Antenna beam management aided by spatial and temporal measurements of wireless terminals

Abstract

A method performed by a beam management system that obtains spatial and temporal measurements of a mobile terminal and geographic location information of associated base stations on a wireless communication network. The system determines a phase compensation value for the mobile terminal based on the obtained information, the phase compensation value being used to calculate or select coefficients of antenna elements that form an optimal antenna beam. Thus, the system can quickly and efficiently perform beam switching based on predicted spatial or temporal characteristics of the mobile terminal without waiting for actual beam measurement results.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 057,797, filed on July 28, 2020, entitled “Inertial Measurement Unit, GPS and Application Processor Assisted Antenna Beam Management in Wireless Terminals,” the contents of which are incorporated herein in their entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The disclosed teachings relate to wireless communication systems and, in particular, to improvements in antenna beam management. Background Art

[0004] Beamforming is a signal processing technique used in sensor arrays for directional signal transmission or reception. That is, beamforming is used at the transmitting or receiving end to achieve spatial selectivity. For example, beamforming can focus a signal toward a specific direction. This is achieved by combining antenna elements in such a way that signals at certain angles experience constructive interference while other signals experience destructive interference.

[0005] In the context of wireless communication systems, beamforming is used to improve wireless signal strength by confining signal transmission within a beam. The direction of the beam is appropriately selected to maximize the antenna gain between the transmitter and the receiver. In such systems, a device such as a wireless mobile terminal or a base station needs to periodically perform measurements on different beams in order to select the best beam for operation. The beamformer weights all antenna elements of the same size and steers in a specified direction simply by selecting the appropriate phase for each antenna. The directivity of the beam is better than omnidirectional reception or transmission.

[0006] However, the performance improvements of beamforming come with tradeoffs, as performing measurements on all beams consumes battery power and increases latency in identifying the optimal beam. Additionally, transmission quality can suffer while searching for the optimal beam. Furthermore, in high mobility scenarios, the optimal beam may change frequently and continuously over time, such that by the time the optimal beam is identified (based on measurements on all beams), the selected beam may no longer be the optimal beam. This also prevents the use of narrow beams and limits the maximum data rate that can be achieved in high mobility scenarios. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] The embodiments of the present technology will be described and explained by using the drawings.

[0008] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating components of a mobile terminal.

[0009] Figure 2 is a system diagram illustrating an example of beamforming in a wireless communication system.

[0010] Figure 3 is a system diagram illustrating an example of beam switching due to rotation of a mobile terminal in a wireless communication system.

[0011] Figure 4 is a system diagram showing an example of beam switching due to movement of a mobile terminal in a wireless communication system.

[0012] Figure 5 is a flow chart of a process performed by a beam management system aided by spatial and temporal measurements by a mobile terminal.

[0013] Figure 6 is a diagram showing phase compensation due to movement of a mobile terminal.

[0014] Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a processing system in which at least some of the operations described herein may be implemented.

[0015] From a study of the specific embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, various features of the technology described herein will become more apparent to those skilled in the art. The embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings by way of example and not limitation, wherein similar references may indicate similar elements. Although the accompanying drawings depict various embodiments for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will recognize that alternative embodiments may be employed without departing from the principles of the technology. Therefore, although specific embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, the technology may be modified in various ways. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] The disclosed solution relates to an antenna beam management system ("system") that is assisted by spatial and temporal measurements of a mobile terminal (also referred to herein as a "wireless terminal") in a wireless communication system. The spatial and temporal measurements include rotation and movement of a mobile terminal (MT), and / or the geographic location of the MT and / or an associated base station (BS). The system includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a geographic location and time unit (GTU), and a database storing geographic location information of one or more BSs. The MT includes an IMU and / or a GTU, and the BS database resides locally at the MT or a connected BS. An application processor (AP) of the MT can access the geographic location information of the BS through the communication system and store the information locally for use in performing beam management.

[0017] The system allows the MT to compensate for phase variations without having to scan all possible beams, which is time-consuming and power-consuming. As a result, the system reduces the latency typically associated with beam selection and correspondingly improves the end-user experience. This improvement is particularly important for wireless communication systems that rely on antenna beamforming to improve performance, such as millimeter wave signals in 5th Generation (5G) New Radio (NG), a broadband cellular network standard for wireless telecommunications systems. Another example is 4th Generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE), the predecessor to 5G. For example, many 5G MTs also have 4G LTE functionality for locations where 5G access is not available.

[0018] Although primarily described in the context of wireless telecommunications systems, implementations may include other wireless communication systems that employ beamforming (e.g., any beamformer). For example, any millimeter wave network where an access point or wireless endpoint device performs beam management may benefit from the disclosed system.

[0019] The disclosed system improves or replaces the wireless measurement-based beam management performed by the beamformer. Beam management has various stages including beam scanning, beam measurement, beam determination, beam reporting, and beam failure recovery. The MT needs to "sweep" all beams to measure the corresponding signal quality. The beam scanning stage involves transmitting beams in bursts in all predetermined directions at regular intervals. For a selected time window, this process can be repeated periodically in predetermined directions (beams).

[0020] In the beam measurement and determination phase, the beamformer performs beam monitoring, which includes measuring all beams. The MT decides which beam is currently the best beam and then switches to that beam. Beam measurements are typically based on synchronization signals in idle mode or reference signals in connected mode. The best beam is searched periodically and identified based on the measurement results. The periodicity and time / frequency offset of the measurement window are configurable.

[0021] Therefore, the beamformer can periodically update the selection of the optimal antenna beam (e.g., with the strongest signal and / or lowest interference) based on measurements of beams in different directions. To mitigate the inefficiency, it is critical to properly select the beamforming pattern. In the beam reporting phase, the MT informs the connected BS of the selected optimal beam. Finally, during the beam failure recovery phase, when the MT encounters poor channel conditions, the MT receives an indication of beam failure and begins the process of reselecting the optimal beam.

[0022] The wireless measurement-based beam management process for updating the optimal beam has many disadvantages. For example, beam quality monitoring is computationally complex and power-consuming. The MT may experience service interruption because data transmission / reception is suspended to perform measurements of all beams. In addition, the MT may experience poor signal quality during the beam adaptation period before selecting a new beam. In addition, due to processing delays in beam quality monitoring, suboptimal beam selection may occur. For example, if the movement rate or rotation rate of the MT is relatively high, the selected beam based on the measurement may quickly become outdated and unsuitable for communication. This hinders the use of narrow beams in high mobility scenarios.

[0023] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing components of MT 100 . Figure 1 The components shown in the figure are illustrative and some well-known components are omitted for brevity. As shown, MT 100 includes a processor 102, a memory 104, a display 106, and a wireless communication circuit 108 coupled to an antenna 110, and the processor 102, the memory 104, the display 106, and the wireless communication circuit 108 are connected to a beam management system 112 ("system 112"). The wireless communication circuit 108 is designed to establish a wireless communication channel on a wireless communication network.

[0024] Processor 102 may have general characteristics similar to a general purpose processor, or processor 102 may be an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that provides arithmetic and control functions for MT 100. Although not shown, processor 102 may include a dedicated cache memory. Processor 102 may be directly or indirectly coupled to all components of MT 100 via a bus (not shown) for data communication.

[0025] The memory 104 includes a suitable type of storage device, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, latches, and / or registers. In addition to storing instructions that can be executed by the processor 102, the memory 104 can also store data generated by the processor 102 (e.g., when executing modules of the system 112). The memory 104 shown is only an abstract representation of the storage environment; therefore, the memory 104 is composed of one or more actual memory chips or modules.

[0026] Examples of display 106 include a touch display or a non-touch display, in which case MT 100 may also include (or be connected to) an input device such as a keyboard. Wireless communication circuitry 108 forms a network and / or communicates with a network for data transmission between computing devices such as personal computers, mobile phones, and computer servers or network nodes. Wireless communication circuitry 108 can be used to communicate with these computing devices or to connect to a higher-level network (e.g., a LAN) or the Internet. Examples of wireless communication circuitry 108 include Bluetooth, Z-Wave, ZigBee, etc. In one example, the connection established by wireless communication circuitry 108 is bootstrapped by a near field communication (NFC) connection. Antenna 110 includes one or more antenna elements that are configurable according to antenna coefficients for beamforming.

[0027] System 112 may be composed of software, firmware, and / or hardware components implemented in MT 100 or accessible by MT 100. For convenience, system 112 is shown as including one or more units. The term "unit" (also referred to herein as a "module") generally refers to a software component, a firmware component, and / or a hardware component. Therefore, various aspects of system 112 are implemented in software, firmware, and / or hardware. In one example, a module may reside on memory 104.

[0028] The beam management system 112 includes an IMU 114, a GTU 116, a database (DB) 118, an AP 120, and a modem 122. As shown, these modules are components of the beam management system 112. Alternatively, any module can be logically separated from and coupled to the beam management system 112. For example, the DB 118 can reside at a BS connected to the MT 100 through a communication network. In this way, the MT 100 can access the remote DB 118 to retrieve the geographic location information of the BS and store it in a local cache memory. Compared with the prior art further described below, these modules together achieve more efficient beam management.

[0029] IMU 114 may include one or more devices that report spatial and temporal measurements of MT 100. For example, IMU 114 may report values ​​of force, angular rate, and / or orientation of MT 100 as outputs of sensors including one or more accelerometers, gyroscopes, or magnetometers. The measurements of the combined outputs of the sensors are processed to calculate current spatial or temporal properties of MT 100 or to predict near-future spatial or temporal properties of MT 100. At least some components of IMU 114 are typically available in modern smartphones and other mobile devices with wireless connectivity.

[0030] GTU 116 acquires the current geographic location of MT 100. In one example, GTU 116 includes a global positioning system (GPS) subsystem that calculates the current geographic location based on signals received from navigation satellites and can synchronize the time of MT 100 with GPS. Therefore, system 112 can also calculate spatial or temporal parameters including the speed of MT 100. At least some components of GTU 116 are typically available in modern smartphones and navigation devices.

[0031] DB 118 stores geographic location information of one or more BSs. DB 118 may reside locally (as shown) or remotely at one or more BSs or on a server of a cloud infrastructure accessible to MT 100 via a communication network. MT 100 may cache BS geographic location information locally to subsequently perform beam management.

[0032] AP 120 includes a computing unit to process and / or store spatial or temporal information of MT 100. In some cases, AP 120 can process user input / output. AP module 100 can access, process and record the geographical location of the BS currently connected to MT 100. The geographical location information is obtained from DB 118. In one implementation, AP 120 includes a processor that has general characteristics or is an ASIC that provides arithmetic and control functions for MT 100. AP 120 may include a dedicated cache memory. AP 120 is coupled to other components of system 112 to obtain spatial and temporal measurement results and perform beam management based on the information. For example, AP 120 obtains geographical location information, mobility information and / or rotation information from IMU 114, GTU 116 and / or DB 118. Then AP 120 can calculate a phase compensation value and pass the value to modem 122, which uses the value to update the beamforming configuration of antenna 110.

[0033] System 112 improves beamforming to increase wireless signal strength by confining signal transmission to an optimal beam. The direction of the beam is selected to maximize the antenna gain between the transmitter and the intended receiver. The improved beamforming minimizes the amplitude of the signal received at the receiver that is not intended to communicate with the transmitter. Doing so helps minimize interference and improve security.

[0034] Figure 22 is a system diagram showing an example of beamforming in a wireless communication system 200. The figure illustrates the benefits of using beamforming to improve the signal strength in beam 202 between MT 204 and BS 206-1 while reducing interference with respect to neighboring BS 206-2. When beamforming is employed, the strength of the signal is enhanced along the selected beam 202 of the antenna pattern. Although BS 206-2 can detect the signal in beam 202, the amplitude is weak enough to avoid meaningful interference. In contrast, in an omni-directional antenna design, the signals sent between MT 204, BS 206-1, and BS 206-2 would interfere with each other.

[0035] Figure 3 306-2. MT 304 may be used to connect to wireless communication system 30 ...

[0036] Figure 4 4 is a system diagram illustrating an example of beam switching caused by a mobile MT 404 in a wireless communication system 400. The position of the MT 404 relative to the BS 406 changes as the MT 404 moves to the right. Therefore, the appropriate antenna beam needs to adapt to suit the instantaneous position of the MT 404. In the example shown, the MT 404 initially measures the signal strength and selects the antenna beam 402-1 as the optimal beam for connecting to the wireless communication system 400. As the MT 404 moves further to the right, the previously selected antenna beam 402-1 is no longer optimal for connecting to the wireless communication system 400. The MT 404 performs updated measurements to select a new optimal beam, and switches to the antenna beam 402-2, which is oriented differently but connected to the same BS 406, and as the MT 404 continues to move to the right, switches again to the antenna beam 402-3.

[0037] Figure 55 is a flow chart illustrating a process performed by a beam management system ("system") to select an optimal antenna beam based in part on spatial and temporal measurements of an MT. Process 500 may supplement or replace existing beam management processes based on wireless measurements. The system may include a beamformer that considers spatial and temporal measurements and the geographic location of a BS to which the MT is connected. The spatial and temporal measurements and the BS geographic location are processed to calculate an optimal antenna beam for a future time based on the expected movement and geographic location of the MT.

[0038] At 502a, the system collects IMU information output by one or more sensors of the IMU. Examples of one or more sensors include an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or a magnetometer. The IMU information includes spatial or temporal measurements measured by one or more sensors. Examples include measurements indicating current rotation (e.g., direction, orientation), movement (e.g., velocity, acceleration), and / or angular change (e.g., angular rate). IMU information for the horizontal and / or vertical planes may be obtained and fed to the AP.

[0039] At 502b, the system collects GTU information output by one or more sensors of the GTU. Examples of the one or more sensors include a GPS sensor that receives GPS signals transmitted by GPS satellites. The GTU information includes spatial or temporal measurements. Examples include geographic location information of the MT and the current time. The GTU information is fed to the AP.

[0040] At 502c, the system collects geographic location information of one or more BSs. For example, the system can obtain the geographic location of the BS currently serving the MT. The BS geographic location information is stored in a DB that resides locally at the MT or remotely at a server of the BS or cloud network that can be accessed by the MT through a communication network. The MT can cache the BS location information locally to quickly perform beam management when needed. For example, the MT's application can record the geographic location of the connected BS. The BS geographic location information is fed to the AP.

[0041] At 504, the AP calculates a phase compensation value. The phase compensation value may include spatial or temporal characteristics at a selected time in the future predicted for the MT. The selected time is selected based on the time when the prediction is made and the time when the beam switching process can be completed.

[0042] Phase compensation can include measurements indicating two types of movement: rotation and geographic location change of the MT. For the change in rotation, if the MT has rotated x degrees since the last beam switch, and the rotation angular rate is r degrees / second, then the expected rotation after T time units is x+r*T1. Figure 3 As shown, the mobile terminal needs to compensate the rotation as PhaseComp0 = -(x+r*T1).

[0043] For changes in geographic location, the AP calculates the expected geographic location (x1, y1) of the mobile terminal at T1 based on the current geographic location, speed, acceleration and / or moving direction of the MT. The location of the MT at T0, where the last beam switching occurred, is (x0, y0). For example, Figure 6 is a graph showing the calculation of the MT from (x0,y o ) is moved to (x1, y1) at T1. The movement is shown in the azimuth (horizontal) plane; however, the same operation can be performed in the altitude (vertical) plane or any other plane. The geographic location (x1, y1) at T1 relative to the BS b ,y b ) is PhaseComp1=θ1-θ0, where and The AP combines the two types of phase compensation and sends the result to the modem.

[0044] At 506, the modem calculates one or more coefficients for the antenna elements based on the phase compensation values ​​obtained from the AP. The coefficients are calculated to form a beam pointing in the desired direction. In some embodiments, the coefficients are pre-calculated, and instead, the modem selects a set of coefficients that points in a direction closest to the desired direction. A feedback loop from the modem informs the AP of the identifier of the BS that provides network access to the MT. The BS identifier is used to obtain the geographic location of the BS (x b ,y b ). Therefore, the modem is updated with the new coefficients for the antenna elements.

[0045] At 508, the antenna applies the new coefficients to form an antenna beam with a direction relative to the expected rotation and geographic location of the MT. Therefore, the system reduces complexity, reduces power consumption, and avoids service interruption compared to unassisted wireless measurement-based beam switching. The system also improves signal quality by reducing beam switching time and optimizes beam selection by predicting MT movement and quickly switching beams based on the prediction. Beam selection based on predicted values ​​is superior to beam selection based solely on beam measurements, especially in high mobility use cases.

[0046] Figure 7700 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a processing system that can implement at least some of the operations described herein. Processing system 700 represents a system that can run any of the methods / algorithms described herein. For example, any device or component (e.g., unit, module) of the disclosed system can include processing system 700 or be a part of processing system 700. Processing system 700 can include one or more processing devices, which can be coupled to each other via a network or multiple networks. A network can be referred to as a communication network or a telecommunication network.

[0047] In the illustrated embodiment, the processing system 700 includes one or more processors 702, memory 704, communication devices 706, and one or more input / output (I / O) devices 708, all of which are coupled to each other via an interconnect 710. The interconnect 710 can be or include one or more conductive traces, buses, point-to-point connections, controllers, adapters, and / or other conventional connection devices. Each processor 702 can be or include, for example, one or more general-purpose programmable microprocessors or microprocessor cores, microcontrollers, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable gate arrays, etc., or a combination thereof.

[0048] One or more processors 702 control the overall operation of the processing system 700. The memory 704 can be or include one or more physical storage devices, which can be in the form of random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM) (which can be erasable and programmable), flash memory, micro hard drive or other suitable type of storage device, or a combination of such devices. The memory 704 can store data and instructions that configure the one or more processors 702 to perform operations according to the above-mentioned techniques. The communication device 706 can be or include, for example, an Ethernet adapter, a cable modem, a Wi-Fi adapter, a cellular transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, etc. or a combination thereof. Depending on the specific nature and use of the processing system 700, the I / O device 708 can include devices such as a display (which can be a touch screen display), audio speakers, a keyboard, a mouse or other pointing device, a microphone, a camera, etc.

[0049] When processes or blocks are presented in a given order, alternative embodiments may perform routines with steps in a different order or employ systems with blocks in a different order, and some processes or blocks may be deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and / or modified to provide alternatives or sub-combinations, or may be duplicated (e.g., executed multiple times). Each of these processes or blocks may be implemented in a variety of different ways. In addition, while processes or blocks are sometimes shown as being executed in series, these processes or blocks may alternatively be executed in parallel, or may be executed at different times. When a process or step is "based on" a value or calculation, the process or step should be interpreted as being based on at least that value or calculation.

[0050] The software or firmware implementing the technology described herein can be stored on a machine-readable storage medium and can be executed by one or more general or special programmable microprocessors. The term "machine-readable medium" as used herein includes any mechanism that can store information in a machine-accessible form (the machine can be, for example, a computer, a network device, a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a manufacturing tool, any device with one or more processors, etc.). For example, machine-accessible media include recordable / non-recordable media (e.g., read-only memory ROM, random access memory RAM, magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices), etc.

[0051] Note that any and all of the above embodiments may be combined with each other, unless otherwise specified above, or any such embodiments may be mutually exclusive in function and / or structure. Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments, it should be recognized that the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, but can be implemented by modification and variation within the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments. Therefore, the description and drawings should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

[0052] The physical and functional components (e.g., devices, engines, modules, and data repositories) associated with the processing system 700 may be implemented as circuits, firmware, software, other executable instructions, or any combination thereof. For example, the functional components may be implemented in the form of dedicated circuits, in the form of one or more appropriately programmed processors, single-board chips, field programmable gate arrays, general-purpose computing devices configured by executable instructions, virtual machines configured by executable instructions, cloud computing environments configured by executable instructions, or any combination thereof. For example, the functional components described may be implemented as instructions on a tangible storage memory that can be executed by a processor or other integrated circuit chip. The tangible memory may be a computer-readable data memory. The tangible storage memory may be a volatile or non-volatile memory. In some embodiments, the volatile memory may be considered to be "non-transient" in the sense that it is not a transient signal. The storage space and memory described in the figure may also be implemented with a tangible storage memory, including a volatile or non-volatile memory.

[0053] Each functional component can operate individually and independently of other functional components. Some or all functional components can be executed on the same host device or on different devices. Individual devices can be coupled via one or more communication channels (e.g., wireless or wired channels) to coordinate their operations. Some or all functional components can be combined into one component. A single functional component can be divided into subcomponents, each of which performs separate method steps or method steps of a single component.

[0054] In some embodiments, at least some functional components share access to memory space. For example, one functional component can access data accessed or converted by another functional component. If the functional components directly or indirectly share a physical connection or a virtual connection, the functional components can be considered to be "coupled" to each other, thereby allowing data accessed or modified by one functional component to be accessed in another functional component. In some embodiments, at least some functional components can be remotely upgraded or modified (for example, by reconfiguring the executable instructions that implement some functional components). The other arrays, systems, and devices described above may include additional, fewer, or different functional components for various applications.

[0055] Aspects of the disclosed embodiments can be described in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits stored in memory. These algorithmic descriptions and symbolic representations typically include a series of operations leading to a desired result. These operations require physical manipulations of physical quantities. Typically, although not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals that are capable of being stored, transmitted, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. Typically, for convenience, these signals are referred to as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, etc. These signals and similar terms are associated with physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities.

[0056] in conclusion

[0057] Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the specification and claims, the words "include", "comprises", etc. should be interpreted in an inclusive sense, rather than an exclusive or exhaustive sense. That is, it means "including but not limited to". As used herein, the terms "connected", "coupled" or any variant thereof represent any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements; the connection coupling between elements can be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. In addition, when used in this application, the words "herein", "above", "below" and words of similar meanings shall refer to the entirety of this application rather than to any particular part of this application. Where the context permits, the words used in the singular or plural in the above specific embodiments may also include the plural or singular, respectively. The word "or" refers to a group of two or more items, covering all the following interpretations of the word: any item in the list, all items in the list, and any combination of items in the list.

[0058] The specific implementation of the embodiment of the above-mentioned system is not intended to be exhaustive or limit the system to the precise form disclosed above. Although the specific embodiment and example of the system are described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications can be made within the scope of the system. For example, some network elements are described herein as performing certain functions. These functions can be performed by other elements in the same or different networks, which can reduce the number of network elements. Alternatively or additionally, the network elements that perform these functions can be replaced by two or more elements to perform a part of these functions. In addition, although the process, message / data flow or block are presented in a given order, the alternative embodiment can perform a routine with different sequential steps, or adopt a system with blocks with different orders, and some processes or blocks can be deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined and / or modified to provide an alternative or sub-combination. Each of these processes, messages / data flows or blocks can be implemented in various different ways. In addition, although the process or block is sometimes shown as being executed continuously, these processes or blocks can be executed in parallel instead, or can be executed at different times. In addition, any specific numbers indicated herein are only examples: alternative implementations can adopt different values ​​or ranges. The reader will also understand that actual implementations of a database may take a variety of forms, and that the term "database" is used in this document in a general sense to refer to any data structure that allows storage and access to data, such as tables, linked lists, arrays, etc.

[0059] The teachings of the methods and systems provided herein can be applied to other systems, not necessarily the above-mentioned systems. Elements and actions of the various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments. If necessary, various aspects of the present disclosure can be modified to adopt the various systems, functions and concepts cited above to provide further embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0060] According to the above specific embodiments, these and other changes can be made to the present invention. Although the above description describes certain embodiments of the present disclosure and describes the optimal mode contemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in the text, the present invention can be implemented in many ways. The details of the system may be very different in its implementation details, but are still covered by the technology disclosed herein. As mentioned above, the specific terms used when describing certain features or aspects of the disclosed technology should not be understood to imply that the term is redefined herein to be limited to any specific feature, characteristic or aspect of the disclosed technology associated with the term. In general, the terms used in the claims should not be interpreted as limiting the present invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification unless the above specific embodiments section clearly defines these terms. Therefore, the actual scope of the present invention includes not only the disclosed embodiments, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the present invention in the claims.

[0061] Although certain aspects of the disclosed technology are presented in certain claim forms, the inventors contemplate various aspects of the technology in any number of claim forms. For example, although only one aspect of the invention is described as embodied in a computer-readable medium, other aspects may also be embodied in a computer-readable medium. Therefore, the inventors reserve the right to add additional claims after filing an application to pursue such additional claim forms for other aspects of the disclosed technology.

Claims

1. A method performed by a beam management system of a wireless communication network, the method comprising: obtaining spatial and temporal measurements of a mobile terminal connected to a base station of the wireless communication network; Obtaining geographic location information of the base station; determining a phase compensation value for an antenna of the mobile terminal at a future time based on an expected rotation and a geographic location of the mobile terminal, Wherein, the phase compensation value is based on the spatial and temporal measurement results of the mobile terminal and the geographical location information of the base station; Obtaining one or more coefficients of one or more antenna elements of the antenna based on the phase compensation value to select an antenna beam at the future time; and The one or more antenna elements are configured to form the antenna beam in a direction relative to an expected rotational and geographic location of the mobile terminal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Obtaining the spatial and temporal measurement results of the mobile terminal includes: A current rotation and movement measured by an accelerometer, gyroscope, or magnetometer of the mobile terminal is determined.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: Obtaining the spatial and temporal measurement results of the mobile terminal includes: The current geographical location of the mobile terminal is calculated based on the global positioning system GPS signal received by the mobile terminal.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Obtaining the spatial and temporal measurement results of the mobile terminal includes: A current phase of the mobile terminal at a previous time at which a most recent beam switch occurred is determined.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Obtaining the geographical location information of the base station includes: The geographic location information of the base station is retrieved from a database residing at the base station via a communication network.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Obtaining the geographical location information of the base station includes: The geographic location information of the base station is retrieved from a database residing at a server of a cloud infrastructure through a communication network.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Obtaining the geographical location information of the base station includes: The geographic location information of the base station is retrieved from a database residing locally at the mobile terminal.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The phase compensation value compensates for expected changes in rotation and geographic location of the mobile terminal.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein: The expected change in rotation includes both the magnitude and rate of the change.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein: The expected change in geographic location is based on the current geographic location, speed, acceleration and direction of movement of the mobile terminal.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Obtaining the one or more coefficients for the one or more antenna elements comprises: Based on the phase compensation value, the one or more coefficients of the one or more antenna elements based on the phase compensation value are calculated.

12. The method according to claim 2, wherein: Obtaining the one or more coefficients for the one or more antenna elements comprises: The one or more coefficients for the one or more antenna elements are selected from a plurality of pre-computed coefficients based on the phase compensation value.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by an application processor, cause the application processor to: obtaining spatial and temporal measurements of a mobile terminal connected to a base station of a wireless communication network; Obtaining geographic location information of the base station; determining a future antenna phase of the mobile terminal's antenna relative to past antenna phases, Wherein, the future antenna phase is based on the spatial and temporal measurement results of the mobile terminal and the geographic location information of the base station; obtaining a phase compensation value based on a difference between the future antenna phase and the past antenna phase; and The mobile terminal is enabled to configure one or more antenna elements of the antenna according to the phase compensation value to form an antenna beam.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein: Enable the mobile terminal's modem to: calculating one or more coefficients based on the phase compensation value to configure the one or more antenna elements for the antenna beam, The one or more antenna elements are configured based on the one or more coefficients.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein: Enable the mobile terminal's modem to: selecting one or more coefficients to configure the one or more antenna elements for the antenna beam based on the phase compensation value, wherein the one or more coefficients are selected from a plurality of pre-computed coefficients, and The one or more antenna elements are configured based on the one or more coefficients.

16. A beam management system, comprising: Inertial measurement unit IMU, including accelerometer, gyroscope or magnetometer of mobile terminal, Wherein, the mobile terminal is connected to a base station of a wireless communication system; a geographic location and time unit, GTU, comprising a global positioning system, GPS, sensor configured to receive signals transmitted by a navigation satellite; A database configured to store geographical location information of the base station; application processor; and a memory containing instructions that, when executed by the application processor, cause the system to: determining a phase compensation value of the mobile terminal based on the geographical location information of the base station and the spatial and temporal information of the mobile terminal, wherein the spatial and temporal information is based on outputs of the IMU and the GTU; and The antenna of the mobile terminal is caused to form an antenna beam according to the phase compensation value.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein: The database resides at the base station and also causes the application processor to: The geographic location information of the base station is retrieved via the wireless communication system.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein: The database resides at a local memory of the mobile terminal and further causes the application processor to: The geographic location information of a base station is retrieved from the local memory.

19. The system of claim 16, further comprising: a modem configured to calculate one or more coefficients for one or more antenna elements of the antenna, The one or more coefficients are calculated based on the phase compensation value.

20. The system of claim 16, further comprising: a modem configured to select one or more coefficients of one or more antenna elements of the antenna, The one or more coefficients are selected from a plurality of pre-computed coefficients for a plurality of antenna beams based on the phase compensation value.

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