Transmit and receive antenna array configuration for radio frequency beamforming
Through RF beamforming technology, the use of cylindrical lenses and interwoven antenna arrays solves the problem of performance degradation in high-frequency wireless communications, achieving efficient communication and reducing complexity and power consumption.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202380037514.1
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2022-05-06
- Filing Date
- 2023-04-04
- Publication Date
- 2024-12-13
AI Technical Summary
In high-frequency wireless communications, the prior art requires adding antenna elements to improve performance due to path losses caused by shorter wavelengths, but this increases hardware and software complexity, power consumption, and cost.
Using radio frequency (RF) beamforming technology, using cylindrical lenses and interleaved transmitting and receiving antenna arrays, improve channel reciprocity and reduce antenna elements through aligned or interleaved array element configurations, reducing complexity and power consumption. .
Efficient wireless communication at high frequencies reduces the number of antenna elements, reduces complexity and power consumption, while improving channel reciprocity and directional gain.
Smart Images

Figure CN119137806A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to wireless communications. For example, aspects of the present disclosure relate to transmit and receive antenna array configurations for radio frequency (RF) beamforming. Background Art
[0002] Wireless communication systems are deployed to provide a variety of telecommunication and data services including telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasts. Broadband wireless communication systems have evolved over several generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including transitional 2.5G networks), third generation (3G) high-speed data wireless devices with Internet capabilities, and fourth generation (4G) services (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE), WiMax). Examples of wireless communication systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, global system for mobile communications (GSM) systems, and the like. Other wireless communication technologies include 802.11 Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and the like.
[0003] The fifth generation (5G) mobile standard calls for higher data transfer speeds, a greater number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard (also known as "New Radio" or "NR") is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, and 1 gigabit per second to dozens of employees on an office floor. To support large sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported. Therefore, the spectrum efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly improved compared to the current 4G / LTE standards. In addition, signaling efficiency should be improved and latency should be significantly reduced compared to current standards. Summary of the invention
[0004] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention related to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Thus, the following summary of the invention should neither be considered as an exhaustive overview related to all conceived aspects, nor should it be considered to identify key or decisive elements related to all conceived aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, the following overview presents certain concepts related to one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form before the detailed description presented below.
[0005] In some cases, wireless communications may be performed using high frequency ranges (e.g., sub-terahertz spectrum, terahertz spectrum, etc.). In some examples, devices that communicate using such high frequencies may require additional antennas in order to avoid performance degradation due to path loss caused by shorter wavelengths. However, configuring additional antennas in wireless devices may result in increased hardware and / or software complexity, increased power consumption, and increased costs.
[0006] Systems and techniques described herein provide radio frequency (RF) beamforming. In some aspects, a beamforming device including a lens (e.g., a cylindrical lens), at least one receive antenna array, and at least one transmit antenna array can be implemented. In some examples, the transmit antenna array elements and the receive antenna array elements can be configured to improve reciprocity between uplink channels and downlink channels.
[0007] In some cases, the transmit antenna array elements may be aligned in a direction parallel to the receive antenna array elements. In some examples, the transmit antenna array elements may be positioned on one side of a central axis of the lens, and the receive antenna array elements may be positioned on an opposite side of the central axis of the lens. In some aspects, the transmit antenna array elements and the receive antenna array elements may be aligned in a direction parallel to the central axis of the lens. In some examples, the transmit antenna array elements may be interlaced with the receive antenna array elements.
[0008] In some cases, a first portion of the transmit antenna array elements may be interwoven with a first portion of the receive antenna array elements to form a first interwoven antenna array. In some instances, a second portion of the transmit antenna array elements may be interwoven with a second portion of the receive antenna array elements to form a second interwoven antenna array. In some configurations, the first interwoven antenna array and the second interwoven antenna array may be positioned on either side of a central axis of the lens.
[0009] In some aspects, the beamforming devices provided herein can operate efficiently at higher frequencies while reducing antenna elements, reducing complexity, and reducing power consumption. In some cases, the beamforming devices provided herein can also improve reciprocity between uplink and downlink channels by directing transmit and receive beams to the same or substantially the same direction.
[0010] In an illustrative example, a wireless communication device is provided. The wireless communication device includes: a cylindrical lens having a first surface and a curved second surface opposite to the first surface, the cylindrical lens including a focal direction corresponding to the curvature of the curved second surface and a non-focal direction orthogonal to the focal direction; at least one receiving antenna array, the at least one receiving antenna array is arranged close to the first surface of the cylindrical lens, the at least one receiving antenna array includes a plurality of receiving antenna array elements; and at least one transmitting antenna array, the at least one transmitting antenna array is arranged close to the first surface of the cylindrical lens, the at least one transmitting antenna array includes a plurality of transmitting antenna array elements.
[0011] In another example, a method for wireless communication is provided. The method includes: directing a first radio frequency (RF) beam in a first direction using a receive antenna array, wherein the receive antenna array includes a plurality of receive antenna array elements disposed proximate to a first surface of a cylindrical lens, the cylindrical lens having a curved second surface opposite to the first surface; and directing a second RF beam in a second direction using a transmit antenna array, wherein the transmit antenna array includes a plurality of transmit antenna array elements disposed proximate to the first surface of the cylindrical lens, and wherein the first direction and the second direction correspond to a center of the cylindrical lens.
[0012] In another example, an apparatus for wireless communication is provided, the apparatus comprising: at least one memory comprising instructions; and at least one processor (e.g., implemented in a circuit system) configured to execute the instructions and cause the apparatus to: direct a first radio frequency (RF) beam in a first direction using a receive antenna array, wherein the receive antenna array comprises a plurality of receive antenna array elements disposed proximate to a first surface of a cylindrical lens, the cylindrical lens having a curved second surface opposite to the first surface; and direct a second RF beam in a second direction using a transmit antenna array, wherein the transmit antenna array comprises a plurality of transmit antenna array elements disposed proximate to the first surface of the cylindrical lens, and wherein the first direction and the second direction correspond to a center of the cylindrical lens.
[0013] In another example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium for performing wireless communications is provided, having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to: direct a first radio frequency (RF) beam in a first direction using a receive antenna array, wherein the receive antenna array includes a plurality of receive antenna array elements disposed proximate to a first surface of a cylindrical lens, the cylindrical lens having a curved second surface opposite to the first surface; and direct a second RF beam in a second direction using a transmit antenna array, wherein the transmit antenna array includes a plurality of transmit antenna array elements disposed proximate to the first surface of the cylindrical lens, and wherein the first direction and the second direction correspond to a center of the cylindrical lens.
[0014] In another example, an apparatus for wireless communication is provided. The apparatus includes: means for directing a first radio frequency (RF) beam in a first direction using a receive antenna array, wherein the receive antenna array includes a plurality of receive antenna array elements disposed proximate to a first surface of a cylindrical lens, the cylindrical lens having a curved second surface opposite to the first surface; and means for directing a second RF beam in a second direction using a transmit antenna array, wherein the transmit antenna array includes a plurality of transmit antenna array elements disposed proximate to the first surface of the cylindrical lens, and wherein the first direction and the second direction correspond to a center of the cylindrical lens.
[0015] In some aspects, the apparatus is or is part of a user equipment (UE) or a network entity. The network entity may include a base station (e.g., a 3GPP gNodeB (gNB) for 5G / NR, a 3GPP eNodeB (eNB) for LTE, a Wi-Fi access point (AP), or other base station) or a part of a base station with a decomposed architecture (e.g., a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near real-time (near RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC of a gNB or other base station). In some aspects, the apparatus includes a transceiver or multiple transceivers configured to send and / or receive radio frequency (RF) signals. In some aspects, the at least one processor includes one or more neural processing units (NPUs), one or more central processing units (CPUs), one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), any combination thereof, and / or other processing devices or components.
[0016] Other objects and advantages associated with the various aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the drawings and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of aspects of the disclosure and are provided for illustration of the aspects rather than limitation thereof.
[0018] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication network according to some examples;
[0019] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating a design of a base station and a user equipment (UE) device according to some examples, which enables sending and processing of signals exchanged between the UE and the base station;
[0020] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a decomposed base station according to some examples;
[0021] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating components of user equipment according to some examples;
[0022] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a cylindrical lens used with a beamforming device according to some examples;
[0023] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating a portion of a beamforming device having a cylindrical lens according to some examples;
[0024] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user equipment (UE) having a beamforming device having a cylindrical lens according to some examples;
[0025] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating another example of a UE having a beamforming device having a cylindrical lens according to some examples;
[0026] Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating examples of beam steering directions according to some examples;
[0027] Fig.10 is a diagram illustrating other parts of a beamforming device having a cylindrical lens according to some examples;
[0028] Fig.11 is a diagram illustrating examples of linear transmit and receive antenna array configurations according to some examples;
[0029] Fig.12 is a diagram illustrating another example of a linear transmit and receive antenna array configuration according to some examples;
[0030] Fig.13 is a diagram illustrating examples of interleaved transmit and receive antenna array configurations according to some examples;
[0031] Fig.14 is a diagram illustrating another example of an interleaved transmit and receive antenna array configuration according to some examples;
[0032] Fig.15 is a diagram illustrating another example of an interleaved transmit and receive antenna array configuration according to some examples;
[0033] Fig.16 is a diagram illustrating another example of an interleaved transmit and receive antenna array configuration according to some examples;
[0034] Fig.17 is a diagram illustrating another example of a UE having a beamforming device having a cylindrical lens according to some examples;
[0035] Fig.18 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a process for performing radio frequency beamforming according to some examples; and
[0036] Fig.19 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computing system according to some examples. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0037] For illustrative purposes, some aspects and embodiments of the present disclosure are provided below. Without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, alternative aspects can be designed. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted, so as not to make the relevant details of the present disclosure difficult to understand. Some aspects and embodiments of the aspects and embodiments described herein can be applied independently, and some of them can be applied in combination, which is obvious to those skilled in the art. In the following description, specific details are set forth for explanation purposes in order to provide a thorough understanding of each embodiment of the application. However, it will be apparent that each embodiment can be put into practice without these specific details. Each drawing and description are not intended to be restrictive.
[0038] The following description provides example embodiments and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the present disclosure. Instead, the subsequent description of the exemplary embodiments will provide an enabling description for implementing the exemplary embodiments to those skilled in the art. It should be understood that various changes may be made to the function and arrangement of the elements without departing from the scope of the present application as set forth in the appended claims.
[0039] Wireless communication networks are deployed to provide various communication services, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. Wireless communication networks may support both access links and side links for communication between wireless devices. An access link may refer to any communication link between a client device (e.g., user equipment (UE), station (STA), or other client device) and a base station (e.g., 3GPP gNodeB (gNB) for 5G / NR, 3GPP eNodeB (eNB) for LTE, Wi-Fi access point (AP), or other base station) or a component of a decomposed base station (e.g., central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), and / or radio unit (RU), etc.). In one example, the access link between the UE and the 3GPP gNB may be through the Uu interface. In some cases, the access link may support uplink signaling, downlink signaling, connection procedures, etc.
[0040] In some examples, the gNB and UE may be configured to operate using a higher frequency range. For example, the sub-terahertz spectrum may range between 90 gigahertz (GHz) and 300 GHz. In such a frequency range, the wavelength may be as small as 1 millimeter (mm). Therefore, operation using higher frequencies may result in performance degradation due to higher path loss. In some cases, additional antennas or antenna arrays may be added to a device (e.g., a UE) to improve performance at higher frequencies. For example, the number of antenna elements may increase in proportion to the square of the frequency. However, increasing the number of antenna elements may be undesirable due to factors such as increased cost, increased complexity, and increased footprint (e.g., consuming more space on a printed circuit board and / or within a device).
[0041] Systems, apparatus, processes (also referred to as methods), and computer-readable media (collectively, "systems and techniques") for radio frequency (RF) beamforming are described herein. In some aspects, a beamforming device including a lens (e.g., a cylindrical lens), at least one transmit antenna array, and at least one receive antenna array can be implemented. In some examples, the transmit antenna array elements and the receive antenna array elements can be configured to improve reciprocity between uplink channels and downlink channels.
[0042] In some aspects, the beamforming device may include a cylindrical lens having a flat surface and a curved (or convex) surface opposite the flat surface. In some examples, the power direction of the cylindrical lens may correspond to the curvature of the curved surface, and the non-power direction may be orthogonal to the power direction. In some cases, the antenna array elements (e.g., transmit antenna array elements and receive antenna array elements) may be positioned or arranged behind the flat surface of the cylindrical lens in a direction perpendicular to the power direction.
[0043] In some cases, the transmit antenna array elements may be aligned in a direction parallel to the receive antenna array elements. In some examples, the transmit antenna array elements may be positioned on one side of a central axis of the lens, and the receive antenna array elements may be positioned on an opposite side of the central axis of the lens.
[0044] In some aspects, the transmit antenna array elements and the receive antenna array elements can be aligned in a direction parallel to a central axis of the lens. In some examples, the transmit antenna array elements can be interlaced with the receive antenna array elements.
[0045] In some cases, a first portion of the transmit antenna array elements may be interwoven with a first portion of the receive antenna array elements to form a first interwoven antenna array. In some instances, a second portion of the transmit antenna array elements may be interwoven with a second portion of the receive antenna array elements to form a second interwoven antenna array. In some configurations, the first interwoven antenna array and the second interwoven antenna array may be positioned on either side of a central axis of the lens.
[0046] In some examples, the configuration of the transmit antenna elements and the receive antenna elements (e.g., interleaved) can improve the directivity of the RX beam relative to the TX beam. In some cases, the RX beam and the TX beam can be aligned to substantially the same position (e.g., less than 5 degrees apart). In some aspects, a cylindrical lens can be used to achieve directivity gain. In an illustrative example, a directivity gain of between 4 dB and 5 dB can be obtained (e.g., based on a 20 degree phased elevation angle).
[0047] In some aspects, the systems and techniques can provide a beamforming device that can have lower complexity (e.g., lower hardware / software complexity) and consume less power than a device including a rectangular antenna array. In some examples, the beamforming device can be used to steer multiple RF beams concurrently in different directions. In some aspects, the beamforming device can maintain higher reciprocity between uplink channels and downlink channels. In some cases, the effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) of transmit beams and receive beams can be increased.
[0048] Various aspects of the systems and techniques described herein are discussed below with respect to the accompanying figures.
[0049] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "network entity" are not intended to be dedicated to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise specified. In general, a UE can be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, and / or a tracking device, etc.), a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, smart glasses, a wearable ring, and / or an extended reality (XR) device (such as a virtual reality (VR) headset, an augmented reality (AR) headset or glasses, or a mixed reality (MR) headset)), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), and / or an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc., for a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE can be mobile or can be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber equipment", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station" or variations thereof. Generally speaking, the UE may communicate with the core network via the RAN, and through the core network, the UE may connect to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UE, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11 communication standards, etc.), etc.
[0050] The network entity may be implemented in a converged or monolithic base station architecture, or alternatively, in a disaggregated base station architecture, and may include one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC. A base station (e.g., having a converged / monolithic base station architecture or a disaggregated base station architecture) may operate in communication with a UE according to one of several RATs depending on the network in which the base station is deployed, and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a Node B (NB), an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be primarily used to support wireless access for UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may provide edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems, a base station may provide additional control and / or network management functionality. The communication link by which a UE can transmit signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link by which a base station can transmit signals to a UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, or a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to an uplink, a reverse or downlink, and / or a forward traffic channel.
[0051] The term "network entity" or "base station" (e.g., with a clustered / monolithic base station architecture or a decomposed base station architecture) may refer to a single physical transmit receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "network entity" or "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be a base station antenna corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term "network entity" or "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, these physical TRPs may be antenna arrays of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal (or simply "reference signal") the UE is measuring. Because as used herein, a TRP is the point through which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, references to transmitting from or receiving at a base station should be understood to refer to the specific TRP of a base station.
[0052] In some specific implementations of supporting UE positioning, a network entity or base station may not support wireless access for the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but may instead send a reference signal to be measured by the UE to the UE and / or may receive and measure a signal sent by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., in the case of sending a signal to the UE) and / or as a position measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring a signal from the UE).
[0053] RF signals include electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transmit information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply a "signal" where it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.
[0054] According to various aspects, Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication system 100 is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100, which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN), may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. In some aspects, the base stations 102 may also be referred to as "network entities" or "network nodes". One or more of the base stations 102 may be implemented in an aggregated or monolithic base station architecture. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of the base stations 102 may be implemented in a decomposed base station architecture and may include one or more of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC. The base stations 102 may include macro cell base stations (high power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macro cell base station may include an eNB and / or ng-eNB in which the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to a long term evolution (LTE) network, or a gNB in which the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base station may include a femto cell, a pico cell, a micro cell, etc.
[0055] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) through a backhaul link 122, and interface to one or more location servers 172 (which may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170) through the core network 170. The base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following, among other functions: delivering user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC or 5GC) through a backhaul link 134, which may be wired and / or wireless.
[0056] Base station 102 may communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, base station 102 in each coverage area 110 may support one or more cells. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on a certain frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI)) to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" may refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station supporting it, depending on the context. In addition, because a TRP is typically a physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to a geographic coverage area (eg, a sector) of a base station, as long as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communications within some portion of the geographic coverage area 110 .
[0057] Although the geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover area), some areas of the geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with the larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' may have a coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB), which may provide services to a restricted group called a closed subscriber group (CSG).
[0058] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (also known as reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or downlink (also known as forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric for the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink than to the uplink).
[0059] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a WLAN AP 150 that communicates with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 gigahertz (GHz)). When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure before communicating to determine whether a channel is available. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may include a device (e.g., UE, etc.) that utilizes an ultra-wideband (UWB) spectrum to communicate with one or more UEs 104, base stations 102, APs 150, etc. The UWB spectrum may range from 3.1 GHz to 10.5 GHz.
[0060] The small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' can adopt LTE or NR technology and use the same 5GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102' using LTE and / or 5G in the unlicensed spectrum can boost the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as LTE-U, License Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.
[0061] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180 that can operate at mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies to communicate with UE 182. The mmW base station 180 may be implemented in an aggregated or monolithic base station architecture, or alternatively, in a decomposed base station architecture (e.g., including one or more of CU, DU, RU, near RT RIC, or non-RT RIC). Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz, and a wavelength between 1 mm and 10 mm. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW can be extended down to a frequency of 3 GHz, and a wavelength of 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, which is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using mmW and / or near mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmitting and / or receiving) over the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. In addition, it should be understood that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near-mmW and beamforming. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.
[0062] In some aspects related to 5G, the spectrum in which a wireless network node or entity (e.g., base station 102 / 180, UE 104 / 182) operates is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (from 450 megahertz (MHz) to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 MHz to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In a multi-carrier system (such as 5G), one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as a "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) used by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common control channels as well as UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that can be configured and used to provide additional radio resources once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, since the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, those signaling information and signals specific to the UE may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. This also holds true for the uplink primary carrier. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency or component carrier that some base stations are using for communication, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. may be used interchangeably.
[0063] For example, still referring to Figure 1, one of the frequencies used by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies used by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). In carrier aggregation, the base station 102 and / or the UE 104 may use spectrum of up to Y MHz (e.g., 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, 20 MHz, 100 MHz) bandwidth per carrier, with up to a total of Yx MHz (x component carriers) in each direction for transmission. The component carriers may be adjacent to each other or may not be adjacent to each other in the spectrum. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink compared to the uplink). The simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate obtained with a single 20 MHz carrier.
[0064] In order to operate on multiple carrier frequencies, the base station 102 and / or the UE 104 may be equipped with multiple receivers and / or transmitters. For example, the UE 104 may have two receivers, "receiver 1" and "receiver 2", where "receiver 1" is a multi-band receiver that can be tuned to band (i.e., carrier frequency) "X" or band "Y", and "receiver 2" is a single-band receiver that can only be tuned to band "Z". In this example, if the UE 104 is being served in band "X", band "X" will be referred to as the PCell or active carrier frequency, and "receiver 1" will need to tune from band "X" to band "Y" (SCell) in order to measure band "Y" (and vice versa). In contrast, regardless of whether the UE 104 is being served in band "X" or band "Y", due to the separate "receiver 2", the UE 104 can measure band "Z" without interrupting the service on band "X" or band "Y".
[0065] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a UE 164, which may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 via a communication link 120 and / or communicate with the mmW base station 180 via a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.
[0066] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, which are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “side links”). Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of UEs 104 connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity through the D2D P2P link), and has a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity through the D2D P2P link). In one example, any well-known D2D RAT (such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), Wi-Fi Direct (Wi-Fi-D), Bluetooth ® etc.) to support D2D P2P links 192 and 194.
[0067] Figure 2 A block diagram of a design of a base station 102 and a UE 104 is shown that enables sending and processing of signals exchanged between the UE and the base station according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Design 200 includes components of the base station 102 and the UE 104, which may be Figure 1 1. A base station in base station 102 and a UE in UE 104. Base station 102 may be equipped with T antennas 234a through 234t, and UE 104 may be equipped with R antennas 252a through 252r, where in general T≥1 and R≥1.
[0068] At the base station 102, the transmit processor 220 may receive data for one or more UEs from the data source 212, select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for each UE based at least in part on a channel quality indicator (CQI) received from the UE, process (e.g., encode and modulate) the data for each UE based at least in part on the MCS selected for the UE, and provide data symbols for all UEs. The transmit processor 220 may also process system information (e.g., for semi-static resource partitioning information (SRPI), etc.) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, upper layer signaling, etc.), and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. The transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRS)) and synchronization signals (e.g., primary synchronization signals (PSS) and secondary synchronization signals (SSS)). The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., pre-decoding) on data symbols, control symbols, overhead symbols, and / or reference symbols (if applicable), and may provide T output symbol streams to T modulators (MODs) 232a to 232t. The modulators 232a to 232t are shown as combined modulator-demodulators (MOD-DEMODs). In some cases, the modulator and demodulator may be separate components. Each modulator in the modulators 232a to 232t may process a corresponding output symbol stream (e.g., for an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator in the modulators 232a to 232t may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and up-convert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. T downlink signals may be sent from the modulators 232a to 232t via T antennas 234a to 234t, respectively. According to certain aspects described in greater detail below, position encoding may be utilized to generate a synchronization signal to convey additional information.
[0069] At UE 104, antennas 252a to 252r may receive downlink signals from base station 102 and / or other base stations and may provide received signals to demodulators (DEMOD) 254a to 254r, respectively. Demodulators 254a to 254r are shown as combined modulator-demodulators (MOD-DEMOD). In some cases, the modulator and demodulator may be separate components. Each demodulator in demodulators 254a to 254r may adjust (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert and digitize) the received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator in demodulators 254a to 254r may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all R demodulators 254a to 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols (if applicable), and provide detected symbols. The receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE 104 to a data sink 260, and provide decoded control information and system information to a controller / processor 280. The channel processor may determine a reference signal received power (RSRP), a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a channel quality indicator (CQI), etc.
[0070] On the uplink, at the UE 104, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 and control information (e.g., for reports including RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, etc.) from a controller / processor 280. The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals (e.g., based at least in part on a beta value or set of beta values associated with the one or more reference signals). The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by the TX-MIMO processor 266 (if applicable), further processed by the modulators 254a to 254r (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM, CP-OFDM, etc.), and transmitted to the base station 102. At the base station 102, uplink signals from the UE 104 and other UEs may be received by antennas 234a to 234t, processed by demodulators 232a to 232t, detected by a MIMO detector 236 (if applicable), and further processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by the UE 104. The receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded control information to a controller (processor) 240. The base station 102 may include a communication unit 244 and communicate with the network controller 231 via the communication unit 244. The network controller 231 may include a communication unit 294, a controller / processor 290, and a memory 292.
[0071] In some aspects, one or more components of the UE 104 may be included in a housing. The controller 240 of the base station 102, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 104, and / or Figure 2 Any other component of may perform one or more techniques associated with determining an implicit UCI β value for NR.
[0072] Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for base station 102 and UE 104, respectively. A scheduler 246 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink, uplink, and / or sidelink.
[0073] In some aspects, the deployment of a communication system such as a 5G New Radio (NR) system may be arranged in a variety of ways with various components or constituent parts. In a 5G NR system or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of a network, a radio access network (RAN) node, a core network node, a network element, or a network equipment (such as a base station (BS), or one or more units (or one or more components) that perform base station functionality) may be implemented in an aggregated or decomposed architecture. For example, a BS (such as a Node B (NB), an evolved NB (eNB), an NR BS, a 5G NB, an access point (AP), a transmit receive point (TRP), or a cell, etc.) may be implemented as an aggregated base station (also referred to as an independent BS or a monolithic BS) or a decomposed base station.
[0074] A converged base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A decomposed base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed between two or more units, such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed in one or more other RAN nodes. A DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU may also be implemented as a virtual unit, namely a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).
[0075] Base station type operations or network designs may take into account the aggregated nature of base station functionality. For example, a disaggregated base station may be used in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (network configurations such as those initiated by the O-RAN Alliance)), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Disaggregation may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as virtually distributing functionality of at least one unit, which may enable flexibility in network design. Individual units of a disaggregated base station or disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.
[0076] Figure 3 A diagram illustrating an example disaggregated base station 300 architecture is shown. The disaggregated base station 300 architecture may include one or more central units (CUs) 310 that may communicate directly with a core network 320 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 320 through one or more disaggregated base station units, such as a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 325 via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 315 associated with a service management and orchestration (SMO) framework 305, or both. The CU 310 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 330 via respective midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DU 330 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 340 via respective fronthaul links. The RU 340 may communicate with respective UEs 104 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 104 may be served simultaneously by multiple RUs 340.
[0077] Each of the units (e.g., CU 310, DU 330, RU 340, and near-RT RIC 325, non-RT RIC 315, and SMO framework 305) may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or send signals, data, or information (collectively referred to as signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of these units or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interface of these units may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via a transmission medium. For example, these units may include a wired interface configured to receive or send signals to one or more of the other units via a wired transmission medium. Additionally, these units may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, a transmitter, or a transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) configured to receive or send signals, or both, to one or more of the other units via a wireless transmission medium.
[0078] In some aspects, the CU 310 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions may include radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function may be implemented using an interface that is configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 310. The CU 310 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., central unit-control plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some specific implementations, the CU 310 may be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RAN configuration, the CU-UP unit may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface (such as an E1 interface). As needed, the CU 310 may be implemented to communicate with the DU 330 for network control and signaling.
[0079] The DU 330 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs 340. In some aspects, the DU 330 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.) at least in part according to a functional split such as that defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some aspects, the DU 330 may also host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface that is configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 330 or with control functions hosted by the CU 310.
[0080] The lower layer functionality may be implemented by one or more RUs 340. In some deployments, a RU 340 controlled by a DU 330 may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions or low PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.), or both, based at least in part on a functional split (such as a lower layer functional split). In such an architecture, the RU 340 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 104. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control plane and user plane communications with the RU 340 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 330. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the DU 330 and the CU 310 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture (such as a vRAN architecture).
[0081] The SMO framework 305 may be configured to support RAN deployment and configuration of non-virtualized network elements and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 305 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which may be managed via an operation and maintenance interface (such as an O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 305 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-Cloud) 390) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, CU 310, DU 330, RU 340, and near-RT RIC 325. In some specific implementations, the SMO framework 305 may communicate with hardware aspects of the 4G RAN (such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 311) via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some specific implementations, the SMO framework 305 may communicate directly with one or more RUs 340 via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 305 may also include a non-RT RIC 315 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 305 .
[0082] The non-RT RIC 315 may be configured to include logic functions that implement non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updating, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the near-RT RIC 325. The non-RT RIC 315 may be coupled to or communicate with the near-RT RIC 325 (such as via an A1 interface). The near-RT RIC 325 may be configured to include logic functions that implement near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions through an interface (such as via an E2 interface) that connects one or more CUs 310, one or more DUs 330, or both, and the O-eNB with the near-RT RIC 325.
[0083] In some implementations, in order to generate an AI / ML model to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 325, the non-RT RIC 315 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server. Such information may be utilized by the near-RT RIC 325 and may be received from a non-network data source or from a network function at the SMO framework 305 or the non-RT RIC 315. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 315 or the near-RT RIC 325 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 315 may monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO framework 305 (such as via reconfiguration of O1) or via creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).
[0084] Figure 4 An example of a computing system 470 of a wireless device 407 is illustrated. The wireless device 407 may include a client device such as a UE (e.g., UE 104, UE 152, UE 190) or other type of device that can be used by an end user (e.g., a station (STA) configured to communicate using a Wi-Fi interface). For example, the wireless device 407 may include a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a tracking device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an extended reality (XR) device (such as a virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) or mixed reality (MR) device), etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an access point, and / or another device configured to communicate via a wireless communication network. The computing system 470 includes software and hardware components that can be electrically coupled or communicatively coupled via a bus 489 (or can communicate in other ways, as the case may be). For example, the computing system 470 includes one or more processors 484. The one or more processors 484 may include one or more CPUs, ASICs, FPGAs, APs, GPUs, VPUs, NSPs, microcontrollers, dedicated hardware, any combination thereof, and / or other processing devices or systems. A bus 489 may be used by the one or more processors 484 to communicate between cores and / or with one or more memory devices 486.
[0085] The computing system 470 may also include one or more memory devices 486, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs) 482, one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs) 474, one or more modems 476, one or more wireless transceivers 478, one or more antennas 487, one or more input devices 472 (e.g., a camera, a mouse, a keyboard, a touch-sensitive screen, a touchpad, a keypad, a microphone, and / or the like), and one or more output devices 480 (e.g., a display, a speaker, a printer, and / or the like).
[0086] In some aspects, computing system 470 may include one or more RF interfaces configured to send and / or receive radio frequency (RF) signals. In some examples, the RF interface may include components such as modem 476, wireless transceiver 478, and / or antenna 487. One or more wireless transceivers 478 may send and receive wireless signals (e.g., signal 488) from one or more other devices via antenna 487, such as other wireless devices, network devices (e.g., base stations such as eNBs and / or gNBs, WiFi access points (APs) such as routers, range extenders, or the like), cloud networks, and / or the like. In some examples, computing system 470 may include multiple antennas or antenna arrays that may facilitate simultaneous transmission and reception functionality. Antenna 487 may be an omnidirectional antenna so that radio frequency (RF) signals may be received and transmitted in all directions. Wireless signal 488 may be transmitted via a wireless network. The wireless network may be any wireless network, such as a cellular or telecommunications network (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, etc.), a wireless local area network (e.g., a Wi-Fi network), a Bluetooth TM network and / or other networks.
[0087] In some examples, wireless signals 488 may be transmitted directly to other wireless devices using sidelink communications (e.g., using a PC5 interface, using a DSRC interface, etc.). Wireless transceiver 478 may be configured to transmit RF signals via antenna 487 according to one or more transmit power parameters that may be associated with one or more regulatory modes for performing sidelink communications. Wireless transceiver 478 may also be configured to receive sidelink communication signals having different signal parameters from other wireless devices.
[0088] In some examples, one or more wireless transceivers 478 may include an RF front end that includes one or more components such as an amplifier, a mixer for down-converting a signal (also known as a signal multiplier), a frequency synthesizer (also known as an oscillator) that provides a signal to the mixer, a baseband filter, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), one or more power amplifiers, and other components. The RF front end may generally handle the selection of wireless signals 488 and the conversion of the wireless signals to baseband frequencies or intermediate frequencies, and may convert the RF signals to the digital domain.
[0089] In some cases, computing system 470 may include a coding-decoding device (or CODEC) configured to encode and / or decode data transmitted and / or received using one or more wireless transceivers 478. In some cases, computing system 470 may include an encryption-decryption device or component configured to encrypt and / or decrypt (e.g., according to the AES and / or DES standards) data transmitted and / or received by one or more wireless transceivers 478.
[0090] One or more SIMs 474 may each securely store an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) number and associated keys assigned to a user of the wireless device 407. The IMSI and keys may be used to identify and authenticate a subscriber when accessing a network provided by a network service provider or operator associated with the one or more SIMs 474. One or more modems 476 may modulate one or more signals to encode information for transmission using one or more wireless transceivers 478. One or more modems 476 may also demodulate signals received by one or more wireless transceivers 478 in order to decode the transmitted information. In some examples, one or more modems 476 may include a Wi-Fi modem, a 4G (or LTE) modem, a 5G (or NR) modem, and / or other types of modems. One or more modems 476 and one or more wireless transceivers 478 may be used to communicate data of one or more SIMs 474.
[0091] The computing system 470 may also include (and / or communicate with) one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media or storage devices (e.g., one or more memory devices 486), which may include, but are not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices such as RAM and / or ROM, which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc.
[0092] In various embodiments, the functionality may be stored as one or more computer program products (e.g., instructions or code) in the memory device 486 and executed by the one or more processors 484 and / or the one or more DSPs 482. The computing system 470 may also include software elements (e.g., located within the one or more memory devices 486) including, for example, an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code, such as one or more applications, which may include computer programs that implement the functionality provided by various embodiments, and / or may be designed to implement methods and / or configure systems, as described herein.
[0093] As described above, systems and techniques for radio frequency (RF) beamforming are described herein. In some cases, the systems and techniques may be implemented by a user equipment (UE) such as UE 104. In some aspects, the systems and techniques may be used to perform hybrid beamforming, where the direction of the RF beam is based on a linear antenna array selected for beamforming (e.g., array select beamforming) and / or phasing of antenna elements within the selected linear antenna array (e.g., phased array beamforming). In some aspects, array select beamforming may be used to steer the RF beam along a power direction of a cylindrical lens. In some examples, phased array beamforming may be used to steer the RF beam along a non-focal direction of the cylindrical lens, which is orthogonal to the power direction of the cylindrical lens.
[0094] Figure 5 An example of a cylindrical lens 500 for use with a beamforming device is illustrated. In some aspects, the cylindrical lens 500 may include a curved surface 506 that can be used to converge or diverge a radio frequency (RF) beam. As shown, the curved surface 506 corresponds to a convex surface that can converge an RF beam. In some examples, the cylindrical lens may have a flat surface 508 opposite the curved surface 506. In some cases, the flat surface 508 may be a plane without any curvature. In some aspects, the cylindrical lens 500 may have a power direction 504 that corresponds to the curvature of the curved surface 506. In some cases, the cylindrical lens 500 may have a non-power direction 502 that is orthogonal to the power direction 504 (e.g., the non-power direction 502 extends along the length of the lens without optical power).
[0095] In some examples, cylindrical lens 500 can have side 510a and side 510b that are opposite to each other and extend along the curvature of curved surface 506 (e.g., side 510a and side 510b are parallel to power direction 504). In some cases, cylindrical lens 500 can have side 512a and side 512b that are opposite to each other and parallel to non-power direction 502. Although cylindrical lens 500 is illustrated as having a rectangular shape, those skilled in the art will recognize that additional shapes (e.g., square, circular, elliptical, etc.) can be used in accordance with the present technology.
[0096] Figure 6 602. In some aspects, the beamforming device may include a cylindrical lens 602. In some examples, the cylindrical lens 602 may correspond to a plano-convex lens, a bi-convex lens, a convex meniscus lens, a bi-concave lens, a plano-concave lens, a concave meniscus lens, and / or any other type of cylindrical lens. As illustrated, the cylindrical lens 602 corresponds to a plano-convex lens, such as Figure 5 The cylindrical lens 500 is illustrated in FIG.
[0097] In some cases, cylindrical lens 602 may have a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface. In some examples, the first surface may correspond to a flat surface and the second surface may correspond to a convex surface. For example, cylindrical lens 602 may include a convex surface 604 (e.g., a first surface) opposite a flat surface 606 (e.g., a second surface). In some aspects, cylindrical lens 602 may include a power direction 620 corresponding to a curvature of the first surface (e.g., a curvature of convex surface 604). In some examples, cylindrical lens 602 may have an optical power in power direction 620. In some aspects, power direction 620 may be orthogonal to non-power direction 622.
[0098] In some examples, the beamforming device may include a plurality of linear antenna arrays disposed proximate to the second surface of the cylindrical lens. For example, linear antenna array 608, linear antenna array 612, and linear antenna array 616 may be disposed (e.g., placed, arranged, etc.) proximate to flat surface 606. In some examples, the distance between the linear antenna arrays (e.g., linear antenna array 608, linear antenna array 612, and linear antenna array 616) and flat surface 606 may correspond to a back focal length of cylindrical lens 602. In one non-limiting example, the distance between the linear antenna arrays and flat surface 606 may be approximately 7 millimeters (mm). In some aspects, the linear antenna arrays may be positioned such that a radio frequency (RF) beam is collimated along a focal direction 620 (e.g., a direction perpendicular to the linear antenna arrays).
[0099] In some cases, each of the plurality of linear antenna arrays may include a plurality of antenna array elements. For example, linear antenna array 608, linear antenna array 612, and linear antenna array 616 may each include a plurality of antenna elements. In some examples, linear antenna array 608 may include antenna element 610a, antenna element 610b, antenna element 610c, antenna element 610d, antenna element 610e, antenna element 610f, antenna element 610g, and antenna element 610h (collectively, “antenna elements 610”). In some cases, linear antenna array 612 may include antenna element 614a, antenna element 614b, antenna element 614c, antenna element 614d, antenna element 614e, antenna element 614f, antenna element 614g, and antenna element 614h (collectively, “antenna elements 614”). In some configurations, the linear antenna array 616 may include antenna element 618a, antenna element 618b, antenna element 618c, antenna element 618d, antenna element 618e, antenna element 618f, antenna element 618g, and antenna element 618h (collectively, "antenna elements 618"). Figure 6Illustrated as having three linear antenna arrays (with eight antenna elements), but those skilled in the art will recognize that the present technology is not limited to a specific number of linear antenna arrays and / or a specific number of antenna elements.
[0100] In some examples, multiple antenna array elements of each of the multiple linear antenna arrays may be aligned in a direction perpendicular to the focal direction. For example, antenna elements 610a-610h, antenna elements 614a-614h, and antenna elements 618a-618h may each be aligned in a direction perpendicular to the focal direction 620 (e.g., parallel to the non-focal direction 622). In some aspects, each linear antenna array (e.g., linear antenna array 608, linear antenna array 612, and linear antenna array 616) may be configured to direct the RF beam along a different portion of the focal direction 620. For example, linear antenna array 612 may be used to direct the RF beam along the center of the focal direction 620. In another example, linear antenna array 608 and linear antenna array 616 may be used to direct the RF beam at different angles along the focal direction 620 (e.g., as described herein with respect to Figure 8 further illustrated and described).
[0101] In some cases, each linear antenna array (e.g., linear antenna array 608, linear antenna array 612, and linear antenna array 616) can be used to steer an RF beam along a different portion of the non-focal direction 622. For example, each of the linear antenna arrays can be configured as a phased array antenna, where each of the corresponding antenna elements is configured to transmit or receive a phase-shifted RF signal. In one illustrative example, a phase difference between each of the antenna elements 614 corresponding to the linear antenna array 612 can be used to steer an RF beam (e.g., a radiation pattern) in different directions along the non-focal direction 622. In some aspects, the phasing of the antenna elements 614 can steer the RF beam at different angles relative to the non-focal direction 622 based on the position of the linear antenna array 612 while maintaining the RF beam at the center of the focal direction 620.
[0102] In some examples, the distance 624 between one or more linear antenna arrays may be less than or equal to the wavelength of the RF signal. For example, an RF signal having a frequency of 150 GHz may have a wavelength of approximately 2 millimeters (mm). In one illustrative example, the distance 624 between linear antenna array 612 and linear antenna array 616 may be approximately 1.75 mm. In some cases, the array spacing 626 (e.g., the distance between antenna elements) may be approximately half the wavelength of the RF signal. For example, when the wavelength is 2 mm, the array spacing 626 may be approximately 1 mm.
[0103] Figure 7A front view of a user equipment (UE) 700 including a beamforming device having a cylindrical lens is illustrated. In some aspects, the UE 700 may include a cylindrical lens 702. In some cases, the cylindrical lens 702 may correspond to a plano-convex lens, such as Figure 5 702. In some examples, cylindrical lens 702 may be mounted along a side or edge of UE 700. In some cases, cylindrical lens 702 may be mounted on UE 700 such that cylindrical lens 702 is flush or level with a side or edge of UE 700. In another example, cylindrical lens 702 may be mounted on UE 700 such that cylindrical lens 702 is recessed relative to a side or edge of UE 700. In another example, cylindrical lens 702 may be mounted on UE 700 such that cylindrical lens 702 protrudes from UE 700. In some cases, the width of cylindrical lens 702 may be less than or equal to the thickness of UE 700.
[0104] In some aspects, UE 700 may include one or more linear antenna arrays, such as linear antenna array 704. In some cases, UE 700 may include additional linear antenna arrays (not illustrated), which may be arranged in a direction substantially parallel to linear antenna array 704. In some examples, linear antenna array 704 may include multiple antenna array elements, such as antenna element 706a, antenna element 706b, antenna element 706c, antenna element 706d, antenna element 706e, antenna element 706f, antenna element 706g, and antenna element 706h (collectively, "antenna elements 706").
[0105] In some examples, antenna elements 706a-706h can be positioned behind cylindrical lens 702. For example, antenna elements 706a-706h can be arranged behind a flat surface (e.g., flat surface 508) of cylindrical lens 702. In some cases, distance 708 between antenna elements 706a-706h and cylindrical lens 702 can be based on a back focal length of cylindrical lens 702.
[0106] In some aspects, each linear antenna array may be configured to direct at least one RF beam along a non-focal direction of the cylindrical lens. For example, the linear antenna array 704 may be configured to direct one or more RF beams (e.g., RF beam 710a, RF beam 710b, RF beam 710c, RF beam 710d, and / or RF beam 710e) along a non-focal direction 712 of the cylindrical lens 702. In some examples, the linear antenna array 704 may be configured as a phased antenna array such that the antenna elements 706a-706h are configured to transmit or receive phase-shifted RF signals. In an illustrative example, a phase difference between each of the antenna elements 706a-706h corresponding to the linear antenna array 704 may be used to direct the RF beam 710c in a direction perpendicular to the linear antenna array 704 (e.g., at the center of the non-focal direction 712). In another example, a phase difference between each of the antenna elements 706a-706h corresponding to the linear antenna array 704 can be used to guide the RF beam in one or more directions (e.g., directions corresponding to RF beam 710a, RF beam 710b, RF beam 710d, and / or RF beam 710e) along a non-focal direction 712.
[0107] Figure 8 A side view of a user equipment (UE) 800 including a beamforming device having a cylindrical lens is illustrated. In some aspects, the UE 800 may include a cylindrical lens 802. In some cases, the cylindrical lens 802 may correspond to a plano-convex lens, such as Figure 5 800. As illustrated, the cylindrical lens 802 is mounted along the top surface of the UE 800. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the cylindrical lens 802 may be positioned at any other suitable location (e.g., bottom, side, front, back, etc.) relative to the UE 800 for transmitting and receiving RF signals.
[0108] In some aspects, UE 800 may include one or more linear antenna arrays, such as linear antenna array 804a, linear antenna array 804b, and linear antenna array 804c. In some examples, each linear antenna array may include multiple antenna elements. For example, linear antenna array 804a may include antenna element 814. In some aspects, linear antenna array 804b and linear antenna array 804c may also include a series of antenna elements (not illustrated), which may be arranged in a direction substantially parallel to antenna element 814. In some configurations, each linear antenna array may use a phase shift between corresponding antenna elements (e.g., antenna element 814) to guide an RF beam along a non-focal direction 808.
[0109] In some examples, the RF beam can be steered along the power direction 810 of the cylindrical lens 802 based on the selection of the linear antenna array. For example, the selection of the linear antenna array 804a can be used to steer the RF beam in one direction along the power direction 810 corresponding to the RF beam 806a. In another example, the selection of the linear antenna array 804b can be used to steer the RF beam in one direction along the power direction 810 corresponding to the RF beam 806b. In another example, the selection of the linear antenna array 804c can be used to steer the RF beam in one direction along the power direction 810 corresponding to the RF beam 806c.
[0110] In some cases, each linear antenna array can be associated with a corresponding beam angle that is based on the position of each linear antenna array relative to the surface of the cylindrical lens. For example, each linear antenna array can be configured to steer an RF beam along a power direction 810 based on the position of the linear antenna array relative to a surface (e.g., flat surface 508 or curved surface 506) of the cylindrical lens 802. In one illustrative example, the linear antenna array 804b can be positioned behind the center of the cylindrical lens 802 and can be configured to steer the RF beam 806b at a 90 degree angle that can coincide with the center of the power direction 810.
[0111] In some examples, the distance 812 between the linear antenna arrays (e.g., linear antenna array 804a, linear antenna array 804b, and linear antenna array 804c) and the cylindrical lens 802 can be based on the back focal length of the cylindrical lens 802. In some cases, the linear antenna arrays can be positioned so that the corresponding RF beams (e.g., RF beam 806a, RF beam 806b, and RF beam 806c) are collimated along the focal direction 810 of the cylindrical lens 802.
[0112] Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a beam steering direction 900 of an RF beam 902 relative to a lens field of view (FOV) 904. As described above, a phased linear antenna array may be used to steer the RF beam along a non-focal direction 910 of a cylindrical lens, and a selection of a linear antenna array may be used to steer the RF beam along a focal direction 912 of a cylindrical lens. In some aspects, the overall direction of the RF beam may be based on a linear antenna array selected for beamforming (e.g., array selection beamforming) and phasing of antenna elements within the selected linear antenna array (e.g., phased array beamforming).
[0113] For example, Fig. 9As illustrated in FIG. 1 , movement of the RF beam 902 in a direction 908 corresponding to a focal direction 912 (e.g., movement of the RF beam 902 from (906a, 908a) to (906b, 908a)) can be based on selection of a different linear array using array selection beamforming. For example, selection of a different antenna array can move the RF beam 902 in the direction 908.
[0114] Similarly, movement of the RF beam 902 in the direction 906 corresponding to the non-focal power direction 910 (e.g., movement of the RF beam 902 from (906a, 908a) to (906a, 908b)) can be based on phased array beamforming (e.g., using the same antenna array with different antenna phasing). For example, phased array beamforming can move the RF beam 902 in the direction 906.
[0115] In one example, when array select beamforming corresponds to linear antenna array 906c and phased array beamforming corresponds to antenna phasing 908c, the direction of RF beam 902 may be substantially located at the center of lens FOV 904. In another example, by maintaining antenna phasing 908c and selecting linear antenna array 906b or linear antenna array 906a, the direction of RF beam 902 may be directed downward away from the center of lens FOV 904 along a power direction 912. In another example, by continuing to use linear antenna array 906c while using antenna phasing 908b or antenna phasing 908a, the direction of RF beam 902 may be directed rightward away from the center of lens FOV 904 along a non-power direction 910. Similar operations may be performed when linear antenna array 906d or linear antenna array 906e is used.
[0116] Fig.101008. FIG. 1009 is a diagram illustrating a portion of a beamforming device 1000 having a cylindrical lens according to some examples. In some aspects, the beamforming device 1000 may include one or more linear antenna arrays, such as linear antenna array 1002a, linear antenna array 1002b, and linear antenna array 1002c. In some cases, each linear antenna array may be positioned to steer a respective RF beam along a different angle corresponding to a focal direction of a cylindrical lens 1008. In some examples, each linear antenna array may include a plurality of antenna elements that may be configured to perform phased array beamforming to steer an RF beam along a non-focal direction of the cylindrical lens 1008. For example, the linear antenna array 1002a, the linear antenna array 1002b, and / or the linear antenna array 1002c may be configured to steer an RF beam 1010a through the cylindrical lens 1008 to transmit an output signal 1012. In another example, the linear antenna array 1002a, the linear antenna array 1002b, and / or the linear antenna array 1002c may be configured to direct the RF beam 1010b through the cylindrical lens 1008 to receive the input signal 1014.
[0117] In some examples, linear antenna arrays (e.g., linear antenna array 1002a, linear antenna array 1002b, and / or linear antenna array 1002c) may be configured as a receive antenna array or a transmit antenna array. In some cases, antenna elements corresponding to the receive antenna array may be interleaved with antenna elements corresponding to the transmit antenna array. For example, linear antenna array 1002a may be configured as a receive antenna array, and linear antenna array 1002b may be configured as a transmit antenna array. In some aspects, antenna elements corresponding to linear antenna array 1002a may be interleaved with antenna elements corresponding to linear antenna array 1002b.
[0118] In some aspects, each linear antenna array can be coupled to a respective switching network that can be used by controller 1006 to independently address and / or control each linear antenna array. For example, linear antenna array 1002a can be coupled to switching network 1004a, linear antenna array 1002b can be coupled to switching network 1004b, and linear antenna array 1002c can be coupled to switching network 1004c.
[0119] In some configurations, each switching network provides a connection to the controller 1006 for each respective linear antenna array. In some examples, the controller 1006 may address and control each linear antenna array individually (e.g., via the respective switching network). In some aspects, the controller 1006 may configure each linear antenna array to independently stream data (e.g., transmit or receive RF signals) and / or independently steer an RF beam to a particular direction. For example, the controller 1006 may configure the linear antenna array 1002a to steer an RF beam in a first direction and simultaneously configure the linear antenna array 1002b to steer an RF beam in a second direction different from the first direction. In some cases, the controller 1006 may configure multiple linear antenna arrays to steer beams in the same direction. For example, both the linear antenna array 1002b and the linear antenna array 1002c may be configured to receive an input signal 1014 using the RF beam 1010b.
[0120] Fig.11 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a linear transmit and receive antenna array configuration 1100. In some aspects, antenna array configuration 1100 can include lens 1102. In some cases, lens 1102 can correspond to a plano-convex lens, such as Figure 5 . In some examples, the antenna array configuration 1100 may include at least one receive antenna array 1106 and at least one transmit antenna array 1108. In some aspects, the receive antenna array 1106 may include a plurality of receive antenna elements 1110. In some configurations, the transmit antenna array 1108 may include a plurality of transmit antenna elements 1112.
[0121] In some examples, receive antenna elements 1110 may be aligned as a uniform linear array (ULA) in a first direction. In some cases, transmit antenna elements 1112 may be aligned as a ULA in a second direction. In some instances, the first direction may be parallel to the second direction (e.g., receive antenna array 1106 may be parallel to transmit antenna array 1108). In some examples, the first direction and the second direction may be perpendicular to a power direction 1114 of lens 1102 (e.g., parallel to a non-power direction 1116).
[0122] In some aspects, receive antenna element 1110 can be positioned on a first side of lens central axis 1104. In some cases, transmit antenna element 1112 can be positioned on a second side (e.g., opposite the first side) of lens central axis 1104. In some examples, receive antenna element 1110 and transmit antenna element 1112 can be equidistant from lens central axis 1104.
[0123] Fig.121 is a diagram illustrating an example of a linear transmit and receive antenna array configuration 1200. In some aspects, antenna array configuration 1200 may include lens 1202. In some cases, lens 1202 may correspond to a plano-convex lens, such as Figure 5 . In some examples, the antenna array configuration 1200 may include at least one receive antenna array 1206 and at least one transmit antenna array 1208. In some aspects, the receive antenna array 1206 may include a plurality of receive antenna elements 1210. In some configurations, the transmit antenna array 1208 may include a plurality of transmit antenna elements 1212.
[0124] In some examples, receive antenna elements 1210 can be aligned in the same direction as transmit antenna elements 1212. For example, receive antenna elements 1210 can be aligned as ULA along a direction parallel to lens central axis 1204, and transmit antenna elements 1212 can be aligned as ULA along the same direction parallel to lens central axis 1204. In some aspects, the directions of receive antenna elements 1210 and transmit antenna elements 1212 can be perpendicular to power direction 1214 (e.g., parallel to non-focal direction 1216).
[0125] Fig.13 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an interleaved transmit and receive antenna array configuration 1300. In some aspects, antenna array configuration 1300 may include lens 1302. In some cases, lens 1302 may correspond to a plano-convex lens, such as Figure 5 1300. In some examples, antenna array configuration 1300 may include at least one receive antenna array including receive antenna array element 1306. In some cases, antenna array configuration 1300 may include at least one transmit antenna array including transmit antenna array element 1308.
[0126] In some examples, receive antenna elements 1306 can be aligned in the same direction as transmit antenna elements 1308. For example, receive antenna elements 1306 can be aligned along a direction parallel to lens central axis 1304, and transmit antenna elements 1308 can be aligned along the same direction parallel to lens central axis 1304. In some aspects, receive antenna elements 1306 can be interlaced with transmit antenna elements 1308. In some aspects, the direction of linearly interlacing receive antenna elements 1306 and transmit antenna elements 1308 can be perpendicular to the power direction 1310 (e.g., parallel to the non-focal direction 1312).
[0127] Fig.141400 is a diagram illustrating an example of an interleaved transmit and receive antenna array configuration 1400. In some aspects, antenna array configuration 1400 may include lens 1402. In some cases, lens 1402 may correspond to a plano-convex lens, such as Figure 5 . In some examples, antenna array configuration 1400 may include at least one receive antenna array including receive antenna array element 1406. In some cases, antenna array configuration 1400 may include at least one transmit antenna array including transmit antenna array element 1408.
[0128] In some examples, a first portion of receive antenna elements 1406 may be interlaced with a first portion of transmit antenna elements 1408 along a first direction to form a first interlaced antenna array 1410. In some cases, a second portion of receive antenna elements 1406 may be interlaced with a second portion of transmit antenna elements 1408 along a second direction (e.g., parallel to the first direction) to form a second interlaced antenna array 1412. In some examples, the first interlaced antenna array 1410 may be positioned on a first side of the lens central axis 1404, and the second interlaced antenna array 1412 may be positioned on a second side of the lens central axis 1404 (e.g., opposite the first side). In some aspects, the interlaced antenna array 1410 and the interlaced antenna array 1412 may be perpendicular to the focal power direction 1414 (e.g., parallel to the non-focal power direction 1416). In some instances, the interlaced antenna array 1410 and the interlaced antenna array 1412 may be equidistant from the lens central axis 1404.
[0129] Fig.15 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an interleaved transmit and receive antenna array configuration 1500. In some aspects, antenna array configuration 1500 may include lens 1502. In some cases, lens 1502 may correspond to a plano-convex lens, such as Figure 5 . In some examples, antenna array configuration 1500 may include a first receive antenna array (which includes receive antenna elements 1506) and a second receive antenna array (which includes receive antenna elements 1510). In some cases, antenna array configuration 1500 may include a first transmit antenna array (which includes transmit antenna elements 1508) and a second transmit antenna array (which includes transmit antenna elements 1512).
[0130] In some examples, a first portion of receive antenna elements 1506 may be interlaced with a first portion of transmit antenna elements 1508 along a first direction to form a first interlaced antenna array 1514a. In some cases, a second portion of receive antenna elements 1506 may be interlaced with a second portion of transmit antenna elements 1508 along a second direction to form a second interlaced antenna array 1514b.
[0131] In some examples, a first portion of receive antenna elements 1510 may be interlaced with a first portion of transmit antenna elements 1512 along a third direction to form a first interlaced antenna array 1516a. In some cases, a second portion of receive antenna elements 1510 may be interlaced with a second portion of transmit antenna elements 1512 along a fourth direction to form a second interlaced antenna array 1516b. In some aspects, the first direction, the second direction, the third direction, and the fourth direction (e.g., corresponding to interlaced antenna arrays 1514a, 1514b, 1516a, and 1516b, respectively) may be parallel to each other and perpendicular to the power direction 1518 (e.g., parallel to the non-focal direction 1520).
[0132] In some examples, interleaved antenna array 1514a may be positioned on a first side of lens central axis 1504, and interleaved antenna array 1514b may be positioned on a second side (e.g., opposite to the first side) of lens central axis 1504. In some cases, interleaved antenna array 1516a may be positioned on a first side of lens central axis 1504, and interleaved antenna array 1516b may be positioned on a second side (e.g., opposite to the first side) of lens central axis 1504. In some aspects, interleaved antenna array 1514a and interleaved antenna array 1514b may be equidistant from lens central axis 1504. In some examples, interleaved antenna array 1516a and interleaved antenna array 1516b may be equidistant from lens central axis 1504.
[0133] Fig.16 1600 is a diagram illustrating another example of an interleaved transmit and receive antenna array configuration 1600. In some aspects, antenna array configuration 1600 may include lens 1602. In some cases, lens 1602 may correspond to a plano-convex lens, such as Figure 5 . In some examples, antenna array configuration 1600 may include a first receive antenna array (which includes receive antenna elements 1606), a second receive antenna array (which includes receive antenna elements 1610), and a third receive antenna array (which includes receive antenna elements 1614). In some cases, antenna array configuration 1600 may include a first transmit antenna array (which includes transmit antenna elements 1608), a second transmit antenna array (which includes transmit antenna elements 1612), and a third transmit antenna array (which includes transmit antenna elements 1616).
[0134] In some examples, a first portion of receive antenna elements 1606 may be interlaced with a first portion of transmit antenna elements 1608 along a first direction to form a first interlaced antenna array 1618a. In some cases, a second portion of receive antenna elements 1606 may be interlaced with a second portion of transmit antenna elements 1608 along a second direction to form a second interlaced antenna array 1618b.
[0135] In some examples, a first portion of receive antenna elements 1610 may be interlaced with a first portion of transmit antenna elements 1612 along a third direction to form a third interlaced antenna array 1620a. In some cases, a second portion of receive antenna elements 1610 may be interlaced with a second portion of transmit antenna elements 1612 along a fourth direction to form a fourth interlaced antenna array 1620b.
[0136] In some examples, a first portion of receive antenna elements 1614 may be interlaced with a first portion of transmit antenna elements 1616 along a fifth direction to form a fifth interlaced antenna array 1622a. In some cases, a second portion of receive antenna elements 1614 may be interlaced with a second portion of transmit antenna elements 1616 along a sixth direction to form a sixth interlaced antenna array 1622b.
[0137] In some aspects, the first direction, the second direction, the third direction, the fourth direction, the fifth direction, and the sixth direction (e.g., corresponding to the interleaved antenna arrays 1618a, 1618b, 1620a, 1620b, 1622a, and 1622b, respectively) may be parallel to each other and perpendicular to the focal direction 1624 (e.g., parallel to the non-focal direction 1626).
[0138] In some examples, interleaved antenna array 1618a may be positioned on a first side of lens central axis 1604, and interleaved antenna array 1618b may be positioned on a second side (e.g., opposite the first side) of lens central axis 1604. In some cases, interleaved antenna array 1618a and interleaved antenna array 1618b may be equidistant from lens central axis 1604. In some aspects, interleaved antenna array 1620a and interleaved antenna array 1620b may be positioned on a first side of lens central axis 1604. In some examples, interleaved antenna array 1622a and interleaved antenna array 1622b may be positioned on a second side (e.g., opposite the first side) of lens central axis 1604.
[0139] In some aspects, the design of antenna array configuration 1600 can prevent grating lobes that may occur in antenna arrays with large spacing, which are located on both sides of the lens central axis. By placing interleaved antenna array 1620a and interleaved antenna array 1620b (and interleaved antenna array 1622a and interleaved antenna array 1622b) on the same side of lens central axis 1604, interleaved antenna arrays 1620a, 1620b and / or interleaved antenna arrays 1622a, 1622b can be allowed to transmit beams in opposite directions / receive beams from opposite directions (e.g., interleaved antenna arrays 1620a, 1620b can transmit beams and / or receive beams through lens 1602 at lens positions that are on opposite sides of lens central axis 1604 relative to the positions of interleaved antenna arrays 1620a, 1620b).
[0140] Fig.17 A side view of a user equipment (UE) 1700 including a beamforming device having a cylindrical lens is illustrated. In some aspects, the UE 1700 may include a cylindrical lens 1702. In some cases, the cylindrical lens 1702 may correspond to a plano-convex lens, such as Figure 5 The cylindrical lens 500 is illustrated in FIG.
[0141] In some aspects, UE 1700 may include one or more interleaved antenna arrays, such as interleaved antenna array 1704a and interleaved antenna array 1704b. In some examples, each interleaved antenna array may include multiple transmit antenna elements and multiple receive antenna elements. For example, interleaved antenna array 1704a may include interleaved antenna element 1714a, and interleaved antenna array 1704b may include interleaved antenna element 1714b. In some examples, interleaved antenna element 1714a and interleaved antenna element 1714b may be parallel to each other and perpendicular to focal direction 1710. In some aspects, interleaved antenna array 1704a and interleaved antenna array 1704b may be located on either side of lens central axis 1712 (e.g., as Fig.14 exemplified in ).
[0142] In some cases, transmit antenna elements in interleaved antenna elements 1714a and transmit antenna elements in interleaved antenna elements 1714b may steer transmit beam 1706a along non-focal direction 1708. In some aspects, receive antenna elements in interleaved antenna elements 1714a and receive antenna elements in interleaved antenna elements 1714b may steer receive beam 1706b along non-focal direction 1708.
[0143] In some aspects, interleaved antenna array 1704a and interleaved antenna array 1704b may be used to generate TX beam 1706a (e.g., using transmit antenna elements in each of the respective arrays). In some examples, interleaved antenna array 1704a and interleaved antenna array 1704b may be used to generate RX beam 1706b (e.g., using receive antenna elements in each of the respective arrays). In some cases, TX beam 1706a and RX beam 1706b may be directed to the same or similar location. As illustrated, TX beam 1706a and RX beam 1706b substantially overlap and are directed to the center of cylindrical lens 1702.
[0144] Fig.18 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a process 1800 for performing wireless communications. In some aspects, process 1800 may be performed by, for example, a user equipment (UE), such as UE 104.
[0145] At block 1802, process 1800 includes the UE directing (e.g., steering, positioning, etc.) a first radio frequency beam in a first direction using a receive antenna array including a plurality of receive antenna elements disposed proximate to a first surface of a cylindrical lens having a curved second surface opposite the first surface. In some aspects, the first direction may correspond to a center of the cylindrical lens. For example, UE 1700 may direct RX beam 1706b in a first direction using a receive antenna array including a plurality of receive antenna elements disposed (e.g., configured, placed, positioned, etc.) proximate to a first surface of cylindrical lens 1702. In some cases, the receive antenna elements may be interleaved between interleaved antenna elements 1714a and interleaved antenna elements 1714b.
[0146] At block 1804, process 1800 includes directing, by the UE, a second RF beam in a second direction using a transmit antenna array including a plurality of transmit antenna array elements disposed proximate to a first surface of a cylindrical lens. In some cases, the second direction may also correspond to a center of the cylindrical lens. For example, UE 1700 may direct TX beam 1706a in a second direction using a transmit antenna array including a plurality of transmit antenna elements disposed (e.g., configured, placed, positioned, etc.) proximate to a first surface of cylindrical lens 1702. In some cases, the transmit antenna elements may be interleaved between interleaved antenna elements 1714a and interleaved antenna elements 1714b.
[0147] In some aspects, a first portion of receive antenna array elements may be interleaved with a first portion of transmit antenna array elements to form a first interleaved antenna array, and a second portion of receive antenna array elements may be interleaved with a second portion of transmit antenna array elements to form a second interleaved antenna array. For example, interleaved antenna array 1704a may include a first portion of transmit antenna elements and a first portion of receive antenna elements (e.g., interleaved antenna elements 1714a). In another example, interleaved antenna array 1704b may include a second portion of transmit antenna elements and a second portion of receive antenna elements (e.g., interleaved antenna elements 1714b).
[0148] In some examples, the first interlaced antenna array may be positioned on a first side of the lens central axis, and the second interlaced antenna array may be positioned on a second side of the lens central axis. For example, interlaced antenna array 1704a may be positioned on a first side of lens central axis 1712, and interlaced antenna array 1704b may be positioned on a second side of lens central axis 1712 (e.g., opposite the first side).
[0149] In some cases, the first interlaced antenna array and the second interlaced antenna array can be aligned in a direction parallel to the central axis of the lens. For example, the interlaced antenna array 1704a and the interlaced antenna array 1704b can be aligned in a direction parallel to the central axis 1712 of the lens (e.g., perpendicular to the focal direction 1710).
[0150] although Fig.18 An example block diagram of process 1800 is shown, but in some aspects, process 1800 may include Fig.18 The process 1800 may include more boxes, fewer boxes, different boxes, or boxes arranged in a different manner than those depicted in the process 1800. Additionally or alternatively, two or more boxes in the boxes of process 1800 may be executed in parallel.
[0151] In some examples, the processes described herein (e.g., process 1800 and / or other processes described herein) may be performed by a computing device or apparatus (e.g., a UE or a base station). In one example, process 1800 may be performed by Figure 2 The user equipment 104 and / or Figure 4 In another example, process 1800 may be performed by a wireless device 407 having Fig.19 The computing device of the computing system 1900 shown is executed.
[0152] In some cases, a computing device or apparatus may include various components, such as one or more input devices, one or more output devices, one or more processors, one or more microprocessors, one or more microcomputers, one or more cameras, one or more sensors, and / or other components configured to perform the steps of the processes described herein. In some examples, a computing device may include a display, one or more network interfaces configured to communicate and / or receive data, any combination thereof, and / or other components. The one or more network interfaces may be configured to communicate and / or receive wired and / or wireless data, including data in accordance with 3G, 4G, 5G, and / or other cellular standards, data in accordance with Wi-Fi (802.11x) standards, data in accordance with Bluetooth standards, and / or other wireless communication protocols. ™ Standard data, data according to the Internet Protocol (IP) standard and / or other types of data.
[0153] The components of the computing device may be implemented in circuits. For example, these components may include and / or may be implemented using electronic circuits or other electronic hardware, which may include one or more programmable electronic circuits (e.g., microprocessors, neural processing units (NPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), central processing units (CPUs), and / or other suitable electronic circuits), and / or these components may include and / or may be implemented using computer software, firmware, or any combination thereof for performing the various operations described herein.
[0154] Process 1800 is illustrated as a logic flow diagram, the operations of which represent a sequence of operations that can be implemented in hardware, computer instructions, or a combination thereof. In the context of computer instructions, each operation represents a computer-executable instruction stored on one or more computer-readable storage media that, when executed by one or more processors, performs the described operation. Generally speaking, computer-executable instructions include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific functions or implement specific data types. The order in which the operations are described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described operations may be combined in any order and / or in parallel to implement the process.
[0155] Additionally, process 1800 and / or other processes described herein may be performed under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, and may be implemented as code (e.g., executable instructions, one or more computer programs, or one or more applications) that is executed together on one or more processors, implemented by hardware, or implemented by a combination thereof. As noted above, the code may be stored on a computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium, for example, in the form of a computer program that includes a plurality of instructions that can be executed by one or more processors. The computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium may be non-transitory.
[0156] Fig.19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system for implementing certain aspects of the present technology. Specifically, Fig.19 An example of a computing system 1900 is illustrated, which may be any computing device, for example, constituting an internal computing system, a remote computing system, a camera, or any components thereof, wherein the components of the system communicate with each other using a connection 1905. The connection 1905 may be a physical connection using a bus, or a direct connection into the processor 1910, such as in a chipset architecture. The connection 1905 may also be a virtual connection, a networked connection, or a logical connection.
[0157] In some embodiments, computing system 1900 is a distributed system, where the functionality described in the present disclosure may be distributed within a data center, multiple data centers, a peer-to-peer network, etc. In some embodiments, one or more of the described system components represent a number of such components that each perform some or all of the functionality for which the component is described. In some embodiments, a component may be a physical device or a virtual device.
[0158] The example system 1900 includes at least one processing unit (CPU or processor) 1910 and connections 1905 that communicatively couple various system components including system memory 1915, such as read-only memory (ROM) 1920 and random access memory (RAM) 1925, to the processor 1910. The computing system 1900 may include a cache 1912 of high-speed memory directly connected to, in close proximity to, or integrated as part of the processor 1910.
[0159] Processor 1910 may include any general purpose processor and hardware or software services such as services 1932, 1934, and 1936 stored in storage device 1930 configured to control processor 1910, as well as a dedicated processor where software instructions are incorporated into the actual processor design. Processor 1910 may essentially be a completely independent computing system containing multiple cores or processors, buses, memory controllers, caches, etc. Multi-core processors may be symmetric or asymmetric.
[0160] To enable user interaction, the computing system 1900 includes an input device 1945 that can represent any number of input mechanisms, such as a microphone for voice, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or graphical input, a keyboard, a mouse, motion input, voice, etc. The computing system 1900 may also include an output device 1935, which may be one or more of a plurality of output mechanisms. In some examples, a multimodal system may enable a user to provide multiple types of input / output to communicate with the computing system 1900.
[0161] The computing system 1900 may include a communication interface 1940, which may generally govern and manage user input and system output. The communication interface may perform or facilitate receiving and / or sending wired or wireless communications using wired and / or wireless transceivers, including using audio jacks / plugs, microphone jacks / plugs, Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports / plugs, Apple ™ Lightning ™ Ports / plugs, Ethernet ports / plugs, Fiber optic ports / plugs, Dedicated wired ports / plugs, 3G, 4G, 5G and / or other cellular data network wireless signal delivery, Bluetooth ™ Wireless signal transmission, Bluetooth ™ Low energy (BLE) wireless signal transmission, IBEACON ™Wireless signaling, radio frequency identification (RFID) wireless signaling, near field communication (NFC) wireless signaling, dedicated short range communication (DSRC) wireless signaling, 802.11 Wi-Fi wireless signaling, wireless local area network (WLAN) signaling, visible light communication (VLC), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), infrared (IR) communication wireless signaling, public switched telephone network (PSTN) signaling, integrated services digital network (ISDN) signaling, ad hoc network signaling, radio wave signaling, microwave signaling, infrared signaling, visible light signaling, ultraviolet light signaling, wireless signaling along the electromagnetic spectrum, or some combination thereof. The communication interface 1940 may also include one or more global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers or transceivers for determining the location of the computing system 1900 based on receiving one or more signals from one or more satellites associated with one or more GNSS systems. GNSS systems include, but are not limited to, the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), and Europe's Galileo GNSS. There is no restriction to operating on any particular hardware arrangement, and thus the base features herein may be easily substituted for improved hardware or firmware arrangements as they are developed.
[0162] The storage device 1930 may be a non-volatile and / or non-transitory and / or computer-readable memory device, and may be a hard disk or other type of computer-readable medium that can store data accessible by a computer, such as a magnetic cassette, a flash memory card, a solid-state memory device, a digital versatile disk, a cassette, a floppy disk, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape, a magnetic stripe / magnetic stripe, any other magnetic storage medium, flash memory, a memristor memory, any other solid-state memory, a compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM) optical disk, a rewritable compact disk (CD) optical disk, a digital video disk (DVD) optical disk, a Blu-ray disc (BDD) optical disk, a holographic optical disk, another optical medium, a secure digital (SD) card, a micro secure digital (microSD) card, a Memory Stick ®card, a smart card chip, an EMV chip, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a mini / micro / nano / pico SIM card, another integrated circuit (IC) chip / card, a random access memory (RAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a flash EPROM (FLASHEPROM), a cache memory (e.g., a layer 1 (L1) cache, a layer 2 (L2) cache, a layer 3 (L3) cache, a layer 4 (L4) cache, a layer 5 (L5) cache, other (L#) cache), a resistive random access memory (RRAM / ReRAM), a phase change memory (PCM), a spin transfer torque RAM (STT-RAM), another memory chip or box, and / or a combination thereof.
[0163] Storage device 1930 may include software services, servers, services, etc., which, when the code defining such software is executed by processor 1910, causes the system to perform functions. In some embodiments, hardware services that perform specific functions may include software components for performing functions stored in a computer-readable medium connected to necessary hardware components such as processor 1910, connector 1905, output device 1935, etc. The term "computer-readable medium" includes, but is not limited to, portable or non-portable storage devices, optical storage devices, and various other media capable of storing, containing or carrying instructions and / or data. Computer-readable media may include non-transitory media in which data may be stored and does not include carrier waves and / or transient electronic signals propagated wirelessly or through wired connections. Examples of non-transitory media may include, but are not limited to, disks or tapes, optical storage media (such as compact disks (CDs) or digital versatile disks (DVDs)), flash memory, memory, or memory devices. A computer-readable medium may store thereon code and / or machine-executable instructions, which may represent a procedure, function, subprogram, program, routine, subroutine, module, software package, category, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and / or receiving information, data, independent variables, parameters, or memory contents. Information, independent variables, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or sent via any suitable means, including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network sending, etc.
[0164] Specific details are provided in the above description to provide a thorough understanding of each embodiment and each example provided herein, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the present application is not limited thereto. Therefore, although the exemplary embodiments of the present application have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concept can be embodied and adopted in various other ways, and the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including these variations, unless limited by the prior art. Various features and aspects of the above-mentioned applications can be used individually or in combination. In addition, without departing from the broader scope of this specification, the embodiments can be used in any number of environments and applications beyond the environment and application described herein. Therefore, the description and the accompanying drawings should be considered as illustrative rather than restrictive. For the purpose of illustration, each method is described in a specific order. It should be understood that in an alternative embodiment, each method can be performed in a different order than described.
[0165] For clarity of explanation, in some instances, the present technology may be presented as including separate functional blocks, which include devices, device components, steps or routines in the method embodied in software or a combination of hardware and software. Additional components other than those components shown in the drawings and / or described herein may be used. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form in order to avoid confusing these embodiments in unnecessary details. In other cases, known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures and techniques may be shown without necessary details in order to avoid confusing each embodiment.
[0166] In addition, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic steps described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various exemplary components, frames, modules, circuits, and steps have been generally described in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints proposed to the entire system. Those skilled in the art can implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.
[0167] Individual embodiments may be described above as processes or methods depicted as flow charts, flow diagrams, data flow diagrams, structure diagrams, or block diagrams. Although a flow chart may describe an operation as a sequential process, many of the operations may be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be rearranged. The process is terminated when the operations of the process are completed, but the process may have additional steps not included in the accompanying drawings. A process may correspond to a method, function, procedure, subroutine, subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, the termination of the process may correspond to the function returning to the calling function or main function.
[0168] The processes and methods according to the above examples can be implemented using stored computer executable instructions or otherwise obtained from computer readable media. These instructions may include, for example, instructions and data that configure a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or a processing device to perform a certain function or group of functions. Parts of the computer resources used can be accessed through a network. Computer executable instructions can be, for example, binary, intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, source code. Examples of computer readable media that can be used to store instructions, information used, and / or information created during the method according to the described examples include disks or optical disks, flash memories, USB devices with non-volatile memory, networked storage devices, etc.
[0169] In some embodiments, computer-readable storage devices, media, and memories may include wired or wireless signals containing bit streams, etc. However, when referred to, non-transitory computer-readable storage media explicitly excludes media such as power consumption, carrier signals, electromagnetic waves, and signals themselves.
[0170] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.
[0171] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or executed using hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or any combination thereof, and may be implemented in any of a variety of form factors. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, program code or code segments (e.g., computer program products) for performing necessary tasks may be stored in a computer-readable or machine-readable medium. The processor may perform the necessary tasks. Examples of various form factors include: laptops, smart phones, mobile phones, tablet devices, or other small form factor personal computers, personal digital assistants, rack-mounted devices, stand-alone devices, etc. The functionality described herein may also be embodied in peripheral devices or add-in cards. By way of additional examples, such functionality may also be implemented on circuit boards in different chips or different processes executed on a single device.
[0172] Instructions, media for conveying such instructions, computing resources for executing them, and other structures for supporting such computing resources are example means for providing the functionality described in this disclosure.
[0173] The techniques described herein may also be implemented in electronic hardware, computer software, firmware, or any combination thereof. Such techniques may be implemented in any of a variety of devices, such as general-purpose computers, wireless communication devices, or integrated circuit devices with multiple uses, including applications in wireless communication devices, mobile phones, and other devices. Any features described as modules or components may be implemented together in an integrated logic device or separately as discrete but interoperable logic devices. If implemented in software, the technology may be implemented at least in part by a computer-readable data storage medium including a program code, which includes instructions for executing one or more of the above methods, algorithms, and / or operations when executed. A computer-readable data storage medium may form part of a computer program product, which may include packaging materials. A computer-readable medium may include a memory or data storage medium, such as a random access memory (RAM) (such as a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM)), a read-only memory (ROM), a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a flash memory, a magnetic or optical data storage medium, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the technology may be implemented at least in part by a computer-readable communication medium that carries or communicates program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed, read, and / or executed by a computer, such as a propagated signal or wave.
[0174] The program code may be executed by a processor, which may include one or more processors, such as one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), general-purpose microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable logic arrays (FPGAs), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuits. Such a processor may be configured to perform any of the techniques described in this disclosure. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor; however, in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Therefore, the term "processor" as used herein may refer to any of the foregoing structures, any combination of the foregoing structures, or any other structure or device suitable for implementing the techniques described herein.
[0175] One of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the less than ("<") and greater than (">") symbols or terms used herein may be replaced by less than or equal to ("≤") and greater than or equal to ("≥") symbols, respectively, without departing from the scope of the present specification.
[0176] Where a component is described as being “configured to” perform certain operations, such configuration may be achieved, for example, by designing electronic circuits or other hardware to perform the operations, by programming programmable electronic circuits (e.g., a microprocessor or other suitable electronic circuits) to perform the operations, or any combination thereof.
[0177] The phrases “coupled to” or “communicatively coupled to” refer to any component being physically connected directly or indirectly to another component, and / or any component being in communication with another component directly or indirectly (e.g., connected to the other component via a wired or wireless connection and / or other suitable communication interface).
[0178] Claim language or other language reciting "at least one of" a set and / or "one or more of" a set indicates that one member of the set or multiple members of the set (in any combination) satisfies the claim. For example, claim language reciting "at least one of A and B" or "at least one of A or B" means A, B, or A and B. In another example, claim language reciting "at least one of A, B, and C" or "at least one of A, B, or C" means A, B, C, or A and B, or A and C, or B and C, A and B and C, or any repetition is information or data (e.g., A and A, B and B, C and C, A and A and B, etc.), or any other ordering, repetition, or combination of A, B, and C. The language "at least one of" a set and / or "one or more of" a set does not limit the set to the items listed in the set. For example, claim language stating "at least one of A and B" or "at least one of A or B" may mean A, B, or A and B, and may additionally include items not listed in the set of A and B.
[0179] Illustrative aspects of the present disclosure include:
[0180] Aspect 1. A wireless communication device, comprising: a cylindrical lens, the cylindrical lens having a first surface and a curved second surface opposite to the first surface, the cylindrical lens comprising a focal direction corresponding to the curvature of the curved second surface and a non-focal direction orthogonal to the focal direction; at least one receiving antenna array, the at least one receiving antenna array being arranged close to the first surface of the cylindrical lens, the at least one receiving antenna array comprising a plurality of receiving antenna array elements; and at least one transmitting antenna array, the at least one transmitting antenna array being arranged close to the first surface of the cylindrical lens, the at least one transmitting antenna array comprising a plurality of transmitting antenna array elements.
[0181] Aspect 2. A wireless communication device according to Aspect 1, wherein the multiple receiving antenna array elements are aligned in a first direction, and the multiple transmitting antenna array elements are aligned in a second direction parallel to the first direction, wherein the first direction and the second direction are perpendicular to the focal direction, and wherein the multiple receiving antenna array elements are positioned on a first side of a central axis of the lens, and the multiple transmitting antenna array elements are positioned on a second side of the central axis of the lens.
[0182] Aspect 3. A wireless communication device according to any one of Aspects 1 or 2, wherein the plurality of receiving antenna array elements are aligned with the plurality of transmitting antenna array elements in a direction perpendicular to the focal direction and parallel to a central axis of the lens.
[0183] Aspect 4. The wireless communication apparatus according to aspect 3, wherein the plurality of receive antenna array elements are interleaved with the plurality of transmit antenna array elements.
[0184] Aspect 5. A wireless communication device according to any one of Aspects 1 to 4, wherein a first portion of the multiple receiving antenna array elements are interlaced with a first portion of the multiple transmitting antenna array elements along a first direction to form a first interlaced antenna array, and a second portion of the multiple receiving antenna array elements are interlaced with a second portion of the multiple transmitting antenna array elements along a second direction to form a second interlaced antenna array, wherein the first direction and the second direction are perpendicular to the focal direction, and wherein the first interlaced antenna array is positioned on a first side of a central axis of a lens, and the second interlaced antenna array is positioned on a second side of the central axis of the lens.
[0185] Aspect 6. The wireless communication device according to Aspect 5, wherein the first interlaced antenna array and the second interlaced antenna array are equidistant from the lens central axis.
[0186] Aspect 7. A wireless communication device according to any one of Aspects 4 or 5, wherein the at least one receiving antenna array includes a second receiving antenna array, the second receiving antenna array includes a second plurality of receiving antenna array elements, and the at least one transmitting antenna array includes a second transmitting antenna array, the second transmitting antenna array includes a second plurality of transmitting antenna array elements.
[0187] Aspect 8. A wireless communication device according to Aspect 7, wherein a first portion of the second plurality of receiving antenna array elements is interlaced with a first portion of the second plurality of transmitting antenna array elements along a third direction to form a third interlaced antenna array, and a second portion of the second plurality of receiving antenna array elements is interlaced with a second portion of the second plurality of transmitting antenna array elements along a fourth direction to form a fourth interlaced antenna array, and wherein the third direction and the fourth direction are perpendicular to the focal direction.
[0188] Aspect 9. The wireless communication device according to Aspect 8, wherein the third interleaved antenna array and the fourth interleaved antenna array are positioned on the first side of the central axis of the lens.
[0189] Aspect 10. A wireless communication device according to aspect 8, wherein the third interleaved antenna array is positioned on the first side of the lens central axis, and the fourth interleaved antenna array is positioned on the second side of the lens central axis.
[0190] Aspect 11. The wireless communication device according to aspect 10, wherein the third interleaved antenna array and the fourth interleaved antenna array are equidistant from the lens central axis.
[0191] Aspect 12. A wireless communication device according to any one of Aspects 1 to 11, wherein a distance between the at least one receive antenna array and the first surface of the cylindrical lens corresponds to a back focal length of the cylindrical lens.
[0192] Aspect 13. A wireless communication device according to any one of Aspects 1 to 12, wherein a width dimension associated with the curvature of the curved second surface is less than or equal to a thickness of the wireless communication device.
[0193] Aspect 14. The wireless communication apparatus according to any one of aspects 1 to 13, wherein the wireless communication apparatus is configured as a user equipment (UE).
[0194] Aspect 15. A wireless communication device according to any one of aspects 1 to 14, wherein the first surface corresponds to a flat surface, and the curved second surface corresponds to a convex surface.
[0195] Aspect 16. A method for wireless communication, the method comprising: using a receive antenna array to direct a first radio frequency (RF) beam in a first direction, wherein the receive antenna array includes a plurality of receive antenna array elements, and the plurality of receive antenna array elements are arranged near a first surface of a cylindrical lens, and the cylindrical lens has a curved second surface opposite to the first surface; and using a transmit antenna array to direct a second RF beam in a second direction, wherein the transmit antenna array includes a plurality of transmit antenna array elements, and the plurality of transmit antenna array elements are arranged near the first surface of the cylindrical lens, and wherein the first direction and the second direction correspond to the center of the cylindrical lens.
[0196] Aspect 17. A method according to Aspect 16, wherein a first portion of the multiple receiving antenna array elements is interlaced with a first portion of the multiple transmitting antenna array elements to form a first interlaced antenna array, and a second portion of the multiple receiving antenna array elements is interlaced with a second portion of the multiple transmitting antenna array elements to form a second interlaced antenna array.
[0197] Aspect 18. The method according to aspect 17, wherein the first interlaced antenna array is positioned on a first side of a central axis of the lens, and the second interlaced antenna array is positioned on a second side of the central axis of the lens.
[0198] Aspect 19. The method according to aspect 17, wherein the first interlaced antenna array and the second interlaced antenna array are aligned in a direction parallel to a central axis of the lens.
[0199] Aspect 20. The method according to any one of aspects 17 to 19, wherein the first surface corresponds to a flat surface and the curved second surface corresponds to a convex surface.
[0200] Aspect 21. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor, the at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform operations according to any one of Aspects 16 to 20.
[0201] Aspect 22. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: means for performing the operations according to any one of aspects 16 to 20.
[0202] Aspect 23. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the operations according to any one of aspects 16 to 20.
Claims
1. A wireless communication device, comprising: A cylindrical lens having a first surface and a curved second surface opposite to the first surface, the cylindrical lens including a power direction corresponding to the curvature of the curved second surface and a non-power direction orthogonal to the power direction; at least one receiving antenna array, the at least one receiving antenna array being disposed proximate to the first surface of the cylindrical lens, the at least one receiving antenna array comprising a plurality of receiving antenna array elements; and At least one transmitting antenna array, the at least one transmitting antenna array is arranged close to the first surface of the cylindrical lens, and the at least one transmitting antenna array includes a plurality of transmitting antenna array elements.
2. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of receiving antenna array elements are aligned in a first direction, and the plurality of transmitting antenna array elements are aligned in a second direction parallel to the first direction, wherein the first direction and the second direction are perpendicular to the focal direction, and wherein the plurality of receiving antenna array elements are positioned on a first side of a central axis of a lens, and the plurality of transmitting antenna array elements are positioned on a second side of the central axis of the lens.
3. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of receiving antenna array elements are aligned with the plurality of transmitting antenna array elements in a direction perpendicular to the focal direction and parallel to a central axis of the lens. 4 . The wireless communication device of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of receive antenna array elements are interleaved with the plurality of transmit antenna array elements.
5. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein a first portion of the multiple receiving antenna array elements are interlaced with a first portion of the multiple transmitting antenna array elements along a first direction to form a first interlaced antenna array, and a second portion of the multiple receiving antenna array elements are interlaced with a second portion of the multiple transmitting antenna array elements along a second direction to form a second interlaced antenna array, wherein the first direction and the second direction are perpendicular to the focal direction, and wherein the first interlaced antenna array is positioned on a first side of a central axis of the lens, and the second interlaced antenna array is positioned on a second side of the central axis of the lens.
6. The wireless communication device of claim 5, wherein the first interleaved antenna array and the second interleaved antenna array are equidistant from a central axis of the lens.
7. A wireless communication device according to claim 5, wherein the at least one receive antenna array includes a second receive antenna array, the second receive antenna array includes a second plurality of receive antenna array elements, and the at least one transmit antenna array includes a second transmit antenna array, the second transmit antenna array includes a second plurality of transmit antenna array elements.
8. A wireless communication device according to claim 7, wherein a first portion of the second plurality of receiving antenna array elements is interlaced with a first portion of the second plurality of transmitting antenna array elements along a third direction to form a third interlaced antenna array, and a second portion of the second plurality of receiving antenna array elements is interlaced with a second portion of the second plurality of transmitting antenna array elements along a fourth direction to form a fourth interlaced antenna array, wherein the third direction and the fourth direction are perpendicular to the focal direction.
9. The wireless communication device of claim 8, wherein the third interleaved antenna array and the fourth interleaved antenna array are positioned on the first side of the lens central axis.
10. The wireless communication device of claim 8, wherein the third interleaved antenna array is positioned on the first side of the lens central axis, and the fourth interleaved antenna array is positioned on the second side of the lens central axis.
11. The wireless communication device of claim 10, wherein the third interleaved antenna array and the fourth interleaved antenna array are equidistant from a central axis of the lens.
12. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein a distance between the at least one receive antenna array and the first surface of the cylindrical lens corresponds to a back focal length of the cylindrical lens.
13. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein a width dimension associated with the curvature of the curved second surface is less than or equal to a thickness of the wireless communication device.
14. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication device is configured as a user equipment (UE). 15 . The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the first surface corresponds to a flat surface, and the curved second surface corresponds to a convex surface.
16. A method of wireless communication, the method comprising: directing a first radio frequency (RF) beam in a first direction using a receive antenna array, wherein the receive antenna array includes a plurality of receive antenna array elements disposed proximate a first surface of a cylindrical lens, the cylindrical lens having a curved second surface opposite the first surface; as well as Directing a second RF beam in a second direction using a transmit antenna array, wherein the transmit antenna array includes a plurality of transmit antenna array elements, the plurality of transmit antenna array elements are disposed proximate to the first surface of the cylindrical lens, and wherein the first direction and the second direction correspond to a center of the cylindrical lens.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein a first portion of the plurality of receive antenna array elements are interlaced with a first portion of the plurality of transmit antenna array elements to form a first interlaced antenna array, and a second portion of the plurality of receive antenna array elements are interlaced with a second portion of the plurality of transmit antenna array elements to form a second interlaced antenna array.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the first interlaced antenna array is positioned on a first side of a lens central axis and the second interlaced antenna array is positioned on a second side of the lens central axis.
19. The method of claim 17, wherein the first interlaced antenna array and the second interlaced antenna array are aligned in a direction parallel to a central axis of a lens.
20. The method of claim 16, wherein the first surface corresponds to a flat surface and the curved second surface corresponds to a convex surface.
21. An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: at least one memory, the at least one memory comprising instructions; and at least one processor configured to execute the instructions and cause the apparatus to: directing a first radio frequency (RF) beam in a first direction using a receive antenna array, wherein the receive antenna array includes a plurality of receive antenna array elements disposed proximate a first surface of a cylindrical lens, the cylindrical lens having a curved second surface opposite the first surface; as well as Directing a second RF beam in a second direction using a transmit antenna array, wherein the transmit antenna array includes a plurality of transmit antenna array elements, the plurality of transmit antenna array elements are disposed proximate to the first surface of the cylindrical lens, and wherein the first direction and the second direction correspond to a center of the cylindrical lens.
22. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein a first portion of the multiple receiving antenna array elements is interlaced with a first portion of the multiple transmitting antenna array elements to form a first interlaced antenna array, and a second portion of the multiple receiving antenna array elements is interlaced with a second portion of the multiple transmitting antenna array elements to form a second interlaced antenna array.
23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the first interlaced antenna array is positioned on a first side of a lens central axis and the second interlaced antenna array is positioned on a second side of the lens central axis.
24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the first interlaced antenna array and the second interlaced antenna array are aligned in a direction parallel to a central axis of a lens.
25. The device of claim 21, wherein the first surface corresponds to a flat surface and the curved second surface corresponds to a convex surface.
26. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising: At least one instruction for causing a computer or processor to: directing a first radio frequency (RF) beam in a first direction using a receive antenna array, wherein the receive antenna array includes a plurality of receive antenna array elements disposed proximate a first surface of a cylindrical lens, the cylindrical lens having a curved second surface opposite the first surface; as well as Directing a second RF beam in a second direction using a transmit antenna array, wherein the transmit antenna array includes a plurality of transmit antenna array elements, the plurality of transmit antenna array elements are disposed proximate to the first surface of the cylindrical lens, and wherein the first direction and the second direction correspond to a center of the cylindrical lens.
27. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 26, wherein a first portion of the multiple receive antenna array elements are interlaced with a first portion of the multiple transmit antenna array elements to form a first interlaced antenna array, and a second portion of the multiple receive antenna array elements are interlaced with a second portion of the multiple transmit antenna array elements to form a second interlaced antenna array.
28. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 27, wherein the first interlaced antenna array is positioned on a first side of a lens central axis and the second interlaced antenna array is positioned on a second side of the lens central axis.
29. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 27, wherein the first interlaced antenna array and the second interlaced antenna array are aligned in a direction parallel to a central axis of a lens.
30. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 26, wherein the first surface corresponds to a flat surface and the curved second surface corresponds to a convex surface.
