An antenna beam tracking method suitable for 5G systems

Abstract

The present invention provides an antenna beam tracking method suitable for 5G systems. By inserting a special pilot for beam tracking into a specific time-frequency resource of a 5G waveform (a time-frequency resource reserved in advance by a protocol stack), the 5G base station uses the special pilot to perform beam scanning and tracking on a terminal. The terminal also inserts a special pilot into a fixed time-frequency resource to perform beam scanning and tracking on the 5G base station. Since the tracking technology uses the 5G base station and the terminal to scan and track each other, when the 5G base station and the terminal move relative to each other, the relative positions of each other can be accurately tracked to ensure correct beam pointing, thereby avoiding the problem of communication failure caused by the relative movement of both the 5G base station and the terminal.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of wireless communication technologies, and in particular to an antenna beam tracking method applicable to a 5G system. Background Art

[0002] Millimeter-wave communication is a key technology in fifth-generation (5G) communication systems, effectively improving the system's spectral efficiency and energy efficiency. Beamforming technology is a key component of this technology. Beamforming adjusts the phase and amplitude of antenna elements to form a highly directional beam, thereby achieving higher beam gain. It has a higher bandwidth advantage in the millimeter-wave frequency band and has good antenna beam directionality, as well as good anti-multipath performance and covert communication capabilities.

[0003] However, when using directional beams for communication, the base station needs to know the terminal's location in advance and adjust the beam's direction for communication. This technology is called beam alignment, beam tracking, and beam management. The 5G system clearly defines the beam management process, which mainly includes beam scanning, beam measurement, beam reporting, beam indication, and beam failure recovery. During beam scanning, the base station uses broadcast signaling (SSB) for wide scanning and channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) for fine scanning. The base station and terminal select the optimal beam direction. Beam measurement uses SSB and CSI-RS reference signals to measure the signal-to-noise ratio (SINR).

[0004] The premise of the above 5G beam management process is that the base station is stationary. However, when the base station and the terminal are moving relative to each other, the base station's fine scanning range may not cover the terminal, which will cause the base station and the terminal to frequently perform access beam width scanning and fine scanning switching, which will cause communication failure between the base station and the terminal; secondly, the beam management processing and interaction process in the 5G system is lengthy and cumbersome, and beam management runs through all layers in the 5G system, and the coupling is relatively tight, resulting in a high implementation complexity of the physical layer and protocol stack in the 5G system. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present invention aims to provide an antenna beam tracking method suitable for 5G systems to solve the beam management technology in existing 5G systems. When the base station and the terminal are moving rapidly relative to each other, the 5G standard does not take this scenario into consideration, which will cause frequent switching between wide scanning and fine scanning in beam management, resulting in beam management chaos, and thus causing the base station and the terminal to be unable to communicate normally.

[0006] The present invention provides an antenna beam tracking method applicable to a 5G system, comprising the following steps:

[0007] Step 1: In the remote radio unit (RRU) of the 5G base station, a special pilot is inserted into the first symbol of each broadcast signaling in the time slot;

[0008] Step 2: The 5G base station sends time slots containing special pilots in different directions within the coverage area;

[0009] Step 3: The terminal adjusts the receiving beam direction and searches for the special pilot by continuously switching different receiving beam directions. After the terminal synchronizes with the special pilot, it fixes the receiving beam direction and parses the broadcast signaling PBCH.

[0010] Step 4: The terminal sends a special beam frame and PRACH information according to the fixed receive beam direction. The special beam frame contains the user terminal identification information.

[0011] Step 5: The 5G base station detects the special beam frame and PRACH information in the specified uplink time slot, parses the user terminal identification information from the special beam frame, and parses the TA and ID information from the PRACH information;

[0012] Step 6: Based on the user terminal identification information, the 5G base station plans n different adjacent directions with the optimal transmission beam direction. The beam control module of the 5G base station sends special beam frames for these n different adjacent directions according to a certain period and time slot, and sends message 2 in the optimal transmission beam direction. Message 2 contains TA and ID information.

[0013] Step 7: The terminal receives information 2 from the 5G base station according to the optimal receiving beam direction, parses the TA and ID information, and receives n special beam frames in different adjacent directions according to the specified period and time slot, and parses the optimal receiving beam direction;

[0014] Step 8: The terminal plans n different adjacent directions with the optimal receiving beam direction as the center, and sends special beam frames of n different adjacent directions according to a certain period and time slot. The special beam frame contains the previous optimal transmitting beam direction of the 5G base station;

[0015] Step 9: The 5G base station receives the special beam frames of n different adjacent directions transmitted by the terminal according to the specified period and time slot, parses the optimal transmission beam direction, and adjusts its own beam direction to the optimal transmission beam direction. Through step 6, the 5G base station informs the terminal of the optimal transmission direction beam number;

[0016] Step 10: Utilize special beam frames through the 5G base station and terminal to track the optimal transmit beam direction and the optimal receive beam direction. Finally, the 5G base station and terminal perform beam tracking according to a certain period to achieve antenna beam alignment communication.

[0017] Furthermore, each broadcast signaling in the time slot containing the special pilot sent in each direction in step 2 is 5 symbols, and the 5 symbols are the special pilot, PSS, PBCH, SSS and PBCH in sequence.

[0018] Furthermore, when the time slot containing the special pilot is sent in step 2, each time slot has two broadcast signalings sent to two different wave positions respectively.

[0019] Furthermore, when searching for the special pilot in step 3, the terminal plans its receiving beam direction dwell time according to the 5G base station area scanning cycle, and the terminal continuously searches for the special pilot during the receiving beam direction dwell time.

[0020] Furthermore, the special beam frame structure includes pilot data, a previous best beam number and user terminal identification information.

[0021] Furthermore, the pilot data occupies 512 points, and the previous best beam number and user terminal identification information are transmitted in a spread spectrum manner.

[0022] Furthermore, in step 6, when the 5G base station sends a special beam frame, the beam control module of the 5G base station sends special beam frames in n adjacent directions in the first symbol of the first time slot of the frame corresponding to the user terminal identification information according to the planned n different adjacent directions. The duration of the special beam frame in each adjacent direction is 1 / n of a symbol time.

[0023] Furthermore, in step 7, the terminal detects special beam frames in n adjacent directions in the first symbol of the first time slot of the frame corresponding to the user terminal identification information. The terminal parses the signal-to-noise ratio, user terminal identification information, and previous best beam number for each adjacent direction. The terminal then adjusts the direction to the current best receiving beam based on the best beam number.

[0024] Furthermore, in step 8, when the terminal sends a special beam frame, n special beam frames in different adjacent directions are sent in the first symbol of the uplink time slot of the frame corresponding to the user terminal identification information, and the beam number corresponding to the maximum signal-to-noise ratio is uploaded to the base station beam control module.

[0025] In summary, due to the adoption of the above technical solution, the beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0026] 1. The present invention inserts a special pilot for beam tracking into the specific time-frequency resources of the 5G waveform (the time-frequency resources reserved in advance by the protocol stack). The 5G base station uses the special pilot to perform beam scanning and tracking on the terminal. The terminal also inserts a special pilot into the fixed time-frequency resources to perform beam scanning and tracking on the 5G base station. This tracking technology uses the 5G base station and the terminal to scan and track each other. Therefore, when the 5G base station and the terminal move relative to each other, their relative positions can be accurately tracked to ensure correct beam pointing, thereby avoiding the problem of communication failure caused by the relative movement of the 5G base station and the terminal.

[0027] 2. Since the present invention designs a special pilot frame with low complexity, it is only necessary to add a beam management module inside and outside the 5G device. However, the 5G system does not have a beam management function, so the complexity caused by integrating beam management into the 5G physical layer and protocol stack is avoided. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. It should be understood that the following drawings only illustrate certain embodiments of the present invention and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For ordinary technicians in this field, other relevant drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0029] Figure 1 This is a flowchart of an antenna beam tracking method applicable to a 5G system provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 2 2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a time slot including a special pilot in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the structure of a special beam frame in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention more clear, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Generally, the components of the embodiments of the present invention described and shown in the drawings herein can be arranged and designed in various different configurations.

[0033] Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the invention as claimed, but rather merely represents selected embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments derived by persons of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative effort are intended to fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0034] Example

[0035] like Figure 1 As shown, this embodiment proposes an antenna beam tracking method applicable to a 5G system, including the following steps:

[0036] Step 1: In the 5G base station's radio remote unit (RRU), a special pilot is inserted into the first symbol of each broadcast signaling in the time slot. The time-frequency position of the special pilot in the time slot is as follows: Figure 2 As shown;

[0037] Step 2: The 5G base station sends time slots containing special pilots in different directions in the coverage area. Specifically, the 5G base station plans the number of wave positions in different directions in the coverage area, and each wave position has a wave position sequence number. According to the wave position sequence number, the time slots containing special pilots are sent in different directions from low to high. Among them, each broadcast signaling in the time slot containing special pilots sent in each direction is Figure 3 The five symbols in the time slot are the special pilot, PSS, PBCH, SSS and PBCH. Furthermore, each time slot has two broadcast signals sent to two different beam positions.

[0038] Step 3: The terminal adjusts the receiving beam direction and searches for the special pilot by continuously switching different receiving beam directions. After the terminal synchronizes with the special pilot, the receiving beam direction is fixed and the terminal parses the broadcast signaling PBCH. When searching for the special pilot, the terminal plans its receiving beam direction dwell time according to the 5G base station area scanning cycle, and the terminal continuously searches for the special pilot during the receiving beam direction dwell time.

[0039] Step 4: The terminal sends a special beam frame and PRACH information in the fixed receiving beam direction. The special beam frame contains the user terminal identification information; the user terminal identification information is used to inform the beam speed control module of the 5G base station to perform subsequent beam tracking on the user. The special beam frame structure is as follows: Figure 3 As shown, it includes pilot data, the previous best beam number and user terminal identification information; the pilot data occupies 512 points, and the previous best beam number and user terminal identification information are transmitted using a spread spectrum method;

[0040] Step 5: The 5G base station detects the special beam frame and PRACH information in the specified uplink time slot, parses the user terminal identification information from the special beam frame, and parses the TA and ID information from the PRACH information;

[0041] Step 6: The 5G base station plans n (e.g., 4) different adjacent directions with the optimal transmission beam direction based on the user terminal identification information, where the coverage range of the n different adjacent directions is greater than the relative distance between the terminal and the base station; the beam control module of the 5G base station sends special beam frames of these n different adjacent directions according to a certain period and time slot, and sends information 2 in the optimal transmission beam direction, where message 2 contains TA and ID information; when the 5G base station sends a special beam frame, the beam control module of the 5G base station sends special beam frames of n adjacent directions in the first symbol of the first time slot of the frame corresponding to the user terminal identification information according to the planned n different adjacent directions, and the duration of the special beam frame of each adjacent direction is 1 / n of a symbol time.

[0042] Step 7: The terminal receives information 2 from the 5G base station according to the optimal receiving beam direction, parses the TA and ID information, and receives special beam frames in n different adjacent directions according to the specified period and time slot to parse the optimal receiving beam direction. Correspondingly, the terminal detects the special beam frames in n adjacent directions in the first symbol of the first time slot of the frame corresponding to the user terminal identification information. The signal-to-noise ratio, user terminal identification information, and previous best beam number of each adjacent direction are parsed, and the terminal adjusts it to the current best receiving beam direction based on the best beam number.

[0043] Step 8: The terminal plans n different adjacent directions with the optimal receiving beam direction as the center, and sends special beam frames of n different adjacent directions according to a certain period and time slot. The special beam frame contains the last best transmitting beam direction of the 5G base station (i.e., the previous best beam number); when the terminal sends the special beam frame, it sends n special beam frames of different adjacent directions in the first symbol of the uplink time slot of the frame corresponding to the user terminal identification information, and uploads the beam number corresponding to the maximum signal-to-noise ratio to the base station beam control module.

[0044] Step 9: The 5G base station receives the special beam frames transmitted by the terminal in n different adjacent directions according to the specified period and time slot, parses the best transmit beam direction (i.e., the previous best beam number), and adjusts its own beam direction to the best transmit beam direction. Through step 6, the 5G base station informs the terminal of the best transmit direction beam number;

[0045] Step 10: The 5G base station and terminal use special beam frames to track the optimal transmit beam direction and the optimal receive beam direction by continuously repeating steps 6 to 9. Finally, the 5G base station and terminal perform beam tracking according to a certain period to achieve antenna beam alignment communication.

[0046] The foregoing description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that various modifications and variations of the present invention are possible. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, or improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention are intended to be within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An antenna beam tracking method applicable to a 5G system, characterized in that: The steps include: Step 1: In the remote radio unit (RRU) of the 5G base station, a special pilot is inserted into the first symbol of each broadcast signaling in the time slot; Step 2: The 5G base station sends time slots containing special pilots in different directions within the coverage area; Step 3: The terminal adjusts the receiving beam direction and searches for the special pilot by continuously switching different receiving beam directions. After the terminal synchronizes with the special pilot, it fixes the receiving beam direction and parses the broadcast signaling PBCH. Step 4: The terminal sends a special beam frame and PRACH information according to the fixed receive beam direction. The special beam frame contains the user terminal identification information. Step 5: The 5G base station detects the special beam frame and PRACH information in the specified uplink time slot, parses the user terminal identification information from the special beam frame, and parses the TA and ID information from the PRACH information; Step 6: Based on the user terminal identification information, the 5G base station plans n different adjacent directions with the optimal transmission beam direction. The beam control module of the 5G base station sends special beam frames for these n different adjacent directions according to a certain period and time slot, and sends information 2 in the optimal transmission beam direction. Information 2 contains TA and ID information. Step 7: The terminal receives information 2 from the 5G base station according to the optimal receiving beam direction, parses the TA and ID information, and receives n special beam frames in different adjacent directions according to the specified period and time slot, and parses the optimal receiving beam direction; Step 8: The terminal plans n different adjacent directions with the optimal receiving beam direction as the center, and sends special beam frames of n different adjacent directions according to a certain period and time slot. The special beam frame contains the previous optimal transmitting beam direction of the 5G base station; Step 9: The 5G base station receives the special beam frames of n different adjacent directions transmitted by the terminal according to the specified period and time slot, parses the optimal transmission beam direction, and adjusts its own beam direction to the optimal transmission beam direction. Through step 6, the 5G base station informs the terminal of the optimal transmission direction beam number; Step 10: The 5G base station and terminal use special beam frames to track the optimal transmit beam direction and the optimal receive beam direction. Finally, the 5G base station and terminal perform beam tracking at a certain period to achieve antenna beam alignment communication. The special beam frame structure includes pilot data, the previous best beam number and user terminal identification information; The pilot data occupies 512 points, and the previous best beam number and user terminal identification information are transmitted using a spread spectrum method; In step 6, when the 5G base station sends a special beam frame, the beam control module of the 5G base station sends special beam frames in n adjacent directions in the first symbol of the first time slot of the frame corresponding to the user terminal identification information according to the planned n different adjacent directions. The duration of the special beam frame in each adjacent direction is 1 / n of a symbol time.

2. The antenna beam tracking method applicable to the 5G system according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step 2, each broadcast signaling in the time slot containing the special pilot sent in each direction is 5 symbols, and the 5 symbols are the special pilot, PSS, PBCH, SSS and PBCH in sequence.

3. The antenna beam tracking method applicable to a 5G system according to claim 1, wherein: When sending the time slot containing the special pilot in step 2, each time slot has two broadcast signalings sent to two different wave positions respectively.

4. The antenna beam tracking method applicable to a 5G system according to claim 1, wherein: When searching for special pilots in step 3, the terminal plans its receiving beam direction dwell time according to the 5G base station area scanning cycle, and the terminal continuously searches for special pilots during the receiving beam direction dwell time.

5. The antenna beam tracking method applicable to a 5G system according to claim 1, wherein: In step 7, the terminal detects special beam frames in n adjacent directions in the first symbol of the first time slot of the frame corresponding to the user terminal identification information; parses the signal-to-noise ratio, user terminal identification information and previous best beam number of each adjacent direction, and the terminal adjusts it to the current best receiving beam direction according to the best beam number.

6. The antenna beam tracking method applicable to a 5G system according to claim 1, wherein: In step 8, when the terminal sends a special beam frame, it sends n special beam frames in different adjacent directions in the first symbol of the uplink time slot of the frame corresponding to the user terminal identification information, and uploads the beam number corresponding to the maximum signal-to-noise ratio to the base station beam control module.

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