Beam management method of electronic equipment

Abstract

The invention provides a beam management method of electronic equipment. The beam management method comprises the following steps: detecting blocked antennas of an antenna array of the electronic equipment; and exciting only the unblocked antennas of the antenna array. Therefore, when a part of antennas in the antenna array are shielded, the modem focuses and excites the unshielded antennas in the antenna array to perform beam forming, so that the total efficiency of the antenna array is better, and the equivalent omnidirectional radiation power (EI RP) of the antenna array is increased.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of wireless communications, and in particular to a beam management method for electronic equipment. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, 5G-enabled mobile devices with millimeter wave (mmWave) antenna arrays have gradually prospered. Due to the high carrier frequency of mmWave antenna arrays, their size is small enough to be installed in mobile devices. In addition, mmWave antenna arrays can achieve better equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) by beamforming within a small angle range. To perform beamforming, beam management is required through a modem, including phase and amplitude setting of each beam, initial beam alignment and tracking, and recovery from beam failure. However, traditional beam management only involves free space conditions and excites all antennas in the mmWave antenna array at the same time. When some antennas are blocked by hands, EIRP is reduced because the blocked antennas continue to radiate with low efficiency, producing undesirable results.

[0003] Figure 1 The cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the EI RP performance based on the fully excited antenna array in the prior art is shown, where 0, 1, and 2 antennas are blocked. When 2, 1, and 0 antennas are blocked, the CDF 50% radiated power is 12.71, 14.59, and 16.2 dBm, respectively. When 2, 1, and 0 antennas are blocked, the CDF 100% radiated power is 21.14, 24.13, and 26.74 dBm, respectively. The data shows that using the traditional beam management method, the EI RP decreases as the number of blocked antennas increases. [Summary of the invention]

[0004] In view of this, the present invention provides a beam management method for an electronic device to solve the above problem.

[0005] An embodiment of the present invention provides a beam management method for an electronic device, including:

[0006] detecting a blocked antenna of an antenna array of an electronic device; and

[0007] Only the unobstructed antennas of the antenna array are excited.

[0008] Further, detecting a blocked antenna of an antenna array of an electronic device includes:

[0009] Send a detection signal;

[0010] receiving a reflection signal of the detection signal; and

[0011] The blocked antennas of the antenna array are determined according to the reflected signals, thereby determining which antennas of the antenna array are blocked.

[0012] Furthermore, sending the detection signal is sending the detection signal from a distance sensor of the electronic device.

[0013] Furthermore, the reflection signal of the received detection signal is the reflection signal of the detection signal received from the distance sensor. Thus, which antennas of the antenna array are blocked can be obtained through the distance sensor.

[0014] Furthermore, sending the detection signal is sending the detection signal from a sub-6GHz antenna.

[0015] Furthermore, the reflected signal of the detection signal is received by the sub-6 GHz antenna, thereby obtaining which antennas of the antenna array are blocked by the sub-6 GHz antenna.

[0016] Further, determining the blocked antennas of the antenna array according to the reflected signal is performed by a processor according to the reflected signal. Thus, which antennas of the antenna array are blocked can be obtained through the signal of each antenna in the antenna array and the processor.

[0017] Further, exciting only the unobstructed antennas of the antenna array is exciting only the unobstructed antennas of the antenna array by the modem, thereby exciting the antennas by the modem.

[0018] Further, it also includes performing beamforming using only unblocked antennas.

[0019] Further, performing beamforming using only unblocked antennas is performing beamforming by the modem using only unblocked antennas. Thus, beamforming is performed by the modem.

[0020] Furthermore, when it is detected that all antennas of the antenna array are not blocked or are blocked, all antennas of the antenna array are excited, thereby ensuring that the antenna array can work normally.

[0021] An embodiment of the present invention provides an electronic device, characterized by comprising:

[0022] Antenna arrays;

[0023] a processor coupled to the antenna array;

[0024] a modem coupled to the antenna array and the processor;

[0025] a distance sensor coupled to the modem; and

[0026] A sub-6 GHz antenna coupled to a modem;

[0027] The electronic device executes the steps of the method described above.

[0028] By adopting the above solution of the present invention, when part of the antennas in the antenna array are blocked, the modem will focus and excite the unblocked antennas in the antenna array to perform beamforming, so the overall efficiency of the antenna array is better, and the equivalent isotropic radiated power (EI RP) of the antenna array will increase. And when part of the antenna is blocked, the power density output corresponding to the unblocked antenna position increases, while the power density output corresponding to the blocked antenna position decreases, thereby obtaining a higher actual gain and reducing the power density exposure to the human body.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0029] For a more complete understanding of the present invention, please read the following detailed description and examples and refer to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0030] Figure 1 The cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the equivalent isotropically radiated power (EI RP) performance of a fully excited antenna array based on the prior art is shown, where 0, 1 and 2 antennas are blocked.

[0031] Figure 2 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] Figure 3 yes Figure 2 Beam management method for electronic devices in.

[0033] Figure 4A Shows Figure 2 The antenna array in the beam when no antenna is blocked.

[0034] Figure 4B Shows Figure 2 The beam when one antenna in an antenna array is blocked.

[0035] Figure 5A is a heat map of the radiated power density in free space for all four antennas in the antenna array.

[0036] Figure 5B When one antenna in the antenna array is manually blocked, Figure 3Heat map of the radiated power density achieved by the beam management method in .

[0037] Figure 5C for Figure 3 Heat map of the radiated power density when two antennas in the antenna array are blocked by hands, implemented using the beam management method in .

[0038] Fig. 6A The cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the equivalent isotropic radiated power (EI RP) performance of the fully excited antenna array using the prior art and the embodiment of the present invention is shown when one antenna is blocked.

[0039] Figure 6B The cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the equivalent isotropic radiated power (EI RP) performance of the fully excited antenna array using the prior art and the embodiment of the present invention is shown when two antennas are blocked. [Specific implementation method]

[0040] In order to make the above-mentioned purposes, features and advantages of certain embodiments of the present invention more clearly understood, a detailed description is given below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0041] Throughout the specification and in the claims that follow, certain terms are used to refer to specific components. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, electronic equipment manufacturers may refer to a component by different names. It is not intended herein to distinguish between components that have different names but the same functions. It should be understood that the use of the words "include", "have" and "comprises" is open ended and should therefore be understood as "including but not limited to...". Therefore, when the terms "include", "have" and / or "comprises" used in the present invention are used to indicate the presence of specific technical features, values, method steps, operations, units and / or components, it does not exclude the possibility of adding more technical features, values, method steps, workflows, units, components or any combination thereof.

[0042] Figure 2: is a block diagram of an electronic device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic device 20 may be a mobile device, such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a smart screen, a smart watch, a laptop computer, and the like. The electronic device 20 includes a processor 21, an antenna array 22 coupled to the processor 21, and a modem 23 coupled to the processor 21 and the antenna array 22. The antenna array 22 may be, but is not limited to, a millimeter wave (mmWave) antenna array or a sub-6GHz antenna array or other types of antenna arrays. The electronic device 20 may also include a proximity sensor 24 coupled to the modem 23, or a sub-6GHz (frequency range below 6GHz) antenna 26 coupled to the modem 23. In some embodiments, the antenna array 22 may include multiple antennas.

[0043] The processor 21 is used to determine the blocked antenna, and the modem 23 is used to perform antenna beam management. Antenna beam management can be based on types A, B and C. For type A, the processor 21 controls the modem 23 to transmit a detection signal and receive a reflected signal through the antenna array 22 (or each antenna in the antenna array 22). If the power change of the reflected signal is greater than the threshold, the processor 21 will feedback to the modem 23, and the modem 23 will disable the blocked antenna and dynamically concentrate the excitation power on the unblocked antenna to obtain better performance. For type B, the distance sensor 24 is installed in the electronic device 20. The distance sensor 24 can transmit a detection signal and receive a reflected signal from an object or use other mechanisms to detect an object. Then, the processor 21 can determine the blocked antenna based on the reflected signal of the distance sensor 24 (for example, the transmission signal and the reflected signal of the distance sensor 24 in different directions, or the transmission signal and the reflected signal of the distance sensor corresponding to each antenna). For type C, the sub-6GHz antenna 26 in the electronic device 20 can transmit a detection signal and receive a reflected signal or use other mechanisms to detect an object. Then, the processor 21 can determine the blocked antenna according to the reflected signal of the sub-6GHz antenna 26 (for example, the transmitted signal and the reflected signal in different directions of the sub-6GHz antenna 26). Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, there can be three methods A, B and C for determining whether the antenna is blocked; of course, other methods can also be used to determine whether the antenna is blocked, and the above embodiments of the present invention are only examples.

[0044] Figure 3 The beam management method 30 of the electronic device 20 (or the antenna management method of the electronic device (or antenna array)) includes the following steps:

[0045] Step S32: performing a detection mechanism through multiple antennas or sensors or other methods, that is, determining the method for detecting whether the antenna is blocked;

[0046] Step S34: obtaining detection results from an antenna, a sensor or other components;

[0047] Step S36: determining the blocked antennas of the antenna array 22 of the electronic device according to the detection result; determining which antennas are blocked or obstructed; and

[0048] Step S38: Excite only the antennas in the antenna array 22 that are not blocked.

[0049] In steps S32 and S34 , the processor 21 may use the modem 23 to control the antenna array 22 , the distance sensor 24 or the sub-6 GHz antenna 26 to transmit detection signals and receive detection results or use other mechanisms to detect objects.

[0050] If the antenna array 22 is used to perform a detection mechanism and obtain a detection result, the electronic device 20 does not need to include the distance sensor 24 and the sub-6 GHz antenna 26. If the distance sensor 24 or the sub-6 GHz antenna 26 is used to perform a detection mechanism and obtain a detection result or other mechanisms are used to detect an object, the antenna array 22 is not used to perform a detection mechanism and obtain a detection result. If the antenna array 22 is a sub-6 GHz antenna array, the sub-6 GHz antenna 26 can be omitted because the sub-6 GHz antenna array can also be used to perform a detection mechanism and obtain a detection result or use other mechanisms to detect an object.

[0051] In step S36 , the processor 21 determines the blocked antennas in the antenna array 22 according to the detection result, and uses the modem 23 to focus and excite the unblocked antennas in the antenna array 22 to perform beamforming (or beamforming).

[0052] Figure 4A The beams are shown when no antenna in the antenna array 22 is blocked. Figure 4B The beam is shown when one antenna in the antenna array 22 is blocked. In some embodiments, the antenna array 22 may include multiple antennas, such as Ant1, Ant2, Ant3, etc. In one example, the antenna array 22 may include four antennas Ant1, Ant2, Ant3, and Ant4. Figure 4A As shown, when no antenna in the antenna array 22 is blocked, the modem 23 excites all antennas in the antenna array 22 to perform beamforming (or beamforming). Figure 4BAs shown, when some antennas in the antenna array 22 are blocked, the modem 23 will focus and excite the unblocked antennas in the antenna array 22 to perform beamforming (or beamforming), so the overall efficiency of the antenna array is better and the equivalent isotropic radiated power (EI RP) of the antenna array 22 will increase. In addition, when the antenna array 22 is blocked or blocked, the modem 23 excites all antennas in the antenna array 22 to perform beamforming (or beamforming) to allow the electronic device to work normally.

[0053] Figure 5A Figure 2 is a heat map of the radiated power density when all four antennas in the antenna array are in free space. Figure 5B It is a heat map of the radiation power density achieved by the beam management method 30 when one antenna in the antenna array is artificially blocked. Figure 5C It is a heat map of the radiation power density achieved by the beam management method 30 when two antennas in the antenna array are artificially blocked. Figure 5A The maximum power density output of the two high power regions 70 and 72 is about 10 W / m 2 .exist Figure 5B The maximum power density output of the left high power density area 74 is about 15W / m 2 The maximum power density output of the high power density area 76 on the right is about 8W / m 2 .exist Figure 5C The maximum power density output of the left high power density area 78 is about 20W / m 2 , while on the right side, there is no high power density area. Therefore, when part of the antenna is blocked by hand, the power density output corresponding to the unblocked antenna position increases, while the power density output corresponding to the blocked antenna position decreases, thereby obtaining a higher actual gain and reducing the power density exposure to the human body. In some embodiments, the power provided to the antenna array 22 is, for example, Pin. When Figure 5A When no antenna in the antenna array 22 (for example, including four antennas Ant1 to Ant4) is blocked (or blocked), the power provided to the antenna array 22, for example, Pin, can be substantially evenly distributed to the four antennas Ant1 to Ant4 to excite the four antennas Ant1 to Ant4. Figure 5BWhen one antenna (e.g., antenna Ant4) in the antenna array 22 (e.g., including four antennas Ant1 to Ant4) is blocked (or blocked), the power provided to the antenna array 22, such as Pin, can be roughly evenly distributed to the three antennas Ant1 to Ant3 to excite the three antennas Ant1 to Ant3. For another example, if one antenna (e.g., antenna Ant3) in the antenna array 22 (e.g., including four antennas Ant1 to Ant4) is blocked (or blocked), the power provided to the antenna array 22, such as Pin, can be roughly evenly distributed to the three antennas Ant1, Ant2, and Ant4 to excite the three antennas Ant1, Ant2, and Ant4. For another example, if one antenna (e.g., antenna Ant2) in the antenna array 22 (e.g., including four antennas Ant1 to Ant4) is blocked (or blocked), the power provided to the antenna array 22, such as Pin, can be roughly evenly distributed to the three antennas Ant1, Ant3, and Ant4 to excite the three antennas Ant1, Ant3, and Ant4. For another example, if one antenna (e.g., antenna Ant1) in the antenna array 22 (e.g., including four antennas Ant1 to Ant4) is blocked (or blocked), the power provided to the antenna array 22, such as Pin, can be roughly evenly distributed to the three antennas Ant2, Ant3, and Ant4 to excite the three antennas Ant2, Ant3, and Ant4. When such Figure 5CWhen two antennas (e.g., antennas Ant3 and Ant4) in the antenna array 22 (e.g., including four antennas Ant1 to Ant4) are blocked (or blocked), the power provided to the antenna array 22, such as Pin, can be roughly evenly distributed to the two antennas Ant1 to Ant2 to excite the two antennas Ant1 to Ant2. For another example, if two antennas (e.g., antennas Ant1 and Ant3) in the antenna array 22 (e.g., including four antennas Ant1 to Ant4) are blocked (or blocked), the power provided to the antenna array 22, such as Pin, can be roughly evenly distributed to the two antennas Ant2 and Ant4 to excite the two antennas Ant2 and Ant4. When other antennas are blocked, it is similar to the above, and will not be repeated here. When all antennas in the antenna array 22 (for example, including four antennas Ant1 to Ant4) are blocked (or blocked), the power provided to the antenna array 22, such as Pin, can be roughly evenly distributed to all antennas (for example, four antennas Ant1 to Ant4) to excite all antennas (for example, four antennas Ant1 to Ant4). Therefore, in some embodiments, although some antennas in the antenna array 22 may be blocked or blocked, the total power Pin provided to the antenna array 22 will not be reduced, that is, the power allocated to the remaining unblocked antennas may increase, so the overall effectiveness (overall efficiency) of the antenna array 22 is not significantly reduced (or basically maintained), and because the blocked antenna is not excited, the radiation received by the hand blocking the antenna is significantly reduced, so the human body is also protected. Therefore, in the prior art, when some antennas in the antenna array are blocked, all antennas are still excited, so that the signal or radiation energy emitted by the part of the antenna blocked by the obstruction (such as the human body or the human hand) will be absorbed by the obstruction (or most of it is absorbed by the obstruction), which causes the overall efficiency of the antenna array to be reduced. By adopting the above-mentioned method in the embodiment of the present invention, the partially blocked antenna is not excited, and the total power Pin provided to the antenna array remains unchanged. Therefore, the remaining unblocked antennas can radiate or send signals with higher energy. Therefore, the overall efficiency of the antenna array can be maintained, avoiding a decrease in work efficiency.

[0054] Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, it is first detected whether there are antennas in the antenna array that are blocked (or obstructed). If no antenna in the antenna array is blocked or if all antennas in the antenna array are blocked, all antennas are normally excited, and the total power provided to the antenna array can be Pin; in some embodiments, the total power Pin provided to the antenna array can be roughly evenly distributed to all antennas. In some embodiments, if some antennas in the antenna array are blocked, the remaining unblocked antennas will be excited without exciting the partially blocked antennas. Thereby, the radiation to the obstruction (such as the human body or the human hand) can be reduced. In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, when some antennas in the antenna array are blocked, the total power provided to the remaining unblocked antennas is still Pin, and the total power Pin can be roughly evenly distributed to the remaining unblocked antennas. Since the number of remaining antennas is less than the total number of antennas in the antenna array, the power allocated to each of the remaining unblocked antennas will be greater than the power allocated to each antenna when all antennas are normally excited.

[0055] Fig. 6A The figure shows the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the equivalent isotropic radiated power (EI RP) performance of the fully excited antenna array using the prior art and the embodiment of the present invention when one antenna is blocked. In the embodiment of the present invention, for example, the antenna array has four antennas. Fig. 6A As shown, when one antenna in the antenna array is blocked or blocked, if the prior art solution is adopted (all antennas in the antenna array are excited), as shown in FIG. Fig. 6A As shown in 1100, 1100 represents the CDF when the prior art solution is adopted, and the power value of the antenna array corresponding to the CDF 100% is 24.64dBm. However, when the embodiment of the present invention is adopted, that is, the blocked antenna will not be excited, and only the remaining unblocked antennas are excited. Fig. 6A As shown in 1101, 1101 represents the CDF when the method of the embodiment of the present invention is adopted, and the power value of the antenna array corresponding to the CDF 100% is 25.71dBm. Therefore, compared with the prior art, the power value of the antenna array using the method of the embodiment of the present invention is increased by 25.71-24.64=1.07dBm, that is, the method of the embodiment of the present invention improves the performance of the antenna array.

[0056] Figure 6B The cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the equivalent isotropic radiated power (EI RP) performance of the fully excited antenna array using the prior art and the embodiment of the present invention is shown when two antennas are blocked. In the embodiment of the present invention, for example, the antenna array has four antennas. Fig. 6AAs shown, when two antennas in the antenna array are blocked or blocked, if the prior art solution is adopted (all antennas in the antenna array are excited), as shown in FIG. Figure 6B As shown in 1110, 1110 represents the CDF when the prior art solution is adopted, and the power value of the antenna array corresponding to the CDF 100% is 21.84dBm. When the embodiment of the present invention is adopted, that is, the two blocked antennas will not be excited, and only the remaining unblocked antennas are excited. Figure 6B As shown in 1102, 1102 represents the CDF when the method of the embodiment of the present invention is adopted, and the power value of the antenna array corresponding to the CDF 100% is 24.4dBm. Therefore, compared with the prior art, the power value of the antenna array using the method of the embodiment of the present invention is increased by 24.4-21.84=2.56dBm, that is, the method of the embodiment of the present invention improves the performance of the antenna array. It can be seen that the scheme of the embodiment of the present invention will significantly improve the overall performance of the antenna array, and the advantageous effects of the embodiment of the present invention are significant.

[0057] Although the present invention has been described in terms of what are presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the present invention is not necessarily limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements, including those within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, which should be given the broadest interpretation to cover all such modifications and similar structures.

Claims

1. A beam management method for an electronic device, characterized in that: include: detecting a blocked antenna of an antenna array of the electronic device; as well as Only the unblocked antennas of the antenna array are excited.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Detection of blocked antennas of an antenna array of an electronic device includes: Send a detection signal; receiving a reflection signal of the detection signal; and A blocked antenna of the antenna array is determined based on the reflected signal.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that Sending the detection signal is to send the detection signal from the distance sensor of the electronic device, and receiving the reflection signal of the detection signal is to receive the reflection signal of the detection signal from the distance sensor.

4. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that: Sending a detection signal is sending a detection signal from a sub-6 GHz antenna, and receiving a reflected signal of the detection signal is receiving a reflected signal of the detection signal through the sub-6 GHz antenna.

5. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that Determining the blocked antennas of the antenna array according to the reflected signals is determining the blocked antennas of the antenna array according to the reflected signals by a processor.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Exciting only unobstructed antennas of the antenna array is exciting only unobstructed antennas of the antenna array through the modem.

7. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that Also included is performing beamforming using only unblocked antennas.

8. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that Performing beamforming using only unobstructed antennas is performing beamforming by the modem using only unobstructed antennas.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that When it is detected that all antennas of the antenna array are not blocked or are blocked, all antennas of the antenna array are excited.

10. An electronic device, characterized in that: include: Antenna arrays; a processor coupled to the antenna array; a modem coupled to the antenna array and the processor; a distance sensor coupled to the modem; and A sub-6 GHz antenna coupled to a modem; The electronic device executes the steps of the method as claimed in claims 1 to 9.

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