Millimeter wave base station, communication method and storage medium

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a millimeter wave base station, a communication method and a storage medium, and belongs to the field of communication. The millimeter wave base station comprises a baseband processing unit, an intermediate frequency processing unit and N distributed active antenna units, wherein each distributed active antenna unit is composed of a radio frequency unit and an antenna unit; the baseband processing unit is connected with the intermediate frequency processing unit, and the intermediate frequency processing unit is connected with the N distributed active antenna units; the N distributed active antenna units are used for transmitting a plurality of wave beams at different positions of a target indoor area so as to realize signal coverage of the target indoor area, and the target indoor area is an indoor area in which signals are to be deployed. According to the millimeter wave base station provided by the embodiment of the invention, the beam coverage range which can be provided by a traditional active antenna unit can be achieved without using more baseband resources and intermediate frequency resources, so that the deployment cost of the millimeter wave base station is reduced, and the signal coverage performance of the millimeter wave base station is also improved; and a signal blind area or a signal weak area in an indoor area is avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular to a millimeter wave base station, a communication method and a storage medium. Background Art

[0002] At present, the traditional millimeter wave base station adopts a one-to-one deployment mode in which a baseband resource on a distributed unit (DU) corresponds to an active antenna unit (AAU). Each processing resource of the baseband is always consistent with the intermediate frequency resource and radio frequency resource of the AAU, and the AAU's receiving and transmitting data is also processed on the corresponding baseband resource. However, millimeter waves have the characteristics of high transmission loss, weak penetration and poor diffraction performance. In order to ensure the indoor signal coverage range, when the above deployment mode is used for indoor signal coverage, multiple AAUs are required for signal coverage, that is, multiple baseband resources and multiple intermediate frequency resources are required. The deployment cost is high. If only one AAU is used for signal coverage, there will be signal blind spots or weak signal areas indoors. Summary of the invention

[0003] Embodiments of the present invention provide a millimeter wave base station, a communication method, and a storage medium, which are intended to reduce the deployment cost of the millimeter wave base station and improve the signal coverage performance of the millimeter wave base station.

[0004] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a millimeter wave base station, comprising: a baseband processing unit, an intermediate frequency processing unit, and N distributed active antenna units consisting of a radio frequency unit and an antenna unit, where N is an integer greater than 1 or equal to;

[0005] The baseband processing unit is connected to the intermediate frequency processing unit, the baseband processing unit is connected to the intermediate frequency processing unit, and the intermediate frequency processing unit is connected to a plurality of the distributed active antenna units;

[0006] The N distributed active antenna units are used to transmit multiple beams at different locations in a target indoor area to achieve signal coverage of the target indoor area, and the target indoor area is an indoor area where the signal is to be deployed.

[0007] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a communication method, which is applied to the millimeter wave base station as described in the first aspect, and the method includes:

[0008] Configuring a plurality of synchronization signal blocks SSB for each of the distributed active antenna units DAAU so that each of the distributed active antenna units transmits a plurality of SSB beams;

[0009] Obtain the target SSB identifier reported by the user equipment, and allocate the SSB beam corresponding to the target SSB identifier to the user equipment, so that the user equipment accesses the corresponding DAAU according to the allocated SSB beam.

[0010] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a storage medium for computer-readable storage, wherein the storage medium stores one or more programs, and the one or more programs can be executed by one or more processors to implement the communication method as described in the second aspect.

[0011] The embodiment of the present invention provides a millimeter wave base station, a communication method and a storage medium. The distributed active antenna unit in the millimeter wave base station provided by the embodiment of the present invention is composed of a radio frequency unit and an antenna unit. Compared with the traditional active antenna unit, it does not include an intermediate frequency processing unit and a bottom physical layer (Physical Layer Low, PHY-L) unit, has the advantages of low power and small size, and lower cost. In addition, multiple distributed active antenna units share the same baseband resources and intermediate frequency resources to provide their own beam coverage. In this way, when the baseband resources and intermediate frequency resources remain unchanged, the multiple distributed active antenna units in the millimeter wave base station can provide a wider beam coverage range than the traditional active antenna unit, and do not need to use more baseband resources and intermediate frequency resources to achieve the beam coverage range that the traditional active antenna unit can provide, thereby reducing the deployment cost of the millimeter wave base station, and improving the signal coverage performance of the millimeter wave base station, avoiding the occurrence of signal blind spots or weak signal areas in indoor areas. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0013] Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of the structure of a millimeter wave base station provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0014] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a scenario for deploying a millimeter wave base station in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0015] Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of the structure of another millimeter wave base station provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0016] Figure 4a is a schematic diagram of another scenario of deploying a millimeter wave base station in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 4bis another schematic diagram of a scenario for deploying a millimeter wave base station in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 5 is another schematic diagram of a scenario for deploying a millimeter wave base station in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 6 is another schematic diagram of a scenario for deploying a millimeter wave base station in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 7 It is a flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 8 yes Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a sub-step flow chart of a communication method in;

[0022] Fig. 9 yes Figure 7 A schematic flow chart of another sub-step of the communication method;

[0023] Fig.10 yes Figure 7 A flowchart of another sub-step of the communication method in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0025] The flowcharts shown in the accompanying drawings are only examples and do not necessarily include all the contents and operations / steps, nor must they be executed in the order described. For example, some operations / steps may also be decomposed, combined or partially merged, so the actual execution order may change according to actual conditions.

[0026] It should be understood that the terms used in this specification of the present invention are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. As used in the specification of the present invention and the appended claims, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include plural forms.

[0027] Some embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the absence of conflict, the following embodiments and features in the embodiments can be combined with each other.

[0028] See also Figure 1 , Figure 1It is a schematic block diagram of the structure of a millimeter wave base station provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] like Figure 1 As shown, the millimeter wave base station 100 includes a baseband processing unit 110, an intermediate frequency processing unit 120 and N distributed active antenna units (DAAU) 130, and the distributed active antenna unit 130 is composed of a radio frequency unit 131 and an antenna unit 132, and the radio frequency unit 131 is connected to the antenna unit 132, and N is an integer greater than 1 or equal to. The baseband processing unit 110 is connected to the intermediate frequency processing unit 120, and the intermediate frequency processing unit 120 is connected to the N distributed active antenna units 130. The N distributed active antenna units 130 are used to transmit multiple beams at different locations in the target indoor area to achieve signal coverage of the target indoor area, and the target indoor area is the indoor area where the signal is to be deployed. Among them, the N distributed active antenna units 130 share the same baseband resources and intermediate frequency resources.

[0030] The distributed active antenna unit 130 in the millimeter wave base station 100 provided in this embodiment is composed of a radio frequency unit 131 and an antenna unit 132. Compared with the traditional active antenna unit (Active Antenna Unit, AAU), it does not include an intermediate frequency processing unit and a bottom physical layer (Physical Layer Low, PHY-L) unit, and has the advantages of low power and small size, lower cost, and N distributed active antenna units 130 share the same baseband resources and intermediate frequency resources to provide their own beam coverage. In this way, when the baseband resources and intermediate frequency resources remain unchanged, the N distributed active antenna units 130 in the millimeter wave base station 100 can provide a wider beam coverage range than the traditional active antenna unit, and do not need to use more baseband resources and intermediate frequency resources to achieve the beam coverage range that the traditional active antenna unit can provide, thereby reducing the deployment cost of the millimeter wave base station 100, and improving the signal coverage performance of the millimeter wave base station 100, avoiding the occurrence of signal blind spots or weak signal areas in indoor areas.

[0031] It is understandable that the number of DAAUs in the millimeter wave base station and the location of the DAAUs in the indoor area can be set according to the actual size of the indoor area and the signal coverage requirements, and the embodiments of the present invention do not specifically limit this. Figure 2As shown, when the first indoor area 10 is covered with signals, there is a pillar in the middle of the first indoor area 10. In order to avoid signal blind spots or weak signal areas in the first indoor area 10, if a traditional active antenna unit is used to cover the first indoor area 10 with signals, four active antenna units are required, which will use four baseband resources and intermediate frequency resources, resulting in a high deployment cost. However, when the millimeter wave base station 100 provided in the embodiment of the present invention is used, one baseband resource and intermediate frequency resource are required, and four DAAUs are deployed in the first indoor area 10, which greatly reduces the deployment cost of the millimeter wave base station 100. The four DAAUs are DAAU1, DAAU2, DAAU3 and DAAU4, and each DAAU transmits 8 beams. DAAU1 is deployed at the upper left corner of the first indoor area 10 to provide signal coverage area A, DAAU2 is deployed at the lower left corner of the first indoor area 10 to provide signal coverage area B, DAAU3 is deployed at the lower right corner of the first indoor area 10 to provide signal coverage area C, and DAAU4 is deployed at the upper right corner of the first indoor area 10 to provide signal coverage area D.

[0032] In some embodiments, the intermediate frequency processing unit 120 is connected to the N distributed active antenna units 130 through optical fiber, and the signal transmission between the intermediate frequency processing unit 120 and the N distributed active antenna units 130 is performed in the form of radio over fiber (ROF). For example, the intermediate frequency processing unit 120 processes the baseband signal to obtain an intermediate frequency analog signal, and transmits the analog intermediate frequency signal to the distributed active antenna unit 130 through the optical fiber in the form of radio over fiber. The radio frequency unit 131 in the distributed active antenna unit 130 converts the intermediate frequency analog signal into a high frequency analog signal, and transmits it from the air interface through the antenna unit 132. In this embodiment, the signal transmission between the intermediate frequency processing unit 120 and the N distributed active antenna units 130 is realized by radio over fiber, and the routing module 140 only realizes the photoelectric conversion, which can reduce the power consumption and cost of the routing module 140.

[0033] In some embodiments, Figure 3As shown, the millimeter wave base station 100 also includes a routing module 140, which is deployed between the intermediate frequency processing unit 120 and the N distributed active antenna units 130. The intermediate frequency processing unit 120 is used to process multiple (carrier * channel) baseband data in the m carrier * n channel to obtain multiple (carrier * channel) intermediate frequency data, where n and m are both integers greater than 2. The routing module 140 is used to route the multiple (carrier * channel) intermediate frequency data to any distributed active antenna unit 130 in the N distributed active antenna units 130 based on the time division routing strategy when the intermediate frequency data is common channel data. Among them, the common channel data includes data of a synchronization signal block (Synchronization Signal Block, SSB) or a physical random access channel (Physical Random Access Channel, PRACH). The routing module 140 provided in this embodiment can map the baseband data / intermediate frequency data of m carriers*n channels to the distributed active antenna unit 130 in an arbitrary (carrier*channel) manner, thereby realizing the mapping of baseband data / intermediate frequency data to RF antennas and carriers at symbol granularity, and can bring lossless uplink service performance.

[0034] For example, the intermediate frequency processing unit 120 has the ability to process baseband data of 8 carriers * 2 channels, with a total processing capacity of 16 (carriers * channels). The N DAAUs include a first DAAU, a second DAAU, a third DAAU and a fourth DAAU, and each DAAU includes 4 channels. In the first time slot, the intermediate frequency processing unit 120 processes 4 (carriers * channels) of baseband data to obtain 4 (carriers * channels) of intermediate frequency data. The routing module 140 routes the 4 (carriers * channels) of intermediate frequency data to the first DAAU based on a time division routing strategy. In the second time slot, the intermediate frequency processing unit 120 processes the new 4 (carriers * channels) of baseband data to obtain 4 (carriers * channels) of intermediate frequency data. The routing module 140 routes the 4 (carriers * channels) of intermediate frequency data to the second DAAU based on a time division routing strategy. In the third time slot, the intermediate frequency processing unit 120 processes the new 4 (carrier*channel) baseband data to obtain 4 (carrier*channel) intermediate frequency data, and the routing module 140 routes the 4 (carrier*channel) intermediate frequency data to the third DAAU based on the time division routing strategy; in the fourth time slot, the intermediate frequency processing unit 120 processes the new 4 (carrier*channel) baseband data to obtain 4 (carrier*channel) intermediate frequency data, and the routing module 140 routes the 4 (carrier*channel) intermediate frequency data to the fourth DAAU based on the time division routing strategy.

[0035] In some embodiments, the routing module 140 is also used to route multiple (carrier*channel) intermediate frequency data to different distributed active antenna units 130 in N distributed active antenna units 130 based on the time division routing strategy when the intermediate frequency data is service channel data; or, the routing module 140 is also used to route multiple (carrier*channel) intermediate frequency data to different distributed active antenna units 130 in N distributed active antenna units 130 based on the frequency division routing strategy when the intermediate frequency data is service channel data. Compared with the time division routing strategy, the frequency division routing strategy can improve the spectrum utilization efficiency. The routing module 140 provided in this embodiment can map the baseband data / intermediate frequency data of m carriers*n channels to the distributed active antenna unit 130 in the manner of any carrier*channel, realize the mapping of baseband data / intermediate frequency data to RF antenna and carrier at symbol granularity, and can bring lossless uplink service performance.

[0036] For example, the intermediate frequency processing unit 120 has the ability to process baseband data of 8 carriers * 4 channels, with a total processing capacity of 32 (carriers * channels). The N DAAUs include a first DAAU, a second DAAU, a third DAAU and a fourth DAAU, and each DAAU includes 4 channels. The intermediate frequency processing unit 120 processes 16 (carriers*channels) of baseband data to obtain 16 (carriers*channels) of intermediate frequency data. The routing module 140 can simultaneously route the 16 (carriers*channels) of intermediate frequency data to the first DAAU, the second DAAU, the third DAAU and the fourth DAAU based on the frequency division routing strategy. For example, the 16 (carriers*channels) of intermediate frequency data can be divided into 4 intermediate frequency data groups, and one intermediate frequency data group includes 4 (carriers*channels) of intermediate frequency data, which are recorded as the first intermediate frequency data group, the second intermediate frequency data group, the third intermediate frequency data group and the fourth intermediate frequency data group. At the same time, the first intermediate frequency data group is routed to the first DAAU, the second intermediate frequency data group is routed to the second DAAU, the third intermediate frequency data group is routed to the third DAAU, and the fourth intermediate frequency data group is routed to the fourth DAAU.

[0037] In some embodiments, the baseband processing unit 110 is used to obtain the service load. When the service load is greater than a preset load threshold, the service channel routing strategy of the routing module 140 is configured as a time division routing strategy; when the service load is less than or equal to the preset load threshold, the service channel routing strategy of the routing module 140 is configured as a frequency division routing strategy. Among them, the service load includes the number of users of the millimeter wave base station, the utilization rate of the physical resource block (PRB), the maximum number of radio resource control (RRC) connections, etc. The preset load threshold can be set based on actual conditions, and the embodiment of the present invention does not specifically limit this. This embodiment can improve the efficiency of spectrum utilization by adaptively adjusting the service channel routing strategy of the routing module 140 based on the service load of the base station.

[0038] In some embodiments, the baseband processing unit 110 is used to obtain the target SSB identifier reported by the user equipment, and the target SSB identifier is used to describe the SSB beam with the highest signal strength; the SSB beam corresponding to the target SSB identifier is allocated to the user equipment, so that the user equipment accesses the corresponding DAAU according to the allocated SSB beam. Among them, multiple synchronization signal blocks SSB can be pre-configured for each DAAU, so that each DAAU transmits multiple SSB beams. For example, the SSB set of the millimeter wave base station 100 can be divided into N groups to obtain N SSB groups, and the N SSB groups can be configured on N DAAUs, one SSB group corresponds to one DAAU, and the number of SSBs configured on each DAAU can be the same or different, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment can ensure the network stability of the user equipment by selecting the DAAU with the highest signal strength to access the user equipment.

[0039] For example, Figure 4a As shown, the millimeter wave base station 100 includes a first DAAU 1301 and a second DAAU 1302, and the first DAAU 1301 and the second DAAU 1302 are used to provide a signal coverage area for the second indoor area 20. Figure 4bAs shown, the first DAAU1301 is deployed in the upper left corner area of ​​the second indoor area 20 to provide the first signal coverage area R1, and the second DAAU1302 is deployed in the upper right corner area of ​​the second indoor area 20 to provide the second signal coverage area R2. The first signal coverage area R1 and the second signal coverage area R2 can completely cover the entire second indoor area 20. The user equipment 21 finds that the signal strength of the SSB beam transmitted by the first DAAU1301 is the highest at the current location, and the user equipment 21 selects the first DAAU1301 corresponding to the SSB beam with the highest signal strength for access. If the signal of the first DAAU1301 is temporarily blocked (by a person or an object), the user equipment 21 will find that the signal of the first DAAU1301 becomes weak. At this time, the user equipment 21 finds that the signal strength of the second DAAU1302 is the highest. Therefore, the user equipment 21 can change the accessed DAAU from the first DAAU1301 to the second DAAU1302 by beam switching, without the need for cell switching, reducing switching delay and traffic drop, and avoiding the temporary appearance of weak signal areas in the signal coverage area.

[0040] In some embodiments, the target SSB identifier is reported when the user equipment changes from being located in a first signal coverage range to being located in a second signal coverage range, the first signal coverage range is the signal coverage range of the first distributed active antenna unit, the second signal coverage range is the signal coverage range of the second distributed active antenna unit, and the SSB beam described by the target SSB identifier is emitted by the second distributed active antenna unit. For example, Figure 5 As shown, the first DAAU1301 transmits multiple beams to achieve signal coverage of the third indoor area 30, and the second DAAU1302 transmits multiple beams to achieve signal coverage of the fourth indoor area 40. When the user equipment 21 changes from the signal coverage range of the first DAAU1301 to the signal coverage range of the second DAAU1302, the user equipment 21 reports the SSB identifier of the SSB beam with the highest signal enhancement transmitted by the second DAAU1302 to the millimeter wave base station 100, so that the millimeter wave base station 100 allocates the SSB beam with the highest signal enhancement transmitted by the second DAAU1302 to the user equipment 21, so that the user equipment 21 can change the accessed DAAU from the first DAAU1301 to the second DAAU1302 by beam switching through the SSB beam, without the need for cell switching, reducing switching delay and traffic drop, and avoiding the temporary appearance of weak signal areas in the signal coverage area.

[0041] In some embodiments, the baseband processing unit 110 is used to obtain the target SSB identifier and the target DAAU identifier reported by the user equipment, and the target SSB identifier and the target DAAU identifier are used to describe the SSB beam with the highest signal strength; the SSB beam corresponding to the target SSB identifier and the target DAAU identifier is allocated to the user equipment, so that the user equipment accesses the corresponding distributed active antenna unit according to the allocated SSB beam. Among them, the SSBs of different DAAU configurations can be repeated. This embodiment expands the beam coverage by adopting SSB repetition, and can achieve the expansion of the signal coverage range under the condition of the same number of DAAUs, and adopts the combination of SSB identifier and DAAU identifier to determine the DAAU, and can accurately determine the DAAU to which the user equipment accesses when the SSB identifier is repeated.

[0042] For example, Figure 2 As shown, the millimeter wave base station includes DAAU1, DAAU2, DAAU3 and DAAU4, and according to the actual coverage requirements of the first indoor area 10, DAAU1, DAAU2, DAAU3 and DAAU4 all require 4 beams, so the total number of beams required is 4*4=16, and the SSB set of the millimeter wave base station includes 16 SSBs, so the SSB is configured for DAAU in a non-repeated manner, and the 16 SSBs can be evenly configured to DAAU1, DAAU2, DAAU3 and DAA U4, so that DAAU1, DAAU2, DAAU3 and DAAU4 all transmit 4 SSB beams. For example, the 4 SSBs at SSB_01 to SSB_04 are configured to DAAU1, the 4 SSBs at SSB_05 to SSB_08 are configured to DAAU2, the 4 SSBs at SSB_09 to SSB_12 are configured to DAAU3, and the 4 SSBs at SSB_13 to SSB_16 are configured to DAAU4. At this time, one SSB identifier corresponds to one SSB beam.

[0043] For example, Figure 2As shown, the millimeter wave base station includes DAAU1, DAAU2, DAAU3 and DAAU4. According to the actual coverage requirements of the first indoor area 10, DAAU1, DAAU2, DAAU3 and DAAU4 all require 8 beams, so the total number of beams is 4*8=32, but the SSB set of the millimeter wave base station only includes 16 SSBs. If the SSB is configured for DAAU in a non-repetitive manner, only 16 SSB beams can be provided, which cannot meet the actual coverage requirements of the first indoor area 10. Therefore, it is necessary to configure the SSB for DAAU in a repetitive manner. For example, 8 SSBs corresponding to SSB identifiers SSB_01 to SSB_08 are configured to DAAU1, 8 SSBs corresponding to SSB identifiers SSB_09 to SSB_16 are configured to DAAU2, and 8 SSBs corresponding to SSB identifiers SSB_01 to SSB_08 are repeatedly configured to DAAU3, and 8 SSBs corresponding to SSB identifiers SSB_09 to SSB_16 are repeatedly configured to DAAU4. At this time, one SSB identifier corresponds to two SSB beams. Configuring SSBs for DAAUs in an SSB repetition manner can expand the signal coverage of millimeter wave base stations compared to non-repetition of SSBs.

[0044] In some embodiments, the baseband processing unit 110 is used to simultaneously allocate the target SSB beam of each of the at least two distributed active antenna units to the user equipment when it is determined that the user equipment is located in the overlapping area between the signal coverage areas of at least two distributed active antenna units, so that the user equipment simultaneously accesses at least two distributed active antenna units according to the at least two allocated target SSB beams, and the target SSB beam is the SSB beam with the highest signal strength. In this embodiment, the user equipment simultaneously accesses more than two distributed active antenna units, so that the user equipment can simultaneously receive data sent from more than two distributed active antenna units, thereby improving the downlink reception rate, and the uplink can simultaneously send signals in two directions, thereby improving the reception performance of the millimeter wave base station.

[0045] For example, Figure 6As shown, the user equipment 21 is located in the overlapping area R3 between the first signal coverage area R1 of the first DAAU1301 and the second signal coverage area R2 of the second DAAU1302. The user equipment 21 can simultaneously receive the signal of the first DAAU1301 and the signal of the second DAAU1302, and the signal strength of the first DAAU1301 and the signal strength of the second DAAU1302 received by the user equipment 21 are both greater than the preset signal strength threshold. At this time, the user equipment 21 can send a first SSB identifier (the SSB identifier corresponding to the SSB beam with the highest signal strength among the multiple SSB beams transmitted by the first DAAU1301) and a second SSB identifier (the SSB identifier corresponding to the SSB beam with the highest signal strength among the multiple SSB beams transmitted by the second DAAU1302) to the millimeter wave base station. In this way, the millimeter wave base station can assign the first beam corresponding to the first SSB identifier and the second beam corresponding to the second SSB identifier to the user equipment 21, so that the user equipment 21 accesses the first DAAU1301 according to the first SSB beam, and accesses the second DAAU1302 according to the second SSB beam at the same time.

[0046] The following will be combined Figures 1 to 6 The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present invention is described in detail in the scenario in FIG. Figures 1 to 6 The scenarios are only used to explain the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present invention, but do not constitute a limitation on the application scenarios of the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0047] See also Figure 7 , Figure 7 It is a flow chart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

[0048] like Figure 7 As shown, the communication method includes steps S101 to S102.

[0049] Step S101: configure multiple synchronization signal blocks SSB for each distributed active antenna unit DAAU so that each DAAU transmits multiple SSB beams.

[0050] In this embodiment, when the total number of beams required by the N DAAUs included in the millimeter wave base station is less than or equal to the total number of SSBs included in the SSB set of the millimeter wave base station, multiple SSBs can be configured for each DAAU in a non-repeating SSB manner so that each DAAU transmits multiple SSB beams. When the total number of beams required by the N DAAUs included in the millimeter wave base station is greater than the total number of SSBs included in the SSB set of the millimeter wave base station, multiple SSBs can be configured for each DAAU in a repetitive SSB manner so that each DAAU transmits multiple SSB beams to expand the signal coverage of the millimeter wave base station.

[0051] For example, Figure 2 As shown, the millimeter wave base station includes DAAU1, DAAU2, DAAU3 and DAAU4, and DAAU1, DAAU2, DAAU3 and DAAU4 all require 4 beams, so the total number of beams required is 4*4=16, and the SSB set of the millimeter wave base station includes 16 SSBs. Since the total number of beams required is the same as the number of SSBs contained in the SSB set, SSBs are configured for DAAU1, DAAU2, DAAU3 and DAAU4 in a non-repeating manner. For example, the 4 SSBs at SSB_01 to SSB_04 are configured to DAAU1, the 4 SSBs at SSB_05 to SSB_08 are configured to DAAU2, the 4 SSBs at SSB_09 to SSB_12 are configured to DAAU3, and the 4 SSBs at SSB_13 to SSB_16 are configured to DAAU4.

[0052] For another example, DAAU1, DAAU2, DAAU3 and DAAU4 all require 8 beams, then the total number of beams required is 4*8=32, and the SSB set of the millimeter wave base station includes 16 SSBs. Since the total number of beams required is greater than the number of SSBs contained in the SSB set, SSB repetition can be used to configure SSBs for DAAU1, DAAU2, DAAU3 and DAAU4 to achieve the transmission of 32 SSB beams. For example, 8 SSBs corresponding to SSB_01 to SSB_08 are configured to DAAU1, 8 SSBs corresponding to SSB_09 to SSB_16 are configured to DAAU2, and 8 SSBs corresponding to SSB_01 to SSB_08 are repeatedly configured to DAAU3, and 8 SSBs corresponding to SSB_09 to SSB_16 are repeatedly configured to DAAU4.

[0053] Step S102: Obtain the target SSB identifier reported by the user equipment, and allocate the SSB beam corresponding to the target SSB identifier to the user equipment, so that the user equipment accesses the corresponding DAAU according to the allocated SSB beam.

[0054] In this embodiment, the target SSB identifier is used to describe the SSB beam with the highest signal strength. By selecting the DAAU with the highest signal strength to access the user equipment, the network stability of the user equipment can be guaranteed. Figure 4bAs shown, the user equipment 21 finds that the signal strength of the SSB beam transmitted by the first DAAU1301 is the highest at the current location, and the user equipment 21 sends the SSB identifier of the SSB beam with the highest signal strength to the millimeter wave base station, so that the millimeter wave base station allocates the SSB beam with the highest signal strength transmitted by the first DAAU1301 to the user equipment 21 according to the SSB identifier, and the user equipment 21 uses the first DAAU1301 corresponding to the SSB beam with the highest signal strength for access. If the signal of the first DAAU1301 is temporarily blocked (by a person or an object), the user equipment 21 will find that the signal of the first DAAU1301 becomes weaker. At this time, the user equipment 21 finds that the signal strength of the second DAAU1302 is the highest. Therefore, the user equipment 21 can change the accessed DAAU from the first DAAU1301 to the second DAAU1302 by beam switching.

[0055] In some embodiments, the target SSB identifier is reported when the user equipment changes from being located in a first signal coverage range to being located in a second signal coverage range, the first signal coverage range is the signal coverage range of the first DAAU, the second signal coverage range is the signal coverage range of the second DAAU, and the SSB beam described by the target SSB identifier is emitted by the second DAAU. For example, Figure 5 As shown, the first DAAU1301 transmits multiple beams to achieve signal coverage of the third indoor area 30, and the second DAAU1302 transmits multiple beams to achieve signal coverage of the fourth indoor area 40. When the user equipment 21 changes from the signal coverage range of the first DAAU1301 to the signal coverage range of the second DAAU1302, the user equipment 21 reports the SSB identifier of the SSB beam with the highest signal enhancement transmitted by the second DAAU1302 to the millimeter wave base station 100, so that the millimeter wave base station 100 allocates the SSB beam with the highest signal enhancement transmitted by the second DAAU1302 to the user equipment 21, so that the user equipment 21 can change the accessed DAAU from the first DAAU1301 to the second DAAU1302 by beam switching through the SSB beam, without the need for cell switching, reducing switching delay and traffic drop, and avoiding the temporary appearance of weak signal areas in the signal coverage area.

[0056] In some embodiments, Figure 8 As shown, step S102 includes: sub-step S1021 to sub-step S1022.

[0057] Sub-step S1021, obtaining the target SSB identifier and target DAAU identifier reported by the user equipment.

[0058] In this embodiment, the target SSB identifier and the target DAAU identifier are used to describe the SSB beam with the highest signal strength. In the case of SSB repetition, the SSB identifier and the DAAU identifier can be used to describe the SSB beam transmitted by the DAAU.

[0059] For example, the SSB identifiers of the 8 SSB beams transmitted by DAAU1 are located at SSB_01 to SSB_08, and the DAAU identifier of DAAU1 is DAAU_01. The SSB identifiers of the 8 SSB beams transmitted by DAAU2 are located at SSB_09 to SSB_16, and the DAAU identifier of DAAU2 is DAAU_02. The SSB identifiers of the 8 SSB beams transmitted by DAAU3 are located at SSB_01 to SSB_08, and the DAAU identifier of DAAU1 is DAAU_03. The SSB identifiers of the 8 SSB beams transmitted by DAAU4 are located at SSB_09 to SSB_16, and the DAAU identifier of DAAU2 is DAAU_04. When the user equipment finds that the signal strength of the SSB beam corresponding to the SSB identifier SSB_06 and the DAAU identifier DAAU_03 is the highest, SSB_06 and DAAU_03 are reported to the millimeter wave base station, and the millimeter wave base station obtains SSB_06 and DAAU_03 reported by the user equipment.

[0060] Sub-step S1022: Allocate the SSB beam corresponding to the target SSB identifier and the target DAAU identifier to the user equipment, so that the user equipment accesses the corresponding DAAU according to the allocated SSB beam.

[0061] For example, if the user equipment finds that the signal strength of the SSB beam corresponding to the SSB identifier SSB_06 and the DAAU identifier DAAU_03 is the highest, SSB_06 and DAAU_03 are reported to the millimeter wave base station, and the millimeter wave base station obtains SSB_06 and DAAU_03 reported by the user equipment. The millimeter wave base station allocates the SSB beam corresponding to the SSB identifier SSB_06 among the 8 SSB beams transmitted by DAAU3 to the user equipment, and the user equipment uses the allocated SSB beam to access DAAU3.

[0062] In some embodiments, Fig. 9 As shown, step S102 includes: sub-steps S1023 to S1024.

[0063] Step S1023: Obtain the first SSB identifier and the second SSB identifier reported by the user equipment.

[0064] In this embodiment, the first SSB identifier is used to describe the SSB beam transmitted by the first DAAU, and the second SSB identifier is used to describe the SSB beam transmitted by the second DAAU. The first SSB identifier and the second SSB identifier are reported when the user equipment is located in a signal overlapping area, which is the overlapping area between the signal coverage area of ​​the first DAAU and the signal coverage area of ​​the second DAAU.

[0065] For example, Figure 6 As shown, the user equipment 21 is located in the overlapping area R3 between the first signal coverage area R1 of the first DAAU1301 and the second signal coverage area R2 of the second DAAU1302. The user equipment 21 can simultaneously receive the signal of the first DAAU1301 and the signal of the second DAAU1302, and the signal strength of the first DAAU1301 and the signal strength of the second DAAU1302 received by the user equipment 21 are both greater than the preset signal strength threshold. At this time, the user equipment 21 can send a first SSB identifier (the SSB identifier corresponding to the SSB beam with the highest signal strength among the multiple SSB beams transmitted by the first DAAU1301) and a second SSB identifier (the SSB identifier corresponding to the SSB beam with the highest signal strength among the multiple SSB beams transmitted by the second DAAU1302) to the millimeter wave base station.

[0066] Step S1024: allocate the first SSB beam corresponding to the first SSB identifier and the second SSB beam corresponding to the second SSB identifier to the user equipment, so that the user equipment accesses the first DAAU according to the first SSB beam and accesses the second DAAU according to the second SSB beam.

[0067] In this embodiment, the user equipment is connected to more than two distributed active antenna units at the same time, so that the user equipment can simultaneously receive data sent from more than two distributed active antenna units, thereby improving the downlink reception rate, and the uplink can send signals in two directions at the same time, thereby improving the reception performance of the millimeter wave base station.

[0068] For example, Figure 6As shown, the SSB identifiers of the 8 SSB beams transmitted by the first DAAU1301 are located from SSB_01 to SSB_08, and the SSB identifiers of the 8 SSB beams transmitted by the second DAAU1302 are located from SSB_09 to SSB_16. The first SSB identifier reported by the user equipment 21 is SSB_05, and the second SSB identifier is SSB_12. Then, the millimeter wave base station can allocate the first SSB beam corresponding to the SSB identifier SSB_05 among the 8 SSB beams transmitted by the first DAAU1301 and the second SSB beam corresponding to the SSB identifier SSB_12 among the 8 SSB beams transmitted by the second DAAU1302 to the user equipment 21. The user equipment 21 can access the first DAAU1301 according to the first SSB beam corresponding to the SSB identifier SSB_05, and access the second DAAU1302 according to the second SSB beam corresponding to the SSB identifier SSB_12.

[0069] In some embodiments, Fig.10 As shown, step S102 includes: sub-steps S1025 to S1026.

[0070] Step S1025: Obtain the first SSB identifier, the first DAAU identifier, the second SSB identifier and the second DAAU identifier reported by the user equipment.

[0071] In this embodiment, the first SSB identifier and the first DAAU identifier are used to describe the SSB beam transmitted by the first DAAU, and the second SSB identifier and the second DAAU identifier are used to describe the SSB beam transmitted by the second DAAU. The first SSB identifier, the first DAAU identifier, the second SSB identifier and the second DAAU identifier are reported when the user equipment is located in a signal overlapping area, and the signal overlapping area is the overlapping area between the signal coverage area of ​​the first DAAU and the signal coverage area of ​​the second DAAU.

[0072] For example, Figure 6As shown, the SSB identifiers of the eight SSB beams transmitted by the first DAAU 1301 are located from SSB_01 to SSB_08, and the DAAU identifier of the first DAAU 1301 is DAAU_1301. The SSB identifiers of the eight SSB beams transmitted by the second DAAU 1302 are also located from SSB_01 to SSB_08, and the DAAU identifier of the second DAAU 1302 is DAAU_1302. The user equipment 21 is located in the overlapping area R3 between the first signal coverage area R1 of the first DAAU1301 and the second signal coverage area R2 of the second DAAU1302. The user equipment 21 can simultaneously receive the signal of the first DAAU1301 and the signal of the second DAAU1302, and the signal strength of the first DAAU1301 and the signal strength of the second DAAU1302 received by the user equipment 21 are both greater than the preset signal strength threshold. At this time, the user equipment 21 can send SSB_04 (the SSB identifier corresponding to the SSB beam with the highest signal strength among the multiple SSB beams transmitted by the first DAAU1301), DAAU_1301 (the DAAU identifier of the first DAAU1301), SSB_02 (the SSB identifier corresponding to the SSB beam with the highest signal strength among the multiple SSB beams transmitted by the second DAAU1302) and DAAU_1302 (the DAAU identifier of the second DAAU1302) to the millimeter wave base station.

[0073] Step S1026: allocate the first SSB beam corresponding to the first SSB identifier and the first DAAU identifier and the second SSB beam corresponding to the second SSB identifier and the second DAAU identifier to the user equipment, so that the user equipment accesses the first DAAU according to the first SSB beam and accesses the second DAAU according to the second SSB beam.

[0074] In this embodiment, the user equipment is connected to more than two distributed active antenna units at the same time, so that the user equipment can simultaneously receive data sent from more than two distributed active antenna units, thereby improving the downlink reception rate, and the uplink can send signals in two directions at the same time, thereby improving the reception performance of the millimeter wave base station.

[0075] For example, the first SSB identifier is SSB_04, the first DAAU identifier is DAAU_1301, the second SSB identifier is SSB_02, and the second DAAU identifier is DAAU_1302. The millimeter wave base station can allocate the first SSB beam corresponding to the SSB identifier SSB_04 among the 8 SSB beams transmitted by the first DAAU1301 and the second SSB beam corresponding to the SSB identifier SSB_02 among the 8 SSB beams transmitted by the second DAAU1302 to the user equipment, so that the user equipment accesses the first DAAU1301 according to the first SSB beam corresponding to SSB_04, and accesses the second DAAU1302 according to the second SSB beam corresponding to SSB_02.

[0076] An embodiment of the present invention further provides a storage medium for computer-readable storage, wherein the storage medium stores one or more programs, and the one or more programs can be executed by one or more processors to implement any communication method provided in the description of the embodiment of the present invention.

[0077] The storage medium may be an internal storage unit of the millimeter wave base station described in the foregoing embodiment, such as a hard disk or memory of the millimeter wave base station. The storage medium may also be an external storage device of the millimeter wave base station, such as a plug-in hard disk, a smart memory card (Smart Media Card, SMC), a secure digital (Secure Digital, SD) card, a flash card (Flash Card), etc., equipped on the millimeter wave base station.

[0078] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that all or some of the steps, systems, and functional modules / units in the methods disclosed above may be implemented as software, firmware, hardware, and appropriate combinations thereof. In a hardware embodiment, the division between the functional modules / units mentioned in the above description does not necessarily correspond to the division of physical components; for example, a physical component may have multiple functions, or a function or step may be performed by several physical components in cooperation. Some or all physical components may be implemented as software executed by a processor, such as a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, or a microprocessor, or implemented as hardware, or implemented as an integrated circuit, such as an application-specific integrated circuit. Such software may be distributed on a computer-readable medium, which may include a computer storage medium (or non-transitory medium) and a communication medium (or temporary medium). As known to those skilled in the art, the term computer storage medium includes volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storing information (such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data). Computer storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and can be accessed by a computer. In addition, it is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art that communication media typically contain computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and may include any information delivery media.

[0079] It should be understood that the term "and / or" used in the present specification and the appended claims refers to any combination of one or more of the associated listed items and all possible combinations, including these combinations. It should be noted that, in this article, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or system including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also includes other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or system. In the absence of further restrictions, an element defined by the sentence "including a..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or system including the element.

[0080] The serial numbers of the embodiments of the present invention are only for description and do not represent the advantages and disadvantages of the embodiments. The above description is only a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of various equivalent modifications or replacements within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention, and these modifications or replacements should be included in the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A millimeter wave base station, characterized in that: The millimeter wave base station includes: a baseband processing unit, an intermediate frequency processing unit and N distributed active antenna units consisting of a radio frequency unit and an antenna unit, where N is an integer greater than 1 or equal to; The baseband processing unit is connected to the intermediate frequency processing unit, and the intermediate frequency processing unit is connected to the N distributed active antenna units; The N distributed active antenna units are used to transmit multiple beams at different locations in a target indoor area to achieve signal coverage of the target indoor area, and the target indoor area is an indoor area where the signal is to be deployed.

2. The millimeter wave base station according to claim 1, characterized in that: The intermediate frequency processing unit is connected to the N distributed active antenna units through optical fibers, and signal transmission between the intermediate frequency processing unit and the N distributed active antenna units is performed in a wireless communication over optical fiber manner.

3. The millimeter wave base station according to claim 1, characterized in that: The millimeter wave base station also includes a routing module, and the routing module is deployed between the intermediate frequency processing unit and the N distributed active antenna units; The intermediate frequency processing unit is used to process multiple (carrier*channel) baseband data in m carrier*n channel to obtain multiple intermediate frequency data of the (carrier*channel), where n and m are both integers greater than 2; The routing module is used to route the intermediate frequency data of multiple (carrier*channel) to any one of the N distributed active antenna units based on a time division routing strategy when the intermediate frequency data is common channel data.

4. The millimeter wave base station according to claim 3, characterized in that: The routing module is also used for routing the intermediate frequency data of the plurality of (carriers*channels) to different distributed active antenna units in the N distributed active antenna units respectively based on a time division routing strategy when the intermediate frequency data is service channel data; Alternatively, the routing module is also used to, when the intermediate frequency data is service channel data, simultaneously route multiple (carrier*channel) intermediate frequency data to different distributed active antenna units among the N distributed active antenna units based on a frequency division routing strategy.

5. The millimeter wave base station according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The baseband processing unit is used for: Obtain a target synchronization signal block SSB identifier reported by the user equipment, where the target SSB identifier is used to describe an SSB beam with the highest signal strength; The SSB beam corresponding to the target SSB identifier is allocated to the user equipment so that the user equipment accesses the corresponding distributed active antenna unit according to the allocated SSB beam.

6. The millimeter wave base station according to claim 5, characterized in that: The target SSB identifier is reported when the user equipment changes from being located in a first signal coverage range to being located in a second signal coverage range, the first signal coverage range is the signal coverage range of the first distributed active antenna unit, the second signal coverage range is the signal coverage range of the second distributed active antenna unit, and the SSB beam described by the target SSB identifier is emitted by the second distributed active antenna unit.

7. The millimeter wave base station according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The baseband processing unit is used for: Obtain a target SSB identifier and a target distributed active antenna unit DAAU identifier reported by a user device, where the target SSB identifier and the target DAAU identifier are used to describe an SSB beam with the highest signal strength; The SSB beam corresponding to the target SSB identifier and the target DAAU identifier is allocated to the user equipment so that the user equipment accesses the corresponding distributed active antenna unit according to the allocated SSB beam.

8. The millimeter wave base station according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The baseband processing unit is used for: When it is determined that the user equipment is located in the overlapping area between the signal coverage areas of at least two of the distributed active antenna units, the target SSB beam of each of the at least two distributed active antenna units is simultaneously allocated to the user equipment, so that the user equipment simultaneously accesses at least two of the distributed active antenna units according to the allocated at least two target SSB beams, and the target SSB beam is the SSB beam with the highest signal strength.

9. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to the millimeter wave base station according to any one of claims 1 to 8, the communication method comprises: Configuring a plurality of synchronization signal blocks SSB for each of the distributed active antenna units DAAU so that each of the DAAU transmits a plurality of SSB beams; Obtain the target SSB identifier reported by the user equipment, and allocate the SSB beam corresponding to the target SSB identifier to the user equipment, so that the user equipment accesses the corresponding DAAU according to the allocated SSB beam.

10. The communication method according to claim 9, characterized in that: The obtaining a target SSB identifier reported by the user equipment and allocating an SSB beam corresponding to the target SSB identifier to the user equipment includes: Obtain a target SSB identifier and a target DAAU identifier reported by a user device, where the target SSB identifier and the target DAAU identifier are used to describe an SSB beam with the highest signal strength; The SSB beam corresponding to the target SSB identifier and the target DAAU identifier is allocated to the user equipment so that the user equipment accesses the corresponding DAAU according to the allocated SSB beam.

11. The communication method according to claim 9, characterized in that: The target SSB identifier is reported when the user equipment changes from being located in a first signal coverage range to being located in a second signal coverage range, the first signal coverage range is the signal coverage range of the first DAAU, the second signal coverage range is the signal coverage range of the second DAAU, and the SSB beam described by the target SSB identifier is transmitted by the second DAAU.

12. The communication method according to claim 9, characterized in that: The obtaining a target SSB identifier reported by the user equipment and allocating an SSB beam corresponding to the target SSB identifier to the user equipment includes: Obtain a first SSB identifier and a second SSB identifier reported by a user equipment, where the first SSB identifier is used to describe an SSB beam transmitted by a first DAAU, and the second SSB identifier is used to describe an SSB beam transmitted by a second DAAU, and the first SSB identifier and the second SSB identifier are reported when the user equipment is located in a signal overlapping area, and the signal overlapping area is an overlapping area between a signal coverage area of ​​the first DAAU and a signal coverage area of ​​the second DAAU; A first SSB beam corresponding to the first SSB identifier and a second SSB beam corresponding to the second SSB identifier are allocated to the user equipment so that the user equipment accesses the first DAAU according to the first SSB beam and accesses the second DAAU according to the second SSB beam.

13. A storage medium for computer-readable storage, characterized in that: The storage medium stores one or more programs, and the one or more programs can be executed by one or more processors to implement the communication method described in any one of claims 9 to 12.

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