Apparatus and method for proximity sensing

Abstract

A system and method for proximity detection using a phased antenna array including a plurality of antenna elements is disclosed. A method includes transmitting a transmission signal via a first antenna element and a second antenna element among a plurality of antenna elements; determining, for the first antenna element, a first power of a first injection signal and a second power of a first reflection signal corresponding to the transmission signal; determining, for the second antenna element, a third power of a second injection signal and a fourth power of a second reflection signal corresponding to the transmission signal; calculating a first power metric for the first antenna element; calculating a second power metric for the second antenna element; comparing the first power metric to a first threshold; comparing the second power metric to a second threshold; and determining whether an object is detected within the proximity of the phased antenna array based on at least one of a comparison of the first power metric to a first threshold or a comparison of the second power metric to a second threshold.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 63 / 513,605 and 63 / 513,742, both filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on July 14, 2023, and to U.S. Patent Application No. 18 / 767,412 filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on July 9, 2024, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties as if fully set forth herein. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure generally relates to combined physical proximity sensing and wireless transmission in a joint communication and sensing system. More specifically, the subject matter disclosed herein relates to improvements to the use of multiple transmit antenna paths of fifth generation (5G) phased arrays to reliably detect the presence of nearby human bodies or objects while relying only on already existing hardware for wireless communications, thereby providing a cost-effective solution. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communications in the millimeter wave frequency range FR2 of the 5G cellular band (above 24 GHz) utilize high-gain antenna array beams designed to provide more directional transmissions, which will more effectively overcome propagation losses and minimize interference to other users. Therefore, nearby objects (such as human bodies) present in the antenna beam can obstruct the beam and degrade the wireless communication link performance, and may also be exposed to electromagnetic field (EMF) power density (PD) levels that exceed the permissible limits established by regulatory agencies.

[0005] Regulations set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other regulatory agencies such as the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) define limits on the amount of radiation a user can be exposed to within a specific period of time. This limit is called the Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE) for 5G FR2 operation, and it is set to a maximum PD of 1 mW / cm2 averaged over a duration of 4 seconds.

[0006] When a human body is in close proximity to an FR2 radio, the radiation exposure to the human body may exceed the MPE level, which will necessitate reducing the transmitter's output power level and / or its operating duty cycle. This may occur when the transmit antenna or antenna array is pointed at the human body or positioned close to the human body (e.g., within 10 cm of the transmit point).

[0007] To ensure that a wireless device complies with PD limits in environments where humans may be moving around it, it may be necessary for the wireless device to have the ability to detect the presence of a human body during its transmissions and periodically determine whether it must limit its transmissions in power and / or duration.

[0008] Proximity detection can also help maintain communication link performance by allowing the transmission to be switched to a different beam (i.e., angle switching) or by switching entirely to a different antenna array module co-located on a user equipment (UE) where there is no object in its beam.

[0009] Therefore, mmWave radio should have sufficient capability to detect the presence of human body / obstacles.

[0010] To address this need, proximity sensors based on light, infrared (IR), capacitive sensors, or image / camera sensors can be used to detect the presence of a human body / obstruction. In addition, frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) based radar solutions (e.g., in the 60 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band) can be used. However, each of these attempted solutions requires dedicated hardware or requires a separate substrate real estate for a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) implementation, resulting in increased size, weight, power consumption, and cost of the final product.

[0011] Additionally, FMCW radar-based solutions have limitations on the minimum detectable range and challenges with addressing the higher chirp bandwidth required at small distances.

[0012] Other approaches based on various sensors also have issues like interference in extreme environments or scenes where sensor readings fall into an indistinguishable range, which may result in false positive / false negative detections. Summary of the invention

[0013] To overcome these issues, systems and methods are described herein that use multiple transmit antenna paths of a FR2 phased array to reliably detect the presence of a person or object without dedicated or additional hardware beyond that already used for conventional FR2 mmWave cellular operations.

[0014] These approaches improve upon previous approaches because they do not require the use of dedicated or additional hardware, thereby reducing size, weight, power consumption, and cost.

[0015] In an embodiment, a method for proximity detection using a phased antenna array including a plurality of antenna elements is provided. The method includes: transmitting a transmission signal via a first antenna element and a second antenna element among the plurality of antenna elements; determining a first power of a first injection signal and a second power of a first reflected signal corresponding to the transmission signal for the first antenna element; determining a third power of a second injection signal and a fourth power of a second reflected signal corresponding to the transmission signal for the second antenna element; calculating a first power metric based on at least one of the first power of the first injection signal or the second power of the first reflected signal for the first antenna element; calculating a second power metric based on at least one of the third power of the second injection signal or the fourth power of the second reflected signal for the second antenna element; comparing the first power metric with a first threshold; comparing the second power metric with a second threshold; and determining whether an object is detected within a proximity range of the phased antenna array based on at least one of the comparison of the first power metric with the first threshold or the comparison of the second power metric with the second threshold.

[0016] In an embodiment, a system includes: an antenna array including a plurality of antenna elements; and a processor configured to send a transmission signal via a first antenna element and a second antenna element among the plurality of antenna elements, determine a first power of a first injection signal and a second power of a first reflected signal corresponding to the transmission signal for the first antenna element, determine a third power of a second injection signal and a fourth power of a second reflected signal corresponding to the transmission signal for the second antenna element, calculate a first power metric based on at least one of the first power of the first injection signal or the second power of the first reflected signal for the first antenna element, calculate a second power metric based on at least one of the third power of the second injection signal or the fourth power of the second reflected signal for the second antenna element, compare the first power metric with a first threshold, compare the second power metric with a second threshold, and determine whether an object is detected within a proximity range of the phased antenna array based on at least one of the comparison of the first power metric with the first threshold or the comparison of the second power metric with the second threshold. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] In the following sections, various aspects of the subject matter disclosed herein will be described with reference to exemplary embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0018] Figure 1 A multi-antenna based proximity detection system according to an embodiment is shown;

[0019] Figure 2 illustrates a multi-antenna based proximity detection operation according to an embodiment;

[0020] Figure 3 shows the combined signal y on the complex IQ plane according to an embodimentn (t) Example;

[0021] Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method for proximity detection using a phased antenna array including a plurality of antenna elements according to an embodiment;

[0022] Figure 5 is a block diagram of an electronic device in a network environment according to an embodiment; and

[0023] Figure 6 A system including a UE and a gNB communicating with each other is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] In the following detailed description, many specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the disclosed aspects may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, processes, components, and circuits are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the subject matter disclosed herein.

[0025] References throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" mean that the specific features, structures, or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment disclosed herein. Therefore, the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" or "according to an embodiment" (or other phrases with similar meanings) that appear in various places throughout this specification may not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment. In addition, specific features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In this regard, as used herein, the word "exemplary" means "used as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" should not be interpreted as necessarily being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. In addition, specific features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In addition, depending on the context discussed herein, a singular term may include a corresponding plural form, and a plural term may include a corresponding singular form. Similarly, hyphenated terms (e.g., "two-dimensional," "predetermined," "pixel-specific," etc.) may occasionally be used interchangeably with corresponding non-hyphenated versions (e.g., "two-dimensional," "predetermined," "pixel-specific," etc.), and capitalized terms (e.g., "counter clock," "row select," "pixel output," etc.) may be used interchangeably with corresponding non-capitalized versions (e.g., "counter clock," "row select," "pixel output," etc.). Such occasional interchangeable usage should not be considered inconsistent with one another.

[0026] In addition, depending on the context discussed herein, singular terms may include corresponding plural forms, and plural terms may include corresponding singular forms. It should also be noted that the various drawings (including component drawings) shown and discussed herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not drawn to scale. For example, for clarity, the size of some elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements. In addition, if deemed appropriate, reference numerals are repeated in the drawings to indicate corresponding and / or similar elements.

[0027] The terms used herein are only used for the purpose of describing some example embodiments and are not intended to limit the claimed subject matter. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to also include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that when used in this specification, the terms "include" and / or "comprise" specify the presence of the features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0028] It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being on, "connected to" or "coupled to" another element or layer, it can be directly on, connected to or coupled to another element or layer, or there may be intermediate elements or layers. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on," "directly connected to" or "directly coupled to" another element or layer, there are no intermediate elements or layers. The same reference numerals always refer to the same elements. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0029] As used herein, the terms "first," "second," and the like are used as labels for the nouns that follow them and do not imply any type of ordering (e.g., spatial, temporal, logical, etc.) unless explicitly so defined. In addition, the same reference numerals may be used across two or more figures to refer to parts, components, blocks, circuits, units, or modules having the same or similar functions. However, this usage is only for simplicity of illustration and ease of discussion; it does not mean that the construction or architectural details of such components or units are the same across all embodiments, or that such commonly referenced components / modules are the only way to implement some example embodiments disclosed herein.

[0030] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the subject matter belongs. It will be further understood that terms (such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries) should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art, and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless explicitly so defined herein.

[0031] As used herein, the term "module" refers to any combination of software, firmware, and / or hardware configured to provide the functionality described herein in conjunction with the module. For example, software may be embodied as a software package, code, and / or instruction set or instructions, and the term "hardware" as used in any implementation described herein may include, for example, individually or in any combination, an assembly, a hardwired circuit, a programmable circuit, a state machine circuit, and / or firmware storing instructions executed by a programmable circuit. Modules may collectively or individually be embodied as circuits forming part of a larger system, such as, but not limited to, an integrated circuit (IC), a system on a chip (SoC), a component, and the like.

[0032] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, multiple transmit antenna paths of a FR2 phased array may be used to reliably detect the proximity of a person or object without using dedicated or additional hardware beyond that already used for conventional FR2 mmWave cellular operations, thereby providing a zero-cost implementation of this feature.

[0033] A typical FR2 radio includes a phased array, which includes more than one antenna element for increased directivity. In a phased array for transmission, power from the transmitter is fed to the antenna elements through processor-controlled devices called phase shifters, which are able to electronically change the phase or signal delay to steer the radiated beam in a desired direction. When used for reception, the phased array coherently combines the power received from its multiple antenna elements with appropriate phase shifts to produce directivity (increased receive gain) in a specific desired direction.

[0034] Typically, each transmit path includes one or more power detectors capable of monitoring a first power injected into an antenna element and a second power reflected by the antenna element. The reflected signal (or reverse signal) may be the sum of a reflected signal due to impedance mismatch (i.e., electrical reflection) and a mutual coupling signal from other antenna elements in a free space propagation scenario (i.e., without electromagnetic reflection).

[0035] During the transmission interval, if there is a human body in the transmit beam, the electromagnetic signal reflected from the human body picked up simultaneously by the transmit antenna (i.e., the antenna receives while transmitting) will be superimposed on top of the above-mentioned ambient reverse signal, which may change the total power level detected by the reverse power detector depending on the composite vector sum of the electromagnetic reflection signal and the ambient reverse signal.

[0036] Because of the inherently different active scattering parameters at each antenna element in the phased array, the received power due to the ambient reverse power can be different in the detector of each antenna path, and the addition of the reflected signal from the human body can produce different power changes in each of the multiple antenna paths and can be used for proximity detection according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure provides various techniques for detecting a human body based on power detector readings from multiple antenna paths while minimizing the probability of false detection (i.e., erroneously generating an alarm corresponding to the close proximity of a human).

[0037] Figure 1 A multi-antenna based proximity detection system according to an embodiment is shown. For example, the system may be a cellular phone, a tablet computer, or any other device configured to communicate using radio frequency (RF) signals.

[0038] refer to Figure 1 The system includes an antenna array, which includes antenna elements 100-1 to 100-N, bidirectional couplers 101-1 to 101-N corresponding to each of the antenna elements 100-1 to 100-N, respectively, transmission power amplifiers 102-1 to 102-N corresponding to each of the antenna elements 100-1 to 100-N, respectively, a transceiver 103 and a processor 105.

[0039] The processor 105 may be a central processing unit (CPU) of the system, a baseband processor included in a baseband modem, etc. The processor 105 may control the overall operation of the system.

[0040] The transceiver 103 , which may include a transmitter and a receiver, may be a typical component and used for participating in radio communications between the system and another communicating entity.

[0041] The transceiver 103 and the processor 105 may be part of a common chipset or implemented in a combination of different chipsets or other implementations without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0042] Each of the transmit power amplifiers 102-1 to 102-N may be used to amplify a signal for transmission via each of the antenna elements 100-1 to 100-N.

[0043] Each of the bidirectional couplers 101-1 to 101-N can be used to measure the power of the signal injected and reflected by each of the corresponding antenna elements 100-1 to 100-N. These measurements (e.g., forward power measurements (P fwd ) and reverse power measurement (P rev)) is fed back to the processor 105 and can be used for object detection. The number of bidirectional couplers 101-1 to 101-N and antenna elements 100-1 to 100-N, ie, N, can vary depending on the system design.

[0044] although Figure 1 An example of a system according to an embodiment is shown, but the system may also be implemented in other configurations without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. That is, the system is not limited to Figure 1 The configuration shown in and may include additional components, such as memory, power amplifiers, digital-to-analog converters (DACs), analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), for example, to convert measurements received from bidirectional couplers 101-1 to 101-N, etc., or include fewer components.

[0045] During the transmission operation, the signal is supplied from the transceiver 103 to the antenna elements 100-1 to 100-N via the transmission power amplifiers 102-1 to 102-N. The antenna elements 100-1 to 100-N receive the signal from the transceiver 103 and radiate the signal as radio waves. One of the ports of the bidirectional coupler (101-1 to 101-N) couples a small amount of signal injected into the antenna.

[0046] However, typically, a portion of the transmitted signal is reflected back, and the amount of the signal reflected back is tracked through the other port of the bidirectional coupler. The portion of the transmitted signal that is reflected back may be a function of the antenna loading.

[0047] In addition to the reflected signal caused by the impedance mismatch, in an active phased array, the reverse signal / power also becomes a function of the power transmitted by the other antennas due to the inevitable mutual coupling between the antenna elements 100-1 to 100-N. These physical phenomena set the ambient signal power level seen at the reverse port of the directional coupler under free space radiation of the device, i.e., when there are no objects in its vicinity.

[0048] In addition, the reverse signal seen by the bidirectional couplers 101-1 to 101-N may also be affected by signal reflections from nearby objects (e.g., a human body) when present during operation of the system. A portion of the transmitted signal reflected from this body or object (e.g., a user's hand, head, etc.) will be picked up by the system's antenna and will be added to the ambient reverse signal (which is already present due to impedance mismatch and mutual coupling), and depending on how these multiple on-frequency contributing factors add up as a vector (i.e., based on their relative amplitudes and phases), this may significantly change the measured power level seen at the reverse signal output from the coupler.

[0049] More specifically, a bidirectional coupler couples a small portion of both the forward and reverse signals passing through it (hence the name bidirectional), allowing tracking of the power injected into the antenna and the power reflected back from the antenna. Since any reflection from an object picked up by the antenna will also appear as a reverse signal, it will be superimposed on the ambient reverse signal mentioned above, and the combined signal will appear in the reverse port of the coupler.

[0050] Figure 2 A multi-antenna based proximity detection operation according to an embodiment is shown.

[0051] refer to Figure 2 , the user's hand 210 is present during operation of the system 201, and a portion of the signal transmitted from the system 201 is reflected from the user's hand 210 and fed back into the system 201 because the system's antenna can transmit and receive simultaneously.

[0052] exist Figure 2 In, x n (t) represents the signal entering the nth antenna, and y n (t) denotes the total reverse signal captured from the forward and reverse ports of the bidirectional coupler, respectively, at the nth antenna path, and can be expressed as given in the following equation (1).

[0053]

[0054] In equation (1), r n (t) is the reflected signal picked up by the nth antenna after being scattered by a human body (e.g., the user's hand 210) or an object, and are the active S parameters of the antenna array. Active S parameters are used in an array environment, while S parameters are used for a single antenna. The active S parameters of an antenna in an array are its S parameters when the other antennas are excited. It can be defined as shown in the following equation (2):

[0055]

[0056] In equation (2), S nm represents the conventional N-port S-parameters, and x m (t) represents the signal injected into the mth antenna.

[0057] The active S parameters in equation (2) The reflection effect due to the impedance mismatch at the nth antenna port and the mutual coupling effect from the active transmission of other antennas are combined. In general, S in equation (2) nn The term is superior to the mutual coupling term in the summation.

[0058] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the reverse power levels from all or a subset of antennas of a phased array may be fused for improved detection of close proximity objects.

[0059] Figure 3 shows the combined signal y on the complex IQ plane according to an embodiment n (t) example.

[0060] refer to Figure 3 ,when (i.e., when the ambient reverse power is much stronger than the reflected signal from the object so that the two cannot cancel each other out), the signal y n (t) is shown graphically.

[0061] like Figure 3 As shown, when there is a reflection signal from a nearby object, except when y n (t) The signal level falls outside the two uncertainty regions 301, and the signal of interest y n (t) will have a different signal / power level than the "no object" present scenario. The change in power level seen in the coupler's reverse port due to the presence of an object allows the detection algorithm to identify the presence of a nearby human body / object.

[0062] The uncertainty region 301 corresponds to two unique distances in each half-wavelength increment (of the carrier frequency) of the distance from the transmission array (in a periodic manner), as long as That's it.

[0063] when , no such uncertainty region will appear, which will not lead to any ambiguity in the detection.

[0064] when These uncertainty regions experienced when objects are at certain distances lead to possible false detections, which motivates the algorithm to use additional inputs to decide y n When the signal level of (t) falls into the "uncertainty region". Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, y from multiple antennas is used. n (t) signal, where the uncertainty region for each antenna may fall in different situations (i.e., when the object is placed at different distances from the array).

[0065] Due to the variations in antenna array geometry and the output impedance level of each power amplifier driving each antenna port, the The complex values ​​will have different amplitude and phase values. Therefore, it is probabilistically unlikely that all uncertainty points in each antenna in the array occur for the same distance from the transmit point. Therefore, probing all or multiple antenna elements and using them with the detection algorithm allows for improved detection while avoiding uncertainty areas regarding ambient reverse power levels that may occur in individual antenna paths.

[0066] In order to facilitate calibration and processing of multiple different radiation power levels, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a detection algorithm is provided to detect the power ratio level q at each path. n (t) works as defined in equation (3) below.

[0067]

[0068] The proximity detection method comprises a calibration phase during which a threshold level is determined for later detection.

[0069] Table 1 shows an algorithm for a calibration step used with a multi-antenna detection scheme according to an embodiment. That is, Table 1 shows a simplified calibration process for each frequency f.

[0070] Table 1

[0071]

[0072]

[0073] The calibration routine in the algorithm of Table 1 determines the mean and standard deviation of the reference levels associated with the power ratio for a given operating frequency. The standard deviation can be attributed to fluctuations in the measurement of the reference levels from sources such as natural additive noise and quantization noise experienced in the digitization of the readings from the power detector.

[0074] Then, according to an embodiment, the calculated thresholds from Table 1 can be used in an algorithm of a real-time detection process as shown in Table 2, where a logical operation OR is used to determine whether the power ratio in at least one of the N antennas has exceeded a threshold set therefor based on the calibration step. That is, Table 2 shows a detection process for a given carrier frequency f of operation.

[0075] Table 2

[0076]

[0077]

[0078] As shown in Table 2 above, the estimation of the forward to reverse power ratio and the established threshold μ q,f and σ q,fAny power ratio measured outside the threshold region in any antenna path can be considered as a detection of an object.

[0079] Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method for proximity detection using a phased antenna array including a plurality of antenna elements according to an embodiment.

[0080] refer to Figure 4 In step 401, a transmission signal is sent from each of at least two antenna elements among a plurality of antenna elements. Figure 1 As shown, processor 105 controls transceiver 103 to transmit signals through antenna elements 100-1 through 100-N. As described above, all or a subset of the antennas of a phased array may be fused to improve detection of close proximity objects.

[0081] In step 402, the power level of the signal injected into the antenna element and the power level of the reflected signal corresponding to the sum of the active S-parameters and the reflection of the object are determined. That is, x is determined as described above with reference to equations (1) and (2). n (t) and y n (t). For example, Figure 1 As shown, bidirectional couplers 101-1 to 101-N can be used to measure the power of forward and reverse signals at each of the corresponding antenna paths 100-1 to 100-N, where the reverse signal can be the result of active S-parameter-based reflections of the environment and any reflected signals from objects (e.g., a human body) present during system operation.

[0082] As described above, in an active phased array, a portion of the transmitted signal reflected from a nearby object (e.g., a user's hand, head, etc.) will be picked up by the system's antenna and will be added to the ambient reverse signal (already present due to impedance mismatch and mutual coupling), and this may change the total reverse power level seen at the reverse signal output from the coupler in that case, allowing it to be distinguishable from the power level measured before the object was present.

[0083] In step 403, a power metric, such as a power ratio, is calculated for the antenna element based on the determined power of the signal injected into the antenna element (i.e., forward power) and the determined power of the reflected signal corresponding to the injected signal (i.e., reverse power), for example using equation (3) above.

[0084] In step 404, for each of the calculated signal power ratios, it is determined whether it is greater than the first threshold or less than at least a second threshold, for example, as shown in Table 2.

[0085] As shown in Table 1 above, the first threshold can be the average signal power ratio among all calculated signal power ratios, and the second threshold can be set to a certain multiple of the standard deviation of the signal power ratios calculated when no object is present during operation. The lower the multiple, the more sensitive the detection will be, while also increasing the probability of false detection, thereby representing a trade-off in setting its value.

[0086] In the example embodiment of Table 2, this factor is set to 3, for which the probability of false detection is known to be about 0.3% (for a Gaussian distribution). Thus, for a system with N antennas, the error probability will be in the order of N·0.3%.

[0087] In step 405, in response to determining that the signal power ratio calculated in any one of the considered antenna elements is greater than or less than the first threshold to at least a second threshold, it is determined that an object is detected in the vicinity.

[0088] In step 406, in response to determining that the signal power ratio calculated in any of any of the considered antenna elements is not greater than the first threshold to at least the second threshold, it is determined that the object is not detected.

[0089] After step 405 or 406, the result is indicated to the appropriate device or module for appropriate processing in step 407. For example, for a device such as a 5G mobile handset, after step 405, the indication in step 407 may be useful for determining that the transmit power may need to be reduced in order to avoid violating regulatory exposure limits. Similarly, after step 406, the indication in step 407 may be useful for determining that the transmit power and duty cycle may remain unrestricted, thereby avoiding possible tradeoffs in uplink throughput / range.

[0090] When it is determined that an object is detected in the vicinity of the antenna array, the transmission power of the device and / or its duty cycle may be reduced accordingly.

[0091] After step 407, the method returns to step 401 to repeat the process.

[0092] Although the signal power ratio is used in steps 403 to 406 as described above Figure 4 , but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. That is, instead of using a signal power ratio, a different power metric may be calculated based on the power level of the signal injected into the antenna element and the power level of the reflected signal corresponding to the sum of the active S-parameters and the reflection from the object. For example, a similar determination may be based on measurements of reverse power without "normalizing" them to forward power, or a similar determination may be based on measurements of reverse power and then considering the forward power alone and combined with the reverse power measurement.

[0093] When an object is particularly close to the antennas (e.g., when a hand is gripping a mobile device where the antennas are located, or when a handset is placed against the ear / head), the effect on the effective impedance of the antennas may be substantial enough to cause the measurement of the forward power fed to them to be significantly affected. Thus, according to an embodiment, the detection metric may include utilizing a threshold value of the amount of change in the forward power measurement that will trigger a proximity detection event.

[0094] On the other hand, the reverse power measurement is generally more sensitive to changes in reflected power, which may be caused by the presence of an object at a greater distance, where it does not significantly affect the antenna impedance and may therefore not be detected in the forward power measurement. However, the measurement of reverse power may also be more susceptible to environmental changes, including temperature. Therefore, according to an embodiment, a more accurate calibration and compensation process can be utilized, wherein the reverse power is determined without any approaching object (e.g., factory calibration), and the reference measurement can then be compensated for environmental conditions, such as temperature and other changes, to allow for greater sensitivity in detecting changes caused by the object being detected. In the absence of such compensation / adaptation, the threshold for detection can be set higher so as not to be triggered by natural changes in reverse power, such as caused by temperature / environmental changes, thereby sacrificing sensitivity to changes in reverse power caused by the object of interest that would ideally be detected.

[0095] According to an embodiment, an example of a metric M that considers only the measurement of forward power is given in equation (4) below, where the detection decision is not based on the ratio of powers (i.e., the measurement of reverse power is not considered). i (n), i=1…N represents the level of forward power measured historically in the N31 TX paths at instance n (during a calibration instance or just before the current instance), and P i (k), i=1...N represents the level of the currently measured forward power at instance k>n.

[0096]

[0097] As can be seen from equation (4), the current measurement of the forward power is only compared to its historical value, without taking into account the measurement of the reverse power and without taking into account the direction of change (increase or decrease), although the situation of grasping the handset or holding it very close to the head / body may cause a reduction in the forward power due to possible degradation of the impedance matching of the antenna to the output of the transmitter. In addition, this example metric shows a comparison of the measurement from only one specific instance k with the measurement of the reference instance n.

[0098] More generally, the metric may consider a number of consecutive measurement instances k, k+1…k+L, which may span a total duration that will still be considered to correspond well to the likely rate of human movement and the required response rate of the decision mechanism. Comparisons involving multiple instances may include an average of the results or an identification of the most influential ones, i.e., the largest difference detected between the current instance and a reference instance. Here, M represents the dynamic impact of the object being detected, i.e., the change caused over time, and this impact may be compared to a threshold set based on empirical data, such that exceeding the threshold will be considered to be caused by an approaching human body and may trigger a reduction in the effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) of the mobile device if necessary. For example, if the EIRP of the mobile device already happens to be relatively low due to the use of a relatively low transmission power and / or a low transmission duty cycle, then there is no need to reduce the EIRP of the mobile device.

[0099] According to another embodiment, a metric representing a combination of both the "static" and "dynamic" effects of the object being detected may be used. The "static" effect may be determined based solely on a comparison with data obtained in calibration (i.e., a reference measurement obtained without the object), and the "dynamic" effect may be based solely on measurements taken during normal operation (i.e., a comparison of the current measurement with recent historical measurements).

[0100] The combination of these two types of influence can be performed with a weighting that prefers one over the other based on empirically established reliability. The following equation (5) shows the linear combination of the metrics determined by static and dynamic comparisons, where the weighting factor α dynamic Determine the relative influence each of these two contributors will have in the overall "impact" calculation.

[0101] M totsl =M atatic +α dynamic ·M dynamic

[0102] …(5)

[0103] Additional considerations may also arise due to practical system limitations, such as not being able to measure the forward and reverse power of a particular antenna under the same circumstances, and because the signal being measured may vary over time, which may introduce errors and uncertainties. To address this type of problem, according to an embodiment, the system may measure the reflected power detected on one antenna and the forward power on another antenna, wherein the system may be able to perform the measurement of the reflected power and the forward power simultaneously and then determine the power ratio based on these measurements (although originating from different antennas). This method relies on the high correlation between the forward power measurements of multiple antennas because they are fed with the same signal that multiple antennas serve in a phased array.

[0104] Additional functionality involving reflected and forward power measurements from multiple antennas may also prove advantageous, particularly when considering system limitations, including calibration and compensation implementation constraints, and should be considered within the scope of the present invention.

[0105] Figure 5 is a block diagram of electronic devices in a network environment 500 according to an embodiment.

[0106] refer to Figure 5 , the electronic device 501 in the network environment 500 may communicate with the electronic device 502 via the first network 598 (e.g., a short-range wireless communication network), or communicate with the electronic device 504 or the server 508 via the second network 599 (e.g., a long-range wireless communication network). The electronic device 501 may communicate with the electronic device 504 via the server 508. The electronic device 501 may include a processor 520, a memory 530, an input device 550, a sound output device 555, a display device 560, an audio module 570, a sensor module 576, an interface 577, a haptic module 579, a camera module 580, a power management module 588, a battery 589, a communication module 590, a user identification module (SIM) card 596, or an antenna module 597. In one embodiment, at least one of the components (e.g., the display device 560 or the camera module 580) may be omitted from the electronic device 501, or one or more other components may be added to the electronic device 501. Some of the components may be implemented as a single integrated circuit (IC). For example, the sensor module 576 (eg, a fingerprint sensor, an iris sensor, or an illumination sensor) may be embedded in the display device 560 (eg, a display).

[0107] Processor 520 (e.g., Figure 1 The processor 105 shown may execute software (eg, program 540) to control at least one other component (eg, hardware or software component) of the electronic device 501 coupled to the processor 520, and may perform various data processing or calculations.

[0108] As at least part of data processing or calculation, the processor 520 may load commands or data received from another component (e.g., the sensor module 576 or the communication module 590) into the volatile memory 532, process the commands or data stored in the volatile memory 532, and store the resultant data in the non-volatile memory 534. The processor 520 may include a main processor 521 (e.g., a CPU or an application processor (AP)) and an auxiliary processor 523 (e.g., a graphics processing unit (GPU), an image signal processor (ISP), a sensor hub processor, or a communication processor (CP)), wherein the auxiliary processor 523 may operate independently of the main processor 521 or in conjunction with the main processor 521. Additionally or alternatively, the auxiliary processor 523 may be adapted to consume less power than the main processor 521, or to perform a specific function. The auxiliary processor 523 may be implemented to be separate from the main processor 521 or to be a part of the main processor 521.

[0109] The auxiliary processor 523 may control at least some of the functions or states related to at least one component (e.g., display device 560, sensor module 576, or communication module 590) among the components of the electronic device 501 instead of the main processor 521 while the main processor 521 is in an inactive (e.g., sleep) state, or control at least some of the functions or states related to at least one component (e.g., display device 560, sensor module 576, or communication module 590) among the components of the electronic device 501 together with the main processor 521 while the main processor 521 is in an active state (e.g., executing an application). The auxiliary processor 523 (e.g., an image signal processor or a communication processor) may be implemented as a part of another component (e.g., a camera module 580 or a communication module 590) that is functionally related to the auxiliary processor 523.

[0110] The memory 530 may store various data used by at least one component of the electronic device 501 (e.g., the processor 520 or the sensor module 576). The various data may include, for example, software (e.g., program 540) and input data or output data for commands related thereto. The memory 530 may include a volatile memory 532 or a non-volatile memory 534. The non-volatile memory 534 may include an internal memory 536 and / or an external memory 538.

[0111] The program 540 may be stored as software in the memory 530 , and may include, for example, an operating system (OS) 542 , middleware 544 , or an application 546 .

[0112] The input device 550 may receive a command or data to be used by another component (eg, the processor 520) of the electronic device 501 from outside (eg, a user) of the electronic device 501. The input device 550 may include, for example, a microphone, a mouse, or a keyboard.

[0113] The sound output device 555 can output sound signals to the outside of the electronic device 501. The sound output device 555 may include, for example, a speaker or a receiver. The speaker may be used for general purposes, such as playing multimedia or recording, and the receiver may be used to receive incoming calls. The receiver may be implemented as a part of the speaker or as a separate speaker.

[0114] The display device 560 can visually provide information to the outside (e.g., user) of the electronic device 501. The display device 560 may include, for example, a display, a hologram device, or a projector, and a control circuit for controlling a corresponding one of the display, the hologram device, and the projector. The display device 560 may include a touch circuit adapted to detect a touch or a sensor circuit (e.g., a pressure sensor) adapted to measure the strength of the force caused by the touch.

[0115] The audio module 570 can convert sound into an electrical signal, and vice versa. The audio module 570 can obtain sound via the input device 550, or output sound via the sound output device 555 or the earphone of the external electronic device 502 directly (e.g., wired) or wirelessly coupled to the electronic device 501.

[0116] The sensor module 576 can detect the operating state (e.g., power or temperature) of the electronic device 501 or the environmental state (e.g., the state of the user) outside the electronic device 501, and then generate an electrical signal or data value corresponding to the detected state. The sensor module 576 may include, for example, a gesture sensor, a gyroscope sensor, an atmospheric pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor, a grip sensor, a proximity sensor, a color sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, a biometric sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, or an illumination sensor.

[0117] The interface 577 may support one or more designated protocols for coupling the electronic device 501 directly (e.g., wired) or wirelessly with the external electronic device 502. The interface 577 may include, for example, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), a universal serial bus (USB) interface, a secure digital (SD) card interface, or an audio interface.

[0118] The connection terminal 578 may include a connector via which the electronic device 501 may be physically connected to the external electronic device 502. The connection terminal 578 may include, for example, an HDMI connector, a USB connector, an SD card connector, or an audio connector (eg, a headphone connector).

[0119] The haptic module 579 may convert the electrical signal into mechanical stimulation (eg, vibration or movement) or electrical stimulation that can be recognized by the user via tactile or kinesthetic sense. The haptic module 579 may include, for example, a motor, a piezoelectric element, or an electrical stimulator.

[0120] The camera module 580 may capture still images or moving images. The camera module 580 may include one or more lenses, an image sensor, an image signal processor, or a flash. The power management module 588 may manage the power provided to the electronic device 501. The power management module 588 may be implemented as at least a portion of a power management integrated circuit (PMIC), for example.

[0121] The battery 589 may supply power to at least one component of the electronic device 501. The battery 589 may include, for example, a non-rechargeable primary battery, a rechargeable secondary battery, or a fuel cell.

[0122] The communication module 590 can support establishing a direct (e.g., wired) communication channel or a wireless communication channel between the electronic device 501 and an external electronic device (e.g., electronic device 502, electronic device 504, or server 508) and performing communication via the established communication channel. The communication module 590 may include one or more communication processors that can operate independently of the processor 520 (e.g., AP) and support direct (e.g., wired) communication or wireless communication. The communication module 590 may include a wireless communication module 592 (e.g., a cellular communication module, a short-range wireless communication module, or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) communication module) or a wired communication module 594 (e.g., a local area network (LAN) communication module or a power line communication (PLC) module). A corresponding one of these communication modules can communicate via a first network 598 (e.g., a short-range communication network such as BLUETOOTH). TM, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) Direct, or Infrared Data Association (IrDA) standards) or a second network 599 (e.g., a long-distance communication network such as a cellular network, the Internet, or a computer network (e.g., a LAN or a wide area network (WAN))) to communicate with an external electronic device. These various types of communication modules can be implemented as a single component (e.g., a single IC), or can be implemented as multiple components separated from each other (e.g., multiple ICs). The wireless communication module 592 can use the subscriber information (e.g., International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)) stored in the subscriber identification module 596 to identify and authenticate the electronic device 501 in the communication network (such as the first network 598 or the second network 599).

[0123] The antenna module 597 may transmit a signal or power to or receive a signal or power from the outside of the electronic device 501 (e.g., an external electronic device). The antenna module 597 may include one or more antennas, and at least one antenna suitable for a communication scheme used in a communication network (such as the first network 598 or the second network 599) may be selected from them by, for example, the communication module 590 (e.g., the wireless communication module 592). For example, the antenna module 597 may include a plurality of antennas, such as a plurality of antennas, and a plurality of antennas. Figure 1 The antenna elements 100-1 to 100-N are shown. Then, a signal or power can be transmitted or received between the communication module 590 and the external electronic device via the selected at least one antenna.

[0124] A command or data may be sent or received between the electronic device 501 and the external electronic device 504 via a server 508 coupled to the second network 599. Each of the electronic devices 502 and 504 may be a device of the same type or a different type as the electronic device 501. All or some of the operations to be performed at the electronic device 501 may be performed at one or more of the external electronic devices 502, 504, or 508. For example, if the electronic device 501 should automatically perform a function or service, or in response to a request from a user or another device, the electronic device 501 may request one or more external electronic devices to perform at least a portion of the function or service instead of or in addition to performing the function or service. The one or more external electronic devices receiving the request may perform at least a portion of the requested function or service, or additional functions or additional services related to the request, and transmit the result of the execution to the electronic device 501. The electronic device 501 may provide the result as at least a portion of the reply to the request with or without further processing the result. For this purpose, for example, cloud computing, distributed computing, or client-server computing techniques may be used.

[0125] Figure 6A system including a UE 605 and a gNB 610 in communication with each other is shown. The UE may include a radio 615 and a processing circuit (or means for processing) 620, which may perform various methods disclosed herein, for example, Figure 4 For example, the processing circuit 620 may receive a transmission from the network node (gNB) 610 via the radio 615, and the processing circuit 620 may send a signal to the gNB 610 via the radio 615.

[0126] The subject matter and the embodiments of the operation described in this specification can be implemented in digital electronic circuits, or in computer software, firmware or hardware (including the structures disclosed in this specification and their structural equivalents), or in a combination of one or more of them. The embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can be implemented as one or more computer programs, that is, one or more modules of computer program instructions, which are encoded on a computer storage medium for execution by a data processing device or control of the operation of the data processing device. Alternatively or additionally, the program instructions can be encoded on an artificially generated propagation signal, for example, a machine-generated electrical, optical or electromagnetic signal, which is generated to encode information for transmission to a suitable receiver device for execution by a data processing device. The computer storage medium can be or be included in a computer-readable storage device, a computer-readable storage substrate, a random or serial access memory array or device, or a combination thereof. In addition, although the computer storage medium is not a propagation signal, the computer storage medium can be the source or destination of the computer program instructions encoded in the artificially generated propagation signal. The computer storage medium can also be, or be included in, one or more separate physical components or media (e.g., multiple CDs, disks, or other storage devices). In addition, the operations described in this specification can be implemented as operations performed by a data processing apparatus on data stored on one or more computer-readable storage devices or received from other sources.

[0127] Although this specification may include many specific implementation details, the implementation details should not be interpreted as a limitation on the scope of any claimed subject matter, but rather as a description of features specific to a particular embodiment. Certain features described in the context of a separate embodiment in this specification may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. On the contrary, the various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments individually or in any suitable sub-combination. In addition, although the features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from the claimed combination may be excluded from the combination in some cases, and the claimed combination may be directed to a sub-combination or a variation of the sub-combination.

[0128] Similarly, although operations are depicted in a particular order in the accompanying drawings, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequence, or that all of the operations shown be performed, to achieve the desired results. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. In addition, the separation of various system components in the embodiments described above should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should be understood that the described program components and systems can generally be integrated together in a single software product or packaged into multiple software products.

[0129] Thus, specific embodiments of the subject matter have been described herein. Other embodiments are within the scope of the appended claims. In some cases, the actions set forth in the claims can be performed in a different order and still achieve the desired results. Additionally, the processes depicted in the accompanying drawings do not necessarily require the particular order or sequential order shown to achieve the desired results. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.

[0130] According to the embodiments described above, a multi-antenna based detection scheme can be provided using the same hardware as used for millimeter wave communications, which provides improved reliable detection over several centimeters. In addition, reliable binary detection of objects / human bodies near the millimeter wave module is provided. For example, detector signals from multiple antennas in a millimeter wave phased array are used, and the detection algorithm fuses the multi-antenna inputs to provide improved detection reliability.

[0131] As those skilled in the art will recognize, the innovative concepts described herein may be modified and varied over a wide range of applications.Thus, the scope of the claimed subject matter should not be limited to any of the specific exemplary teachings discussed above, but rather is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method of proximity detection using a phased antenna array comprising a plurality of antenna elements, the method comprising: sending a transmission signal via a first antenna element and a second antenna element among a plurality of antenna elements; For the first antenna element, determining a first power of a first injection signal corresponding to the transmission signal and a second power of a first reflected signal; For the second antenna element, determining a third power of a second injection signal and a fourth power of a second reflected signal corresponding to the transmission signal; calculating, for the first antenna element, a first power metric based on at least one of a first power of the first injected signal or a second power of the first reflected signal; calculating, for the second antenna element, a second power metric based on at least one of a third power of the second injected signal or a fourth power of the second reflected signal; comparing the first power metric to a first threshold; comparing the second power metric to a second threshold; as well as A determination is made whether an object is detected within a proximity range of the phased antenna array based on at least one of a comparison of the first power metric to a first threshold or a comparison of the second power metric to a second threshold.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first power metric includes a first power ratio based on a first power of the first injection signal and a second power of the first reflected signal.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: Determining whether the object is detected within the proximity of the phased antenna array includes determining that the object is detected within the proximity of the phased antenna array in response to the first power ratio being greater than or less than the first threshold to at least a third threshold.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The first threshold and the third threshold are based on statistics of first power ratio values ​​previously obtained during operations in which no object was present.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: Statistics of first power ratio values ​​previously obtained during operation in which no object was present are calibrated based on environmental conditions.

6. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: The first threshold is calculated as an average power ratio among first power ratios previously obtained during operation in which no object was present.

7. The method according to claim 3, further comprising: The third threshold is calculated as a standard deviation of the first power ratios previously obtained during operation in which the object was not present.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The second power metric includes a second power ratio based on a third power of the second injection signal and a fourth power of the second reflected signal.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein: Determining whether the object is detected within the proximity range of the phased antenna array includes determining that the object is detected within the proximity range of the phased antenna array in response to the second power ratio being greater than or less than the second threshold to at least a fourth threshold.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The second threshold and the fourth threshold are based on statistics of second power ratio values ​​previously obtained during operations in which no object was present.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: The second threshold is calculated as an average power ratio among second power ratios previously obtained during operation in which no object was present.

12. The method according to claim 9, further comprising: The fourth threshold is calculated as a standard deviation of the second power ratios previously obtained during operation in which the object was not present.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The transmission signals include 5G Frequency Range 2 (FR2) millimeter wave transmission signals.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first power metric includes a first power ratio based on a first power of the first injection signal and a fourth power of the second reflected signal.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein: Determining whether the object is detected within the proximity of the phased antenna array includes determining that the object is detected within the proximity of the phased antenna array in response to the first power ratio being greater than or less than the first threshold to at least a third threshold.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein: The first threshold and the third threshold are based on statistics of first power ratio values ​​previously obtained during operations in which no object was present.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The second power metric includes a second power ratio based on a third power of the second injection signal and the second power of the first reflected signal.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein: Determining whether the object is detected within the proximity range of the phased antenna array includes determining that the object is detected within the proximity range of the phased antenna array in response to the second power ratio being greater than or less than the second threshold to at least a fourth threshold.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein: The second threshold and the fourth threshold are based on statistics of second power ratio values ​​previously obtained during operations in which no object was present.

20. A system comprising: an antenna array comprising a plurality of antenna elements; as well as The processor is configured as: sending a transmission signal via a first antenna element and a second antenna element among a plurality of antenna elements, For the first antenna element, determining a first power of a first injection signal and a second power of a first reflected signal corresponding to the transmission signal, For the second antenna element, determining a third power of a second injection signal and a fourth power of a second reflected signal corresponding to the transmission signal, calculating, for the first antenna element, a first power metric based on at least one of a first power of the first injected signal or a second power of the first reflected signal, calculating, for the second antenna element, a second power metric based on at least one of a third power of the second injected signal or a fourth power of the second reflected signal, comparing the first power metric to a first threshold, comparing the second power metric to a second threshold, and A determination is made whether an object is detected within a proximity range of the phased antenna array based on at least one of a comparison of the first power metric to a first threshold or a comparison of the second power metric to a second threshold.

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