Analog beam determination method for downlink transmission and active antenna unit (AAU)

Abstract

The application discloses a method for determining analog beams for downlink transmission and an active antenna unit (AAU). The method is implemented by the AAU, adopts an antenna unit connected with multiple receiving channels, receives an uplink signal sent by a terminal device to obtain an uplink channel estimation of the terminal device, that is, an uplink channel estimation of the terminal device determined by using simple beam measurement results, and then determines angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU according to the uplink channel estimation, and then compares the angle information with the containing relationship of multiple first analog beams to obtain a second analog beam used by the terminal device. The determination process is simple, and no time-frequency domain resource specially configured for analog beam management is needed, so that resource consumption in traditional analog beam management is effectively saved, and the complexity is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and specifically to an analog beamforming method and an active antenna unit (AAU) for downlink transmission. Background Technology

[0002] Existing symmetrical transceiver architecture active antenna units (AAUs) have the same number of RF channels for both transmission and reception. Determining the analog beam for downlink transmission for beam management is a cumbersome process that consumes a lot of time and frequency resources. Therefore, how to determine the analog beam for downlink transmission while reducing resource overhead and complexity is a technical problem that urgently needs to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This application provides an analog beamforming method and an active antenna unit (AAU) for downlink transmission.

[0004] According to one aspect of this application, an analog beamforming method for downlink transmission is provided, executed by an active antenna unit (AAU). The AAU includes multiple antenna elements, multiple receiving channels connected one-to-one with each of the multiple antenna elements, and at least one transmitting channel, each of the transmitting channels being connected to at least two antenna elements among the multiple antenna elements. The method includes:

[0005] The antenna unit, which is connected by the multiple receiving channels, receives the uplink signal sent by the terminal device to obtain the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device.

[0006] Based on the uplink channel estimation, the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU is determined;

[0007] Based on the angle information, a second analog beam is determined from among a plurality of first analog beams for the antenna unit connected to the at least one transmission channel to perform downlink transmission of the terminal device.

[0008] According to another aspect of this application, an active antenna unit (AAU) is provided, the AAU comprising a plurality of antenna elements, a plurality of receiving channels connected one-to-one with the plurality of antenna elements, and at least one transmitting channel, each of the transmitting channels being connected to at least two of the plurality of antenna elements; and including a memory and a processor.

[0009] A memory for storing computer programs; a processor for reading the computer programs from the memory and performing the following operations:

[0010] The antenna unit, which is connected by the multiple receiving channels, receives the uplink signal sent by the terminal device to obtain the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device.

[0011] Based on the uplink channel estimation, the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU is determined;

[0012] Based on the angle information, a second analog beam is determined from among a plurality of first analog beams for the antenna unit connected to the at least one transmission channel to perform downlink transmission of the terminal device.

[0013] According to another aspect of this application, an analog beamforming device for downlink transmission is provided, applied to an active antenna unit (AAU). The AAU includes multiple antenna elements, multiple receiving channels connected one-to-one with the multiple antenna elements, and at least one transmitting channel, each of the transmitting channels being connected to at least two antenna elements among the multiple antenna elements; the device includes:

[0014] The receiving module is used to receive uplink signals sent by the terminal device through an antenna unit connected by the multiple receiving channels, so as to obtain the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device.

[0015] The determining module is configured to determine the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU based on the uplink channel estimation; and, based on the angle information, determine the second analog beam used by the antenna unit connected to the at least one transmit channel for downlink transmission of the terminal device from a plurality of first analog beams.

[0016] According to another aspect of this application, a processor-readable storage medium is provided, the processor-readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing the processor to perform the method described in the foregoing aspect.

[0017] The analog beam determination method for downlink transmission in this application is executed by an active antenna unit (AAU). The AAU includes multiple antenna elements, multiple receiving channels connected one-to-one with the multiple antenna elements, and at least one transmitting channel. Each transmitting channel is connected to at least two antenna elements among the multiple antenna elements. The antenna elements connected to the multiple receiving channels receive uplink signals transmitted by the terminal device to obtain an uplink channel estimate for the terminal device. Based on the uplink channel estimate, the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU is determined. Based on the angle information, the second analog beam used by the terminal device for downlink transmission is determined from multiple first analog beams and connected to the antenna element connected to the at least one transmitting channel. In this application, the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device is determined using simple beam measurement results, the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU is determined, and then the angle information is compared with the inclusion relationship of multiple first analog beams to obtain the second analog beam used by the terminal device. The determination process is simple and does not require the configuration of time-frequency domain resources specifically for analog beam management, effectively saving the resource overhead in traditional analog beam management and reducing complexity.

[0018] It should be understood that the description in this section is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of this application, nor is it intended to limit the scope of this application. Other features of this application will become readily apparent from the following description. Attached Figure Description

[0019] The accompanying drawings are provided for a better understanding of this solution and do not constitute a limitation of this application. Wherein:

[0020] Figure 1 A flowchart illustrating an analog beam determination method for downlink transmission provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0021] Figure 2 This is one of the structural schematic diagrams of an AAU unit provided in this application;

[0022] Figure 3 A flowchart illustrating another analog beam determination method for downlink transmission provided in this application;

[0023] Figure 4 This application provides a second structural schematic diagram of an AAU unit.

[0024] Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating another analog beam determination method for downlink transmission provided in this application;

[0025] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an active antenna unit (AAU) provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0026] Figure 7This is a schematic diagram of a simulated beamforming device for downlink transmission provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0027] In this embodiment of the invention, the term "and / or" describes the relationship between associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A existing alone, A and B existing simultaneously, or B existing alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following associated objects have an "or" relationship.

[0028] In the embodiments of this application, the term "multiple" refers to two or more, and other quantifiers are similar.

[0029] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this application, and not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0030] This application provides an analog beamforming method and an active antenna unit (AAU) for downlink transmission.

[0031] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various systems, especially 5G systems. For example, applicable systems include Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), and 5G New Radio (NR). All of these systems include terminal equipment and network equipment. The systems may also include a core network component, such as Evolved Packet System (EPS) and 5G system (5GS).

[0032] The method and apparatus are based on the same concept of the application. Since the methods and apparatus solve problems in similar ways, the implementation of the apparatus and methods can refer to each other, and the repeated parts will not be described again.

[0033] Figure 1 This is a flowchart illustrating an analog beam determination method for downlink transmission provided in an embodiment of this application, as shown below. Figure 1 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0034] Step 101: Using an antenna unit connected by multiple receiving channels, the uplink signal sent by the terminal device is received to obtain the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device.

[0035] The execution entity of this application embodiment is an active antenna unit (AAU). The AAU includes multiple antenna units, multiple receiving channels connected to the multiple antenna units one-to-one, and at least one transmitting channel. Each transmitting channel is connected to at least two antenna units among the multiple antenna units.

[0036] In the 5G New Radio (NR) Sub-6GHz band, a fully digital beamforming RF transceiver architecture is typically used. The AAU unit is a symmetrical transceiver architecture, with each antenna unit corresponding to a digital transceiver channel. In this system architecture, the transceiver beam is fully digitally beamformed during baseband signal processing, based on the transceiver channels. However, this type of base station system is costly, requiring significant upfront investment and high energy consumption as the number of antennas increases. Analog beam management, whether based on Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS) for downlink beam management, or SRS for uplink beam management, requires considerable time-frequency resources. Furthermore, different channels have strong binding relationships on different analog beams; for example, uplink feedback information needs to be bound to the same analog beam with its corresponding reference signal. This results in the uplink analog beam being limited by the corresponding downlink channel analog beam. To address the resource consumption and reduce complexity in existing analog beam management, the AAU unit in this application uses an asymmetric transceiver architecture, meaning that the number of receive channels and transmit channels in the AAU unit is different. As an example, Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of an AAU unit provided in this application is shown below. Figure 2 As shown, each antenna element has a corresponding connected receiving channel, and two antenna elements share one transmitting channel, meaning the number of receiving channels is greater than the number of transmitting channels. The transmitting and receiving channels are the radio frequency links used for transmitting and receiving data, respectively.

[0037] exist Figure 2In the asymmetric architecture shown, analog beam determination and management only exist in transmit mode. In receive mode, since each antenna element is connected to a receive channel and each antenna element has a beam covering the entire cell, analog beamforming is unnecessary. Instead, all-digital beamforming based on uplink receive mode is used to obtain the analog beam where the terminal device resides. The acquisition and management of this analog beam does not consume valuable time-frequency resources. Therefore, this application reduces resource overhead when determining the analog beam used for downlink transmission. Specifically, in receive mode, the control switch is switched to the RF link corresponding to the digital receive channel to receive the uplink signal sent by the terminal device through multiple receive channels connected by multiple antenna elements. From the received system information, an uplink channel estimate containing complete spatial information of the cell is obtained to obtain the uplink channel estimation matrix. This achieves the goal of obtaining the uplink channel estimate obtained by multiple analog beam switching measurements in a single uplink measurement based on all-digital uplink reception, improving efficiency and reducing the consumption of time-frequency domain resources.

[0038] In one implementation of this application, the uplink signal is an uplink sounding reference signal (SRS). Multiple antennas connected by receiving channels are used to receive the SRS transmitted by the terminal device to obtain an uplink channel estimate for the terminal device. Specifically, the SRS provides a reference for base station resource scheduling. The base station typically allocates a portion of the system bandwidth to a specific terminal device. Before allocation, the base station determines which specific frequency region has better quality based on the received SRS signal transmitted by the terminal device; that is, it estimates the uplink channel of the terminal device.

[0039] Step 102: Determine the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU based on the uplink channel estimation.

[0040] The terminal devices involved in the embodiments of this application can be devices that provide voice and / or data connectivity to users, handheld devices with wireless connectivity, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. The names of the terminal devices may differ in different systems; for example, in a 5G system, a terminal device can be called User Equipment (UE). Wireless terminal devices can communicate with one or more core networks (CNs) via a Radio Access Network (RAN). Wireless terminal devices can be mobile terminal devices, such as mobile phones (or "cellular" phones) and computers with mobile terminal devices, for example, portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-embedded, or vehicle-mounted mobile devices that exchange voice and / or data with the RAN. Examples include Personal Communication Service (PCS) phones, cordless phones, Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Wireless terminal equipment can also be referred to as a system, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, access point, remote terminal, access terminal, user terminal, user agent, or user device, but is not limited to these terms in the embodiments of this application.

[0041] In one implementation of this application, for any one of the multiple receiving channels, an uplink channel estimate determined based on the received uplink signal is obtained. Based on the uplink channel estimates of each receiving channel, the angle information measured by each receiving channel is determined. Based on the angle information measured by each receiving channel, the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU is determined.

[0042] Step 103: Based on the angle information, determine from multiple first analog beams the second analog beam used by the antenna unit connected to at least one transmission channel for downlink transmission of the terminal device.

[0043] Among them, multiple first analog beams are omnidirectional analog beams.

[0044] In one implementation of this application, based on the dimensions to which multiple first simulated beams belong, angle values ​​of those dimensions are extracted from angle information. The dimensions are either vertical or horizontal. The angle values ​​are compared with the coverage areas of each first simulated beam. The first simulated beam whose coverage includes the angle value is selected as the second simulated beam. This determines the second simulated beam on which the terminal device resides, i.e., it determines the second simulated beam that can be used for downlink transmission of the terminal device. This achieves system-level simulated beam scheduling and management, reducing complexity and resource consumption. Consequently, when transmitting downlink data to the terminal device subsequently, the corresponding second simulated beam is used for transmission, resulting in higher beamforming gain.

[0045] The analog beam determination method for downlink transmission in this application is executed by an active antenna unit (AAU). It uses an antenna unit with multiple receiving channels connected to receive uplink signals sent by a terminal device to obtain an uplink channel estimate for the terminal device. That is, the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device is determined using simple beam measurement results. Then, based on the uplink channel estimate, the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU is determined. Then, the angle information is compared with the inclusion relationship of multiple first analog beams to obtain the second analog beam used by the terminal device. The determination process is simple and does not require the configuration of time-frequency domain resources specifically for analog beam management, effectively saving the resource overhead in traditional analog beam management and reducing complexity.

[0046] Based on the previous embodiment, Figure 3 A flowchart illustrating another analog beam determination method for downlink transmission provided in this application is shown below. Figure 3 As shown, step 103 includes the following steps:

[0047] Step 301: Extract the angle value of the dimension from the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU based on the dimension to which the multiple first analog beams belong.

[0048] The dimension can be either a vertical dimension or a horizontal dimension.

[0049] The angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU includes the angle values ​​of the vertical dimension and the horizontal dimension of the terminal device relative to the AAU.

[0050] Therefore, in one implementation of this application embodiment, the dimension is the vertical dimension. Based on the vertical dimension to which the multiple first analog beams belong, the angle value of the vertical dimension is extracted from the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU.

[0051] In another implementation of this application, the dimension is the horizontal dimension. Based on the horizontal dimension to which the multiple first analog beams belong, the angle value of the horizontal dimension is extracted from the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU.

[0052] Step 302: Determine the number N of the multiple first analog beams based on the number M of antenna elements included in the AAU.

[0053] In performing simulated beam management, it is necessary to determine the number of simulated beams and the coverage area corresponding to each simulated beam.

[0054] In this embodiment, multiple simulated beams are composed of multiple antenna elements. The number of antenna elements in the AAU is M. The designated coverage area of ​​the AAU in the corresponding dimension is divided into M parts, each part being the beamwidth of a single simulated beam. That is, to achieve complete coverage within the designated coverage area, at least M first simulated beams are required. However, in practical scenarios, if the beamwidth is reduced to densify the simulated beams and reduce gain loss at simulated beam intersections, even more simulated beams are needed, i.e., N first simulated beams, where N is a natural number greater than or equal to M. This achieves the design of multiple sets of simulated beams based on system requirements, balancing the complexity of simulated beam management with beam gain.

[0055] Step 303: Divide the dimensional setting coverage into N angular sub-ranges.

[0056] As an example, with Figure 4 Taking an asymmetric architecture AAU with 32 transmit / 64 receive links as an example, it contains 64 antenna elements. The beam coverage range of each antenna element, i.e., the angular coverage range of the cell, characterizes the coverage capability of the AAU. Figure 4 As shown, this AAU is designed with only one transmit channel in the vertical dimension, connecting to N (N=2 in this example) antenna elements. The horizontal dimension uses fully digital beamforming; only the number of analog beams and the coverage area of ​​each analog beam need to be determined in the vertical dimension. For example, the angular coverage area of ​​the AAU in the vertical dimension is [Θ]. A ,Θ B To achieve complete vertical angular coverage using N simulated beams, the beamwidth needs to be determined based on the vertical angular coverage range. The beamwidth is... The N angle sub-ranges are determined based on the beamwidth.

[0057] Step 304: Determine the coverage range of the N first simulated beams based on the N angle sub-ranges.

[0058] Each angle sub-range corresponds to the coverage area of ​​a first simulated beam.

[0059] The coverage areas of the first to Nth simulated beams are shown in Table 1 below:

[0060] 1 <![CDATA[[Θ A ,I A +DTH]]> 2 <![CDATA[[Θ A +DTH,TH A +2DTH]]> 3 <![CDATA[[Θ A +2DTH,TH A +3DTH]]> ······ ······ N <![CDATA[[Θ B -DTH,TH B ]]>

[0061] Step 305: Compare the angle value of the dimension with the coverage range of each first simulated beam, and use the first simulated beam whose coverage range includes the angle value as the second simulated beam.

[0062] In this embodiment, the coverage range of each first simulated beam is an angular range. By comparing the angular value of the dimension with the coverage range of each first simulated beam, the first simulated beam whose coverage range includes the angular value can be determined. Thus, the first simulated beam whose coverage range includes the angular value is used as the second simulated beam. This method realizes the accurate determination of the second simulated beam by comparing the angular value of the dimension with the coverage range of multiple first simulated beams in the omnidirectional range. The determination method is simple and convenient.

[0063] Based on the previous embodiment, Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating another analog beam determination method for downlink transmission provided in this application is shown below. Figure 5 As shown, step 102 includes the following steps:

[0064] Step 501: For any one of the multiple receiving channels, obtain the uplink channel estimate determined based on the received uplink signal.

[0065] In this embodiment of the application, for each of the multiple receiving channels, the uplink channel estimate determined by each receiving channel based on the received uplink signal is obtained, that is, the uplink channel estimate of each receiving channel is obtained.

[0066] Step 502: Determine the angle information measured by each receiving channel based on the uplink channel estimation of each receiving channel.

[0067] The uplink channel estimation is a matrix for estimating uplink signals, which contains horizontal data, vertical data, and dual-polarization data.

[0068] In one implementation of this application, for any receiving channel, a horizontal dimension correlation matrix Rh is determined based on the product of the uplink signal estimation matrix and its conjugate transpose. A vertical dimension correlation matrix Rv is determined based on the product of the conjugate transpose of the uplink signal estimation matrix and the uplink signal estimation matrix. The horizontal dimension angle value is determined based on the horizontal dimension correlation matrix Rh, and the vertical dimension angle value is determined based on the vertical dimension correlation matrix Rv. Then, the horizontal dimension angle value and the vertical dimension angle value are used as the angle information of the corresponding receiving channel.

[0069] Specifically, the horizontal dimension angle value is determined based on the horizontal dimension correlation matrix Rh. As one implementation method, the horizontal dimension array flow vector V is determined based on the set coverage area of ​​the horizontal dimension and the horizontal antenna element spacing between multiple antenna elements. h According to the array flow vector V h The conjugate transpose matrix, the horizontal correlation matrix Rh, and the array flow vector V h The first product matrix between the two is used as the angle value of the horizontal dimension, with the maximum value of the diagonal elements in the first product matrix as the angle value.

[0070] One implementation method involves determining the angle values ​​of the vertical dimension based on the vertical dimension correlation matrix Rv.

[0071] Based on the defined coverage area in the vertical dimension and the vertical antenna element spacing between multiple antenna elements, the array flow vector V in the vertical dimension is determined. v According to the array flow vector V v The conjugate transpose matrix, the vertical dimension correlation matrix Rv, and the array flow vector V v The second product matrix between the two is used as the angle value of the vertical dimension, with the maximum value of the diagonal elements in the second product matrix as the angle value of the vertical dimension.

[0072] As an example, based on Figure 4 For any receiving channel, we will take H(8,4,2) as an example, which is the matrix estimated by its uplink signal. The matrix H(8,4,2) contains 8 data points horizontally, 4 data points vertically, and two sets of data points with dual polarization.

[0073] The method for calculating the angle value of the horizontal dimension is as follows:

[0074] First, calculate the horizontal dimension correlation matrix R. h The matrix has a dimension of 8*8:

[0075] R h =H(x,y,z1)*H(x,y,z1) H +H(x,y,z2)*H(x,y,z2) H

[0076] In this context, the superscript H denotes the conjugate transpose of the matrix, where x represents the 8 horizontal data points, y represents the 4 vertical data points, and z1 and z2 represent the two sets of data points in bipolar form.

[0077] Secondly, based on the defined coverage area in the horizontal dimension and the horizontal antenna element spacing between multiple antenna elements, the array flow vector V in the horizontal dimension is determined. h The matrix has a dimension of 8*K, meaning it has 8 rows, and each row starting from the second row has K elements:

[0078]

[0079] in,

[0080] in, K is the horizontal dimension of the antenna element that defines the coverage area. The number of elements, d h The horizontal spacing between multiple antenna elements is λ, where λ is the wavelength. This refers to the pointing angle of the beam in the horizontal direction.

[0081] Furthermore, based on the array flow vector V h The conjugate transpose matrix, the horizontal correlation matrix Rh, and the array flow vector V h The first product matrix between the two is used as the angle value (AOD) for the horizontal dimension, with the maximum value of the diagonal elements in the first product matrix being taken as the angle value.

[0082] AOD = max(diag(V) h H *R h *V h ))

[0083] Where max represents finding the angle corresponding to the maximum value, and diag represents taking the diagonal of the matrix.

[0084] Similarly, the angle value EOD in the vertical dimension can be obtained:

[0085] EOD = max(diag(V) v H *R v *V v ))

[0086] in,

[0087]

[0088]

[0089] R v =H(x,y,z1) H *H(x,y,z1)+H(x,y,z2) H *H(x,y,z2);

[0090] Among them, R v V is the correlation matrix in the vertical dimension; v d is the array flow vector in the vertical dimension; θ is the pointing angle of the beam in the vertical direction; d v The vertical spacing between multiple antenna elements, [θ A ,θ B[This defines the coverage area for the vertical dimension of the antenna element.]

[0091] Furthermore, the horizontal angle value AOD and the vertical angle value EOD are used as the angle information for the corresponding receiving channel.

[0092] Step 503: Determine the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU based on the angle information measured by each receiving channel.

[0093] In this embodiment of the application, the average value of the angle information measured by each receiving channel is taken as the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU. As one implementation method, the average value of the horizontal dimension angle value in the angle information measured by multiple receiving channels is taken to obtain the average value of the horizontal dimension angle value, and the average value of the vertical dimension angle value is taken to obtain the average value of the vertical dimension angle value. The average values ​​of the horizontal dimension angle value and the average value of the vertical dimension angle value are taken as the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU.

[0094] The analog beamforming method for downlink transmission in this application embodiment obtains an uplink channel estimate based on the received uplink signal for any one of multiple receiving channels. Based on the uplink channel estimates of each receiving channel, the angle information measured by each receiving channel is determined. Based on the angle information measured by each receiving channel, the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU is determined. This method utilizes the characteristic that the uplink unit antenna in an asymmetric structure can completely cover the entire cell. Based on the existing uplink signal, the uplink channel estimate of each receiving channel is determined, so that all spatial location information of the entire cell can be obtained in one measurement. Furthermore, based on all-digital receiving beamforming, uplink signal detection and angle estimation can be performed to determine the spatial location information of the terminal device. Compared with the traditional method that requires multiple measurements, configuration of time-frequency domain resources specifically for analog beam management, and interaction between the terminal device and the base station to obtain the location information of the terminal device, this method is simpler, more efficient, and reduces resource overhead.

[0095] Based on the above embodiments, this application provides an active antenna unit (AAU). Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an active antenna unit (AAU) provided in an embodiment of this application, as shown below. Figure 6 As shown, the AAU includes multiple antenna elements 65, multiple receiving channels 64 connected one-to-one with the multiple antenna elements 65, and at least one transmitting channel 63, each transmitting channel 63 being connected to at least two of the multiple antenna elements 65; and includes a memory 61 and a processor 62.

[0096] It should be noted that, Figure 6Only a portion of the antenna elements, transmitting channels, and receiving channels are shown in the illustration. The example shown is that each transmitting channel connects to two antenna elements 65. In actual scenarios, the number of antenna elements connected to each transmitting channel is not limited in this embodiment.

[0097] Among them, memory 61 is used to store computer programs;

[0098] Processor 62 is configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations:

[0099] The antenna unit, which is connected by the multiple receiving channels, receives the uplink signal sent by the terminal device to obtain the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device.

[0100] Based on the uplink channel estimation, the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU is determined;

[0101] Based on the angle information, a second analog beam is determined from among a plurality of first analog beams for the antenna unit connected to the at least one transmission channel to perform downlink transmission of the terminal device.

[0102] In one implementation of this application, determining the second analog beam used by the transmission channel to transmit downlink data to the terminal device through the antenna from a plurality of first analog beams based on the angle information includes:

[0103] Based on the dimensions to which the plurality of first simulated beams belong, the angle value of the dimension is extracted from the angle information; wherein, the dimension is a vertical dimension or a horizontal dimension;

[0104] The angle value is compared with the coverage area of ​​each of the first simulated beams, and the first simulated beam whose coverage area includes the angle value is selected as the second simulated beam.

[0105] In one implementation of this application, the method further includes:

[0106] The number N of the plurality of first analog beams is determined based on the number M of antenna elements included in the AAU;

[0107] The defined coverage area of ​​the dimension is divided into N angular sub-ranges;

[0108] Based on the N angle sub-ranges, the coverage range of the N first simulated beams is determined.

[0109] In one implementation of this application, determining the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU based on the uplink channel estimation includes:

[0110] For any one of the plurality of receiving channels, obtain the uplink channel estimate determined based on the received uplink signal;

[0111] Based on the uplink channel estimation of each of the receiving channels, the angle information measured by each of the receiving channels is determined;

[0112] Based on the angle information measured by each of the receiving channels, the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU is determined.

[0113] In one implementation of this application, the step of using the antenna connected by the plurality of receiving channels to receive the uplink signal sent by the terminal device to obtain the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device includes:

[0114] The uplink detection reference signal (SRS) sent by the terminal device is received by the antenna connected by the multiple receiving channels to obtain the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device.

[0115] It should be noted that the active antenna unit AAU provided in this embodiment of the invention can implement all the method steps implemented in the above method embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect. Here, the parts that are the same as those in the method embodiment and the beneficial effects will not be described in detail.

[0116] Based on the above embodiments, this application provides an analog beamforming device for downlink transmission, applied to an active antenna unit (AAU). The AAU includes multiple antenna units, multiple receiving channels connected to the multiple antenna units one-to-one, and at least one transmitting channel. Each transmitting channel is connected to at least two antenna units among the multiple antenna units.

[0117] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of an analog beamforming device for downlink transmission provided in an embodiment of this application is shown below. Figure 7 As shown, the device includes:

[0118] The receiving module 71 is used to receive uplink signals sent by the terminal device through an antenna unit connected by the plurality of receiving channels, so as to obtain the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device.

[0119] The determining module 72 is used to determine the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU based on the uplink channel estimation; and to determine the second analog beam used by the antenna unit connected to the at least one transmission channel for downlink transmission of the terminal device from a plurality of first analog beams based on the angle information.

[0120] Furthermore, in one implementation of this application embodiment, the determining module 72 is specifically used for:

[0121] Based on the dimensions to which the plurality of first simulated beams belong, the angle value of the dimension is extracted from the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU; wherein, the dimension is a vertical dimension or a horizontal dimension;

[0122] The angle value is compared with the coverage area of ​​each of the first simulated beams, and the first simulated beam whose coverage area includes the angle value is selected as the second simulated beam.

[0123] In one implementation of this application embodiment, the determining module 72 is further configured to:

[0124] The number N of the plurality of first analog beams is determined based on the number M of antenna elements included in the AAU;

[0125] The defined coverage area of ​​the dimension is divided into N angular sub-ranges;

[0126] Based on the N angle sub-ranges, the coverage range of the N first simulated beams is determined.

[0127] In one implementation of this application embodiment, the determining module 72 is further configured to:

[0128] For any one of the plurality of receiving channels, obtain the uplink channel estimate determined based on the received uplink signal;

[0129] Based on the uplink channel estimation of each of the receiving channels, the angle information measured by each of the receiving channels is determined;

[0130] Based on the angle information measured by each of the receiving channels, the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU is determined.

[0131] In one implementation of this application embodiment, the receiving module 71 is further configured to:

[0132] The method of using the antenna connected by the multiple receiving channels to receive the uplink signal sent by the terminal device to obtain the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device includes:

[0133] The uplink detection reference signal (SRS) sent by the terminal device is received by the antenna connected by the multiple receiving channels to obtain the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device.

[0134] It should be noted that the apparatus provided in this embodiment of the invention can implement all the method steps implemented in the above method embodiment and can achieve the same technical effect. Therefore, the parts and beneficial effects that are the same as those in the method embodiment will not be described in detail here.

[0135] It should be noted that the module division in the embodiments of this application is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. Furthermore, the functional modules in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing module, or each module can exist physically separately, or two or more modules can be integrated into one module. The integrated modules described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional modules.

[0136] If the integrated module is implemented as a software functional module and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a processor-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) or processor to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0137] To implement the above embodiments, this application provides a processor-readable storage medium storing a computer program for causing the processor to perform the method described in the foregoing aspect.

[0138] To implement the above embodiments, this application provides a computer program product, including a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the method described in the above embodiments.

[0139] The processor-readable storage medium can be any available medium or data storage device that the processor can access, including but not limited to magnetic memory (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, magneto-optical disk (MO)), optical memory (e.g., CD, DVD, BD, HVD), and semiconductor memory (e.g., ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, non-volatile memory (NAND FLASH), solid-state drive (SSD)).

[0140] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this application can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, this application can take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage and optical storage) containing computer-usable program code.

[0141] This application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of this application. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer-executable instructions. These computer-executable instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, generate instructions for implementing the flowchart... Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in one or more boxes.

[0142] These processor-executable instructions may also be stored in a processor-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the processor-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means, which are implemented in a process Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The function specified in one or more boxes.

[0143] These processors can execute instructions that can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device, causing a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby providing instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable device for implementing the process. Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The steps of the function specified in one or more boxes.

[0144] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this application without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. Therefore, if such modifications and variations fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application also intends to include such modifications and variations.

[0145] It should be understood that the various forms of processes shown above can be used to rearrange, add, or delete steps. For example, the steps described in this application can be executed in parallel, sequentially, or in different orders, as long as the desired result of the technical solution disclosed in this application can be achieved, and this is not limited herein.

[0146] The specific embodiments described above do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of this application. Those skilled in the art should understand that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations, and substitutions can be made according to design requirements and other factors. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made within the spirit and principles of this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. A method for determining analog beamform for downlink transmission, characterized in that, The method is executed by an active antenna unit (AAU), wherein the AAU includes multiple antenna elements, multiple receiving channels connected to each of the multiple antenna elements in a one-to-one correspondence, and at least one transmitting channel, each of the transmitting channels being connected to at least two of the multiple antenna elements; the method includes: The antenna unit, which is connected by the multiple receiving channels, receives the uplink signal sent by the terminal device to obtain the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device. Based on the uplink channel estimation, the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU is determined; Based on the dimensions to which multiple first simulated beams belong, the angle value of the dimension is extracted from the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU; wherein, the dimension is a vertical dimension or a horizontal dimension; The number N of the plurality of first analog beams is determined based on the number M of antenna elements included in the AAU; The defined coverage area of ​​the dimension is divided into N angular sub-ranges; Based on the N angle sub-ranges, determine the coverage range of the N first simulated beams; The angle value is compared with the coverage area of ​​each of the first analog beams, and the first analog beam whose coverage area includes the angle value is used as the second analog beam for downlink transmission of the terminal device by the antenna unit connected to the at least one transmission channel.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Determining the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU based on the uplink channel estimation includes: For any one of the plurality of receiving channels, obtain the uplink channel estimate determined based on the received uplink signal; Based on the uplink channel estimation of each of the receiving channels, the angle information measured by each of the receiving channels is determined; Based on the angle information measured by each of the receiving channels, the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU is determined.

3. The method according to any one of claims 1-2, characterized in that, The method of using the antenna connected by the multiple receiving channels to receive the uplink signal sent by the terminal device to obtain the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device includes: The uplink detection reference signal (SRS) sent by the terminal device is received by the antenna connected by the multiple receiving channels to obtain the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device.

4. An active antenna unit (AAU), characterized in that, The AAU includes multiple antenna elements, multiple receiving channels connected to each of the multiple antenna elements in a one-to-one correspondence, and at least one transmitting channel, each of the transmitting channels being connected to at least two of the multiple antenna elements; and includes a memory and a processor. Memory, used to store computer programs; Processor, configured to read the computer program in the memory and perform the following operations: The antenna unit, which is connected by the multiple receiving channels, receives the uplink signal sent by the terminal device to obtain the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device. Based on the uplink channel estimation, the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU is determined; Based on the dimensions to which multiple first simulated beams belong, the angle value of the dimension is extracted from the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU; wherein, the dimension is a vertical dimension or a horizontal dimension; The number N of the plurality of first analog beams is determined based on the number M of antenna elements included in the AAU; The defined coverage area of ​​the dimension is divided into N angular sub-ranges; Based on the N angle sub-ranges, determine the coverage range of the N first simulated beams; The angle value is compared with the coverage area of ​​each of the first analog beams, and the first analog beam whose coverage area includes the angle value is used as the second analog beam for downlink transmission of the terminal device by the antenna unit connected to the at least one transmission channel.

5. The AAU according to claim 4, characterized in that, Determining the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU based on the uplink channel estimation includes: For any one of the plurality of receiving channels, obtain the uplink channel estimate determined based on the received uplink signal; Based on the uplink channel estimation of each of the receiving channels, the angle information measured by each of the receiving channels is determined; Based on the angle information measured by each of the receiving channels, the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU is determined.

6. The AAU according to any one of claims 4-5, characterized in that, The method of using the antenna connected by the multiple receiving channels to receive the uplink signal sent by the terminal device to obtain the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device includes: The uplink detection reference signal (SRS) sent by the terminal device is received by the antenna connected by the multiple receiving channels to obtain the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device.

7. An analog beamforming device for downlink transmission, characterized in that, An active antenna unit (AAU) is applied, wherein the AAU includes multiple antenna elements, multiple receiving channels connected one-to-one with the multiple antenna elements, and at least one transmitting channel, each of the transmitting channels being connected to at least two antenna elements; the device includes: The receiving module is used to receive uplink signals sent by the terminal device through an antenna unit connected by the multiple receiving channels, so as to obtain the uplink channel estimate of the terminal device. The determining module is configured to: determine the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU based on the uplink channel estimation; extract the angle value of the dimension relative to the AAU from the angle information of the terminal device relative to the AAU based on the dimension to which the plurality of first simulated beams belong; wherein the dimension is a vertical dimension or a horizontal dimension; determine the number N of the plurality of first simulated beams based on the number M of antenna elements included in the AAU; divide the set coverage area of ​​the dimension into N angle sub-ranges; determine the coverage area of ​​N first simulated beams based on the N angle sub-ranges; compare the angle value with the coverage area of ​​each first simulated beam, and use the first simulated beam whose coverage area includes the angle value as the second simulated beam used by the terminal device for downlink transmission of the antenna element connected to the at least one transmission channel.

8. A processor-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The processor-readable storage medium stores a computer program that causes the processor to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-3.

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