Antenna allocation method and apparatus between different radio access technologies

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are presented for allocating antennas of a user equipment (UE) between connections using different RATs. The UE has a first connection to a first network and a second connection to a second network, each connection employing a respective radio access technology (RAT). During operation, the UE can identify a precondition for reconfiguring the connections. For example, the UE can intend to change a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) setting of the first connection in order to free up some antennas that can be allocated to the second connection to alleviate a communication bottleneck thereof. Prior to reconfiguring the connections, the UE can communicate its intention to the first network. The UE can not reconfigure the connections until receiving an acknowledgement from the first network.

Description

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This invention claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 277,215, filed November 9, 2021. The contents of the above application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Technical Field

[0003] This invention generally relates to wireless communication, and more specifically, to methods and apparatus for optimizing antenna allocation among communication services employing different radio access technologies (RATs). Background Technology

[0004] Unless otherwise stated in this invention, the methods described in this section are not prior art to the claims listed below, and are included in this section but are not acknowledged as prior art.

[0005] With the standardization of equipping user equipment (UE) with multiple antennas, Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology has been widely applied in various wireless communication environments as a prominent feature to enhance communication reliability, increase data transmission rates, and / or reduce communication latency. For example, in 2009, MIMO was officially incorporated into the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11n Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) operating standard, with a maximum MIMO count of 4R x 4T, or 4x 4 (i.e., four independent receivers receiving four spatially coded streams and four separate transmitters transmitting four spatially coded streams). In other words, four spatially coded streams are allowed in the connection link between the UE and the WLAN router or access point. MIMO remains a key feature of recent IEEE WLAN standards, such as 802.11ac (2013) and 802.11ax (2021), both of which support a maximum MIMO count of 8x8 (i.e., eight separate receivers receiving eight spatially coded streams and eight separate transmitters transmitting eight spatially coded streams).

[0006] MIMO has also been adopted by various cellular mobile networks. For example, 4th generation (4G) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) networks allow single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) connections between the UE and the network base station, while the 4G LTE-Advanced standard further extends the application to multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). In the latest version of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard for 5th Generation (5G) / New Radio (NR) mobile communications, MIMO has been taken to a new level, supporting larger-scale MIMO technologies to enhance network performance. MIMO functionality in 5G NR (often referred to as massive MIMO) has been defined to support 32x32, 64x64, and higher MIMO numbers.

[0007] Typically, each spatial stream in a MIMO scheme requires at least one dedicated physical antenna for receiving and / or transmitting the spatial stream. While it may not be difficult for a base station to combine or otherwise equip itself with as many antennas as the base station intends to provide for the MIMO-based communication service, there is usually an upper limit to the number of antennas that a UE can tolerate. This is because each antenna occupies some valuable space in the UE, which is typically a cellular phone or other handheld or wearable mobile device with a specific physical size. That is, in practical communication applications, the maximum number of MIMOs is usually specified or otherwise limited by the number of antennas equipped on the UE, rather than by the maximum number of MIMOs defined or otherwise allowed in various communication standards. For example, given its limited physical size, a mobile phone may only be equipped with four modem antennas for communicating with the base station of the cellular network and two Wi-Fi antennas for communicating with the WLAN access point. With four modem antennas on the UE, the maximum number of MIMO operations for the cellular communication link between the phone and the base station is limited to four (i.e., using a 4x4 MIMO scheme), even though 5G NR cellular networks can provide better quality for the communication link by performing 6x6, 8x8, or 32x32 MIMO communication. Similarly, with two Wi-Fi antennas on the UE, the maximum number of MIMO operations for the Wi-Fi communication link between the phone and the WLAN access point is limited to two (i.e., using a 2x2 MIMO scheme), regardless of whether the WLAN access point operates according to the 802.11ax standard and is capable of performing 8x8 MIMO communication. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The following overview is illustrative only and is not intended to be limiting in any way. That is, it is provided to introduce the concepts, highlights, benefits, and advantages of the novel and non-obvious techniques described in this invention. Selective embodiments are further described in the detailed description below. Therefore, the following overview is not intended to identify the essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0009] The object of this invention is to provide solutions or schemes for overcoming the aforementioned problems or limitations. More specifically, the various schemes proposed in this invention relate to enhancing communication performance by appropriately allocating antennas among connections using different RATs.

[0010] In one aspect, a method is provided that can be implemented in a UE having a first connection to a first network and a second connection to a second network. The first connection and the second connection employ a first RAT and a second RAT, respectively. The method may include the UE detecting a precondition for changing a first MIMO setting of the first connection. The method may further include the UE communicating its intention to change the first MIMO setting of the first connection to the first network. The method may further include the UE reconfiguring the first connection in response to detecting the change in the first MIMO setting. The method may further include reconfiguring the second connection corresponding to the reconfiguration of the first connection.

[0011] In another aspect, an apparatus may include a first transceiver configured to establish a first connection to a first network using a first RAT. The apparatus may also include a second transceiver configured to establish a second connection to a second network using a second RAT. The apparatus may further include a processor configured to detect a precondition for changing a first MIMO setting of the first connection. The processor may also be configured to communicate an intention to change the first MIMO setting of the first connection to the first network via the first transceiver. The processor may also be configured to reconfigure the first connection and the second connection according to the intention. Specifically, in response to the detection of the precondition, the apparatus may reconfigure the first connection by changing the first MIMO setting, and subsequently reconfigure the second connection corresponding to the reconfiguration of the first connection. The apparatus may also include a plurality of antennas, which may be divided into a first group and a second group. One or more antennas in the first group are configured to engage with the first transceiver to serve the first connection, while one or more antennas in the second group are configured to engage with the second transceiver to serve the second connection.

[0012] It is worth noting that although the description provided in this invention may be within the context of certain radio access technologies, networks, and network topologies (e.g., Wi-Fi or 5G NR), the proposed concepts, schemes, and any variations / derivatives can be implemented in other types of radio access technologies, networks, and network topologies, such as, but not limited to, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), ZigBee, infrared, LTE, LTE-Advanced, LTE-Advanced Pro, 5G, NR, Internet of Things (IoT), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT), and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Therefore, the scope of this invention is not limited to the examples described herein. Attached Figure Description

[0013] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this invention. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. It should be noted that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, as in actual implementations some components may be shown out of proportion to clearly illustrate the concepts of the invention.

[0014] Figure 1 This is a diagram of an example network environment in which various proposed solutions according to the present invention can be implemented.

[0015] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating various antennas of an example user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 3 These are schematic diagrams of two example schemes according to embodiments of the present invention.

[0017] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of an example scheme according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 5 It is a table that displays the communication requirements for appropriate MIMO settings corresponding to various applications.

[0019] Figure 6 These are diagrams of two example schemes according to embodiments of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 7 This is a block diagram of an example user equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 8This is a flowchart of an example process according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0022] This invention discloses detailed embodiments and implementations of the claimed subject matter. However, it should be understood that the disclosed embodiments and implementations are merely illustrative of the claimed subject matter, which can be embodied in various forms. The invention can be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments and implementations set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments and implementations are provided so that the description of the invention will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the following description, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments and implementations.

[0023] Overview

[0024] Embodiments of the present invention relate to various techniques, methods, schemes, and / or solutions related to optimizing antenna allocation for user equipment (UE) among various communication services employing different radio access technologies (RATs). According to the present invention, multiple possible solutions can be implemented individually or in combination. That is, although these possible solutions may be described individually below, two or more of these possible solutions may be implemented in one combination or another.

[0025] UEs, as portable, mobile, or wearable devices such as smartphones, typically employ a variety of wireless communication and computing capabilities. For example, smartphones can often perform multiple wireless communication operations simultaneously, each via its own RAT, such as 4G LTE, 5G NR, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Global Positioning System (GPS), Near-Field Communication (NFC), millimeter wave (mmWave), etc. Furthermore, many RATs support multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology, where each wireless link comprises multiple spatial streams. Each spatial stream follows its own propagation path as it travels between the UE's transmitter and remote receiver, and also in the free space between the UE's remote transmitter and receiver. For each spatial stream, the UE requires at least one dedicated antenna to transmit and receive radio signals.

[0026] As mentioned elsewhere above, although various wireless communication standards support high MIMO numbers—that is, the number of spatial streams used in a MIMO scheme—the practical use of MIMO schemes is usually limited by the number of antennas a UE can have. Due to the actual physical size of the UE, the number of antennas is limited to a certain number, so the benefits that could be gained from a larger number of MIMO streams are usually compromised.

[0027] Figure 1 This is a diagram of an example network environment 100 in which various solutions and schemes according to the present invention can be implemented. Figures 2-8 Examples of implementations of various proposed schemes in a network environment 100 according to the present invention are illustrated. (Reference) Figures 1 to 8 The following descriptions of the various proposed solutions are provided.

[0028] refer to Figure 1 Network environment 100 may include a UE 160 having a wireless connection 161 (or "first connection") to network 110 (or "first network" interchangeably referred to herein). Furthermore, UE 160 also has a wireless connection 162 (or "second connection") to network 120 (or "second network" interchangeably referred to herein). Each of the first connection 161 and the second connection 162 is implemented via a corresponding RAT. For example, UE 160 may be a smartphone, the first network 110 may be a cellular network or other type of wide area network (WAN), and the second network 120 may be a wireless local area network (WLAN). Each of the first network 110 and the second network 120 may be connected to the Internet 130.

[0029] like Figure 1As shown, a first connection 161 is established between UE 160 and base station 114 of the first network 110, with base station 114 connected to the core network 113 of the first network 110. If base station 114 is an eNodeB in an LTE, LTE-Advanced, or LTE-AdvancedPro network, the first connection 161 can be established via a 4G LTE RAT (which is interchangeably referred to as "RAT1" in this invention). If base station 114 is a gNB or transmit-receive point (TRP) in a 5G NR network, the first connection 161 can be established via a 5G NR RAT. Similarly, a second connection 162 is established between UE 160 and an access point or wireless router 124 of the second network 120, with wireless router 124 connected to the local area network (LAN) 123 of the second network 120. If the wireless router 124 uses the IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi standard (e.g., IEEE 802.11ax), a second connection 162 can be established via the RAT of the IEEE 802.11 standard (which may be interchangeably referred to here as "RAT2").

[0030] Each of the first connection 161 and the second connection 162 may include a downlink (DL) originating from base station 114 or wireless router 124 and terminating at UE 160, and an uplink (UL) originating from UE 160 and terminating at base station 114 or wireless router 124. Furthermore, each of RAT1 and RAT2 may support various MIMO technologies, and each of the first connection 161 and the second connection 162 may therefore have two or more spatial streams. UE 160 requires at least one dedicated antenna for each spatial stream. UE 160 may include multiple antennas for performing various wireless communication functions using different RATs. Figure 2 This is an example illustration of UE 160, showing some of the multiple antennas equipped in UE 160. (See example...) Figure 2 As shown, the antennas equipped in UE 160 include cellular or modem antennas 211, 212, 213, and 214, and Wi-Fi antennas 221 and 222. When operating in network environment 100, cellular antennas 211-214 can be used for MIMO-based communication via a first connection 161, while Wi-Fi antennas 221 and 222 can be used for MIMO-based communication via a second connection 162. Figure 2 As shown, antennas are typically provided in the edge or end regions of the UE 160, making it less likely that the transmission and reception of radio signals via the antenna will be hindered by other computing, display, or data processing activities performed simultaneously by the UE 160.

[0031] Figure 3 The illustration shows a proposed scheme 310 according to the invention, in which a user 330 carrying a UE 160 is moving from an outdoor environment to an indoor environment. When the user 330 is outdoors, the UE 160 can primarily perform wireless communication functions via a first connection 161 established between the UE 160 and the base station 114. The first connection 161 can employ a 4x4 MIMO scheme using the UE 160's cellular antennas 211-214. Simultaneously, when the user 330 is outdoors and far from any Wi-Fi access point, such as a wireless router 124 permanently located inside the house 370, minimal wireless communication can be achieved via a Wi-Fi connection. That is, the UE 160 can receive very weak Wi-Fi signals transmitted from the wireless router 124 when outdoors via Wi-Fi antennas 221 and 222.

[0032] As user 330 carrying UE 160 moves closer to or even inside house 370, the Wi-Fi signal received by Wi-Fi antennas 221 and 222 from wireless router 124 may become stronger (i.e., have higher strength) because UE 160 is closer to wireless router 124. Simultaneously, since UE 160 has moved indoors, the radio signal received by the first connection 161 by UE 160 may become weaker (i.e., have lower strength). UE 160 can detect that wireless router 124 is a better target for data connection and subsequently establish a second connection 162 to wireless router 124. UE 160 can further detect that wireless router 124 is capable of performing Wi-Fi communication with 2, 4, 6, or 8 MIMO (i.e., using a 2x2, 4x4, 6x6, or 8x8 MIMO scheme). However, assuming that UE 160 has only two Wi-Fi antennas 221 and 222, UE 160 can establish a second connection 162 using only MIMO quantity 2 (i.e., using a 2x2 MIMO scheme).

[0033] In some embodiments, UE 160 can increase the number of MIMOs beyond the number of Wi-Fi antennas equipped on it by using one or more of the cellular antennas 211-214 for MIMO-based communication with the wireless router 124, especially when the first connection 161 and the second connection 162 operate in frequency bands close to each other. (For example, 4G LTE, 5G NR, and IEEE 802.11b / g / n / ax all use frequency bands in the 2.3–2.5 GHz range; 4G LTE and IEEE 802.11j both use frequency bands in the 4.9–5.2 GHz range). Specifically, UE 160 can reconfigure the first connection 161 by reducing its number of MIMOs, thereby freeing some of the cellular antennas 211-214 from transmitting and / or receiving radio signals from the first connection 161. UE 160 can then reconfigure the second connection 162 with a higher number of MIMOs by additionally using the freed cellular antennas in the second connection 162 for MIMO-based communication.

[0034] For example, when user 330 is outdoors, the first connection 161 can have a MIMO count of 4 and can utilize all four cellular antennas 211-214. As user 330 and UE 160 move indoors, UE 160 can detect the presence of wireless router 124 and connect to wireless router 124 via the second connection 162 using the default MIMO scheme. The default MIMO scheme can be a 2x2 MIMO scheme because UE 160 is equipped with two Wi-Fi antennas, namely Wi-Fi antennas 221 and 222. UE 160 can further detect 4x4, 6x6, and 8x8 MIMO features that wireless router 124 can work with. To increase the MIMO count of the second connection 162 to more than 2, UE 160 may intend to change the MIMO setting of the first connection 161 from a MIMO count of 4 to a MIMO count of 2, so that the two cellular antennas 211-214 can be released from the first connection 161. UE 160 can convey its intention to the first network 110 by sending a request to base station 114 to reduce the number of MIMO operations in the first connection 161 from 4 to 2. This request can be sent via the uplink of the first connection 161 in the form of UE assistance information (UAI). The UAI is specific to UE 160 and may additionally include other communication assistance information related to the first connection 161. After sending the request to base station 114, UE 160 can proceed to reconfigure the first connection 161 from a 4x4 MIMO scheme to a 2x2 MIMO scheme. As a result, two of cellular antennas 211-214, such as cellular antennas 213 and 214, are released from operation of the first connection 161. UE 160 can accordingly reconfigure the second connection 162 from a 2x2 MIMO scheme to a 4x4 MIMO scheme, including four spatial streams transmitted and received by Wi-Fi antenna 221, Wi-Fi antenna 222, cellular antenna 213, and cellular antenna 214, respectively. As a result, the quality of the second connection 162 (e.g., data rate and / or latency) can be improved beyond that produced by the 2x2 MIMO scheme, since the implementation of the MIMO scheme 162 with 4 MIMOs in the second connection now increases the availability of cellular antennas 213 and 214.

[0035] UE 160 can use a similar method to further increase the MIMO count of the second connection 162. For example, UE 160 can send a separate request to base station 114 to further reduce the MIMO count of the first connection 161 from 2 to 1, thereby freeing up more cellular antennas (e.g., cellular antenna 212) from the first connection 161. UE 160 can further disable its Bluetooth (BT) function, thereby freeing up the BT antennas equipped in UE 160 ( Figure 2 (Not shown) can also be used for the second connection 162. With the BT antenna and cellular antenna 212 available, the UE 160 can subsequently reconfigure the second connection 162 as a 6x6 MIMO scheme, which includes six spatial streams transmitted and received by Wi-Fi antennas 221 and 222, cellular antennas 212-214 and BT antenna, respectively.

[0036] In some embodiments, in addition to sending a request to base station 114 to reduce the MIMO count of the first connection 161, UE 160 may further receive an acknowledgment from base station 114, or an acknowledgment indicating that the request has been granted, after sending the request and before reconfiguring the first connection 161. That is, by sending the acknowledgment, base station 114 notifies UE 160 that the first connection has been reconfigured at base station 114 using a MIMO scheme with a reduced MIMO count as requested. The acknowledgment can be received via the downlink of the first connection 161. After receiving the acknowledgment, UE 160 can then reconfigure the first connection 161 to a lower MIMO count. In other words, both UE 160 and base station 141 participate in the reconfiguration of the first connection 161 through a handshake process. The handshake process is beneficial and therefore preferred compared to UE 160 reducing the MIMO number setting independently without notifying base station 114, because through the handshake process, both ends of the first connection 161 are synchronized in terms of the MIMO number reduction that is taking place, thereby avoiding the UE 160 losing packets transmitted in the downlink of the first connection 161, or at least keeping the number of lost packets to a minimum.

[0037] In some embodiments, UE 160 may reconfigure the first connection 161 after sending a request to base station 114, but not necessarily after receiving an acknowledgment from base station 114. In some other embodiments, UE 160 may reconfigure the first connection 161 even before sending a request to base station 114 and receiving an acknowledgment from base station 114. In either case, UE 160 may have already reconfigured the first connection 161 before base station 114 reconfigures it. As long as UE 160 receives an acknowledgment from base station 114 within a reasonably short period of time after UE 160 reconfigures the first connection 161, the number of lost packets (if any) will remain relatively small and will hardly cause a degradation in communication performance.

[0038] exist Figure 3Also shown is solution 320 according to the present invention, wherein a user 330 carrying UE 160 is moving from an indoor environment to an outdoor environment. Solution 320 may follow solution 310 in terms of time sequence. When user 330 is indoors, UE 160 may perform communication functions (e.g., connect to the Internet 130) primarily via a second connection 162 established between UE 160 and wireless router 124 located within house 370. The second connection 162 may employ a 2x2 MIMO scheme using Wi-Fi antennas 221 and 222 of UE 160. In some embodiments, the second connection 162 may employ a 4x4 MIMO scheme using Wi-Fi antennas 221 and 222 and cellular antennas 213 and 214, as described elsewhere above and related to solution 310. Meanwhile, when indoors, UE 160 may use a potentially lower MIMO setting, such as a 2x2 MIMO scheme, to maintain the first connection 161.

[0039] According to reference scheme 320, when UE 160 moves from inside the house 370 to the outside along with user 330, UE 160 can detect that the radio signal received from base station 114 becomes stronger and the Wi-Fi signal received from wireless router 124 becomes weaker. UE 160 can determine that a MIMO scheme higher than 2x2 will be beneficial to enhancing the communication quality of the first connection 161. For example, UE 160 may therefore intend to restore the MIMO setting of the first connection 161 from 2x2 to 4x4. UE 160 can convey this intention to the first network 110 by sending a request to base station 114 to increase the MIMO count of the first connection 161 from 2 to 4. This request can be sent via the uplink of the first connection 161 in the form of a UE 160-specific UAI. UE 160 can also reconfigure the second connection 162 from a 4x4 MIMO scheme to a 2x2 MIMO scheme, such that cellular antennas 213 and 214, which have been lent to the second connection for MIMO operation as described above with respect to scheme 310, are released and made available again to the first connection 161. After sending a request to base station 114, UE 160 can continue to reconfigure the first connection 161 from a 2x2 MIMO scheme to a 4x4 MIMO scheme to utilize all cellular antennas 211–214.

[0040] In some embodiments, after detecting certain preconditions regarding the first connection 161 or the second connection 162, the UE 160 may intend to further increase the number of MIMO operations in the first connection 161 beyond the number of cellular antennas equipped in the UE 160. For example, user 330 may begin downloading a long movie in ultra-high definition (UHD) resolution for later offline viewing while outside house 370. Downloading a UHD movie requires high transmission bandwidth in the downlink of the first connection 161, which is not easily achieved by the 4x4 MIMO scheme currently employed by the first connection 161. Specifically, the UE 160 may begin downloading a UHD movie via the first connection 161 using a 4x4 MIMO scheme while monitoring the transmission speed of the downlink of the first connection 161. The UE 160 can then determine that a transmission bottleneck has occurred in the first connection 161 by observing that the downlink transmission speed remains below a predetermined threshold specific to downloading a UHD movie for a predetermined period of time. Therefore, UE 160 may intend to change the MIMO setting of the first connection 161 to a higher number of MIMOs, such as a 6x6 MIMO scheme. To this end, UE 160 can reconfigure the second connection 162 by completely disabling it, thereby freeing up Wi-Fi antennas 221 and 222. UE 160 can then communicate its intention to adopt a 6x6 MIMO scheme to base station 114. Specifically, UE 160 can send a request to base station 114 to change the number of MIMOs used for the first connection 161 to 6, and subsequently receive a reconfirmation from base station 114 indicating that the request has been granted. Upon receiving the confirmation, UE 160 can increase the number of MIMOs in the first connection 161 from 4 to 6. Thus, a 6x6 MIMO scheme can be implemented using cellular antennas 211-214 by combining the termination of the second connection 162, i.e., the freeing up of Wi-Fi antennas 221 and 222 from disabling the Wi-Fi connectivity of UE 160.

[0041] In some embodiments, UE 160 may detect a transmission bottleneck not due to insufficient spatial stream quantity but due to poor radio signal reception by UE 160. Poor radio signal may manifest as a poor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), possibly due to severe multipath propagation problems that happen to be present in the outdoor environment where UE 160 is located. Therefore, UE 160 may intend to alter the MIMO settings of the first connection 161, not by increasing its MIMO quantity, but by increasing the number of antennas used to transmit and / or receive at least one spatial stream of the first connection 161. Specifically, UE 160 may additionally release one or both of Wi-Fi antennas 221 and 222 from the termination of the second connection 162 of UE 160 for one or more spatial streams of the first connection 161. The additional antennas may be used in conjunction with cellular antennas 211-214 to improve the SNR of the spatial streams using beamforming or maximum ratio combining (MRC) techniques.

[0042] Figure 4 The illustration depicts a proposed scheme 400 according to the present invention, wherein the UE 160 may have the intention to change the MIMO settings of the first connection 161 and / or the second connection 162 based on the geographical location of the UE 160. Figure 4 As shown, house 470 has multiple rooms, including living room 471, bathroom 472, kitchen 473, and bedroom. Based on the location of UE 160 within house 470, a corresponding preferred connection configuration (PCC) or profile can be applied to first connection 161 and / or second connection 162. That is, the PCC is specific to the geographic location of UE 160, or a combination of UE 160 and geographic location. The PCC manages the connection parameters of first connection 161 and / or second connection 162, including their various MIMO settings. The PCC aims to achieve optimized, historically best, or other satisfactory communication performance for first connection 161 and second connection 162. UE 160 may include a PCC database 460, in which various PCCs (e.g., PCCs 461, 462, and 463) are stored. When UE 160 is located within living room 471, UE 160 may intend to apply PCC 461 to first connection 161 and second connection 162. Similarly, when UE 160 is located in bathroom 472, UE 160 may intend to apply PCC 462, and when UE 160 is located in kitchen 473, UE 160 may intend to apply PCC 463.

[0043] PCC is specific to the geographical location of UE 160, primarily because each geographical location can have its own distinct wireless communication environment. For example... Figure 4 As shown, the wireless router 124 is located in the living room 471, so the PCC 461 can allocate most of the wireless communication resources of the UE 160, such as most of the various antennas of the UE 160, for the second connection 162, especially when the entrance door 474 of the living room 471 is closed. On the other hand, the bathroom 472 is located on the upper floor of the house 470, not on the same floor as the wireless router 124. The bathroom 472 is farther from the wireless router 124, but is provided with a skylight 475, through which the UE 160 has strong radio reception from the base station 114. Therefore, the PCC 462 can allocate most of the wireless communication resources of the UE 160, such as most of the various antennas of the UE 160, for the first connection 161. For example, the PCC 462 can configure the MIMO settings of the first connection 161 to adopt a 4x4 MIMO scheme, especially when the user 330 intends to operate on the UE 160 a task or application that requires high-speed transmission for the first connection 161, such as watching a high-definition movie while using the bathroom 472. As for the kitchen 473, located behind the house 470, its reception of radio signals from base station 114 or wireless router 124 is poor. With UE 160 located in kitchen 473, PCC 463 can be applied, which can allocate most of UE 160's wireless communication resources to the second connection 162, but in a different way than how PCC 461 manages the first connection 161 and the second connection 162. For example, PCC 463 can configure the MIMO settings of the first connection 161 to employ a 2x2 MIMO scheme using cellular antennas 211 and 212, thereby freeing up the other two cellular antennas of UE 160, namely cellular antennas 213 and 214. Furthermore, PCC 463 can further configure the MIMO settings of the second connection 162 to employ a 2x2 MIMO scheme with beamforming. PCC 463 can configure UE 160 to use Wi-Fi antennas 221 and 222 together with cellular antennas 213 and 214 for beamforming toward wireless router 124 located in living room 471. This beamforming can therefore improve the reception of radio signals transmitted from wireless router 124.

[0044] In some embodiments, the geographic location of UE 160 can be determined by a positioning system such as GPS or a mesh system comprising multiple sensors deployed in different locations. For example, multiple indoor sensors, transmitters, or beacons, such as beacons 481, 482, and 483, can be deployed at various locations within house 470. UE 160 can determine its own geographic location by communicating with indoor beacons, possibly via a low-power RAT such as NFC.

[0045] In some embodiments, each PCC stored in the PCC database 460 can be a historical connection configuration, i.e., a connection configuration that the UE 160 previously used at the corresponding geographical location. PCCs can be determined or otherwise updated by the UE 160 by examining various historical connection configurations and associated communication performance that have been used at the corresponding geographical location. The UE 160 can designate historical configurations that resulted in satisfactory or even optimal communication performance in the past as PCCs. Whenever the UE 160 is at or near the corresponding geographical location, the UE 160 can retrieve a PCC from the PCC database 460. The UE 160 can compare the PCC with the current connection configuration, and if a difference exists, initiate an intention to change the MIMO settings of the first connection 161 and / or the MIMO settings of the second connection 162.

[0046] In some embodiments, the PCCs stored in the PCC database 460 of the UE 160 may also depend on applications executed by the UE 160. Specifically, different applications may impose different requirements based on various key performance indicators (KPIs) (such as communication latency and data transmission rate) when determining the corresponding PCCs. Figure 5 Table 500 shows example preferred MIMO settings for UE 160 operating different applications. As shown in Table 500, the preferred MIMO settings vary depending on the application that UE 160 intends to execute. Furthermore, the preferred MIMO settings also depend on the radio frequency bandwidth (RF BW) of the second connection 162, as different IEEE 802.11 standards may have different RF BW values.

[0047] Figure 6Proposed solutions 610 and 620 according to the present invention are illustrated. Solution 620 may follow solution 610 in terms of time sequence. In each of proposed solutions 610 and 620, UE 160 is performing Wi-Fi network sharing. That is, laptop computer 631 connects to the Internet 130 via a combination of first connection 161 and second connection 162, where UE 160 acts as a Wi-Fi hotspot. Specifically, laptop computer 631 connects to UE 160 via second connection 162 using RAT2 (e.g., IEEE 802.11ax), while UE 160 connects to the Internet 130 by first connecting to base station 114 via first connection 161 using RAT1 (e.g., 5G NR). Furthermore, UE 160 also connects to wireless monitor 632 via second connection 162. By default, UE 160 may allocate antennas for first connection 161 and second connection 162 according to the number of different types of antennas equipped in UE 160. In other words, UE 160 can follow the default settings and allocate cellular antennas 211-214 to serve the first connection 161, while UE 160 can allocate Wi-Fi antennas 221 and 222 to serve the second connection 162.

[0048] In scheme 610, user 330 can type a report email on a laptop computer 631 in a park, the email being about a sporting event that took place a few days prior. Simultaneously, to compose the report email, user 330 replays several video clips of the selection event previously recorded and stored in UE 160 by streaming video clips to wireless monitor 632. While UE 160 performs these tasks, UE 160 can observe the transmission data buffers (e.g., uplink data buffers) of the first and second connections 161 and 162 to monitor for transmission bottlenecks in either connection. For example, UE 160 can observe that the amount of non-streaming data accumulated in the uplink data buffer of the second connection 162 has increased, or that the uplink data buffer of the second connection 162 is full, either of which could be an indication that a transmission bottleneck has occurred in the second connection 162. UE 163 can therefore intend to change the MIMO settings of the first connection 161 and the second connection 162. For example, UE 160 may intend to reduce the number of MIMOs in the first connection 161 and need to increase the number of MIMOs in the second connection 162. UE 160 can convey this intention to base station 114 by sending a request to reduce the number of MIMOs in the first connection 161 from 4 to 2. When UE 160 receives an acknowledgment from base station 114 indicating that the request has been granted, UE 160 can reconfigure the first connection 161 accordingly, thereby freeing up both cellular antennas. UE 160 can then reconfigure the second connection 162 by using the two cellular antennas combined with UE 160's two Wi-Fi antennas to increase its MIMO count from 2 to 4.

[0049] In scenario 620, user 330 may have already composed a report email and sent it to the recipient via Internet 130. Wireless monitor 632 has been disconnected from and turned off by UE 160, while laptop computer 631 remains connected to UE 160 to receive the returned email. Simultaneously, user 330 initiates a live session, which significantly increases the transmission requirements of the first connection 161, particularly regarding its uplink. As a result, while monitoring the transmission data buffers of the first connection 161 and the second connection 162, UE 160 may observe an increase in the amount of non-streaming data accumulating in the transmission data buffer of the first connection 161, or that the transmission buffer is full, either of which could indicate a transmission bottleneck in the first connection 161. UE 160 may therefore intend to change the MIMO settings of both the first and second connections 161. For example, UE 160 may intend to increase the MIMO count of the first connection 161 and decrease the MIMO count of the second connection 162. Therefore, UE 160 can convey its intention to base station 114 by sending a request to increase the MIMO count of first connection 161 from 2 to 4. Simultaneously, UE 160 can reconfigure second connection 162 by reducing its MIMO count from 4 to 2, thereby freeing up the two cellular antennas previously borrowed from first connection 161 in scheme 610. After receiving confirmation from base station 114 that the request has been granted, UE 160 can subsequently reconfigure first connection 161 by changing the MIMO setting from a 2x2 MIMO scheme to a 4x4 MIMO scheme, allowing it to utilize all four cellular antennas of UE 160.

[0050] In addition to monitoring the transmission data buffer (i.e., as described above with respect to schemes 610 and 620) or transmission speed (i.e., as described above with respect to scheme 320) to detect the occurrence of transmission bottlenecks, UE 160 can use other methods to identify or detect potential transmission bottlenecks, so that UE 160 can reconfigure the first connection 161 and / or the second connection 162 accordingly. For example, before actual data transmission, UE 160 can perform speed tests on each of the first connection 161 and the second connection 162. Speed ​​test values ​​lower than expected may be an indication of a potential bottleneck. As another example, UE 160 can continuously perform latency tests on each of the first connection 161 and the second connection 162. Latency values ​​longer than expected may be an indication of a potential bottleneck.

[0051] Illustrative Implementation

[0052] Figure 7An example apparatus 700 according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. Apparatus 700 can perform various functions to implement the schemes, techniques, processes, and methods described in this invention, which relate to improving communication performance by appropriately allocating antennas between connections using different RATs, including the scenarios / schemes described above and the processes described below.

[0053] Device 700 can demonstrate Figures 1-4 and Figure 6 UE 160. Device 700 may be a portable or mobile device, a wearable device, a wireless communication device, or a computing device. For example, device 700 may be implemented in a smartphone, smartwatch, personal digital assistant, digital camera, or computing device such as a tablet computer, laptop computer, or notebook computer. Device 700 may be implemented in the form of one or more integrated-circuit (IC) chips, such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more reduced-instruction-set computing (RISC) processors, or one or more complex-instruction-set computing (CISC) processors. Device 700 has several components or modules, including selected from a first transceiver 710, a second transceiver 720, a processor 730, a positioning module 740, a first transmission data buffer 750, a second transmission data buffer 760, a preferred connection configuration (PCC) database 770, multiple antennas 780, and a baseband processing module 790. The device 700 may also include one or more other components unrelated to the proposed solution of this invention (e.g., internal power supply, display device, and / or user interface device); therefore, none of these one or more components of the device 700 are included in the present invention. Figure 7 As shown below, for the sake of simplicity and brevity, no explanatory diagrams are included.

[0054] In some embodiments, some of the modules 710-790 listed above are software instruction modules executed by one or more processing units (e.g., processors) of a computing device or electronic device. In some embodiments, some of the modules 710-790 are hardware circuit modules implemented by one or more ICs of an electronic device. Although modules 710-790 are shown as separate modules, some modules may be combined into a single module.

[0055] The first transceiver 710 can be configured to establish a first connection to a first network (e.g., first connection 161) using a first RAT, while the second transceiver 720 can be configured to establish a second connection to a second network (e.g., second connection 162) using a second RAT. The first network to which the first transceiver 710 is connected can be network 110, and the second network to which the second transceiver 720 is connected can be network 120. In some embodiments, the first network can be a cellular network or other network types such as a WAN, while the second network can be a WLAN. The first RAT can be 4G LTE or 5G NR, while the second RAT can be one of the IEEE 802.11 standards. The first connection can be a wireless connection between device 700 and a base station of the first network (e.g., base station 114). The second connection can be a wireless connection network between device 700 and a Wi-Fi router or access point of the second network (e.g., Wi-Fi router 124).

[0056] Each of the first transceiver 710 and the second transceiver 720 may include a transmitter (Tx.) and a receiver (Rx.) for sending and receiving radio signals to and from network 110 or 120 via connection 161 or 162. Furthermore, each of the first transceiver 710 and the second transceiver 720 may also include a speed test module and / or a latency test module for monitoring the communication performance / matrix of connections 161 and 162. The processor 730 may detect preconditions for changing the MIMO settings of connections 161 and / or 162 (e.g., transmission bottlenecks described in schemes 320, 610, or 620) based on the latency and / or speed matrix provided by the speed test module and / or latency test module.

[0057] On one hand, processor 730 may be implemented as one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more RISC processors, or one or more CISC processors. That is, even though the singular term "processor" is used to refer to processor 730 in this invention, processor 730 may include multiple processors in some embodiments and a single processor in other embodiments according to the invention. On the other hand, processor 730 may be implemented in hardware (and optionally firmware) having electronic components including, for example, but not limited to, one or more transistors, one or more diodes, one or more capacitors, one or more resistors, one or more inductors, one or more memristors, and / or one or more varactor diodes, which are configured and arranged to perform a specific purpose according to the invention. In other words, in at least some embodiments, processor 730 is a dedicated machine specifically designed, arranged, and configured to perform a specific task, which includes enhancing communication performance by appropriately distributing antennas among connections using different RATs according to various embodiments of the invention.

[0058] To this end, processor 730 can be configured to perform operations that detect preconditions for changing the first MIMO setting of the first connection. Processor 730 can then be configured to perform operations that communicate the intention to change the first MIMO setting of the first connection to the first network via the first connection. For example, processor 730 can detect preconditions for changing the MIMO setting of connection 161, as described elsewhere above in this invention. Processor 730 can further communicate the intention to change the MIMO setting of the first connection to cellular network 110. In some embodiments, processor 730 can communicate the intention to a base station of the first network, such as base station 114 of cellular network 110, by sending a request to base station 114 to change the MIMO setting of connection 161. This request can be part of device 700-specific UE assistance information (UAI). This request can be sent using the uplink (UL) of connection 161.

[0059] Processor 730 can then reconfigure the first connection by changing the first MIMO setting, and then reconfigure the second connection accordingly. For example, if processor 730 detects a precondition triggering an intention to reduce the number of MIMOs in connection 161 from 4 to 2, processor 730 can reconfigure connection 161 accordingly, causing two of the cellular antennas 211-214 to be released or disconnected from serving connection 161. Processor 730 can then reconfigure connection 162 by increasing its MIMO number from 2 to 4, which is achieved by engaging the two released antennas with transceiver 720 to serve connection 162. For example, each of the two released antennas can be used for additional spatial flow serving connection 162.

[0060] In at least some embodiments, device 700 may not reconfigure connection 162 until transceiver 710 receives an acknowledgment. This acknowledgment is sent from base station 114 via the downlink (DL) of connection 161, and the acknowledgment indicates that the request has been permitted by network 110, and in particular base station 114.

[0061] The positioning module 740 is configured to determine or otherwise detect the instantaneous geographic location of the device 700. In some embodiments, the positioning module 740 may provide geographic positioning via a global positioning system (GPS). Alternatively, the positioning module 740 may provide geographic positioning based on a grid positioning system that employs multiple sensors, transmitters, or positioning beacons, such as beacons 481-483 provided within the house 470.

[0062] Each of the transmission data buffers 750 and 760 is configured to store data queued for transmission by transceivers 710 and 720, respectively. For example, transmission data buffer 750 can be used to buffer data to be transmitted by transceiver 710 to cellular network 110 via uplink of connection 161. Similarly, transmission data buffer 760 can be used to buffer data to be transmitted by transceiver 720 to WLAN 120 via uplink of connection 162. Processor 730 can be configured to monitor the state of transmission data buffers 750 and 760, and based on this state, processor 730 can detect preconditions that could trigger an intention to change the MIMO settings of one or both of the first connection 161 and the second connection 162 (e.g., a transmission bottleneck in the first connection 161 and / or the second connection 162). For example, a full or nearly full transmission data buffer 750 could indicate that a transmission bottleneck may exist in connection 161, at least in its uplink. The processor 730 can therefore convey to the network 110 the intention to change the MIMO settings of the connection 161 to alleviate or otherwise reduce the transmission bottleneck.

[0063] PCC database 770 is configured to store multiple PCCs, each preferred connection configuration managing certain communication parameter settings (e.g., MIMO count) for the first and second connections 161 and 162. For example, if Figure 4 If UE 160 is implemented by device 700, then PCCs 461, 462, and 463 can be stored in PCC database 770. As described elsewhere in the invention above, each entry stored in PCC database 770 is specific to the geographic location of device 700. Furthermore, each entry in PCC database 770 is a historical connection configuration that has been applied in the past to manage connections 161 and 162 and has produced satisfactory, or even best, communication performance in the past.

[0064] As described above, the positioning module 740 is configured to provide the instantaneous location of the device 700. Based on the instantaneous geographic location, the processor 730 is configured to check the PCC database 770 to select PCC entries that have a corresponding geographic location, i.e., are near the direct location of the device 700. The processor 730 can then compare the selected entry with the connection configuration currently applied to the first and second connections 161 and 162. The difference between the current configuration and the selected configuration can constitute a precondition for triggering an intention to change the MIMO settings of the first connection 161 and / or the second connection 162, unless the current configuration results in better communication performance than the selected configuration. If the current configuration results in improved communication performance, the processor 730 can be configured to replace the selected entry with the current configuration in the PCC database 770.

[0065] The plurality of antennas 780 may include antennas capable of receiving radio signals encompassing the transmission frequency bands of the first and second connections 161 and 162. The plurality of antennas 780 may embody cellular antennas 211-214 and Wi-Fi antennas 221 and 222. Furthermore, the plurality of antennas 780 may include antennas that can be allocated to serve only one of the first connection 161 and the second connection 162, but not both. The plurality of antennas 780 may also include other types of antennas serving various other wireless communications performed by the device 700, such as NFC, mmWave, BT, and GPS communications.

[0066] The baseband processing module 790 is configured to process data both within the baseband and outside of transceivers 710 and 720. For example, in the downlink, radio signals received by antenna 780 are processed by transceivers 710 and 720 before being passed to the baseband processing module 790. In the uplink, baseband data is processed by the baseband processing module 790 before being transmitted to transceivers 710 and 720. In some embodiments, the baseband processing module 790 may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), and digital processing circuitry.

[0067] Explanatory process

[0068] Figure 8 An example process 800 according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. According to the present invention, process 800 may be an example implementation of part or all of the above-described scheme relating to improving communication performance by appropriately allocating antennas between connections using different RATs. Process 800 may represent one aspect of an embodiment of the features of device 700. Process 800 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as shown in blocks 810, 820, 830, and 840. Although shown as discrete blocks, the individual blocks of process 800 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Furthermore, the blocks of process 800 may be arranged in... Figure 8The process can be executed in the order shown, or in a different order. Furthermore, one or more blocks / sub-blocks of process 800 can be executed repeatedly or iteratively. Process 800 can be implemented by device 700 and any variations thereof. For illustrative purposes only and not as a limitation, process 800 is described in the context of a UE having a first connection to a first network via a first RAT and a second connection to a second network via a second RAT. In some implementations, the first network can be a cellular network (e.g., network 110) or a WAN, while the second network can be a WLAN (e.g., network 120). The first connection can be a wireless connection (e.g., connection 161) between the UE and a base station of the first network (e.g., base station 114). The second connection can be a wireless connection (e.g., connection 162) between the UE and a wireless router or access point of the second network (e.g., wireless router 124). Process 800 can begin at block 810.

[0069] At 810, process 800 may include processor 730 of device 700 detecting a precondition for changing the first MIMO setting of the first connection. In some embodiments, a transmission bottleneck in the first or second connection may constitute a precondition. For example, processor 730 may monitor the state of transmit data buffers 750 and 760 and detect a precondition for increasing the MIMO number of the first connection because transmit data buffer 750 is full or nearly full, and a transmission bottleneck has occurred or may occur. As another example, processor 730 may detect another precondition for changing the first MIMO setting of the first connection because the current connection configuration sets the MIMO number of the first connection to a higher number than the preferred MIMO number recommended by the corresponding historical connection configuration stored in PCC database 770. Process 800 may proceed from 810 to 820.

[0070] At 820, process 800 may include processor 730 conveying an intention to change the MIMO settings of the first connection (triggered as by a precondition detected at 810) to the first network, i.e., the network to which device 700 is connected via the first RAT. For example, UE 160 may convey an intention to change the MIMO number of the first connection 161 to network 110 by sending a request to base station 114 to change the MIMO number. In some embodiments, the request is sent to base station 114 via UAI, which is specific to UE 160. In some embodiments, after the request is sent, process 800 may include processor 730 further receiving an acknowledgment from network 110 (e.g., from base station 114) indicating that the request has been permitted by network 110 (i.e., base station 114). Process 800 may proceed from 820 to 830.

[0071] At 830, process 800 may include processor 730 reconfiguring the first connection by changing the first MIMO settings. In some embodiments, the first network may also participate in the reconfiguration of the first connection. For example, as described elsewhere above in the invention, a handshake process may be performed between UE 160 and base station 114 before the actual change of the MIMO settings of the first connection. In some alternative embodiments, processor 730 may change the MIMO settings of the first connection before receiving or even needing to receive acknowledgment from base station 114, as described elsewhere above in the invention. Process 800 may proceed from 830 to 840.

[0072] At 840, process 800 may include processor 730 to reconfigure the second connection. The reconfiguration of the second connection at 840 corresponds to the reconfiguration of the first connection at 830.

[0073] In some implementations, reconfiguring the first connection may include reducing the number of first MIMOs in the first connection by a fixed amount, an integer (e.g., from 4 to 2), while reconfiguring the second connection may include increasing the number of second MIMOs in the second connection by the same fixed amount (e.g., from 2 to 4 or from 1 to 3). Reducing the number of first MIMOs may result in freeing up one or more antennas serving the first connection (e.g., cellular antennas 213 and 214 shown in embodiment 310). Furthermore, increasing the number of second MIMOs may be due to the use of one or more antennas in the second connection.

[0074] In some implementations, reconfiguring the first connection may include increasing the number of first MIMOs of the first connection by a fixed amount, an integer (e.g., from 2 to 4), while reconfiguring the second connection may include decreasing the number of second MIMOs of the second connection by the same fixed amount. Reducing the number of second MIMOs may result in freeing up one or more antennas serving the second connection (e.g., cellular antennas 213 and 214 shown in embodiment 320). Furthermore, the increase in the number of first MIMOs may be due to the use of one or more antennas in the first connection.

[0075] In some alternative implementations, reconfiguration of the second connection may include reducing the number of second MIMOs for the second connection by releasing one or more antennas serving the second connection. Simultaneously, reconfiguration of the first connection may include increasing the number of antennas for at least one spatial stream of the first connection without changing the number of first MIMOs for the first connection. For example, apparatus 700 may additionally use the released one or more antennas to implement beamforming or maximum ratio combining (MRC) for at least one spatial stream of the first connection.

[0076] Additional Notes

[0077] The subject matter described in this invention sometimes illustrates different components contained within or connected to other components. It should be understood that the depicted architecture is merely an example, and many other architectures that achieve the same functionality can actually be implemented. Conceptually, any arrangement of components achieving the same function is effectively “associated” to achieve the desired function. Therefore, regardless of the architecture or intermediate components, any two components of this invention combined to achieve a specific function can be considered “associated” with each other to achieve the desired function. Similarly, any two such associated components can also be considered “operationally connected” or “operationally coupled” to achieve the desired function, and any two components that can be suchly associated can also be considered “operationally coupled” to achieve the desired function. Specific examples of operationally coupled components include, but are not limited to: physically mating and / or physically interacting components and / or wirelessly interacting components and / or logically interacting and / or logically interactable components.

[0078] Furthermore, regarding the extensive use of any plural and / or singular terms in this invention, those skilled in the art can, depending on the context and / or application, convert from plural to singular and / or from singular to plural. For clarity, various singular / plural interchanges can be explicitly described in this invention.

[0079] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that, generally, the terminology used in this invention, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., the text of the appended claims), generally means "open" terms (e.g., the term "comprising" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "including" should be interpreted as "including but not limited to," etc.). Those skilled in the art will also understand that if a particular number of claims is intentionally enumerated, this intention will be explicitly listed in the claims, and if such enumeration is absent, this intention will not exist. For example, to aid understanding, the appended claims may include the use of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" that enumerate the claims. However, the use of such phrases should not be interpreted as implying that the introduction of the indefinite article "a" or "an" by a claim list limits any particular claim containing such an introduced claim list to an embodiment containing only one such list, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrase "one or more" or "at least one" and an indefinite article (such as "a" or "an") (e.g., "a" and / or "an" should be interpreted as meaning "at least one" or "one or more"); this also applies to the use of definite articles used to introduce claim lists. Furthermore, even when a specific number of introduced claim lists is explicitly listed, those skilled in the art will recognize that such a list should be interpreted as meaning at least the number listed (e.g., in the absence of other modifiers, an unmodified list of "two lists" means at least two lists, or two or more lists). Furthermore, in cases where the convention of "at least one of A, B, and C" is used, this interpretation generally means, as those skilled in the art will understand, that "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" includes, but is not limited to, systems having A alone, having B alone, having C alone, having A and B together, having A and C together, having B and C together, and / or having A, B, and C together. In cases where the convention of "at least one of A, B, or C" is used, this interpretation generally means, as those skilled in the art will understand, that "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" includes, but is not limited to, systems having A alone, having B alone, having C alone, having A and B together, having A and C together, having B and C together, and / or having A, B, and C together. Those skilled in the art will also understand that any transitional words and / or phrases that actually present two or more alternatives, whether in the specification, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibility of including one, any, or both of these items. For example, the phrase “A or B” would be understood to include the possibility of “A” or “B” or “A and B”.

[0080] Based on the foregoing, it will be understood that various embodiments of the invention have been described for illustrative purposes, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, the various embodiments disclosed herein are not intended to be limiting, and the true scope and spirit are indicated by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An antenna allocation method among different radio access technologies, the method being implemented in a user equipment having a first connection to a first network via a first radio access technology (RAT) and a second connection to a second network via a second RAT, the method comprising: Detect the preconditions for changing the first multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) setting of the first connection; The intention to change the first MIMO setting of the first connection is communicated to the first network; In response to the detection, the first connection is reconfigured by changing the first MIMO settings; and Corresponding to the reconfiguration of the first connection, the second connection is reconfigured, wherein, The change in the first MIMO settings includes increasing the number of antennas for at least one spatial stream of the first connection without changing the number of first MIMOs for the first connection. The reconfiguration of the second connection includes reducing the number of second MIMOs in the second connection by releasing one or more antennas from serving the second connection, and The reconfiguration of the first connection includes the user equipment additionally using the one or more antennas for the at least one spatial flow of the first connection.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The user equipment uses one or more antennas for beamforming or maximum ratio combining (MRC) of the first connection.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The prerequisites include transmission bottlenecks in the first or second connection.

4. An antenna allocation method among different radio access technologies, the method being implemented in a user equipment having a first connection to a first network via a first radio access technology (RAT) and a second connection to a second network via a second RAT, the method comprising: Detect the preconditions for changing the first multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) setting of the first connection; The intention to change the first MIMO setting of the first connection is communicated to the first network; In response to the detection, the first connection is reconfigured by changing the first MIMO settings; as well as Corresponding to the reconfiguration of the first connection, the second connection is reconfigured, wherein, The prerequisites for the detection include: Historical connection configurations are retrieved at least based on the geographic location of the user equipment; and Compare the historical connection configuration and the current connection configuration of the user equipment.

5. An apparatus for antenna allocation between different radio access technologies, comprising: A first transceiver is configured to establish a first connection to a first network via a first radio access technology (RAT); The second transceiver is configured to establish a second connection to the second network via the second RAT; Multiple antennas, including a first group comprising one or more antennas and a second group comprising one or more antennas, the first group being configured to engage with the first transceiver to serve the first connection, and the second group being configured to engage with the second transceiver to serve the second connection; The processor is configured to perform the following operations: Detect the preconditions for changing the first multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) setting of the first connection; The intention to change the first MIMO setting of the first connection is transmitted to the first network via the first transceiver; In response to the detection, the first connection is reconfigured by changing the first MIMO settings; Corresponding to the reconfiguration of the first connection, the second connection is reconfigured; as well as Perform the first operation or the second operation. The first operation includes: The first MIMO setting is changed by disconnecting one or more antennas from the first group, and The second connection is reconfigured by joining one or more antennas that have been detached from the first group to the second group, with each of the one or more antennas joined to the second group serving an additional spatial flow for the second connection; The second operation includes: The second connection is reconfigured by disconnecting one or more antennas from the second group, and The first MIMO setting is altered by engaging one or more antennas detached from the second group to the first group, with each of the one or more antennas engaged to the first group serving an additional spatial flow for the first connection.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein: The prerequisites include transmission bottlenecks in the first or second connection. Each of the first transceiver and the second transceiver includes one or both of a speed test module and a latency test module, and The processor is configured to detect the transmission bottleneck based on test values ​​provided by the speed test module or the latency test module of the first transceiver or the second transceiver.

7. The apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: A first data transmission buffer is used for the first connection; as well as A second data transmission buffer is used for the second connection. in: The preconditions include a transmission bottleneck in the first connection or the second connection, and The processor is configured to detect the transmission bottleneck based on the state of the first transmission data buffer or the state of the second transmission data buffer.

8. The apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: The Preferred Connection Configuration (PCC) database comprises multiple PCCs, each representing a historical connection configuration and corresponding to a geographical location. in: The processor is configured to detect the precondition by comparing the current connection configurations of the first connection and the second connection with a PPC selected from the plurality of PCCs. The processor is also configured to select the PCC based at least on the geographic location of the device.

9. The apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: A positioning module is configured to detect the geographical location of the device.

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