Wireless communications using non-reciprocal relays and space-fed repeaters

Abstract

A method of using a nonreciprocal space-fed antenna for wireless communications includes receiving a first wireless signal from a base station in a first beam direction with the nonreciprocal space-fed antenna, transmitting the first wireless signal in a second beam direction with the nonreciprocal space-fed antenna, receiving a second wireless signal in a third beam direction with the nonreciprocal space-fed antenna, and transmitting the second wireless signal in a fourth beam direction to the base station with the nonreciprocal space-fed antenna. Nonreciprocal surfaces and antenna arrays are also described.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] cross reference This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 230,969, filed August 9, 2021, entitled “Full Duplex Transmissive and Reflective Relay System based on Spatially Fed Repeaters,” the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present invention relates to wireless communications, and in particular to wireless communications using space-feed repeaters. [Background technology]

[0003] As wireless communications technologies continue to develop, the demand for wireless services continues to increase. Additional services, as well as improvements in capacity and geographic coverage for existing services, are constantly desired.

[0004] Many improvements relate to the operation of a network-side access node, which may be a wireless base station (BS), such as a Wi-Fi access point (AP), a fourth generation (4G) evolved node-B (eNB), a fifth generation gNodeB (gNB), etc. Other improvements relate to the operation of a device that accesses the network, which may be a Wi-Fi station (STA), a wireless user equipment (UE), such as a smartphone or tablet, an Internet-of-Things (IoT) device, or any other device capable of wirelessly accessing the network.

[0005] One elusive goal of cellular and Wi-Fi communication networks is full-duplex (FD) communication, which involves a single device, such as a base station, transmitting and receiving signals using the same frequency at the same time. If achieved, FD communication has the potential to double the data capacity of a network compared to current technologies such as time division duplexing (TDD) or frequency division duplexing (FDD) (sometimes collectively referred to as "half-duplex" or "HD"). FD may also reduce latency compared to TDD, since a device cannot transmit data during a designated receive interval.

[0006] However, technical problems remain for implementing FD communications, such as interference between signals transmitted and received by the same device. Because FD devices transmit and receive at the same frequency, they cannot use frequency-selective hardware to distinguish between the two signals. Furthermore, because the received signal has been attenuated by traveling through the air, even a very small interference component from the transmitted signal may be enough to overwhelm and obscure the received signal.

[0007] Therefore, improvements in wireless communications, and in particular full-duplex wireless communications, are desirable. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] International Patent Application Publication No. WO2022 / 094686 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0009] It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for wireless communication that ameliorates at least one drawback of the prior art.

[0010] It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for full-duplex wireless communication.

[0011] It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for enabling full-duplex wireless communication using a half-duplex wireless device.

[0012] It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved TDMA or FDMA system through the use of non-reciprocal arrays. [Means for solving the problem]

[0013] According to a first broad aspect, a method of using a non-reciprocal space-fed antenna for wireless communications includes receiving a first wireless signal from a base station in a first beam direction by the non-reciprocal space-fed antenna, transmitting the first wireless signal in a second beam direction by the non-reciprocal space-fed antenna, receiving a second wireless signal in a third beam direction by the non-reciprocal space-fed antenna, and transmitting the second wireless signal in a fourth beam direction towards the base station by the non-reciprocal space-fed antenna.

[0014] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, the second beam direction is toward the first reflective surface.

[0015] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, the reflective surface is a non-reciprocal reflective surface.

[0016] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, the third beam direction is toward the second reflective surface.

[0017] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, the second reflective surface is a non-reciprocal reflective surface.

[0018] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, the first wireless signal and the second wireless signal at least partially overlap in time, and the first wireless signal and the second wireless signal at least partially overlap in frequency.

[0019] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, receiving the first wireless signal from the base station includes receiving the first wireless signal from at least one first antenna of the base station and transmitting the second wireless signal towards the base station includes transmitting the second wireless signal to at least one second antenna of the base station, wherein the at least one first antenna is spatially separated from the at least one second antenna.

[0020] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, the first beam direction and the fourth beam direction are substantially non-parallel.

[0021] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, the non-reciprocal space-fed antenna is a beam-steerable metasurface.

[0022] According to a second broad aspect, a non-reciprocal surface includes a plurality of antenna elements, each antenna element having at least one adjustable phase shifter for shifting a phase of a signal transmitted or received by the antenna element, the non-reciprocal surface configured to receive a first wireless signal from a base station in a first beam direction, transmit the first wireless signal in a second beam direction, receive a second wireless signal in a third beam direction, and transmit the second wireless signal towards the base station in a fourth beam direction.

[0023] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, the second beam direction is toward the first reflective surface.

[0024] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, the first reflective surface is a first non-reciprocal reflective surface.

[0025] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, the third beam direction is toward the second reflective surface.

[0026] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, the second reflective surface is a second non-reciprocal reflective surface.

[0027] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, the first wireless signal and the second wireless signal at least partially overlap in time, and the first wireless signal and the second wireless signal at least partially overlap in frequency.

[0028] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, receiving the first wireless signal from the base station includes receiving the first wireless signal from at least one first antenna of the base station and transmitting the second wireless signal towards the base station includes transmitting the second wireless signal to at least one second antenna of the base station, wherein the at least one first antenna is spatially separated from the at least one second antenna.

[0029] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, the first beam direction and the fourth beam direction are substantially non-parallel.

[0030] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, the non-reciprocal surface is a beam-steerable metasurface.

[0031] According to a third broad aspect, an antenna array for transmitting and receiving wireless signals includes an input / output (I / O) port and a plurality of antenna elements arranged in a two-dimensional grid, each antenna element of the plurality of antenna elements connected to the I / O port via a respective magnitude and phase adjustment (MPA) module, each MPA module having a transmit path and a receive path, the MPA module configured to only allow transmission from the I / O port to the antenna element via the transmit path, the MPA module configured to only allow transmission from the antenna element to the I / O port via the receive path, the transmit path including a first amplifier and a first phase shifter, and the receive path including a second amplifier and a second phase shifter.

[0032] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, each MPA module comprises a first circulator for allowing only transmission from the I / O port to the antenna element via a transmit path and a second circulator for allowing only transmission from the antenna element to the I / O port via a receive path.

[0033] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, the first phase shifter is adjustable to perform transmit beamforming of signals to be transmitted by the multiple antenna elements.

[0034] Optionally, in any of the previous aspects, the second phase shifter is adjustable to perform receive beamforming of signals received by the multiple antenna elements.

[0035] Having thus generally described the nature of the present invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments thereof are shown by way of example. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0036] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a conventional cellular network. [Diagram 2]FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic representation of a cellular network implemented according to one embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic representation of a single sector of a cellular network having reflective and transparent relays. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a reflective non-reciprocal surface. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a transmissive non-reciprocal surface operating in a unidirectional mode. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a full-duplex non-reciprocal transparent repeater. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a non-reciprocal phased array. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 shows a schematic representation of a non-reciprocal phased array as illustrated in a small cell embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a reflective non-reciprocal surface. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a transflective nonreciprocal surface. [Figure 11] Block diagram of a nonreciprocal phased array. [Figure 12] FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of an amplitude and phase adjustment block. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a circuit diagram of an embodiment of a non-reciprocal phased array architecture using the amplitude and phase adjustment blocks of FIG. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of a non-reciprocal surface in use with multiple cells according to a first embodiment. [Figure 15] FIG. 13 shows a schematic representation of a non-reciprocal surface in use with multiple cells according to a second embodiment. [Figure 16] FIG. 13 shows a schematic representation of a non-reciprocal surface being used with multiple cells according to a fifth embodiment. [Figure 17] FIG. 13 shows a schematic representation of a non-reciprocal surface being used with multiple cells according to a sixth embodiment. [Figure 18] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a frequency diverse non-reciprocal array. [Figure 19]FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a network implementation using frequency diverse arrays. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0037] 1, a cellular network 100 includes multiple base stations (BSs) 102a, 102b, 102c (individually or collectively 102), each having a respective coverage area 104a, 104b, 104c that approximates a hexagon. Each coverage area 104 is divided into multiple angular sectors 106. More or fewer BSs 102 may be used depending on factors such as the effective coverage range of each BS 102, the expected density of user devices accessing the network, and the total area over which network coverage is desired.

[0038] One or more devices 108 can access the cellular network 100 typically via a BS 102 whose coverage area includes the location of the device 108. The device 108 and the BS may communicate using a standardized communication protocol, such as Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), fourth generation (4G) Long-Term Evolution (LTE), or fifth generation (5G) wireless communications. Communications between the device 108 and the BS 102 typically include uplink (UL) transmissions from the device 108 to the BS 102 and downlink (DL) transmissions from the BS 102 to the device 108. Communications may be time division duplex (TDD) where some time intervals are reserved for the UL and other time intervals are reserved for the DL. The communication may be Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) where some frequency ranges are reserved for UL and other frequency ranges are reserved for DL. Other communication modes may be used.

[0039] Depending on the spatial distribution of the devices 108, some regions 110 may be underutilized and other regions 112 may be congested. Each of these regions may correspond to one or more sectors 106. A sector 106 that contains an underutilized region 110 may result in underutilization of network resources, and a sector 106 that contains a congested region 112 may overload network resources, causing some devices 108 to experience reduced service levels.

[0040] An exemplary cellular network 200 according to one embodiment will now be described with reference to Figure 2. In this example, only one BS 202 is shown having a coverage area 204 divided into sectors 206, however, it should be understood that multiple BSs 202 may be used to provide coverage to a larger area, as shown in Figure 1.

[0041] Some devices 208 communicate with the BS 202 directly or through one or more nonreciprocal arrays, such as one or more smart lenses 210 and / or one or more smart reflectors 212 (collectively, “smart surfaces”). The smart lenses 210 and smart reflectors 212 may be antenna arrays, such as nonreciprocal beam steerable metasurfaces, such as those described in International Patent Application Publication No. WO 2022 / 094686, entitled “Nonreciprocal Beam Steerable Metasurfaces,” the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The BS 202, devices 208, smart lenses 210, and smart reflectors 212 may optionally use directional communications, such as beamforming and beam steering, to ensure that transmissions are directed to desired targets, as well as to reduce interference and allow resources, such as carrier frequencies, to be reused in different sectors. The use of smart surfaces can provide network coverage for devices 208 whose direct communications with the BS are obstructed by obstacles 214, such as buildings or trees, even if the communications are of a type that would require line of sight, such as millimeter wave (mmWave) communications. The use of smart surfaces can also allow the BS 202 to better allocate resources between sectors 206, for example, by using the smart surface to direct BS 202 communications from one sector to devices 208 in another sector. The smart surface can be capable of amplifying signals, which can enable the BS 202 to extend its coverage range. The extended coverage range for each BS 202 can allow the network to use fewer BSs to achieve similar coverage.

[0042] Although the illustrative examples are described herein with respect to a cellular network 200, the described embodiments may be implemented using other types of wireless networks, such as private 5G, Wi-Fi networks, etc., and the connected devices may be any type of device, such as a Wi-Fi station, a smart phone, a tablet, or an IoT device.

[0043] Referring now to FIG. 3, an exemplary interaction between a BS 302 and two devices 308a and 308b using a smart surface will be described using a smart lens 310 and smart reflectors 312a, 312b, and 312c.

[0044] The UL transmission 316a from device 308a is sent directly towards the smart lens 310 associated with the BS 302, taking advantage of the line of sight between device 308a and the BS 302. Device 308b does not have line of sight to the BS 302 due to an obstruction 314, and therefore device 308b sends its UL transmission via smart reflectors 312b and 312c to the smart lens 310. The smart lens 310 directs both UL transmissions 316a, 316b towards the BS 302 in a manner described in more detail below.

[0045] DL transmissions 318a and 318b are sent by the BS 302 towards the smart lens 310, which directs them towards the smart reflector 312a, which directs the DL transmission 318a towards device 308a and the DL transmission 318b towards device 308b. The non-reciprocity of the smart reflector 312a prevents device 308a from sending UL communications on the reverse path of the DL transmission 318b.

[0046] As a result, each device 308 has a spatial path for its UL transmission 316 that is different from the spatial path for its DL transmission 318. Additionally, the smart surfaces 310, 312 are beam steerable and can redirect signals in any desired direction by using beam steering techniques. This allows the smart surfaces 310, 312 to reuse network resources such as time and frequency by taking advantage of the directionality and frequency selectivity of the smart surfaces 310, 312, as described in more detail below.

[0047] Each of the smart lens 310 and smart reflectors 312a, 312b, and 312c can optionally amplify the transmissions that it interacts with.

[0048] 4, an exemplary smart reflector 412 is a non-reciprocal surface that includes a non-reciprocal antenna array (not shown) that can amplify an incoming wireless signal 420 from a particular angle and redirect an outgoing signal 422 at a different angle. The angle of the incoming signal and the angle of the outgoing signal can be independently dynamically adjusted based on network performance criteria. The smart reflector 412 operates on wireless signals in the physical layer and is agnostic to the modulation scheme and operating frequency of the incoming signal 420. The smart reflector 412 can receive multiple simultaneous incoming signals and redirect them at different respective outgoing angles, for example, if the incoming signals are at different frequencies or from different angles. Due to the non-reciprocal nature of the smart reflector 412, there is no signal in the reverse direction.

[0049] Referring now to FIG. 5, an exemplary smart lens 510 is a non-reciprocal surface that includes a non-reciprocal antenna array (not shown) on each of two opposing sides that can amplify an incoming wireless signal 520 from a particular angle and redirect an outgoing signal 522 at a different angle. The angle of the incoming signal and the angle of the outgoing signal can be independently dynamically adjusted based on network performance criteria. The smart lens 510 operates on wireless signals in the physical layer and is agnostic to the modulation format and operating frequency of the incoming signal 520. The smart lens 510 can receive multiple simultaneous incoming signals and redirect them at different respective outgoing angles, for example, if the incoming signals are at different frequencies or from different angles. Due to the non-reciprocal nature of the smart lens 510, there is no signal in the reverse direction.

[0050] Referring now to FIG. 6, the smart lens 610 includes a non-reciprocal antenna array on each of two opposing faces that amplifies incoming RF signals from a particular angle and redirects outgoing signals at a different angle. The angle of the incoming signal and the angle of the outgoing signal can be independently dynamically adjusted based on network performance criteria. The smart lens 610 can redirect a first incoming signal 620a as outgoing signal 622a in a first output direction and simultaneously redirect a second incoming signal 620b as outgoing signal 622b in a second output direction. The smart lens 610 can independently dynamically adjust the direction of the outgoing signals 622a, 622b. This can be done even when the incoming signals 620a, 620b have the same frequency due to the frequency selectivity and beam steering capabilities of the smart lens 610. In this manner, the smart lens 610 can enable full-duplex operation. Although not shown, the smart reflector previously described has similar full-duplex capabilities.

[0051] 7, an antenna array forming a smart surface, such as a non-reciprocal phased array 712, may have a wired connection 724 to a BS 702. An incoming signal 720 may be transmitted from the non-reciprocal phased array 712 to the BS 702 via the wired connection 724. The signal may be transmitted from the BS 702 to the non-reciprocal phased array 712 and then transmitted as an outgoing signal 722 in a desired beam direction. Both the incoming signal angle and the outgoing signal can be independently beam steered over the entire angular range. The signal may be amplified by the surface. Signals traveling in the opposite direction are canceled.

[0052] A small cell implementation will now be described with reference to Figure 8. The small cell access point 802 has a wired connection 824 to a smart surface 812 as described with reference to Figure 7. The smart surface 812 communicates with devices 808a and 808b in the UL and DL using the smart surface as described with reference to Figure 3. The smart surface 812 can independently dynamically control the direction of outgoing signals and can receive incoming signals from different beam directions.

[0053] 9, an exemplary smart reflector 912 that may be used in any of the previously described embodiments will be described. The smart reflector 912 includes an array of receive antennas 926, of which only two are shown, and an array of transmit antennas 928, of which only two are shown. Each array of antennas may be an evenly spaced array and may use the phase difference between successive antennas to perform transmit or receive beamforming in a known manner. For this purpose, each receive antenna 926 is connected to a respective transmit antenna 928 by means of an amplitude and phase detection unit 930 and an amplitude and phase adjustment unit 932. The amplitude and phase detection unit 930 and the amplitude and phase adjustment unit 932 are controlled by a processor 934 that performs the necessary calculations for receive beamforming of the incoming signal 920 and for transmit beamforming of the outgoing signal 922, as well as for optional amplification of the outgoing signal 922.

[0054] Referring now to FIG. 10, an exemplary smart lens 1010 that may be used in any of the previously described embodiments will be described. The smart lens 1010 includes an array of receive antennas 1026, of which only two are shown, and an array of transmit antennas 1028, of which only two are shown. Each array of antennas may be an evenly spaced array and may use the phase difference between successive antennas to perform transmit or receive beamforming in a known manner. For this purpose, each receive antenna 1026 is connected to a respective transmit antenna 1028 by means of an amplitude and phase detection unit 1030 and an amplitude and phase adjustment unit 1032. The amplitude and phase detection unit 1030 and the amplitude and phase adjustment unit 1032 are controlled by a processor 1034 that performs the necessary calculations for receive beamforming of the incoming signal 1020 and for transmit beamforming of the outgoing signal 1022, as well as for optional amplification of the outgoing signal 1022.

[0055] 11, an exemplary smart reflector 1112 that may be used in any of the previously described embodiments will now be described. The smart reflector 1112 includes an array of antennas 1126, of which only two are shown. The array of antennas may be evenly spaced arrays, and may use the phase difference between successive antennas to perform transmit or receive beamforming in a known manner. For this purpose, each receive antenna 1126 is connected to a respective amplitude and phase detection unit 1130 and a respective amplitude and phase adjustment unit 1132. The amplitude and phase detection unit 1130 and the amplitude and phase adjustment unit 1132 are controlled by a processor 1134, which performs the necessary calculations for receive beamforming of the incoming signal 1120, for transmit beamforming of the outgoing signal 1122, and for optional amplification of the outgoing signal 1122. A wired connection 1124 connects the smart reflector 1112 to the wired part of the network (not shown).

[0056] 12, an exemplary amplitude and phase adjustment unit 1232 that may be used in any of the previously described embodiments is described. The upper branch is separated from the lower branch by a pair of three-port circulators 1236 configured such that only signals traveling from right to left travel through the lower branch and only signals traveling from left to right travel through the upper branch. The upper branch includes a unidirectional amplifier 1238 and a phase shifter 1240. The phase shifter 1240 may be implemented using any suitable circuitry. The lower branch includes a unidirectional amplifier 1242 and a phase shifter 1244. The phase shifter 1244 may be implemented using any suitable circuitry. By controlling the unidirectional amplifiers 1238, 1242 and the phase shifters 1236, 1240, the amplitude and phase of the signals in opposite directions (e.g., transmit and receive directions) can be independently controlled, thereby enabling both amplification and beamforming as desired.

[0057] Referring now to FIG. 13, a configuration of a non-reciprocal phased array 1310 is illustrated. A smart mirror would have a similar configuration. Each antenna 1326 is connected to a transceiver chain or transceiver port 1334 via an amplitude and phase adjustment unit 1332, similar to the amplitude and phase adjustment unit 1232 of FIG. 12. The antennas 1326 may be arranged in a two-dimensional grid, and the phase shifters of the individual amplitude and phase adjustment units 1332 may be configured to vary the phase of the antenna in two dimensions across the grid, thereby performing transmit beamforming and receive beamforming. Since each amplitude and phase adjustment unit 1332 has separate phase shifters for the transmit and receive paths, transmit beamforming and receive beamforming may be configured independently. As a result, the latency between transmit and receive associated with tuning the phase shifters from the transmit beam to the receive beam may be reduced. Thus, this configuration may be particularly advantageous for TDD communications. It is contemplated that more than four antennas 1326 may be used, with each antenna 1326 having an amplitude and phase adjustment unit 1332 .

[0058] 14, an exemplary network architecture 1400 capable of full-duplex communication will be described. A first BS 1402a has one or more transmit antennas 1446a that are spatially separated from one or more receive antennas 1448a. A first smart lens 1410a is associated with the BS 1402a, e.g., by being located near the BS 1402a. A second BS 1402b has one or more transmit antennas 1446b that are spatially separated from one or more receive antennas 1448b. A second smart lens 1410b is associated with the BS 1402b, e.g., by being located near the BS 1402b.

[0059] A first transmission 1450 is transmitted from antenna 1446a in the direction of smart lens 1410a. Smart lens 1410a optionally amplifies the transmission 1450 and redirects it via smart reflector 1412a towards smart lens 1410b. Smart lens 1410b redirects the transmission 1450 to antenna 1448b of BS 1402b. Due to the non-reciprocal operation of the smart surfaces 1410, 1412, no signal is reflected back along the reverse direction of the transmission 1450.

[0060] A second transmission 1452 is transmitted from antenna 1446b in the direction of smart lens 1410b. Smart lens 1410b optionally amplifies the transmission 1452 and redirects it towards smart lens 1410a via smart reflector 1412b. Smart lens 1410a redirects the transmission 1452 to antenna 1448a of BS 1402a. Due to the non-reciprocal behavior of smart surfaces 1410, 1412, no signal is reflected back along the reverse direction of transmission 1452. In the absence of obstruction 1414, one or the other of transmissions 1450, 1452 may optionally be transmitted directly between smart lenses 1410a, 1410b.

[0061] Because the transmissions 1450, 1452 take different paths, the transmission 1452 arrives at the smart lens 1410a at a different angle than the angle at which the smart lens 1410a transmits the transmission 1450. Thus, the non-reciprocal nature of the smart lens 1410a allows the smart lens 1410a to receive the transmission 1452 without an unacceptable amount of interference from the outgoing transmission 1450, i.e., with an acceptable signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR), even if the transmissions 1450, 1452 are transmitted simultaneously and using the same frequency. The non-reciprocal nature of the smart lens 1410a also allows the smart lens 1410a to transmit the transmission 1452 to the antenna 1448a while receiving the transmission 1450 from the antenna 1446 in a different direction, even if the transmissions 1450, 1452 are transmitted simultaneously and using the same frequency. As a result, the BS 1402a can receive the transmission 1452 on an antenna different from the antenna that transmits the transmission 1450. The BS 1402a can therefore decode the transmission 1452 without an unacceptable amount of interference from the outgoing transmission 1450, even if the transmissions 1450, 1452 are transmitted simultaneously and using the same frequency. Thus, the use of the smart lens 1410a can enable FD communications in a conventional BS 1402a configured only for HD communications.

[0062] It is contemplated that one or more of the smart reflectors 1412 may be a non-reciprocal surface, which may provide a high degree of isolation between the transmitted signal and the received signal or reflection of the transmitted signal back to the transmitter, and may also enable one or more of beamforming, beam steering, and signal amplification. It is contemplated that one or more of the smart reflectors 1412 may be a reciprocal reflective surface, such as a passive reflective surface, or may be replaced by such a surface. A passive reflective surface may include a metal object capable of reflecting radio waves. A passive reflective surface may not provide much isolation between the transmitted signal and the received signal, and may not be able to provide amplification of the reflected signal, but the passive reflective surface may reduce the cost and complexity of the network equipment.

[0063] An exemplary network architecture 1500 will now be described with reference to FIG. 15. A first BS 1502a is connected, e.g., by a wired connection, to a phased array of antenna elements 1554 capable of transmit and receive beamforming. A first smart lens 1510a is associated with the BS 1502a, e.g., by being located near the BS 1502a. A second BS 1502b is connected, e.g., by a wired connection, to a phased array of antenna elements 1554b capable of transmit and receive beamforming. A second smart lens 1510b is associated with the BS 1502b, e.g., by being located near the BS 1402b.

[0064] The transmission of signals 1550, 1552 using smart mirrors 1512a, 1512b to avoid obstacles 1514 is similar to the embodiment of FIG. 14, except that transmission and reception at the BS 1502 is performed by a phased array 1554 instead of by antennas 1446, 1448.

[0065] One advantage of network architecture 1500 compared to network architecture 1400 of Figure 14 is that the phased array 1554 may be smaller and less expensive to implement than multiple antennas 1446, 1448. One disadvantage of network architecture 1500 compared to network architecture 1400 of Figure 14 is that in some embodiments, the elements of the phased array 1554 may not be spaced apart enough to enable FD communication between the BS 1502 and its associated smart lens 1510.

[0066] Referring to FIG. 16, the BS 1602 communicates with the device 1608 in a manner similar to the embodiments of FIG. 14 and FIG. 15. The BS 1602 has one or more transmit antennas 1646 that are spatially separated from one or more receive antennas 1648. The smart lens 1410 is associated with the BS 1602, for example, by being located near the BS 1602. The device 1608 has a phased array 1654 of antenna elements integrated into the device 1608 that is capable of transmit and receive beamforming. In one example, the phased array 1654 can be a mmWave array and the device 1608 can be a tablet or personal computer, although other implementations are contemplated.

[0067] A first transmission 1650 is transmitted from the antenna 1646 in the direction of the smart lens 1610. The smart lens 1610 optionally amplifies the transmission 1650 and redirects the transmission 1650 towards the device 1608 via a smart reflector 1612a. The transmission 1650 can be received by the phased array 1654 of the device 1608 and decoded by the device 1608. A second transmission 1652 is transmitted from the phased array 1654 via the smart reflector 1412b towards the smart lens 1610. The smart lens 1610 redirects the transmission 1652 to the antenna 1648 of the BS 1602.

[0068] 17, two devices 1708a, 1708b including respective phased arrays 1754a, 1754b communicate with each other via smart reflectors 1712a, 1712b, which allows for different communication paths for transmissions 1750, 1752 in opposite directions and may allow communication in the presence of obstacles 1714 that prevent line-of-sight communication. In one example, device 1754a may be a wireless gaming controller and device 1754b may be a gaming console.

[0069] Some properties of the non-reciprocal smart surface 1810 will now be described with reference to FIG. 18. The incident signal 1856 can be a broadband signal containing multiple frequencies, for example three different frequencies f1, f2, f3. The smart surface 1810 has a frequency-dependent response such that the output signals 1858a, 1858b, 1858c at respective frequencies f1, f2, f3 are transmitted in different directions. The frequency-dependent response can be adjusted by varying configurable parameters of the smart surface 1810, as described in more detail in International Patent Application Publication No. WO2022 / 094686. This frequency-dependent response can be utilized to split a single beam containing multiple frequencies onto multiple different paths and transmit to different receivers. The non-reciprocal nature of smart surface 1810 has the effect that a received beam along the reverse direction of 1858a, 1858b, or 1858c, e.g., a reflection caused by an obstacle, will not necessarily propagate through smart surface 1810 along the reverse path of signal 1856.

[0070] An example of the application of this property of frequency diversity is shown in FIG. 19. BS 1902 transmits a downlink signal 1960 containing two different frequencies f1, f2 towards smart lens 1910. Smart lens 1910 is configured to split the received signal 1960 into its f1 component signal 1962 and its f2 component signal 1964. Signal 1962 is transmitted in a beam directed towards smart reflector 1912a, which redirects signal 1962 to device 1908a. Signal 1964 is transmitted in a beam directed towards smart reflector 1912b, which redirects signal 1964 to device 1908b. At the same time or at different times, the device 1908a transmits an uplink signal 1966 at frequency f3 towards the smart reflector 1912a, which redirects the signal 1966 towards the smart lens 1910. The smart lens 1910 is configured to redirect the signal 1966 at frequency f3 towards the BS 1902. The device 1908a transmits an uplink signal 1968 at frequency f4 towards the smart reflector 1912b, which redirects the signal 1968 towards the smart lens 1910. The smart lens 1910 is configured to redirect the signal 1968 at frequency f4 towards the BS 1902. In this manner, the frequency response of the smart lens 1910 can be used to direct multiple UL signals and multiple DL signals to and from the BS 1902 without the need to retune the smart lens 1910.

[0071] Further properties of the non-reciprocal smart surface 1810 are described in International Patent Application Publication No. WO2022 / 094686.

[0072] The above described embodiments are illustrative only, and the scope of the invention should therefore be limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. 1. A method of using a non-reciprocal space feed antenna for wireless communication, comprising: receiving a first wireless signal from a base station in a first beam direction with the non-reciprocal space feed antenna; transmitting the first wireless signal in a second beam direction by the non-reciprocal space feed antenna; receiving a second wireless signal in a third beam direction with the non-reciprocal space feed antenna; transmitting the second wireless signal toward the base station in a fourth beam direction by the non-reciprocal space feed antenna; A method comprising:

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second beam direction is toward a first reflective surface.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the reflective surface is a non-reciprocal reflective surface.

4. 4. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein the third beam direction is toward a second reflective surface.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the second reflective surface is a non-reciprocal reflective surface.

6. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first wireless signal and the second wireless signal at least partially overlap in time and the first wireless signal and the second wireless signal at least partially overlap in frequency.

7. receiving the first wireless signal from the base station includes receiving the first wireless signal from at least one first antenna of the base station; transmitting the second wireless signal to the base station includes transmitting the second wireless signal to at least one second antenna of the base station; The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one first antenna is spatially separated from the at least one second antenna.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first beam direction and the fourth beam direction are substantially non-parallel.

9. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the non-reciprocal space-feed antenna is a beam-steerable metasurface.

10. A non-reciprocal surface comprising a plurality of antenna elements, each antenna element having at least one adjustable phase shifter for shifting the phase of a signal transmitted or received by said antenna element, said non-reciprocal surface comprising: receiving a first wireless signal from a base station in a first beam direction; transmitting the first wireless signal in a second beam direction; receiving a second wireless signal in a third beam direction; transmitting the second wireless signal toward the base station in a fourth beam direction; A non-reciprocal surface configured to:

11. The non-reciprocal surface of claim 10 , wherein the second beam direction is toward a first reflective surface.

12. The non-reciprocal surface of claim 11 , wherein the first reflective surface is a first non-reciprocal reflective surface.

13. 13. A non-reciprocal surface according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the third beam direction is towards a second reflective surface.

14. The non-reciprocal surface of claim 13 , wherein the second reflective surface is a second non-reciprocal reflective surface.

15. 12. The non-reciprocal surface of claim 10 or 11, wherein the first wireless signal and the second wireless signal at least partially overlap in time and the first wireless signal and the second wireless signal at least partially overlap in frequency.

16. receiving the first wireless signal from the base station includes receiving the first wireless signal from at least one first antenna of the base station; transmitting the second wireless signal to the base station includes transmitting the second wireless signal to at least one second antenna of the base station; 12. The non-reciprocal surface of claim 10 or 11, wherein the at least one first antenna is spatially separated from the at least one second antenna.

17. 17. The non-reciprocal surface of claim 16, wherein the first beam direction and the fourth beam direction are substantially non-parallel.

18. The non-reciprocal surface of claim 10 or 11, wherein the non-reciprocal surface is a beam-steerable metasurface.

19. 1. An antenna array for transmitting and receiving wireless signals, comprising: an input / output (I / O) port; a plurality of antenna elements arranged in a two-dimensional grid; Equipped with each antenna element of the plurality of antenna elements is connected to the I / O port via a respective amplitude and phase adjustment (MPA) module; each MPA module having a transmit path and a receive path, the MPA module configured to only allow transmission from the I / O port to the antenna element via the transmit path, and the MPA module configured to only allow transmission from the antenna element to the I / O port via the receive path; the transmit path includes a first amplifier and a first phase shifter; The antenna array, wherein the receive path includes a second amplifier and a second phase shifter.

20. Each MPA module:

20. The antenna array of claim 19, comprising a first circulator for allowing only transmission from the I / O port to the antenna element via the transmit path, and a second circulator for allowing only transmission from the antenna element to the I / O port via the receive path.

21. 21. An antenna array according to claim 19 or 20, wherein the first phase shifter is adjustable to perform transmit beamforming of signals to be transmitted by the plurality of antenna elements.

22. 21. An antenna array according to claim 19 or 20, wherein the second phase shifter is adjustable to perform receive beamforming of signals received by the plurality of antenna elements.

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