules described herein are for logical purposes only and do not strictly correspond to physical devices or entities. For example, the functionality of each module described herein may be implemented by multiple physical entities, or the functionality of multiple modules described herein may be implemented by a single physical entity. Furthermore, it should be noted that the features, components, elements, steps, etc., described in one embodiment are not limited to that embodiment, but can also be applied to other embodiments, such as replacing specific features, components, elements, steps, etc., in other embodiments, or in combination with them.

[0108] In the above embodiments, the series of processes performed by each device or module can be implemented by software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. Programs included in the software can be pre-stored in a storage medium located internally or externally to each device. As an example, during execution, these programs are written to random access memory (RAM) and executed by a processor (e.g., a CPU).

[0109] Figure 11 This is a block diagram illustrating an example configuration of computer hardware that performs the above-described processing according to the program.

[0110] In computer 1100, central processing unit (CPU) 1101, read-only memory (ROM) 1102 and random access memory (RAM) 1103 are connected to each other via bus 1104.

[0111] The input / output interface 1105 is further connected to the bus 1104. The input / output interface 1105 is connected to the following components: an input unit 1106 formed by a keyboard, mouse, microphone, etc.; an output unit 1107 formed by a display, speaker, etc.; a storage unit 1108 formed by a hard disk, non-volatile memory, etc.; a communication unit 1109 formed by a network interface card (such as a local area network (LAN) card, modem, etc.); and a driver 1110 for driving a removable medium 1111, such as a disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, or semiconductor memory.

[0112] In a computer with the above structure, the CPU 1101 loads the program stored in the storage unit 1108 into the RAM 1103 via the input / output interface 1105 and the bus 1104, and executes the program to perform the above-described processing.

[0113] The program to be executed by the computer (CPU 1101) can be recorded on a removable medium 1111, which is formed as a packaging medium, such as a magnetic disk (including a floppy disk), an optical disk (including a compact optical disk-read-only memory (CD-ROM)), a digital multifunction optical disk (DVD), etc.), a magneto-optical disk, or a semiconductor memory. Furthermore, the program to be executed by the computer (CPU 1101) can also be provided via wired or wireless transmission media such as a local area network, the Internet, or digital satellite broadcasting.

[0114] When the removable medium 1111 is installed in the driver 1110, the program can be installed in the storage unit 1108 via the input / output interface 1105. Alternatively, the program can be received by the communication unit 1109 via a wired or wireless transmission medium and installed in the storage unit 1108. Alternatively, the program can be pre-installed in the ROM 1102 or the storage unit 1108.

[0115] A program to be executed by a computer may be a program that performs processing in the order described in this specification, or it may be a program that performs processing in parallel or when needed (such as when invoked).

[0116] The embodiments and technical effects of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art should understand that, depending on design requirements and other factors, various modifications or variations can be made to the embodiments discussed herein without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims or their equivalents.

[0117] In addition, the present invention can also be configured as follows.

[0118] A receiving-side device in a communication system includes one or more processors configured to: determine analog weight parameters of a plurality of antennas of the receiving-side device based on the receiving-side device's reception of a common sequence from a transmitting side; and determine an antenna configuration for transmitting a predetermined pilot signal corresponding to the receiving-side device based on the analog weight parameters, so as to transmit the predetermined pilot signal to the transmitting side.

[0119] The communication system includes multiple receiving devices, each receiving device having a corresponding predetermined pilot signal, wherein the predetermined pilot signals corresponding to each receiving device are orthogonal to each other.

[0120] Each predetermined pilot signal corresponding to each receiving device is simultaneously transmitted to the transmitting side.

[0121] The predetermined pilot signal is a detection reference signal.

[0122] The predetermined pilot signal corresponding to the receiving device is configured by the transmitting side for the receiving device.

[0123] The simulated weighting parameter indicates the value pattern of the multiple phase shifters connected to the multiple antennas.

[0124] Determining the simulated weight parameters based on the receiving device's reception of the common sequence from the transmitting side includes: setting the values ​​of multiple phase shifters connected to the multiple antennas in different value modes to receive the common sequence, and determining the simulated weight parameters based on the modes corresponding to the values ​​of the multiple phase shifters that can obtain the reception quality of the common sequence that meets predetermined conditions.

[0125] The common sequence is repeatedly transmitted by the transmitting side multiple times within a first time period. The one or more processors are also configured to set the values ​​of the multiple phase shifters with different value modes for each transmitted common sequence so as to receive each transmitted common sequence respectively.

[0126] The one or more processors are also configured to set the values ​​of the plurality of phase shifters according to the determined analog weight parameters, thereby transmitting the predetermined pilot signal to the transmitting side at least once during the second time period.

[0127] The receiving-side device operates as a communication terminal, and further includes: the plurality of antennas configured to receive the common sequence and transmit the predetermined pilot signal; one or more radio frequency links configured to be connected to the plurality of antennas via the plurality of phase shifters; and a memory configured to store a beamforming codebook, wherein the value mode of a set of phase shifters connected to a radio frequency link corresponds to a codeword in the beamforming codebook, wherein the plurality of antennas are further configured to receive control commands from the transmitting side, the control commands including at least one of the following control parameters: a first time period, the number of times the common sequence is repeatedly transmitted, a second time period, and the number of times the predetermined pilot signal is transmitted, wherein the number of times the common sequence is repeatedly transmitted is related to the size of the beamforming codebook.

[0128] The value modes of each set of phase shifters connected to each radio frequency link are set in the same way to send the predetermined pilot signal to the transmitting side.

[0129] The one or more processors are further configured to determine the analog weight parameters based on a criterion of maximizing received signal power or a criterion of maximizing signal-to-interference ratio.

[0130] The one or more processors are further configured to: correct the determined analog weight parameters and determine the antenna configuration for transmitting the predetermined pilot signal based on the corrected analog weight parameters.

[0131] A transmitting-side device for a communication network includes one or more processors configured to: generate a common sequence for transmission to a plurality of receiving-side devices; and for each of the plurality of receiving-side devices, determine analog weight parameters for a plurality of antennas of the transmitting-side devices based on reception of a predetermined pilot signal from the receiving-side devices, wherein the predetermined pilot signal is transmitted by the receiving-side devices based on the multi-antenna transmission weight parameters of the receiving-side devices, wherein the multi-antenna transmission weight parameters are determined by the receiving-side devices based on reception of the common sequence.

[0132] The one or more processors are further configured to: determine an antenna configuration for transmitting data to the receiving device based on determined analog weight parameters, so as to transmit the data to the receiving device.

[0133] The public sequence is broadcast multiple times to the multiple receiving devices.

[0134] The common sequence corresponds to the channel state information reference signal.

[0135] The simulated weighting parameter indicates the value pattern of multiple phase shifters connected to multiple antennas of the transmitting side device.

[0136] Determining the analog weight parameters for multiple antennas of the receiving and transmitting devices based on the reception of a predetermined pilot signal from the receiving device includes: setting the values ​​of the multiple phase shifters in different value modes to receive the predetermined pilot signal, and determining the analog weight parameters based on the mode corresponding to the value of the phase shifter that satisfies predetermined conditions for receiving the predetermined pilot signal.

[0137] The one or more processors are configured to control the repeated transmission of the common sequence multiple times within a first time period, so that the receiving device determines the multi-antenna transmission weighting parameters based on the reception of the multiple transmissions of the common sequence.

[0138] The one or more processors are configured to set the values ​​of the plurality of phase shifters in different value modes to receive the predetermined pilot signal transmitted at least once by the receiving device within a second time period.

[0139] The transmitting-side device operates as a base station, and further includes: the plurality of antennas configured to transmit the common sequence and receive the predetermined pilot signal; a plurality of radio frequency links configured to be connected to the plurality of antennas via the plurality of phase shifters; and a memory configured to store a beamforming codebook, wherein the value mode of a set of phase shifters connected to a radio frequency link corresponds to a codeword in the beamforming codebook, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate control instructions for the receiving-side device, the control instructions including at least one of the following control parameters: a first time period, the number of times the common sequence is repeatedly transmitted, a second time period, and the number of times the predetermined pilot signal is transmitted, wherein the number of times the predetermined pilot signal is repeatedly transmitted is related to the size of the beamforming codebook.

[0140] The one or more processors are further configured to: correct the determined analog weight parameters and determine the antenna configuration for transmitting the data based on the corrected analog weight parameters.

[0141] A receiving-side device in a communication system includes: an analog weight parameter determination module configured to determine analog weight parameters of a plurality of antennas of the receiving-side device based on the receiving-side device's reception of a common sequence from a transmitting side; and an antenna configuration module configured to determine an antenna configuration for transmitting a predetermined pilot signal corresponding to the receiving-side device based on the analog weight parameters, so as to transmit the predetermined pilot signal to the transmitting side.

[0142] The simulated weight parameter determination module is further configured to: set the values ​​of multiple phase shifters connected to the multiple antennas in different value modes to receive the common sequence; and determine the simulated weight parameters based on the modes corresponding to the values ​​of the multiple phase shifters that can obtain the common sequence and meet predetermined conditions for reception quality.

[0143] The common sequence is repeatedly transmitted by the transmitting side. The simulated weight parameter determination module is further configured to set the values ​​of the multiple phase shifters with different value modes for each transmitted common sequence so as to receive the common sequence of each transmission respectively.

[0144] The antenna configuration module is further configured to: set the values ​​of the plurality of phase shifters according to the determined analog weight parameters, thereby transmitting the predetermined pilot signal to the transmitting side at least once.

[0145] The antenna configuration module is also configured to set the value mode of each group of phase shifters connected to each radio frequency link in the same way, so as to send the predetermined pilot signal to the transmitting side.

[0146] The simulated weight parameter determination module is further configured to determine the simulated weight parameters based on the maximization of received signal power criterion or the maximization of signal-to-interference ratio criterion.

[0147] The receiving-side device further includes a correction module configured to correct the determined analog weight parameters. The antenna configuration module is also configured to determine the antenna configuration for transmitting the predetermined pilot signal based on the corrected analog weight parameters.

[0148] A transmitting-side device for a communication network includes: a common sequence generation module configured to generate a common sequence for transmission to a plurality of receiving-side devices; and a simulated weight parameter determination module configured to determine, for each of the plurality of receiving-side devices, simulated weight parameters for a plurality of antennas of the transmitting-side devices based on reception of a predetermined pilot signal from the receiving-side devices, wherein the predetermined pilot signal is transmitted by the receiving-side devices based on the multi-antenna transmission weight parameters of the receiving-side devices, and wherein the multi-antenna transmission weight parameters are determined by the receiving-side devices based on reception of the common sequence.

[0149] The transmitting-side device further includes an antenna configuration module configured to determine an antenna configuration for transmitting data to the receiving-side device based on determined analog weight parameters, so as to transmit the data to the receiving-side device.

[0150] The simulated weight parameter determination module is further configured to: set the values ​​of the plurality of phase shifters in different value modes to receive the predetermined pilot signal; and determine the simulated weight parameters based on the mode corresponding to the value of the phase shifter that can obtain the predetermined pilot signal and meet the predetermined conditions for reception.

[0151] The simulated weight parameter determination module is further configured to: set the values ​​of the plurality of phase shifters in different value modes for the predetermined pilot signal transmitted at least once by the receiving device, so as to receive the predetermined pilot signal transmitted each time.

[0152] The transmitting device further includes a control command generation module configured to generate control commands for the receiving device. The control commands include at least one of the following control parameters: the time period for transmitting the common sequence, the number of times the common sequence is repeatedly transmitted, the time period for transmitting the predetermined pilot signal, and the number of times the predetermined pilot signal is transmitted.

[0153] The transmitting-side device further includes a correction module configured to correct the determined analog weight parameters. The antenna configuration module is further configured to determine the antenna configuration for transmitting the data based on the corrected analog weight parameters.

[0154] A training method in a communication system includes: generating a common sequence by a transmitting side device for transmission to a plurality of receiving side devices; each of the plurality of receiving side devices determining a first analog weight parameter based on reception of the common sequence, and determining an antenna configuration for transmitting a predetermined pilot signal corresponding to the receiving side device based on the determined first analog weight parameter, to transmit the predetermined pilot signal to the transmitting side device; and the transmitting side device determining a second analog weight parameter for the receiving side device based on reception of the predetermined pilot signal, and determining an antenna configuration for transmitting data for the receiving side device based on the determined second analog weight parameter, to transmit the data to the receiving side device.

Claims

1. A user equipment having multiple antennas in a communication system, comprising one or more processors, said one or more processors being configured to: The downlink receive beam is determined based on the Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) received from the base station in the communication system, wherein... The downlink receiving beam is determined based on either the maximizing received signal power criterion or the maximizing signal-to-interference ratio criterion. as well as An uplink transmit beam with a spatial direction corresponding to the downlink receive beam is determined, and the sounding reference signal (SRS) corresponding to the user equipment is transmitted to the base station using the uplink transmit beam. The plurality of antennas are configured to receive one or more control commands from the base station. The one or more processors are further configured to acquire at least one of the following information based on the one or more control instructions: a first time period for transmitting the CSI-RS, the number of times the CSI-RS is transmitted, a second time period for transmitting the SRS, and the number of times the SRS is transmitted.

2. The user equipment according to claim 1, wherein, The one or more processors are further configured to: The CSI-RS is received using multiple receiving beams; The downlink receiving beam that can obtain the CSI-RS reception quality that meets the predetermined conditions is determined from the plurality of receiving beams.

3. The user equipment according to claim 2, wherein, The CSI-RS is repeatedly transmitted by the base station multiple times within the first time period, and the one or more processors are further configured to receive each transmitted CSI-RS with a different receiving beam for each transmitted CSI-RS.

4. The user equipment according to claim 3, wherein, The plurality of antennas are configured to receive the CSI-RS and transmit the SRS, and The user equipment further includes: Multiple phase shifters connected to the plurality of antennas; One or more radio frequency links configured to be connected to the plurality of antennas via the plurality of phase shifters; and The memory, configured to store the beamforming codebook, In this context, the value patterns of a set of phase shifters connected to a radio frequency link correspond to a codeword in the beamforming codebook. The number of times the CSI-RS is repeatedly transmitted is related to the size of the beamforming codebook.

5. The user equipment according to claim 4, wherein, The value modes of each set of phase shifters connected to each radio frequency link are set in the same way to transmit the SRS to the base station.

6. The user equipment according to claim 4, wherein, The downlink receiving beam indicates the value mode of the plurality of phase shifters connected to the plurality of antennas.

7. The user equipment according to claim 6, wherein, The one or more processors are further configured to: The values ​​of the multiple phase shifters are set according to different value modes so as to receive the CSI-RS using the multiple receiving beams; as well as The downlink receive beam is determined based on the patterns of multiple phase shifter values ​​that can obtain the reception quality of the CSI-RS under predetermined conditions.

8. The user equipment according to claim 6, wherein, The one or more processors are further configured to set the values ​​of the plurality of phase shifters based on the determined downlink receive beam, thereby transmitting the SRS to the base station at least once during the second time period.

9. A method for a user equipment in a communication system, the user equipment having a plurality of antennas, the method comprising: The downlink receive beam is determined based on the Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) received from the base station in the communication system, wherein the downlink receive beam is determined according to the maximization of received signal power criterion or the maximization of signal-to-interference ratio criterion. An uplink transmit beam with a spatial direction corresponding to the downlink receive beam is determined, so as to transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS) corresponding to the user equipment to the base station using the uplink transmit beam; as well as Based on one or more control commands received from the base station via the antenna, at least one of the following information is obtained: a first time period for transmitting the CSI-RS, the number of times the CSI-RS is transmitted, a second time period for transmitting the SRS, and the number of times the SRS is transmitted.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions, the instructions causing a user equipment having multiple antennas in a communication system to perform processing, the processing comprising: The downlink receive beam is determined based on the Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) received from the base station in the communication system, wherein the downlink receive beam is determined according to the maximization of received signal power criterion or the maximization of signal-to-interference ratio criterion. An uplink transmit beam with a spatial direction corresponding to the downlink receive beam is determined, so as to transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS) corresponding to the user equipment to the base station using the uplink transmit beam; as well as Based on one or more control commands received from the base station via the antenna, at least one of the following information is obtained: a first time period for transmitting the CSI-RS, the number of times the CSI-RS is transmitted, a second time period for transmitting the SRS, and the number of times the SRS is transmitted.

11. A base station device with multiple antennas in a communication system, comprising one or more processors, said one or more processors being configured to: A Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) is generated and transmitted to multiple user equipments in the communication system for each of the multiple user equipments to determine a downlink receive beam, wherein... The downlink receiving beam is determined according to the maximization of received signal power criterion or the maximization of signal-to-interference ratio criterion, and wherein the user equipment determines an uplink transmitting beam with a spatial direction corresponding to the downlink receiving beam, the uplink transmitting beam being used to transmit a detection reference signal (SRS) corresponding to the user equipment to the base station equipment; The one or more processors are further configured to control the plurality of antennas to send one or more control commands to the plurality of user equipments, the control commands indicating at least one of the following: a first time period for sending the CSI-RS, the number of times the CSI-RS is sent, a second time period for sending the SRS, and the number of times the SRS is sent.

12. The base station equipment according to claim 11, wherein, The one or more processors are further configured to: for each of the plurality of user equipments, determine an uplink receive beam for the user equipment based on the SRS received from the user equipment.

13. The base station equipment according to claim 12, wherein, The one or more processors are further configured to: The SRS is received using multiple receiving beams; The uplink receiving beam that can obtain the SRS with a predetermined receiving quality from the plurality of receiving beams is determined.

14. The base station equipment according to claim 11, wherein, The one or more processors are further configured to control the plurality of antennas to broadcast the CSI-RS multiple times to the plurality of user equipments during the first time period, such that each of the plurality of user equipments determines an uplink transmit beam for transmitting the SRS based on the reception of the multiple broadcasts of the CSI-RS.

15. The base station equipment according to claim 13, wherein, The plurality of antennas are configured to transmit the CSI-RS and receive the SRS, and The base station equipment also includes: Multiple phase shifters connected to the plurality of antennas; Multiple radio frequency links, configured to be connected to the multiple antennas via the multiple phase shifters; and The memory, configured to store the beamforming codebook, In this context, the value patterns of a set of phase shifters connected to a radio frequency link correspond to a codeword in the beamforming codebook. The number of times the SRS is repeatedly transmitted is related to the size of the beamforming codebook.

16. The base station equipment according to claim 15, wherein, The uplink receive beam indicates the value mode of the plurality of phase shifters connected to the plurality of antennas.

17. The base station equipment according to claim 16, wherein, The one or more processors are further configured to: The values ​​of the multiple phase shifters are set according to different value modes so as to receive SRS from the user equipment using the multiple receiving beams; as well as The uplink receive beam is determined based on the patterns of multiple phase shifter values ​​that can obtain the SRS reception quality that meets predetermined conditions.

18. The base station equipment according to claim 11, wherein, The user equipment transmits the SRS to the base station equipment at least once during the second time period based on the determined uplink transmission beam.

19. A method for a base station device in a communication system, the base station device having a plurality of antennas, the method comprising: Generate Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS); The CSI-RS is transmitted to multiple user equipments in the communication system for each of the multiple user equipments to determine a downlink receive beam, wherein the downlink receive beam is determined according to a maximizing received signal power criterion or a maximizing signal-to-interference ratio criterion, and wherein each user equipment determines an uplink transmit beam having a spatial direction corresponding to the downlink receive beam, the uplink transmit beam being used to transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS) corresponding to the user equipment to the base station equipment; and Send one or more control instructions to the plurality of user equipments, the control instructions indicating at least one of the following: a first time period for sending the CSI-RS, the number of times the CSI-RS is sent, a second time period for sending the SRS, and the number of times the SRS is sent.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions, said instructions, when executed by a base station device having multiple antennas in a communication system, causing the base station device to perform processing, said processing comprising: Generate Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS); The CSI-RS is transmitted to multiple user equipments in the communication system for each of the multiple user equipments to determine a downlink receive beam, wherein the downlink receive beam is determined according to a maximizing received signal power criterion or a maximizing signal-to-interference ratio criterion, and wherein each user equipment determines an uplink transmit beam having a spatial direction corresponding to the downlink receive beam, the uplink transmit beam being used to transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS) corresponding to the user equipment to the base station equipment; and Send one or more control instructions to the plurality of user equipments, the control instructions indicating at least one of the following: a first time period for sending the CSI-RS, the number of times the CSI-RS is sent, a second time period for sending the SRS, and the number of times the SRS is sent.

Citation Information

Patent Citations

  • Method and device for determining downlink beam forming weight vector

    CN103701512A