Communication system and control method

Abstract

To promote improvements in system performance and service quality, and the adaptation to new service formats through the use of communications.SOLUTION: In a communication system including an outdoor gateway (4501) and an indoor gateway (4502), the outdoor gateway (4501) includes a communication IF (4501a) connected to an outdoor network (4503) and a communication IF (4501b) that performs wireless communication, and the indoor gateway (4502) includes a communication IF (4502a) connected to an indoor network (4504) and a communication IF (4502b) that is connected via wireless communication to the communication IF (4501b) of the outdoor gateway (4501).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 45

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a communication system and a control method.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, various services and functions of devices have been provided using communication. Communication between terminals or between a terminal and a server, which is necessary to provide such services and functions, may be performed via a network composed of a plurality of communication devices. Here, for example, in order to realize demands such as performance improvement of a system, improvement of service quality, and response to a new service form using communication, it is necessary to improve the communication method between specific communication devices or to construct a communication system in consideration of the characteristics of the communication method between devices constituting the network.

[0003] For example, in multi-antenna communication typified by MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Out), which is a communication method using a plurality of antennas, transmitted data of a plurality of streams is modulated, and each modulated signal is transmitted simultaneously from different antennas using the same frequency (common frequency), thereby improving the reception quality of the data and / or increasing the communication speed of the data (per unit time). For example, Patent Document 1 describes that in multi-antenna communication, when performing multicast / broadcast communication, a transmitting device transmits a modulated signal using a pseudo-omni pattern antenna having a substantially constant antenna gain over a wide direction in space.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, in order to realize demands such as performance improvement of the system, improvement of service quality, and response to new service forms, it is necessary to improve the communication method between specific communication devices and to construct a communication system considering the characteristics of the communication methods between devices constituting the network. For example, when sufficient transmission quality cannot be obtained in multicast / broadcast communication using a pseudo-omnipattern antenna, further improvement of the communication method between specific communication devices is required. Also, for example, even if the transmission speed is increased in a part of the communication path, if the communication speed decreases due to the low speed of the surrounding network, further improvement is required regarding the network construction method. Therefore, the present disclosure proposes various aspects that can contribute to the realization of demands such as performance improvement of the system, improvement of service quality, and response to new service forms using communication. Some of the multiple aspects included in the present disclosure are exemplified below.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] A communication system according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a communication system including a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device includes a first communication interface connected to a first network and a second communication interface for wireless communication. The second communication device includes a third communication interface connected to a second network and a fourth communication interface connected to the second communication interface of the first communication device by wireless communication. The first communication device is disposed in a first outdoor space, and the second communication device is disposed in a second indoor space separated from the first space by a plate body. The second communication interface and the fourth communication interface are connected by wireless communication using radio waves passing through the plate body. The second communication device includes a power receiving unit that receives power for driving the second communication device from a power supply terminal installed in the second space, and a wireless power supply unit that wirelessly supplies power to the first communication device. The first communication device includes a wireless power receiving unit that wirelessly receives power for driving the first communication device from the wireless power supply unit through the plate body. The second communication interface is a communication system that performs optical communication with the fourth communication interface.

[0007] Note that these general or specific aspects may be implemented in a system, method, integrated circuit, computer program, or recording medium such as a computer-readable CD-ROM, or may be implemented in any combination of a system, method, integrated circuit, computer program, and recording medium.

Advantages of the Invention

[0008] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to promote performance improvement of a system, improvement of service quality, and response to new service forms by using communication.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Some of the multiple aspects included in this disclosure are exemplified below.

[0011] A communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure is a communication system including a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device includes a first communication interface connected to a first network and a second communication interface for wireless communication. The second communication device includes a third communication interface connected to a second network and a fourth communication interface connected to the second communication interface of the first communication device by wireless communication. The first communication device is disposed in an outdoor first space, and the second communication device is disposed in an indoor second space separated from the first space by a plate body. The second communication interface and the fourth communication interface are connected by wireless communication using radio waves passing through the plate body. The second communication device includes a power receiving unit that receives power for driving the second communication device from a power supply terminal installed in the second space, and a wireless power supply unit that wirelessly supplies power to the first communication device. The first communication device includes a wireless power receiving unit that wirelessly receives power for driving the first communication device from the wireless power supply unit through the plate body. The second communication interface is a communication system that performs optical communication with the fourth communication interface.

[0012] A control method according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a control method for a communication system including a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device is disposed in a first outdoor space and includes a first communication interface connected to a first network and a second communication interface for wireless communication. The second communication device is disposed in a second indoor space separated from the first space by a plate body and includes a third communication interface connected to a second network, a fourth communication interface connected to the second communication interface of the first communication device by wireless communication, a power receiving unit that receives power for driving the second communication device from a power supply terminal installed in the second space, and a wireless power supply unit that wirelessly supplies power to the first communication device. The second communication interface and the fourth communication interface are connected by wireless communication using radio waves passing through the plate body. The first communication device further includes a wireless power receiving unit that wirelessly receives power for driving the first communication device from the wireless power supply unit through the plate body. The control method includes steps of the first communication device connecting to the first network through the first communication interface, the first communication device performing wireless communication through the second communication interface, the second communication device connecting to the second network through the third communication interface, and the second communication device connecting to the second communication interface of the first communication device by wireless communication through the fourth communication interface. The second communication interface is a control method for performing optical communication with the fourth communication interface.

[0013] A communication device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a first transceiver for wireless communication and a second transceiver for wireless communication using a frequency band lower than the frequency band used by the first transceiver for wireless communication. The second transceiver is a communication device that wirelessly transmits a status signal indicating the reception status of a reception signal received by the first transceiver through wireless communication.

[0014] A communication system according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a communication system having a mesh network configured by connecting a plurality of the above-described communication devices.

[0015] A communication method according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a communication method executed by a communication device. The communication device includes a first transceiver for wireless communication and a second transceiver for wireless communication using a frequency band lower than the frequency band used by the first transceiver for wireless communication. The communication method estimates the reception state of a received signal using the received signal received by the first transceiver through wireless communication, and transmits a state signal indicating the estimated reception state by the second transceiver.

[0016] A communication system according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a communication system including a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device includes a first communication interface connected to a first network and a second communication interface for wireless communication. The second communication device includes a third communication interface connected to a second network and a fourth communication interface connected to the second communication interface of the first communication device through wireless communication.

[0017] According to the above aspect, the communication system can connect the first network and the second network using the first communication device and the second communication device connected to each other through wireless communication. In this way, the communication system can improve the method of constructing the network.

[0018] For example, the first communication device is arranged in a first outdoor space, the second communication device is arranged in a second indoor space separated from the first space by a plate body, and the second communication interface and the fourth communication interface may be connected by wireless communication using radio waves passing through the plate body.

[0019] According to the above aspect, the communication system can connect the first network and the second network using wireless communication performed between the outdoor space and the indoor space through a plate body. In this way, the communication system can improve the method of constructing a network connecting the outdoor space and the indoor space.

[0020] For example, the second communication device includes a power receiving unit that receives power for driving the second communication device from a power supply terminal installed in the second space, and a wireless power supply unit that wirelessly supplies power to the first communication device. The first communication device may include a wireless power receiving unit that wirelessly receives power for driving the first communication device from the wireless power supply unit through the plate body.

[0021] According to the above aspect, it is possible to supply power for driving the first communication device by using wireless power supply performed through the plate body between the outdoor space and the indoor space. Therefore, it is not necessary for the first communication device to include a connector or the like for receiving power supply. In addition, the first communication device can be arranged in a place where there is no power supply facility.

[0022] For example, the first communication interface may communicate in a TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) system, and the third communication interface may communicate in a CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access) system.

[0023] According to the above aspect, the communication system can realize communication with relatively small instantaneous traffic fluctuations by the TDMA system in the outdoor space, and can tolerate communication with relatively large instantaneous traffic fluctuations by the CSMA system in the indoor space. In this way, the communication system can improve the network construction method.

[0024] For example, the first communication interface is a wireless communication interface and is connected to the first network which is a wireless network, and the third communication interface is a wireless communication interface and is connected to the second network which is a wireless network.

[0025] According to the above aspect, the communication system can connect two wireless networks, namely the first network and the second network, to each other. In this way, the communication system can improve the network construction method.

[0026] For example, the first communication interface may be connected to the first network that is a wireless multi-hop network, and the third communication interface may be connected to the second network that is a wireless multi-hop network.

[0027] According to the above aspect, the communication system can connect two wireless multi-hop networks, namely the first network and the second network, to each other. Thus, the communication system can improve the method of constructing the network.

[0028] To solve such a problem, a control method for a communication system according to an aspect of the present disclosure is a control method for a communication system including a first communication device and a second communication device, and includes steps of connecting to a first network by the first communication device, performing wireless communication by the first communication device, connecting to a second network by the second communication device, and connecting to the first communication device by wireless communication by the second communication device.

[0029] According to the above aspect, the same effect as that of the above communication system is achieved.

[0030] Note that these general or specific aspects may be implemented in a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a recording medium such as a computer-readable CD-ROM, or may be implemented in any combination of a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a recording medium.

[0031] Hereinafter, embodiments will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

[0032] Note that all of the embodiments described below show inclusive or specific examples. The numerical values, shapes, materials, components, arrangement positions and connection forms of the components, steps, order of steps, etc. shown in the following embodiments are merely examples and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. In addition, a plurality of aspects with different viewpoints are disclosed in the following embodiments, and the components required for each aspect are different. Components not described in the independent claims are described as optional components.

[0033] (Embodiment 1) First, an example of a communication method using a plurality of antennas applicable to the communication system of the present disclosure described below will be described. FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of a base station (or an access point, etc.) in the present embodiment.

[0034] 101-1 indicates #1 information, 101-2 indicates #2 information, ···, 101-M indicates #M information. 101-i indicates #i information. Let i be an integer from 1 to M. Note that M is an integer of 2 or more. Note that it is not necessary for all of #1 information to #M information to exist.

[0035] The signal processing unit 102 takes as input #1 information 101-1, #2 information 101-2, ···, #M information 101-M, and the control signal 159. The signal processing unit 102 performs signal processing based on the information included in the control signal 159, such as "information regarding the error correction coding method (coding rate, code length (block length))", "information regarding the modulation method", "information regarding precoding", "transmission method (multiplexing method)", "whether to perform multicast transmission / unicast transmission (it is also possible to simultaneously implement multicast transmission and unicast transmission)", "number of transmission streams when performing multicast", "transmission method when transmitting a modulated signal for multicast (this will be described in detail later)", etc., and outputs the signal 103-1 after signal processing, the signal 103-2 after signal processing, ···, the signal 103-M after signal processing, that is, the signal 103-i after signal processing. Note that it is not necessary for all of the signals from the signal #1 after signal processing to the signal #M after signal processing to exist. At this time, error correction coding is performed on the #i information 101-i, and then mapping is performed according to the set modulation method. Thereby, a baseband signal is obtained.

[0036] Then, the baseband signals corresponding to each piece of information are collected and precoding is performed. Also, for example, OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) may be applied.

[0037] The radio unit 104-1 takes as input the signal 103-1 after signal processing and the control signal 159, and based on the control signal 159, performs processing such as band limiting, frequency conversion, and amplification, and outputs a transmission signal 105-1. Then, the transmission signal 105-1 is output as a radio wave from the antenna unit 106-1.

[0038] Similarly, the radio unit 104-2 receives the signal 103-2 after signal processing and the control signal 159 as inputs, and based on the control signal 159, performs processes such as band limitation, frequency conversion, and amplification, and outputs a transmission signal 105-2. Then, the transmission signal 105-2 is output as radio waves from the antenna unit 106-2. Descriptions of the radio units 104-3 to 104-(M-1) are omitted.

[0039] The radio unit 104-M receives the signal 103-M after signal processing and the control signal 159 as inputs, and based on the control signal 159, performs processes such as band limitation, frequency conversion, and amplification, and outputs a transmission signal 105-M. Then, the transmission signal 105-M is output as radio waves from the antenna unit 106-M.

[0040] Note that each radio unit does not have to perform the above processes when there is no signal after signal processing.

[0041] The radio unit group 153 receives the received signal group 152 received by the receiving antenna group 151 as an input, performs processes such as frequency conversion, and outputs a baseband signal group 154.

[0042] The signal processing unit 155 receives the baseband signal group 154 as an input, performs demodulation and error correction decoding, that is, also performs processes such as time synchronization, frequency synchronization, and channel estimation. At this time, since the signal processing unit 155 receives and processes the modulation signals transmitted by one or more terminals, it obtains the data transmitted by each terminal and the control information transmitted by each terminal. Therefore, the signal processing unit 155 outputs a data group 156 corresponding to one or more terminals and a control information group 157 corresponding to one or more terminals.

[0043] The setting unit 158 takes the control information group 157 and the setting signal 160 as inputs. Based on the control information group 157, it determines "the method of error correction coding (coding rate, code length (block length))", "modulation method", "precoding method", "transmission method", "antenna setting", "whether to perform multicast transmission / whether to perform unicast transmission (multicast and unicast transmissions may be realized simultaneously)", "the number of transmission streams when performing multicast", "the transmission method when transmitting a modulated signal for multicast", etc., and outputs a control signal 159 including the determined information.

[0044] The antenna units 106-1, 106-2, ···, 106-M take the control signal 159 as an input. The operation at this time will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

[0045] FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of the antenna units 106-1, 106-2, ···, 106-M. Each antenna unit includes a plurality of antennas as shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, four antennas are drawn, but each antenna unit only needs to include a plurality of antennas. Note that the number of antennas is not limited to four.

[0046] FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the antenna unit 106-i. i is an integer from 1 to M.

[0047] The distribution unit 202 takes the transmission signal 201 (corresponding to the transmission signal 105-i in FIG. 1) as an input, distributes the transmission signal 201, and outputs signals 203-1, 203-2, 203-3, 203-4.

[0048] The multiplier 204-1 takes the signal 203-1 and the control signal 200 (corresponding to the control signal 159 in FIG. 1) as inputs. Based on the multiplication coefficient information included in the control signal 200, it multiplies the signal 203-1 by the coefficient W1 and outputs the multiplied signal 205-1. Note that the coefficient W1 is defined as a complex number. Therefore, W1 can also take a real number. Thus, if the signal 203-1 is v1(t), the multiplied signal 205-1 can be expressed as W1×v1(t) (where t is time). Then, the multiplied signal 205-1 is output as radio waves from the antenna 206-1.

[0049] Similarly, the multiplier 204-2 takes the signal 203-2 and the control signal 200 as inputs. Based on the multiplication coefficient information included in the control signal 200, it multiplies the signal 203-2 by the coefficient W2 and outputs the multiplied signal 205-2. Note that the coefficient W2 is defined as a complex number. Therefore, W2 can also take a real number. Thus, if the signal 203-2 is v2(t), the multiplied signal 205-2 can be expressed as W2×v2(t) (where t is time). Then, the multiplied signal 205-2 is output as radio waves from the antenna 206-2.

[0050] The multiplier 204-3 takes the signal 203-3 and the control signal 200 as inputs. Based on the multiplication coefficient information included in the control signal 200, it multiplies the signal 203-3 by the coefficient W3 and outputs the multiplied signal 205-3. Note that the coefficient W3 is defined as a complex number. Therefore, W3 can also take a real number. Thus, if the signal 203-3 is v3(t), the multiplied signal 205-3 can be expressed as W3×v3(t) (where t is time). Then, the multiplied signal 205-3 is output as radio waves from the antenna 206-3.

[0051] The multiplication unit 204-4 takes the signal 203-4 and the control signal 200 as inputs, multiplies the signal 203-4 by the coefficient W4 based on the multiplication coefficient information included in the control signal 200, and outputs the multiplied signal 205-4. Note that the coefficient W4 is defined as a complex number. Therefore, W4 can also take real values. Therefore, if the signal 203-4 is v4(t), the multiplied signal 205-4 can be expressed as W4×v4(t) (t is time). Then, the multiplied signal 205-4 is output as radio waves from the antenna 206-4.

[0052] Note that the absolute values of W1, W2, W3, and W4 may be equal.

[0053] FIG. 3 shows the configuration of a base station different from that of the base station in FIG. 1 in the present embodiment. In FIG. 3, those having the same operations as in FIG. 1 are given the same numbers, and the description thereof will be omitted below.

[0054] The weighted synthesis unit 301 takes the modulation signals 105-1, 105-2, ···, 105-M, and the control signal 159 as inputs. Then, based on the information regarding weighted synthesis included in the control signal 159, the weighted synthesis unit 301 performs weighted synthesis on the modulation signals 105-1, 105-2, ···, 105-M, and outputs the weighted synthesized signals 302-1, 302-2, ···, 302-K. Let K be an integer of 1 or more. Then, the weighted synthesized signal 302-1 is output as radio waves from the antenna 303-1, the weighted synthesized signal 302-2 is output as radio waves from the antenna 303-2, ···, and the weighted synthesized signal 302-K is output as radio waves from the antenna 303-K.

[0055] The weighted synthesized signal yi(t) 302-i (i is an integer from 1 to K) is expressed as follows (t is time).

[0056]

Equation

[0057] In the formula (1), Aij is a value that can be defined as a complex number. Therefore, Aij can also take real values, and xj(t) becomes the modulation signal 105 - j. j is an integer from 1 to M.

[0058] Figure 4 shows an example of the configuration of the terminal. The antenna units 401 - 1, 401 - 2, ···, 401 - N take the control signal 410 as an input. N is an integer of 1 or more.

[0059] The radio unit 403 - 1 takes the received signal 402 - 1 received by the antenna unit 401 - 1 and the control signal 410 as inputs, and based on the control signal 410, performs processing such as frequency conversion on the received signal 402 - 1, and outputs the baseband signal 404 - 1.

[0060] Similarly, the radio unit 403 - 2 takes the received signal 402 - 2 received by the antenna unit 401 - 2 and the control signal 410 as inputs, and based on the control signal 410, performs processing such as frequency conversion on the received signal 402 - 2, and outputs the baseband signal 404 - 2. The description from the radio unit 403 - 3 to the radio unit 403-(N - 1) is omitted.

[0061] The radio unit 403 - N takes the received signal 402 - N received by the antenna unit 401 - N and the control signal 410 as inputs, and based on the control signal, performs processing such as frequency conversion on the received signal 402 - N, and outputs the baseband signal 404 - N.

[0062] However, not all of the radio units 403 - 1, 403 - 2, ···, 403 - N need to operate. Therefore, the baseband signals 404 - 1, 404 - 2, ···, 404 - N do not necessarily all exist.

[0063] The signal processing unit 405 takes as inputs the baseband signals 404-1, 404-2, ···, 404-N, and the control signal 410, and based on the control signal 410, performs demodulation and error correction decoding processes, and outputs data 406, transmission control information 407, and control information 408. That is, the signal processing unit 405 also performs processes such as time synchronization, frequency synchronization, and channel estimation.

[0064] The setting unit 409 takes the control information 408 as input, performs settings related to the reception method, and outputs the control signal 410.

[0065] The signal processing unit 452 takes the information 451 and the transmission control information 407 as inputs, performs processes such as error correction encoding and mapping according to the set modulation method, and outputs a baseband signal group 453.

[0066] The radio unit group 454 takes the baseband signal group 453 as input, performs processes such as band limitation, frequency conversion, and amplification, and outputs a transmission signal group 455. The transmission signal group 455 is output as radio waves from the transmission antenna group 456.

[0067] FIG. 5 shows an example of the configuration of the antenna units 401-1, 401-2, ···, 401-N. Each antenna unit includes a plurality of antennas as shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, four antennas are drawn, but each antenna unit only needs to include a plurality of antennas. Note that the number of antennas in the antenna unit is not limited to four.

[0068] FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the antenna unit 401-i. i is an integer from 1 to N.

[0069] The multiplier 503-1 takes as inputs the received signal 502-1 received by the antenna 501-1 and the control signal 500 (corresponding to the control signal 410 in FIG. 4), and multiplies the received signal 502-1 by the coefficient D1 based on the multiplication coefficient information included in the control signal 500, and outputs the multiplied signal 504-1. Note that the coefficient D1 can be defined as a complex number. Therefore, D1 can also take a real number. Therefore, if the received signal 502-1 is e1(t), the multiplied signal 504-1 can be expressed as D1×e1(t) (where t is time).

[0070] Similarly, the multiplier 503-2 takes as inputs the received signal 502-2 received by the antenna 501-2 and the control signal 500, and multiplies the received signal 502-2 by the coefficient D2 based on the multiplication coefficient information included in the control signal 500, and outputs the multiplied signal 504-2. Note that the coefficient D2 can be defined as a complex number. Therefore, D2 can also take a real number. Therefore, if the received signal 502-2 is e2(t), the multiplied signal 504-2 can be expressed as D2×e2(t) (where t is time).

[0071] The multiplier 503-3 takes as inputs the received signal 502-3 received by the antenna 501-3 and the control signal 500, and multiplies the received signal 502-3 by the coefficient D3 based on the multiplication coefficient information included in the control signal 500, and outputs the multiplied signal 504-3. Note that the coefficient D3 can be defined as a complex number. Therefore, D3 can also take a real number. Therefore, if the received signal 502-3 is e3(t), the multiplied signal 504-3 can be expressed as D3×e3(t) (where t is time).

[0072] The multiplication unit 503-4 takes the received signal 502-4 received by the antenna 501-4 and the control signal 500 as inputs. Based on the multiplication coefficient information included in the control signal 500, it multiplies the received signal 502-4 by the coefficient D4 and outputs the multiplied signal 504-4. Note that the coefficient D4 can be defined as a complex number. Therefore, D4 can also take a real number. Therefore, if the received signal 502-4 is denoted as e4(t), the multiplied signal 504-4 can be expressed as D4×e4(t) (where t is time).

[0073] The combining unit 505 takes the multiplied signals 504-1, 504-2, 504-3, and 504-4 as inputs, adds the multiplied signals 504-1, 504-2, 504-3, and 504-4, and outputs the combined signal 506 (corresponding to the received signal 402-i in FIG. 4). Therefore, the combined signal 506 can be expressed as D1×e1(t)+D2×e2(t)+D3×e3(t)+D4×e4(t).

[0074] FIG. 6 shows the configuration of a terminal different from that of the terminal in FIG. 4 in the present embodiment. In FIG. 6, those that operate in the same manner as in FIG. 4 are given the same numbers, and the description thereof will be omitted below.

[0075] The multiplication unit 603-1 takes the received signal 602-1 received by the antenna 601-1 and the control signal 410 as inputs. Based on the multiplication coefficient information included in the control signal 410, it multiplies the received signal 602-1 by the coefficient G1 and outputs the multiplied signal 604-1. Note that the coefficient G1 can be defined as a complex number. Therefore, G1 can also take a real number. Therefore, if the received signal 602-1 is denoted as c1(t), the multiplied signal 604-1 can be expressed as G1×c1(t) (where t is time).

[0076] Similarly, the multiplication unit 603-2 takes as inputs the received signal 602-2 received by the antenna 601-2 and the control signal 410, and multiplies the received signal 602-2 by the coefficient G2 based on the multiplication coefficient information included in the control signal 410, and outputs the multiplied signal 604-2. Note that the coefficient G2 can be defined as a complex number. Therefore, G2 can also take a real number. Therefore, if the received signal 602-2 is denoted as c2(t), the multiplied signal 604-2 can be expressed as G2×c2(t) (where t is time). The description from the multiplication unit 603-3 to the multiplication unit 603-(L-1) is omitted.

[0077] The multiplication unit 603-L takes as inputs the received signal 602-L received by the antenna 601-L and the control signal 410, and multiplies the received signal 602-L by the coefficient GL based on the multiplication coefficient information included in the control signal 410, and outputs the multiplied signal 604-L. Note that the coefficient GL can be defined as a complex number. Therefore, GL can also take a real number. Therefore, if the received signal 602-L is denoted as cL(t), the multiplied signal 604-L can be expressed as GL×cL(t) (where t is time).

[0078] Therefore, the multiplication unit 603-i takes as inputs the received signal 602-i received by the antenna 601-i and the control signal 410, and multiplies the received signal 602-i by the coefficient Gi based on the multiplication coefficient information included in the control signal 410, and outputs the multiplied signal 604-i. Note that the coefficient Gi can be defined as a complex number. Therefore, Gi can also take a real number. Therefore, if the received signal 602-i is denoted as ci(t), the multiplied signal 604-i can be expressed as Gi×ci(t) (where t is time). Note that i is an integer from 1 to L, and L is an integer of 2 or more.

[0079] The processing unit 605 takes as input the signals 604-1, 604-2, ···, 604-L after multiplication, and the control signal 410, performs signal processing based on the control signal 410, and outputs the processed signals 606-1, 606-2, ···, 606-N. Let N be an integer of 2 or more. At this time, the signal 604-i after multiplication is represented as pi(t). Let i be an integer from 1 to L. Then, the processed signal 606-j (rj(t)) is represented as follows (j is an integer from 1 to N).

[0080] [Number]

[0081] In addition, in Equation (2), Bji is a value that can be defined as a complex number. Therefore, Bji can also take a real number.

[0082] FIG. 7 shows an example of the communication state between the base station and the terminal. Note that the base station may be referred to as an access point, a broadcasting station, etc.

[0083] The base station 700 includes a plurality of antennas and transmits a plurality of transmission signals from the transmission antenna 701. At this time, the base station 700 is configured, for example, in the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, and performs transmission beamforming (directivity control) by performing precoding (weighted synthesis) in the signal processing unit 102 (and / or the weighted synthesis unit 301).

[0084] And FIG. 7 shows the transmission beam 702-1 for transmitting the data of stream 1, the transmission beam 702-2 for transmitting the data of stream 1, and the transmission beam 702-3 for transmitting the data of stream 1.

[0085] FIG. 7 shows the transmission beam 703-1 for transmitting the data of stream 2, the transmission beam 703-2 for transmitting the data of stream 2, and the transmission beam 703-3 for transmitting the data of stream 2.

[0086] Note that in FIG. 7, the number of transmission beams for transmitting the data of stream 1 is 3, and the number of transmission beams for transmitting the data of stream 2 is 3. However, this is not restrictive, and it is sufficient that there are a plurality of transmission beams for transmitting the data of stream 1 and a plurality of transmission beams for transmitting the data of stream 2.

[0087] FIG. 7 includes terminals 704-1, 704-2, 704-3, 704-4, 704-5 and has the same configuration as the terminals shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, for example.

[0088] For example, terminal 704-1 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", and forms reception directivity 705-1 and reception directivity 706-1. Then, due to reception directivity 705-1, terminal 704-1 can receive and demodulate transmission beam 702-1 for transmitting the data of stream 1, and due to reception directivity 706-1, terminal 704-1 can receive and demodulate transmission beam 703-1 for transmitting the data of stream 2.

[0089] Similarly, terminal 704-2 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", and forms reception directivity 705-2 and reception directivity 706-2. Then, due to reception directivity 705-2, terminal 704-2 can receive and demodulate transmission beam 702-1 for transmitting the data of stream 1, and due to reception directivity 706-2, terminal 704-2 can receive and demodulate transmission beam 703-1 for transmitting the data of stream 2.

[0090] Terminal 704-3 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", and forms a reception directivity 705-3 and a reception directivity 706-3.

[0091] Then, due to the reception directivity 705-3, terminal 704-3 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 702-2 for transmitting the data of stream 1, and due to the reception directivity 706-3, terminal 704-3 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 703-2 for transmitting the data of stream 2.

[0092] Terminal 704-4 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", and forms a reception directivity 705-4 and a reception directivity 706-4. Then, due to the reception directivity 705-4, terminal 704-4 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 702-3 for transmitting the data of stream 1, and due to the reception directivity 706-4, terminal 704-4 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 703-2 for transmitting the data of stream 2.

[0093] Terminal 704-5 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", and forms a reception directivity 705-5 and a reception directivity 706-5. Then, due to the reception directivity 705-5, terminal 704-5 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 702-3 for transmitting the data of stream 1, and due to the reception directivity 706-5, terminal 704-5 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 703-3 for transmitting the data of stream 2.

[0094] In FIG. 7, the terminal selects at least one transmission beam from among transmission beams 702-1, 702-2, and 702-3 for transmitting the data of stream 1 according to the spatial position, and by directing the reception directivity, the data of stream 1 can be obtained with high quality. Also, the terminal selects at least one transmission beam from among transmission beams 703-1, 703-2, and 703-3 for transmitting the data of stream 2 according to the spatial position, and by directing the reception directivity, the data of stream 2 can be obtained with high quality.

[0095] Note that the base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 702-1 for transmitting the data of stream 1 and the transmission beam 703-1 for transmitting the data of stream 2 using the same frequency (the same frequency band) and at the same time. And the base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 702-2 for transmitting the data of stream 1 and the transmission beam 703-2 for transmitting the data of stream 2 using the same frequency (the same frequency band) and at the same time. Also, the base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 702-3 for transmitting the data of stream 1 and the transmission beam 703-3 for transmitting the data of stream 2 using the same frequency (the same frequency band) and at the same time.

[0096] Also, the transmission beams 702-1, 702-2, and 702-3 for transmitting the data of stream 1 may be beams of the same frequency (the same frequency band), or may be beams of different frequencies (different frequency bands) respectively. The transmission beams 703-1, 703-2, and 703-3 for transmitting the data of stream 2 may be beams of the same frequency (the same frequency band), or may be beams of different frequencies (different frequency bands) respectively.

[0097] The operation of the setting unit 158 of the base station in FIGS. 1 and 3 will be described.

[0098] The setting unit 158 takes the setting signal 160 as an input. The setting signal 160 includes information on "whether to perform multicast transmission / whether to perform unicast transmission". When the base station performs transmission as shown in FIG. 7, information indicating "perform multicast transmission" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0099] The setting signal 160 includes information on "the number of transmission streams when performing multicast". When the base station performs transmission as shown in FIG. 7, information indicating "the number of transmission streams is 2" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0100] Also, the setting signal 160 may include information on "how many transmission beams each stream is transmitted with". When the base station performs transmission as shown in FIG. 7, information indicating "the number of transmission beams for transmitting stream 1 is 3, and the number of transmission beams for transmitting stream 2 is 3" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0101] Note that the base stations in FIGS. 1 and 3 may transmit a control information symbol including information such as "whether the data symbol is for multicast transmission / for unicast transmission", "the number of transmission streams when performing multicast", and "how many transmission beams each stream is transmitted with". Thereby, the terminal can perform appropriate reception. Details of the configuration of the control information symbol will be described later.

[0102] FIG. 8 is a drawing for explaining the relationship between the #i information 101-i in FIGS. 1 and 3 and "Stream 1" and "Stream 2" described with reference to FIG. 7. For example, for the #1 information 101-1, processing such as error correction coding is performed to obtain the data after error correction coding. The data after this error correction coding is named the #1 transmission data. Then, mapping is performed on the #1 transmission data to obtain data symbols, and these data symbols are allocated for Stream 1 and Stream 2, respectively, to obtain the data symbols (data symbol groups) of Stream 1 and the data symbols (data symbol groups) of Stream 2. The symbol group of Stream 1 includes the data symbols (data symbol groups) of Stream 1, and the symbol group of Stream 1 is transmitted from the base stations in FIGS. 1 and 3. Also, the symbol group of Stream 2 includes the data symbols (data symbol groups) of Stream 2, and the symbol group of Stream 2 is transmitted from the base stations in FIGS. 1 and 3.

[0103] FIG. 9 shows an example of the frame configuration when the horizontal axis represents time.

[0104] The #1 symbol group 901-1 of Stream 1 in FIG. 9 is the symbol group of the transmission beam 702-1 for transmitting the data of Stream 1 in FIG. 7.

[0105] The #2 symbol group 901-2 of Stream 1 in FIG. 9 is the symbol group of the transmission beam 702-2 for transmitting the data of Stream 1 in FIG. 7.

[0106] The #3 symbol group 901-3 of Stream 1 in FIG. 9 is the symbol group of the transmission beam 702-3 for transmitting the data of Stream 1 in FIG. 7.

[0107] The #1 symbol group 902-1 of Stream 2 in FIG. 9 is the symbol group of the transmission beam 703-1 for transmitting the data of Stream 2 in FIG. 7.

[0108] The #2 symbol group 902-2 of stream 2 in FIG. 9 is a symbol group of the transmission beam 703-2 for transmitting the data of stream 2 in FIG. 7.

[0109] The #3 symbol group 902-3 of stream 2 in FIG. 9 is a symbol group of the transmission beam 703-3 for transmitting the data of stream 2 in FIG. 7.

[0110] And the #1 symbol group 901-1 of stream 1, the #2 symbol group 901-2 of stream 1, the #3 symbol group 901-3 of stream 1, the #1 symbol group 902-1 of stream 2, the #2 symbol group 902-2 of stream 2, and the #3 symbol group 902-3 of stream 2 exist, for example, in time interval 1.

[0111] Also, as described above, the #1 symbol group 901-1 of stream 1 and the #2 symbol group 902-1 of stream 2 are transmitted using the same frequency (the same frequency band), the #2 symbol group 901-2 of stream 1 and the #2 symbol group 902-2 of stream 2 are transmitted using the same frequency (the same frequency band), and the #3 symbol group 901-3 of stream 1 and the #3 symbol group 902-3 of stream 2 are transmitted using the same frequency (the same frequency band).

[0112] For example, in the procedure of FIG. 8, the "data symbol group A of stream 1" and the "data symbol group A of stream 2" are generated from the information. Then, a symbol group "data symbol group A-1 of stream 1" composed of the same symbols as the symbols constituting the "data symbol group A of stream 1", a symbol group "data symbol group A-2 of stream 1" composed of the same symbols as the symbols constituting the "data symbol group A of stream 1", and a symbol group "data symbol group A-3 of stream 1" composed of the same symbols as the symbols constituting the "data symbol group A of stream 1" are prepared.

[0113] That is, the symbols constituting the "data symbol group A-1 of stream 1", the symbols constituting the "data symbol group A-2 of stream 1", and the symbols constituting the "data symbol group A-3 of stream 1" are the same.

[0114] At this time, the #1 symbol group 901-1 of stream 1 in FIG. 9 includes the "data symbol group A-1 of stream 1", the #2 symbol group 901-2 of stream 1 in FIG. 9 includes the "data symbol group A-2 of stream 1", and the #3 symbol group 901-3 of stream 1 in FIG. 9 includes the "data symbol group A-3 of stream 1". That is, the #1 symbol group 901-1 of stream 1, the #2 symbol group 901-2 of stream 1, and the #3 symbol group 901-3 of stream 1 include the same data symbol group.

[0115] Also, symbol groups "data symbol group A-1 of stream 2", "data symbol group A-2 of stream 2", and "data symbol group A-3 of stream 2" are prepared, which are composed of the same symbols as the symbols constituting the "data symbol group A of stream 2".

[0116] That is, the symbols constituting the "data symbol group A-1 of stream 2", the symbols constituting the "data symbol group A-2 of stream 2", and the symbols constituting the "data symbol group A-3 of stream 2" are the same.

[0117] At this time, the #1 symbol group 902-1 of stream 2 in FIG. 9 includes the "data symbol group A-1 of stream 2", the #2 symbol group 902-2 of stream 2 in FIG. 9 includes the "data symbol group A-2 of stream 2", and the #3 symbol group 902-3 of stream 2 in FIG. 9 includes the "data symbol group A-3 of stream 2". That is, the #1 symbol group 902-1 of stream 2, the #2 symbol group 902-2 of stream 2, and the #3 symbol group 902-3 of stream 2 include the same data symbol group.

[0118] FIG. 10 shows an example of the frame configuration of the "symbol group #Y of stream X" (X = 1, 2; Y = 1, 2, 3) described in FIG. 9. In FIG. 10, the horizontal axis is time, 1001 is a control information symbol, and 1002 is a data symbol group of the stream. At this time, the data symbol group 1002 of the stream is a symbol for transmitting the "data symbol group A of stream 1" or the "data symbol group A of stream 2" described with reference to FIG. 9.

[0119] In addition, in the frame configuration of FIG. 10, a multi-carrier method such as the OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) method may be used. In this case, symbols may exist in the frequency axis direction. Also, each symbol may include a reference symbol for the receiving device to perform time and frequency synchronization, a reference symbol for the receiving device to detect a signal, a reference symbol for the receiving device to perform channel estimation, and the like. And the frame configuration is not limited to FIG. 10, and the control information symbol 1001 and the data symbol group 1002 of the stream may be arranged in any way. Note that the reference symbol may also be called a preamble or a pilot symbol.

[0120] Next, the configuration of the control information symbol 1001 will be described.

[0121] FIG. 11 shows an example of the configuration of symbols transmitted as the control information symbols in FIG. 10, where the horizontal axis represents time. In FIG. 11, the terminal receives a "training symbol for the terminal to perform reception directivity control" 1101, and thereby determines a signal processing method for directivity control during reception, which is performed by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605".

[0122] The terminal receives a "symbol for notifying the number of transmission streams when multicasting" 1102, and thereby knows the number of streams that the terminal needs to obtain.

[0123] The terminal receives a "symbol for notifying which stream's data symbol the data symbol of the stream is" 1103, and thereby can know which stream among the streams transmitted by the base station the terminal can receive.

[0124] An example of the above will be described.

[0125] As shown in FIG. 7, the case where the base station is transmitting a stream and a transmission beam will be described. Then, the specific information of the control information symbols in the #1 symbol group 901-1 of stream 1 in FIG. 9 will be described.

[0126] In the case of FIG. 7, since the base station is transmitting "stream 1" and "stream 2", the information of the "symbol for notifying the number of transmission streams when multicasting" 1102 is the information "2".

[0127] Also, since the #1 symbol group 901-1 of stream 1 in FIG. 9 is transmitting the data symbols of stream 1, the information of the "symbol for notifying which stream's data symbol the data symbol of the stream is" 1103 is the information "stream 1".

[0128] For example, a case where the terminal receives the #1 symbol group 901-1 of stream 1 in FIG. 9 will be described. At this time, the terminal recognizes that it has obtained "the number of transmission streams is 2" from the "symbol for notifying the number of transmission streams when multicasting" 1102 and "the data symbol of stream 1" from the "symbol for notifying which stream's data symbol the data symbol group of the stream is" 1103.

[0129] After that, since the terminal recognizes that "the number of transmission streams is 2" and the obtained data symbol is "the data symbol of stream 1", it recognizes that it is necessary to obtain "the data symbol of stream 2". Therefore, the terminal can start the operation of searching for the symbol group of stream 2. For example, the terminal searches for any transmission beam among the #1 symbol group 902-1 of stream 2, the #2 symbol group 902-2 of stream 2, and the #3 symbol group 902-3 of stream 2 in FIG. 9.

[0130] Then, by obtaining any transmission beam among the #1 symbol group 902-1 of stream 2, the #2 symbol group 902-2 of stream 2, and the #3 symbol group 902-3 of stream 2, the terminal obtains the data symbols of both the data symbol of stream 1 and the data symbol of stream 2.

[0131] In this way, by configuring the control information symbol, the terminal obtains the effect that it can accurately obtain the data symbol.

[0132] As described above, in multicast transmission and broadcast data transmission, the base station transmits data symbols using a plurality of transmission beams, and the terminal selectively receives a beam with good quality from the plurality of transmission beams. Therefore, since the modulation signal transmitted by the base station performs transmission directivity control and reception directivity control, the effect that the area where high data reception quality can be obtained can be widened is obtained.

[0133] In the above description, it has been described that the terminal performs reception directivity control. However, even if the terminal does not perform reception directivity control, it is possible to obtain the above-described effects.

[0134] Note that the modulation method of the "data symbol group of the stream" 1002 in FIG. 10 may be any modulation method, and the mapping method of the modulation method of the "data symbol group of the stream" 1002 may be switched symbol by symbol. That is, on the in-phase I - quadrature Q plane after mapping, the phase of the constellation may be switched symbol by symbol.

[0135] FIG. 12 shows an example different from FIG. 7 of the communication state between the base station and the terminal. In FIG. 12, the same numbers are assigned to those that operate in the same manner as in FIG. 7.

[0136] The base station 700 includes a plurality of antennas and transmits a plurality of transmission signals from the transmission antenna 701. At this time, the base station 700 is configured, for example, in the configuration as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, and performs transmission beamforming (directivity control) by performing precoding (weighted synthesis) in the signal processing unit 102 (and / or the weighted synthesis unit 301).

[0137] FIG. 12 shows transmission beams 1202 - 1 for transmitting the "modulation signal 1", transmission beams 1202 - 2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 1", and transmission beams 1202 - 3 for transmitting the "modulation signal 1".

[0138] FIG. 12 shows transmission beams 1203 - 1 for transmitting the "modulation signal 2", transmission beams 1203 - 2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 2", and transmission beams 1203 - 3 for transmitting the "modulation signal 2".

[0139] Note that in Fig. 12, the number of transmission beams for transmitting "modulation signal 1" is 3, and the number of transmission beams for transmitting "modulation signal 2" is 3. However, this is not restrictive. As long as there are multiple transmission beams for transmitting "modulation signal 1" and multiple transmission beams for transmitting "modulation signal 2". And "modulation signal 1" and "modulation signal 2" will be described in detail later.

[0140] Fig. 12 includes terminals 704-1, 704-2, 704-3, 704-4, 704-5, and has the same configuration as the terminals in Figs. 4 and 5, for example.

[0141] For example, terminal 704-1 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", and forms reception directivities 705-1 and reception directivity 706-1. Then, due to reception directivity 705-1, terminal 704-1 can receive and demodulate transmission beam 1202-1 for transmitting "modulation signal 1", and due to reception directivity 706-1, terminal 704-1 can receive and demodulate transmission beam 1203-1 for transmitting "modulation signal 2".

[0142] Similarly, terminal 704-2 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", and forms reception directivities 705-2 and reception directivity 706-2. Then, due to reception directivity 705-2, terminal 704-2 can receive and demodulate transmission beam 1202-1 for transmitting "modulation signal 1", and due to reception directivity 706-2, terminal 704-2 can receive and demodulate transmission beam 1203-1 for transmitting "modulation signal 2".

[0143] The terminal 704-3 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", and forms a reception directivity 705-3 and a reception directivity 706-3.

[0144] Then, due to the reception directivity 705-3, the terminal 704-3 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 1202-2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 1", and due to the reception directivity 706-3, the terminal 704-3 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 1203-2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 2".

[0145] The terminal 704-4 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", and forms a reception directivity 705-4 and a reception directivity 706-4. Then, due to the reception directivity 705-4, the terminal 704-4 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 1202-3 for transmitting the "modulation signal 1", and due to the reception directivity 706-4, the terminal 704-4 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 1203-2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 2".

[0146] The terminal 704-5 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", and forms a reception directivity 705-5 and a reception directivity 706-5. Then, due to the reception directivity 705-5, the terminal 704-5 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 1202-3 for transmitting the "modulation signal 1", and due to the reception directivity 706-5, the terminal 704-5 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 1203-3 for transmitting the "modulation signal 2".

[0147] The characteristic point in FIG. 12 is that the terminal can select at least one transmission beam among transmission beams 1202-1, 1202-2, and 1202-3 for transmitting the "modulation signal 1" according to the spatial position, and direct the reception directivity, so as to obtain the "modulation signal 1" with high quality. Also, the terminal can select at least one transmission beam among transmission beams 1203-1, 1203-2, and 1203-3 for transmitting the "modulation signal 2" according to the spatial position, and direct the reception directivity, so as to obtain the "modulation signal 2" with high quality.

[0148] Note that the base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 1202-1 for transmitting the "modulation signal 1" and the transmission beam 1203-1 for transmitting the "modulation signal 2" using the same frequency (same frequency band) and at the same time. And the base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 1202-2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 1" and the transmission beam 1203-2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 2" using the same frequency (same frequency band) and at the same time. Also, the base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 1202-3 for transmitting the "modulation signal 1" and the transmission beam 1203-3 for transmitting the "modulation signal 2" using the same frequency (same frequency band) and at the same moment.

[0149] Also, the transmission beams 1202-1, 1202-2, and 1202-3 for transmitting the "modulation signal 1" may be beams of the same frequency (same frequency band), or may be beams of different frequencies (different frequency bands) respectively. The transmission beams 1203-1, 1203-2, and 1203-3 for transmitting the "modulation signal 2" may be beams of the same frequency (same frequency band), or may be beams of different frequencies (different frequency bands) respectively.

[0150] The operation of the setting unit 158 of the base station in FIGS. 1 and 3 will be described.

[0151] The setting unit 158 takes the setting signal 160 as an input. The setting signal 160 includes information on "whether to perform multicast transmission / whether to perform unicast transmission". When the base station performs transmission as shown in FIG. 12, information indicating "perform multicast transmission" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0152] The setting signal 160 includes information on "the number of transmission modulation signals when performing multicast". When the base station performs transmission as shown in FIG. 12, information indicating "the number of transmission modulation signals is 2" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0153] Also, the setting signal 160 may include information on "how many transmission beams each modulation signal is transmitted with". When the base station performs transmission as shown in FIG. 12, information indicating "the number of transmission beams for transmitting modulation signal 1 is 3, and the number of transmission beams for transmitting modulation signal 2 is 3" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0154] Note that the base stations in FIGS. 1 and 3 may transmit a control information symbol including information such as "whether the data symbol is for multicast transmission / for unicast transmission", "the number of transmission modulation signals when performing multicast", and "how many transmission beams each modulation signal is transmitted with". Thereby, the terminal can perform appropriate reception. Details of the configuration of the control information symbol will be described later.

[0155] FIG. 13 is a drawing for explaining the relationship between the #i information 101-i in FIGS. 1 and 3 and the "modulation signal 1" and "modulation signal 2" described with reference to FIG. 12.

[0156] For example, for the #1 information 101-1, perform processing such as error correction encoding to obtain the data after error correction encoding. Name the data after error correction encoding as the #1 transmission data. Then, perform mapping on the #1 transmission data to obtain data symbols, and distribute these data symbols for Stream 1 and Stream 2 to obtain the data symbols (data symbol groups) of Stream 1 and the data symbols (data symbol groups) of Stream 2. At this time, let the data symbol of Stream 1 at symbol number i be s1(i), and the data symbol of Stream 2 be s2(i). Then, the "modulation signal 1" tx1(i) at symbol number i can be expressed as follows, for example.

[0157]

Number

[0158] And the "modulation signal 2" tx2(i) at symbol number i can be expressed as follows, for example.

[0159]

Number

[0160] Note that in Equation (3) and Equation (4), α(i) can be defined as a complex number (therefore, it may also be a real number), β(i) can be defined as a complex number (therefore, it may also be a real number), γ(i) can be defined as a complex number (therefore, it may also be a real number), and δ(i) can be defined as a complex number (therefore, it may also be a real number). Also, although it is described as α(i), it does not have to be a function of symbol number i (it may be a fixed value), although it is described as β(i), it does not have to be a function of symbol number i (it may be a fixed value), although it is described as γ(i), it does not have to be a function of symbol number i (it may be a fixed value), and although it is described as δ(i), it does not have to be a function of symbol number i (it may be a fixed value).

[0161] And, the "symbol group of modulation signal 1" including the "signal in the data transmission area of modulation signal 1" composed of data symbols is transmitted from the base stations in FIGS. 1 and 3. Also, the "symbol group of modulation signal 2" including the "signal in the data transmission area of modulation signal 2" composed of data symbols is transmitted from the base stations in FIGS. 1 and 3.

[0162] Note that, for "modulation signal 1" and "modulation signal 2", signal processing such as phase change or CDD (Cyclic Delay Diversity) may be performed. However, the signal processing method is not limited to this.

[0163] FIG. 14 shows an example of a frame configuration when the horizontal axis is time.

[0164] The #1 symbol group (1401-1) of modulation signal 1 in FIG. 14 is the symbol group of transmission beam 1202-1 for transmitting the data of modulation signal 1 in FIG. 12.

[0165] The #2 symbol group (1401-2) of modulation signal 1 in FIG. 14 is the symbol group of transmission beam 1202-2 for transmitting the data of modulation signal 1 in FIG. 12.

[0166] The #3 symbol group (1401-3) of modulation signal 1 in FIG. 14 is the symbol group of transmission beam 1202-3 for transmitting the data of modulation signal 1 in FIG. 12.

[0167] The #1 symbol group (1402-1) of modulation signal 2 in FIG. 14 is the symbol group of transmission beam 1203-1 for transmitting the data of modulation signal 2 in FIG. 12.

[0168] The #2 symbol group (1402-2) of modulation signal 2 in FIG. 14 is the symbol group of transmission beam 1203-2 for transmitting the data of modulation signal 2 in FIG. 12.

[0169] The #3 symbol group (1402-3) of the modulation signal 2 in FIG. 14 is the symbol group of the transmission beam 1203-3 for transmitting the data of the modulation signal 2 in FIG. 12.

[0170] And the #1 symbol group (1401-1) of the modulation signal 1, the #2 symbol group (1401-2) of the modulation signal 1, the #3 symbol group (1401-3) of the modulation signal 1, the #1 symbol group (1402-1) of the modulation signal 2, the #2 symbol group (1402-2) of the modulation signal 2, and the #3 symbol group (1402-3) of the modulation signal 2 exist, for example, in time interval 1.

[0171] Also, as described above, the #1 symbol group (1401-1) of the modulation signal 1 and the #1 symbol group (1402-1) of the modulation signal 2 are transmitted using the same frequency (the same frequency band), the #2 symbol group (1401-2) of the modulation signal 1 and the #2 symbol group (1402-2) of the modulation signal 2 are transmitted using the same frequency (the same frequency band), and the #3 symbol group (1401-3) of the modulation signal 1 and the #3 symbol group (1402-3) of the modulation signal 2 are transmitted using the same frequency (the same frequency band).

[0172] For example, in the procedure of FIG. 13, the signal A in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 1 and the signal A in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 2 were generated from the information.

[0173] And signals "signal A-1 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 1", "signal A-2 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 1", and "signal A-3 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 1" which are composed of signals equivalent to the signals constituting "signal A in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 1" are prepared (that is, the signals constituting "signal group A-1 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 1", the signals constituting "signal A-2 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 1", and the signals constituting "signal A-3 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 1" are the same).

[0174] At this time, the #1 symbol group (1401-1) of the modulation signal 1 in FIG. 14 includes "signal A-1 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 1", the #2 symbol group (1401-2) of the modulation signal 1 in FIG. 14 includes "signal A-2 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 1", and the #3 symbol group (1401-3) of the modulation signal 1 in FIG. 14 includes "signal A-3 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 1". That is, the #1 symbol group (1401-1), the #2 symbol group (1401-2), and the #3 symbol group (1401-3) of the modulation signal 1 include equivalent signals.

[0175] Also, signals "signal A-1 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 2", "signal A-2 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 2", and "signal A-3 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 2", which are composed of signals equivalent to the signals constituting "signal A in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 2", are prepared (that is, the signals constituting "signal A-1 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 2", the signals constituting "signal A-2 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 2", and the signals constituting "signal A-3 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 2" are the same).

[0176] At this time, the #1 symbol group (1402-1) of the modulation signal 2 in FIG. 14 includes "signal A-1 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 2", the #2 symbol group (1402-2) of the stream 2 in FIG. 14 includes "signal A-2 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 2", and the #3 symbol group (1402-3) of the modulation signal 2 in FIG. 14 includes "signal A-3 in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 2". That is, the #1 symbol group (1402-1), the #2 symbol group (1402-2), and the #3 symbol group (1402-3) of the modulation signal 2 include equivalent signals.

[0177] FIG. 15 shows an example of the frame configuration of the "symbol group #Y of the modulation signal X" (X = 1, 2; Y = 1, 2, 3) described in FIG. 14. In FIG. 15, the horizontal axis is time, 1501 is a control information symbol, and 1502 is a modulation signal transmission area for data transmission. At this time, the modulation signal transmission area 1502 for data transmission is a symbol for transmitting the "signal A in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 1" or the "signal A in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 2" described with reference to FIG. 14.

[0178] Note that in the frame configuration of FIG. 15, a multi-carrier method such as the OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) method may be used. In this case, symbols may exist in the frequency axis direction. Also, each symbol may include a reference symbol for the receiving device to perform time and frequency synchronization, a reference symbol for the receiving device to detect a signal, a reference symbol for the receiving device to perform channel estimation, and the like. And the frame configuration is not limited to FIG. 15, and the control information symbol 1501 and the modulation signal transmission area 1502 for data transmission may be arranged in any way. The reference symbol may be called, for example, a preamble or a pilot symbol.

[0179] Next, the configuration of the control information symbol 1501 will be described.

[0180] FIG. 16 shows an example of the configuration of the symbol transmitted as the control information symbol of FIG. 15, and the horizontal axis is time. In FIG. 16, 1601 is a "training symbol for the terminal to perform reception directivity control". The terminal determines the signal processing method for directivity control at the time of reception, which is performed by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", by receiving the "training symbol for the terminal to perform reception directivity control" 1601.

[0181] 1602 is a "symbol for notifying the number of transmission modulation signals when multicasting", and by receiving the "symbol for notifying the number of transmission modulation signals when multicasting" 1602, the terminal knows the number of modulation signals it needs to obtain.

[0182] 1603 is a "symbol for notifying which modulation signal transmission area for data transmission of the modulation signal is the modulation signal transmission area for data transmission of which modulation signal", and by receiving the "symbol for notifying which modulation signal transmission area for data transmission of the modulation signal is the modulation signal transmission area for data transmission of which modulation signal" 1603, the terminal can know which modulation signal it can receive among the modulation signals transmitted by the base station.

[0183] An example of the above will be described.

[0184] As shown in FIG. 12, consider the case where the base station is transmitting a "modulation signal" and a transmission beam. Then, the specific information of the control information symbol in the #1 symbol group 1401-1 of the modulation signal 1 in FIG. 14 will be described.

[0185] In the case of FIG. 12, since the base station is transmitting "modulation signal 1" and "modulation signal 2", the information of the "symbol for notifying the number of transmission modulation signals when multicasting" 1602 is the information "2".

[0186] Also, since the #1 symbol group 1401-1 of the modulation signal 1 in FIG. 14 is transmitting the signal in the data transmission area of the modulation signal 1, the information of the "symbol for notifying which modulation signal transmission area for data transmission of the modulation signal is the modulation signal transmission area for data transmission of which modulation signal" 1603 is the information "modulation signal 1".

[0187] For example, assume that the terminal has received the #1 symbol group 1401-1 of the modulation signal 1 in FIG. 14. At this time, the terminal recognizes that it has obtained "the modulation signal number 2" from the "symbol for notifying the number of transmission modulation signals when multicasting" 1602 and "the modulation signal 1" from the "symbol for notifying which modulation signal transmission area for data transmission of the modulation signal is" 1603.

[0188] Then, since the terminal recognizes that there is "the modulation signal number 2" and the obtained modulation signal is "the modulation signal 1", it recognizes that it is necessary to obtain "the modulation signal 2". Therefore, the terminal can start the operation of searching for "the modulation signal 2". For example, the terminal searches for any of the transmission beams of the "#1 symbol group of the modulation signal 2" 1402-1, "#2 symbol group of the modulation signal 2" 1402-2, and "#3 symbol group of the modulation signal 2" 1402-3 in FIG. 14.

[0189] And, by obtaining any of the transmission beams of the "#1 symbol group of the modulation signal 2" 1402-1, "#2 symbol group of the modulation signal 2" 1402-2, and "#3 symbol group of the modulation signal 2" 1402-3, the terminal can obtain both "the modulation signal 1" and "the modulation signal 2", and can obtain the data symbols of stream 1 and the data symbols of stream 2 with high quality.

[0190] In this way, by configuring the control information symbol, the terminal can obtain the effect of accurately obtaining the data symbol.

[0191] As described above, in multicast data transmission and broadcast data transmission, the base station transmits data symbols using a plurality of transmission beams, and the terminal selectively receives a beam with good quality from the plurality of transmission beams, so that the modulation signals transmitted by the base station can obtain the effect of widening the area where high data reception quality can be obtained. This is because the base station is performing transmission directivity control and reception directivity control.

[0192] Also, in the above description, it has been described that the terminal performs reception directivity control. However, the terminal can obtain the above-described effects even without performing reception directivity control.

[0193] In FIG. 7, the case where each terminal obtains both the modulation signal of stream 1 and the modulation signal of stream 2 has been described. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to such an embodiment. For example, an embodiment may be implemented in which different modulation signals are obtained depending on the terminal, such as a terminal that wants to obtain the modulation signal of stream 1, a terminal that wants to obtain the modulation signal of stream 2, and a terminal that wants to obtain both the modulation signal of stream 1 and the modulation signal of stream 2.

[0194] (Embodiment 2) In Embodiment 1, in multicast data transmission and broadcast data transmission, the method by which the base station transmits data symbols using a plurality of transmission beams has been described. In the present embodiment, as a modification of Embodiment 1, a case where the base station performs multicast data transmission and broadcast data transmission and also performs unicast data transmission will be described.

[0195] FIG. 17 shows an example of the communication state between the base station (or access point, etc.) and the terminal. For those that operate in the same manner as in FIG. 7, the same reference numerals are given and detailed description is omitted.

[0196] The base station 700 includes a plurality of antennas and transmits a plurality of transmission signals from the transmission antenna 701. At this time, the base station 700 is configured, for example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, and performs transmission beamforming (directivity control) by performing precoding (weighted synthesis) in the signal processing unit 102 (and / or the weighted synthesis unit 301).

[0197] The description of the transmission beams 702-1, 702-2, 702-3, 703-1, 703-2, 703-3 is the same as that described with reference to FIG. 7, and thus the description is omitted.

[0198] Also, regarding the description of terminals 704-1, 704-2, 704-3, 704-4, 704-5, and reception directivities 705-1, 705-2, 705-3, 705-4, 705-5, 706-1, 706-2, 706-3, 706-4, 706-5, since it is as described with reference to FIG. 7, the description is omitted.

[0199] In FIG. 17, the characteristic point is that the base station performs multicast as described in FIG. 7, and the base station 700 and the terminal (for example, 1702) perform unicast communication.

[0200] In addition to the transmission beams 702-1, 702-2, 702-3, 703-1, 703-2, 703-3 for multicast, in FIG. 17, the base station 700 generates a transmission beam 1701 for unicast and transmits individual data to the terminal 1702. Note that in FIG. 17, an example is shown in which the base station 700 transmits one of the transmission beams 1701 to the terminal 1702, but the number of transmission beams is not limited to one, and the base station 700 may transmit a plurality of transmission beams to the terminal 1702 (it may transmit a plurality of modulated signals).

[0201] Then, the terminal 1702 forms a reception directivity 1703 that performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the signal processing unit 605". Thereby, the terminal 1702 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 1701.

[0202] Note that in order to generate a transmission beam including the transmission beam 1701, the base station performs precoding (weighted synthesis) in, for example, the signal processing unit 102 (and / or the weighted synthesis unit 301) in the configurations as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

[0203] Conversely, when the terminal 1702 transmits a modulated signal to the base station 700, the terminal 1702 performs precoding (or weighted synthesis), transmits a transmission beam 1703, and the base station 700 forms a reception directivity 1701 that performs directivity control during reception. Thereby, the base station 700 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 1703.

[0204] Note that the transmission beam 702-1 for transmitting the data of stream 1 and the transmission beam 703-1 for transmitting the data of stream 2 are transmitted by the base station 700 using the same frequency (same frequency band) and the same time. And the transmission beam 702-2 for transmitting the data of stream 1 and the transmission beam 703-2 for transmitting the data of stream 2 are transmitted by the base station 700 using the same frequency (same frequency band) and the same time. Also, the transmission beam 702-3 for transmitting the data of stream 1 and the transmission beam 703-3 for transmitting the data of stream 2 are transmitted by the base station 700 using the same frequency (same frequency band) and the same time.

[0205] Also, the transmission beams 702-1, 702-2, 702-3 for transmitting the data of stream 1 may be beams of the same frequency (same frequency band), or may be beams of different frequencies (different frequency bands) respectively. The transmission beams 703-1, 703-2, 703-3 for transmitting the data of stream 2 may be beams of the same frequency (same frequency band), or may be beams of different frequencies (different frequency bands) respectively.

[0206] And the unicast transmission beam 1701 may be a beam of the same frequency (same frequency band) as the transmission beams 702-1, 702-2, 702-3, 703-1, 703-2, 703-3, or may be a beam of a different frequency (different frequency band).

[0207] Also, in FIG. 17, the description has been advanced assuming one terminal performing unicast communication, but the number of terminals performing unicast communication with the base station may be a plurality.

[0208] At this time, the operation of the setting unit 158 in the configuration diagrams 1 and 3 of the base station will be described.

[0209] The setting unit 158 takes the setting signal 160 as an input. The setting signal 160 includes information on "whether to perform multicast transmission / whether to perform unicast transmission". When the base station performs transmission as shown in FIG. 17, information indicating "performing both multicast transmission and unicast transmission" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0210] In addition, the setting signal 160 includes information on "the number of transmission streams when performing multicast". When the base station performs transmission as shown in FIG. 17, information indicating "the number of transmission streams is 2" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0211] Furthermore, the setting signal 160 may include information on "how many transmission beams each stream is transmitted with". When the base station performs transmission as shown in FIG. 17, information indicating "the number of transmission beams for transmitting stream 1 is 3, and the number of transmission beams for transmitting stream 2 is 3" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0212] Note that the base stations in FIGS. 1 and 3 may transmit a control information symbol including information such as information on "whether the data symbol is for multicast transmission / for unicast transmission", information on "the number of transmission streams when performing multicast", and "how many transmission beams each stream is transmitted with". Thereby, the terminal can perform appropriate reception.

[0213] Furthermore, the base station may transmit a training control information symbol for the base station to perform directivity control and a training control information symbol for the terminal to perform directivity control to a terminal performing unicast communication.

[0214] FIG. 18 shows an example of the communication state between a base station (or an access point, etc.) and a terminal. For those that operate in the same manner as FIGS. 7 and 12, the same numbers are assigned and detailed descriptions are omitted.

[0215] The base station 700 includes a plurality of antennas and transmits a plurality of transmission signals from the transmission antenna 701. At this time, the base station 700 is configured, for example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, and performs precoding (weighted synthesis) in the signal processing unit 102 (and / or the weighted synthesis unit 301) to perform transmission beamforming (directivity control).

[0216] Regarding the description of the transmission beams 1202-1, 1202-2, 1202-3, 1203-1, 1203-2, 1203-3, since it is as described with reference to FIG. 12, the description is omitted.

[0217] Regarding the description of the terminals 704-1, 704-2, 704-3, 704-4, 704-5 and the reception directivities 705-1, 705-2, 705-3, 705-4, 705-5, 706-1, 706-2, 706-3, 706-4, 706-5, since it is as described with reference to FIG. 12, the description is omitted.

[0218] In FIG. 18, the characteristic point is that the base station performs multicast as described in FIG. 12 and the base station 700 and the terminal (for example, 1702) perform unicast communication.

[0219] In addition to the multicast transmission beams 1202-1, 1202-2, 1202-3, 1203-1, 1203-2, 1203-3, the base station 700 generates a unicast transmission beam 1701 in FIG. 18 and transmits individual data to the terminal 1702. In FIG. 18, an example is shown in which the base station 700 transmits one of the transmission beams 1701 to the terminal 1702, but the number of transmission beams is not limited to one, and the base station 700 may transmit a plurality of transmission beams (or transmit a plurality of modulation signals) to the terminal 1702.

[0220] Then, the terminal 1702 forms a reception directivity 1703 that performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the signal processing unit 605". Thereby, the terminal 1702 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 1701.

[0221] Note that, in order to generate a transmission beam including the transmission beam 1701, the base station performs precoding (weighted synthesis) in, for example, the signal processing unit 102 (and / or the weighted synthesis unit 301) in the configurations as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

[0222] Conversely, when the terminal 1702 transmits a modulation signal to the base station 700, the terminal 1702 performs precoding (or weighted synthesis), transmits a transmission beam 1703, and the base station 700 forms a reception directivity 1701 that performs directivity control during reception. Thereby, the base station 700 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 1703.

[0223] Note that the base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 1202-1 for transmitting the "modulation signal 1" and the transmission beam 1203-1 for transmitting the "modulation signal 2" using the same frequency (the same frequency band) and the same time. And the base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 1202-2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 1" and the transmission beam 1203-2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 2" using the same frequency (the same frequency band) and the same time. Also, the base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 1202-3 for transmitting the "modulation signal 1" and the transmission beam 1203-3 for transmitting the "modulation signal 2" using the same frequency (the same frequency band) and the same moment.

[0224] Also, the transmission beams 1202-1, 1202-2, and 1202-3 for transmitting "modulation signal 1" may be beams of the same frequency (same frequency band), or may be beams of different frequencies (different frequency bands), respectively. The transmission beams 1203-1, 1203-2, and 1203-3 for transmitting "modulation signal 2" may be beams of the same frequency (same frequency band), or may be beams of different frequencies (different frequency bands), respectively.

[0225] And the unicast transmission beam 1701 may be a beam of the same frequency (same frequency band) as the transmission beams 1202-1, 1202-2, 1202-3, 1203-1, 1203-2, and 1203-3, or may be a beam of a different frequency (different frequency band).

[0226] Also, in FIG. 18, the description has been advanced assuming one terminal for performing unicast communication, but the number of terminals for performing unicast communication with the base station may be a plurality.

[0227] At this time, the operation of the setting unit 158 in the configuration diagrams 1 and 3 of the base station will be described.

[0228] The setting unit 158 takes the setting signal 160 as an input. The setting signal 160 includes information on "whether to perform multicast transmission / whether to perform unicast transmission". When the base station performs transmission as shown in FIG. 18, information indicating "performing both multicast transmission and unicast transmission" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0229] In addition, the setting signal 160 includes information on "the number of transmission streams when performing multicast". When the base station performs transmission as shown in FIG. 18, information indicating "the number of transmission streams is 2" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0230] Further, the setting signal 160 may include information on "how many transmission beams are used to transmit each stream". When the base station performs transmission as shown in FIG. 18, information such as "the number of transmission beams for transmitting stream 1 is 3, and the number of transmission beams for transmitting stream 2 is 3" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0231] Note that the base stations in FIGS. 1 and 3 may transmit a control information symbol including information on "whether the data symbol is for multicast transmission / unicast transmission", information on "the number of transmission streams when performing multicast", information on "how many transmission beams are used to transmit each stream", etc. Thereby, the terminal can perform appropriate reception.

[0232] Furthermore, the base station may transmit a control information symbol for training for the base station to perform directivity control and a control information symbol for training for the terminal to perform directivity control to a terminal performing unicast communication.

[0233] Next, as a modification of Embodiment 1, a case where the base station transmits a plurality of multicast data transmissions will be described.

[0234] FIG. 19 shows an example of the communication state between the base station (or an access point, etc.) and the terminal. Those that operate in the same manner as in FIG. 7 are given the same numbers, and detailed descriptions are omitted.

[0235] The base station 700 includes a plurality of antennas and transmits a plurality of transmission signals from the transmission antenna 701. At this time, the base station 700 is configured, for example, in the same configuration as in FIGS. 1 and 3, and performs transmission beamforming (directivity control) by performing precoding (weighted synthesis) in the signal processing unit 102 (and / or the weighted synthesis unit 301).

[0236] Since the transmission beams 702-1, 702-2, 702-3, 703-1, 703-2, 703-3 have been described as shown in FIG. 7, the description thereof will be omitted.

[0237] Also, since the terminals 704-1, 704-2, 704-3, 704-4, 704-5 and the reception directivities 705-1, 705-2, 705-3, 705-4, 705-5, 706-1, 706-2, 706-3, 706-4, 706-5 have been described as shown in FIG. 7, the description thereof will be omitted.

[0238] In addition to the transmission beams 702-1, 702-2, 702-3, 703-1, 703-2, 703-3, the base station 700 transmits transmission beams 1901-1, 1901-2, 1902-1, 1902-2.

[0239] The transmission beam 1901-1 is a transmission beam for transmitting the data of stream 3. Also, the transmission beam 1901-2 is also a transmission beam for transmitting the data of stream 3.

[0240] The transmission beam 1902-1 is a transmission beam for transmitting the data of stream 4. Also, the transmission beam 1902-2 is also a transmission beam for transmitting the data of stream 4.

[0241] 704-1, 704-2, 704-3, 704-4, 704-5, 1903-1, 1903-2, 1903-3 are terminals and are configured, for example, in the configurations shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Note that the operations of the terminals 704-1, 704-2, 704-3, 704-4, 704-5 have been described as shown in FIG. 7.

[0242] Terminal 1903-1 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", forming reception directivity 1904-1 and reception directivity 1905-1. Then, due to reception directivity 1904-1, terminal 1903-1 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 1901-2 for transmitting the data of stream 3, and due to reception directivity 1905-1, terminal 1903-1 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 1902-2 for transmitting the data of stream 4.

[0243] Terminal 1903-2 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", forming reception directivity 1904-2 and reception directivity 1905-2. Then, due to reception directivity 1904-2, terminal 1903-2 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 1902-1 for transmitting the data of stream 4, and due to reception directivity 1905-2, terminal 1903-2 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 1901-2 for transmitting the data of stream 3.

[0244] Terminal 1903-3 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", forming reception directivity 1904-3 and reception directivity 1905-3. Then, due to reception directivity 1904-3, terminal 1903-3 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 1901-1 for transmitting the data of stream 3, and due to reception directivity 1905-3, terminal 1903-3 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 1902-1 for transmitting the data of stream 4.

[0245] The terminal 1903-4 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", to form a reception directivity 1904-4 and a reception directivity 1905-4. Then, due to the reception directivity 1904-4, the terminal 1903-4 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 703-1 for transmitting the data of stream 2, and due to the reception directivity 1905-4, the terminal 1903-4 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 1901-1 for transmitting the data of stream 3.

[0246] In FIG. 19, the characteristic point is that the base station transmits a plurality of streams including data for multicast, each stream is transmitted with a plurality of transmission beams, and each terminal selectively receives the transmission beams of one or more of the plurality of streams.

[0247] Note that the base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 702-1 for transmitting the data of stream 1 and the transmission beam 703-1 for transmitting the data of stream 2 using the same frequency (the same frequency band) and the same time. And the base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 702-2 for transmitting the data of stream 1 and the transmission beam 703-2 for transmitting the data of stream 2 using the same frequency (the same frequency band) and the same time. Also, the base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 702-3 for transmitting the data of stream 1 and the transmission beam 703-3 for transmitting the data of stream 2 using the same frequency (the same frequency band) and the same moment.

[0248] The base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 1901-1 for transmitting the data of stream 3 and the transmission beam 1902-1 for transmitting the data of stream 4 using the same frequency (the same frequency band) and the same time. And the base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 1901-2 for transmitting the data of stream 3 and the transmission beam 1902-2 for transmitting the data of stream 4 using the same frequency (the same frequency band) and the same time.

[0249] Also, the transmission beams 702-1, 702-2, 702-3 for transmitting the data of stream 1 may be beams of the same frequency (same frequency band), or may be beams of different frequencies (different frequency bands), respectively. The transmission beams 703-1, 703-2, 703-3 for transmitting the data of stream 2 may be beams of the same frequency (same frequency band), or may be beams of different frequencies (different frequency bands), respectively.

[0250] The transmission beams 1901-1, 1901-2 for transmitting the data of stream 3 may be beams of the same frequency (same frequency band), or may be beams of different frequencies (different frequency bands), respectively. Also, the transmission beams 1902-1, 1902-2 for transmitting the data of stream 4 may be beams of the same frequency (same frequency band), or may be beams of different frequencies (different frequency bands), respectively.

[0251] And it is possible to generate data symbols of stream 1 from the #1 information 101-1 in FIG. 1, or generate data symbols of stream 2, and generate data symbols of stream 3 and data symbols of stream 4 from the #2 information 101-2. Note that the #1 information 101-1 and the #2 information 101-2 may each perform error correction coding and then generate data symbols.

[0252] Also, it is possible to generate data symbols of stream 1 from the #1 information 101-1 in FIG. 1, generate data symbols of stream 2 from the #2 information 101-2 in FIG. 1, generate data symbols of stream 3 from the #3 information 101-3 in FIG. 1, and generate data symbols of stream 4 from the #4 information 101-4 in FIG. 1. Note that the #1 information 101-1, the #2 information 101-2, the #3 information 101-3, and the #4 information 101-4 may each perform error correction coding and then generate data symbols.

[0253] That is, the data symbols of each stream may be generated from any of the information in FIG. 1. For this reason, the terminal can selectively obtain the streams for multicast, achieving the effect of being able to selectively obtain the multicast streams.

[0254] At this time, the operation of the setting unit 158 in the configuration diagrams of the base station in FIGS. 1 and 3 will be described. The setting unit 158 takes the setting signal 160 as an input. The setting signal 160 includes information on "whether to perform multicast transmission / whether to perform unicast transmission". When the base station performs transmission as shown in FIG. 19, the information "perform multicast transmission" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0255] The setting signal 160 includes information on "the number of transmission streams when performing multicast". When the base station performs transmission as shown in FIG. 19, the information "the number of transmission streams is 4" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0256] Further, the setting signal 160 may include information on "how many transmission beams to use for transmitting each stream". When the base station performs transmission as shown in FIG. 19, the information "the number of transmission beams for transmitting stream 1 is 3, the number of transmission beams for transmitting stream 2 is 3, the number of transmission beams for transmitting stream 3 is 2, and the number of transmission beams for transmitting stream 4 is 2" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0257] Note that the base station in FIGS. 1 and 3 may transmit a control information symbol including information such as "whether the data symbol is for multicast transmission / unicast transmission", "the number of transmission streams when performing multicast", and "how many transmission beams to use for transmitting each stream". Thereby, the terminal can perform appropriate reception.

[0258] Next, as a modification of Embodiment 1, the case where the base station transmits a plurality of multicast data transmissions will be described.

[0259] FIG. 20 shows an example of the communication state between a base station (or an access point, etc.) and a terminal. For those that operate in the same manner as FIGS. 7, 12, and 19, the same numbers are assigned, and detailed descriptions are omitted.

[0260] The base station 700 includes a plurality of antennas and transmits a plurality of transmission signals from the transmission antenna 701. At this time, the base station 700 is configured, for example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, and performs transmission beamforming (directivity control) by performing precoding (weighted synthesis) in the signal processing unit 102 (and / or the weighted synthesis unit 301).

[0261] Since the descriptions of the transmission beams 1202-1, 1202-2, 1202-3, 1203-1, 1203-2, and 1203-3 overlap with the description in FIG. 12, the description is omitted.

[0262] Also, since the descriptions of the terminals 704-1, 704-2, 704-3, 704-4, 704-5 and the reception directivities 705-1, 705-2, 705-3, 705-4, 705-5, 706-1, 706-2, 706-3, 706-4, 706-5 overlap with the description in FIG. 12, the description is omitted.

[0263] In addition to the transmission beams 1202-1, 1202-2, 1202-3, 1203-1, 1203-2, and 1203-3, the base station 700 transmits the transmission beams 2001-1, 2001-2, 2002-1, and 2002-2.

[0264] The transmission beam 2001-1 is a transmission beam for transmitting the "modulation signal 3". Also, the transmission beam 2001-2 is also a transmission beam for transmitting the "modulation signal 3".

[0265] The transmission beam 2002-1 is a transmission beam for transmitting the "modulation signal 4". Also, the transmission beam 2002-2 is also a transmission beam for transmitting the "modulation signal 4".

[0266] The terminals 704-1, 704-2, 704-3, 704-4, 704-5, 1903-1, 1903-2, and 1903-3 have the same configuration as that in FIGS. 4 and 5, for example. Note that the operations of the terminals 704-1, 704-2, 704-3, 704-4, and 704-5 are the same as the descriptions in FIG. 7.

[0267] The terminal 1903-1 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", and forms reception directivities 1904-1 and 1905-1. Then, due to the reception directivity 1904-1, the terminal 1903-1 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 2001-2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 3", and due to the reception directivity 1905-1, the terminal 1903-1 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 2002-2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 4".

[0268] The terminal 1903-2 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", and forms reception directivities 1904-2 and 1905-2. Then, due to the reception directivity 1904-2, the terminal 1903-2 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 2002-1 for transmitting the "modulation signal 4", and due to the reception directivity 1905-2, the terminal 1903-2 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 2001-2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 3".

[0269] The terminal 1903-3 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", and forms a reception directivity 1904-3 and a reception directivity 1905-3. Then, due to the reception directivity 1904-3, the terminal 1903-3 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 2001-1 for transmitting the "modulation signal 3", and due to the reception directivity 1905-3, the terminal 1903-3 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 2002-1 for transmitting the "modulation signal 4".

[0270] The terminal 1903-4 performs directivity control during reception by the "signal processing unit 405", and / or the "antennas 401-1 to 401-N", and / or the "multiplication units 603-1 to 603-L and the processing unit 605", and forms a reception directivity 1904-4 and a reception directivity 1905-4. Then, due to the reception directivity 1904-4, the terminal 1903-4 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 2001-1 for transmitting the "modulation signal 3", and due to the reception directivity 1905-4, the terminal 1903-4 can receive and demodulate the transmission beam 2002-1 for transmitting the "modulation signal 4".

[0271] In FIG. 20, the base station transmits a plurality of modulation signals including data for multicast, each modulation signal is transmitted by a plurality of transmission beams, and each terminal selectively receives the transmission beams of one or more streams among the plurality of modulation signals.

[0272] Note that the base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 1202-1 for transmitting the "modulation signal 1" and the transmission beam 1203-1 for transmitting the "modulation signal 2" using the same frequency (same frequency band) and at the same time. Then, the base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 1202-2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 1" and the transmission beam 1203-2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 2" using the same frequency (same frequency band) and at the same time. Also, the base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 1202-3 for transmitting the "modulation signal 1" and the transmission beam 1203-3 for transmitting the "modulation signal 2" using the same frequency (same frequency band) and at the same moment.

[0273] The base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 2001-1 for transmitting the "modulation signal 3" and the transmission beam 2002-1 for transmitting the "modulation signal 4" using the same frequency (same frequency band) and at the same time. Then, the base station 700 transmits the transmission beam 2001-2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 3" and the transmission beam 2002-2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 4" using the same frequency (same frequency band) and at the same time.

[0274] Also, the transmission beams 702-1, 702-2, 702-3 for transmitting the data of stream 1 may be beams of the same frequency (same frequency band), or may be beams of different frequencies (different frequency bands) respectively. The transmission beams 703-1, 703-2, 703-3 for transmitting the data of stream 2 may be beams of the same frequency (same frequency band), or may be beams of different frequencies (different frequency bands) respectively.

[0275] The transmission beams 2001-1, 2001-2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 3" may be beams of the same frequency (same frequency band), or may be beams of different frequencies (different frequency bands) respectively. Also, the transmission beams 2002-1, 2002-2 for transmitting the "modulation signal 4" may be beams of the same frequency (same frequency band), or may be beams of different frequencies (different frequency bands) respectively.

[0276] At this time, the operation of the setting unit 158 in the configuration diagrams 1 and 3 of the base station will be described. The setting unit 158 takes the setting signal 160 as an input. The setting signal 160 includes information on "whether to perform multicast transmission / whether to perform unicast transmission". When the base station performs the transmission shown in FIG. 19, the information "perform multicast transmission" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0277] The setting signal 160 includes information on "the number of transmission modulation signals when performing multicast". When the base station performs the transmission shown in FIG. 20, the information "the number of transmission modulation signals is 4" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0278] Also, the setting signal 160 may include information on "how many transmission beams each modulation signal is transmitted with". When the base station performs the transmission shown in FIG. 20, the information "the number of transmission beams for transmitting modulation signal 1 is 3, the number of transmission beams for transmitting modulation signal 2 is 3, the number of transmission beams for transmitting modulation signal 3 is 2, and the number of transmission beams for transmitting modulation signal 4 is 2" is input to the setting unit 158 by the setting signal 160.

[0279] Note that the base stations in FIGS. 1 and 3 may transmit a control information symbol including information on "whether the data symbol is for multicast transmission / for unicast transmission", "the number of transmission streams when performing multicast", "how many transmission beams each stream is transmitted with", etc. Thereby, the terminal can perform appropriate reception.

[0280] Note that in FIG. 20, when the terminal receives both the transmission beam of "modulation signal 1" and the transmission beam of "modulation signal 2", it can obtain the data of stream 1 and the data of stream 2 with high reception quality.

[0281] Similarly, when the terminal receives both the transmission beam of "modulation signal 3" and the transmission beam of "modulation signal 4", it can obtain the data of stream 3 and the data of stream 4 with high reception quality.

[0282] In FIG. 20, an example is described in which the base station transmits "modulation signal 1", "modulation signal 2", "modulation signal 3", and "modulation signal 4". However, the base station may transmit "modulation signal 5" and "modulation signal 6" for transmitting the data of stream 5 and the data of stream 6, or may transmit more modulation signals for transmitting more streams. Each of the modulation signals is transmitted using one or more transmission beams.

[0283] Furthermore, as described in FIGS. 17 and 18, there may be one or more unicast transmission beams (or reception directivity control).

[0284] The relationship between "modulation signal 1" and "modulation signal 2" is omitted because it overlaps with the description in FIG. 13. Here, the relationship between "modulation signal 3" and "modulation signal 4" will be described with reference to FIG. 21.

[0285] For example, the #2 information 101-2 is subjected to processing such as error correction coding to obtain the data after error correction coding. This data after error correction coding is named #2 transmission data. Then, mapping is performed on the #2 transmission data to obtain data symbols, and these data symbols are allocated to stream 3 and stream 4 to obtain the data symbols (data symbol groups) of stream 3 and the data symbols (data symbol groups) of stream 4. At this time, let the data symbol of stream 3 at symbol number i be s3(i), and the data symbol of stream 4 be s4(i). Then, the "modulation signal 3" tx3(i) at symbol number i can be expressed as follows, for example.

[0286]

Equation

[0287] And the "modulation signal 4" tx4(i) at symbol number i can be expressed as follows, for example.

[0288]

Number

[0289] Note that in formula (5) and formula (6), e(i), f(i), g(i), and h(i) can each be defined as complex numbers, and thus may also be real numbers.

[0290] Also, although they are described as e(i), f(i), g(i), and h(i), they do not have to be functions of the symbol number i and may be fixed values.

[0291] And the "symbol group of modulation signal 3" including the "signal in the data transmission area of modulation signal 3" composed of data symbols is transmitted from the base stations in FIGS. 1 and 3. Also, the "symbol group of modulation signal 4" including the "signal in the data transmission area of modulation signal 4" composed of data symbols is transmitted from the base stations in FIGS. 1 and 3.

[0292] (Supplementary Note) Naturally, it is also possible to implement by combining a plurality of the embodiments and other contents described in this specification.

[0293] Also, each embodiment and other contents are merely examples. For example, even if "modulation method, error correction coding method (error correction code used, code length, coding rate, etc.), control information, etc." are exemplified, the same configuration can be implemented even when another "modulation method, error correction coding method (error correction code used, code length, coding rate, etc.), control information, etc." is applied.

[0294] Regarding the modulation method, even if a modulation method other than the modulation methods described in this specification is used, it is possible to implement the embodiments and other contents described in this specification. For example, APSK (Amplitude Phase Shift Keying), PAM (Pulse Amplitude Modulation), PSK (Phase Shift Keying), QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) may be applied, and in each modulation method, uniform mapping or non-uniform mapping may be used. APSK includes, for example, 16APSK, 64APSK, 128APSK, 256APSK, 1024APSK, 4096APSK, PAM includes, for example, 4PAM, 8PAM, 16PAM, 64PAM, 128PAM, 256PAM, 1024PAM, 4096PAM, PSK includes, for example, BPSK, QPSK, 8PSK, 16PSK, 64PSK, 128PSK, 256PSK, 1024PSK, 4096PSK, and QAM includes, for example, 4QAM, 8QAM, 16QAM, 64QAM, 128QAM, 256QAM, 1024QAM, 4096QAM.

[0295] Also, the arrangement method of two, four, eight, sixteen, sixty-four, one hundred and twenty-eight, two hundred and fifty-six, one thousand and twenty-four, etc. signal points in the I-Q plane (modulation methods having two, four, eight, sixteen, sixty-four, one hundred and twenty-eight, two hundred and fifty-six, one thousand and twenty-four, etc. signal points) is not limited to the signal point arrangement method of the modulation methods shown in this specification.

[0296] The "base station" described in this specification may be, for example, a broadcasting station, a base station, an access point, a terminal, a mobile phone, etc. And the "terminal" described in this specification may be a television, a radio, a terminal, a personal computer, a mobile phone, an access point, a base station, etc. Also, the "base station" and "terminal" in the present disclosure are devices having a communication function, and the device may be configured to be able to connect by resolving some interface to a device for executing applications such as a television, a radio, a personal computer, a mobile phone, etc. Further, in the present embodiment, symbols other than data symbols, for example, pilot symbols, symbols for control information, etc. may be arranged in any manner in the frame.

[0297] And the pilot symbol and the symbol for control information may be named in any way. For example, in a transceiver, it may be a known symbol modulated using PSK modulation, or the receiver may be able to know the symbol transmitted by the transmitter by synchronizing. The receiver uses this symbol to perform frequency synchronization, time synchronization, channel estimation of each modulation signal (estimation of CSI (Channel State Information)), signal detection, etc. Note that the pilot symbol may be called a preamble, a unique word, a postamble, a reference symbol, etc.

[0298] Also, the symbol for control information is a symbol for transmitting information (for example, the modulation method used in communication, the error correction coding method, the coding rate of the error correction coding method, setting information at the upper layer, etc.) that needs to be transmitted to a communication partner to realize communication other than data (data such as applications).

[0299] Note that the present disclosure is not limited to each embodiment, and various modifications can be made and implemented. For example, in each embodiment, the case of performing as a communication device is described, but it is not limited to this, and it is also possible to perform this communication method as software.

[0300] Note that, for example, a program for executing the above communication method may be stored in advance in a ROM (Read Only Memory), and the program may be operated by a CPU (Central Processor Unit).

[0301] Also, a program for executing the above communication method may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, the program stored in the storage medium may be recorded in a computer's RAM (Random Access Memory), and the computer may be operated according to the program.

[0302] And each configuration such as the above-described embodiments may typically be realized as an LSI (Large Scale Integration), which is an integrated circuit having input terminals and output terminals. These may be individually integrated into one chip, or may be integrated into one chip so as to include all or some of the configurations of each embodiment. Here, although it is described as an LSI, depending on the degree of integration, it may also be referred to as an IC (Integrated Circuit), a system LSI, a super LSI, or an ultra LSI. Also, the method of integrating into an integrated circuit is not limited to LSI, and it may be realized by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. After manufacturing the LSI, an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) that can be programmed, or a reconfigurable processor that can reconfigure the connection and setting of circuit cells inside the LSI may be used. Furthermore, if an integrated circuit technology that replaces the LSI appears due to the progress of semiconductor technology or a derived other technology, of course, the integration of functional blocks may be performed using that technology. The application of biotechnology or the like may be possible.

[0303] (Embodiment 3) In this embodiment, a multicast communication method when applying beamforming different from that in Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2 will be described.

[0304] Since the configuration of the base station has been described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 of Embodiment 1, the description of the parts that operate in the same manner as in Embodiment 1 will be omitted. Also, since the configuration of the terminal that communicates with the base station has been described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6 of Embodiment 1, the description of the parts that operate in the same manner as in Embodiment 1 will be omitted.

[0305] Hereinafter, an example of the operation of the base station and the terminal in this embodiment will be described.

[0306] FIG. 22 shows a case where the base station is transmitting a multicast transmission stream to one terminal.

[0307] In FIG. 22, the base station 700 is transmitting a transmission beam 2201-1 of “(for multicast) Stream 1-1 (the first beam of Stream 1)” from a transmission antenna to the terminal 2202-1. The terminal 2202-1 generates a reception directivity 2203-1 by performing directivity control and receives the transmission beam 2201-1 of “Stream 1-1”.

[0308] FIG. 23 describes the “procedure for communicating between the base station and the terminal” for the communication state between the base station and the terminal as shown in FIG. 22.

[0309] [23-1] First, the terminal makes a “request for multicast transmission of Stream 1” to the base station.

[0310] [23-2] Upon receiving [23-1], the base station recognizes that “multicast transmission of Stream 1 is not being performed”. Therefore, the base station transmits a training symbol for transmission directivity control and a training symbol for reception directivity control to the terminal in order to perform multicast transmission of Stream 1.

[0311] [23-3] The terminal receives the training symbols for transmission directivity control and the training symbols for reception directivity control transmitted by the base station, and transmits feedback information to the base station in order for the base station to perform transmission directivity control and the terminal to perform reception directivity control.

[0312] [23-4] The base station determines a method for transmission directivity control (such as determining the weighting coefficient used when performing directivity control) based on the feedback information transmitted by the terminal, performs transmission directivity control, and transmits the data symbols of stream 1.

[0313] [23-5] The terminal determines a method for reception directivity control (such as determining the weighting coefficient used when performing directivity control), and starts receiving the data symbols of stream 1 transmitted by the base station.

[0314] Note that the "procedure for communicating between the base station and the terminal" in FIG. 23 is an example, and the order of transmitting each piece of information is not limited to FIG. 23, and the same can be implemented even if the order of transmitting each piece of information is changed. Also, in FIG. 23, the case where the terminal performs reception directivity control is described as an example, but the terminal may not perform reception directivity control. In this case, in FIG. 23, the base station may not transmit the training symbols for reception directivity control, and the terminal does not determine the method for reception directivity control.

[0315] Also, when the base station performs transmission directivity control, if the base station has the configuration shown in FIG. 1, for example, the multiplication coefficients in the multiplication units 204-1, 204-2, 204-3, 204-4 in FIG. 2 are set, and if the base station has the configuration shown in FIG. 3, for example, the weighting coefficient is set in the weighting synthesis unit 301. Note that the number of streams to be transmitted is "1" in the case of FIG. 22, but this is not limiting.

[0316] When the terminal performs reception directivity control, if the terminal has the configuration shown in FIG. 4, for example, the multiplication coefficients in the multiplication units 503-1, 503-2, 503-3, and 503-4 in FIG. 5 are set. Also, if the terminal has the configuration shown in FIG. 6, for example, the multiplication coefficients in the multiplication units 603-1, 603-2, ···, 603-L are set.

[0317] FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of the symbols transmitted by the base station and the symbols transmitted by the terminal on the time axis when the base station in FIG. 23 transmits the transmission directivity control symbol, the reception directivity control symbol, and the data symbol. (a) in FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of the symbols transmitted by the base station on the time axis, and (b) in FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of the symbols transmitted by the terminal on the time axis. In both cases, the horizontal axis represents time.

[0318] When communication is performed between the base station and the terminal as shown in FIG. 23, as shown in FIG. 24, first, the base station transmits the "base station transmission directivity control training symbol" 2401. For example, the "base station transmission directivity control training symbol" 2401 is composed of a control information symbol and a known PSK symbol.

[0319] Then, the terminal receives the "base station transmission directivity control training symbol" 2401 transmitted by the base station, and transmits information on, for example, the antenna used by the base station for transmission and the multiplication coefficient (or weighting coefficient) used for directivity control as a feedback information symbol 2402.

[0320] The base station receives the "feedback information symbol" 2402 transmitted by the terminal, determines the antenna to be used for transmission from the feedback information symbol 2402, and determines the coefficient to be used for transmission directivity control from the feedback information symbol 2402. After that, the base station transmits the "terminal reception directivity control training symbol" 2403. For example, the "terminal reception directivity control training symbol" 2403 is composed of a control information symbol and a known PSK symbol.

[0321] Then, the terminal receives the "Terminal Reception Directivity Control Training Symbol" 2403 transmitted by the base station, and determines, for example, the antenna used by the terminal for reception and the multiplication coefficient used by the terminal for reception directivity control. Then, the terminal transmits, as feedback information symbol 2404, that it has completed the preparation for receiving data symbols.

[0322] Then, the base station receives the "Feedback Information Symbol" 2404 transmitted by the terminal, and outputs a data symbol 2405 based on the feedback information symbol 2404.

[0323] Note that the communication between the base station and the terminal in FIG. 24 is an example, and the order of symbol transmission and the order of base station transmission and terminal transmission are not limited to this. Also, each of the "Base Station Transmission Directivity Control Training Symbol" 2401, "Feedback Information Symbol" 2402, "Terminal Reception Directivity Control Training Symbol" 2403, "Feedback Information Symbol" 2404, and "Data Symbol" 2405 may include a preamble, a reference symbol, a pilot symbol for signal detection, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, frequency offset estimation, and channel estimation, as well as a symbol for transmitting control information.

[0324] FIG. 25 is an example of the symbols transmitted by the base station when the base station transmits the data symbols of stream 1 after the communication between the base station and the terminal in FIG. 23 is completed, with the horizontal axis being time.

[0325] In FIG. 25, the base station transmits the first data symbol of transmission beam 1 of stream 1 as "(for multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (1)" 2501-1-1. Then, a data symbol transmission available section 2502-1 is arranged.

[0326] After that, the base station transmits the second data symbol of transmission beam 1 of (multicast) stream 1 as "(multicast) stream 1-1 data symbol (2)" 2501-1-2. After that, a data symbol transmission possible section 2502-2 is arranged.

[0327] After that, the base station transmits the third data symbol of transmission beam 1 of (multicast) stream 1 as "(multicast) stream 1-1 data symbol (3)" 2501-1-3.

[0328] In this way, the base station transmits the data symbols of "(multicast) stream 1-1" 2201-1 shown in FIG. 22. Note that in FIG. 25, in "(multicast) stream 1-1 data symbol (1)" 2501-1-1, "(multicast) stream 1-1 data symbol (2)" 2501-1-2, "(multicast) data symbol 1-1 data symbol (3)" 2501-1-3, ···, in addition to data symbols, there may be included preambles, reference symbols, pilot symbols for signal detection, time synchronization, frequency synchronization, frequency offset estimation, channel estimation, and symbols for transmitting control information.

[0329] Note that in FIG. 25, the data symbol transmission possible section 2502-1 includes the unicast transmission section 2503-1, and the data symbol transmission possible section 2502-2 includes the unicast transmission section 2503-2.

[0330] In FIG. 25, the frame includes the unicast transmission sections 2503-1 and 2503-2. For example, in FIG. 25, the base station may transmit multicast symbols in the sections excluding the unicast transmission section 2503-1 of the data symbol transmission possible section 2502-1 and the sections excluding the unicast transmission section 2503-2 of the data symbol transmission possible section 2502-2. This point will be described later using examples.

[0331] Thus, providing a unicast transmission section in a frame is a useful component for stably operating a wireless communication system. This will be explained by way of example later. Note that the unicast transmission section does not have to be at the time position as shown in FIG. 25, and it may be arranged in any way in terms of time. Note that in the unicast transmission section, the base station may transmit symbols, or the terminal may transmit symbols.

[0332] Also, the base station may be configured to be able to directly set the unicast transmission section. As another method, the base station may be configured to set the maximum transmission data transfer rate for transmitting multicast symbols.

[0333] For example, if the transmission rate of data that the base station can transmit is 2 Gbps (bps: bits per second), and the maximum transmission rate of data that can be allocated for transmitting multicast symbols at the base station is 1.5 Gbps, a unicast transmission section corresponding to 500 Mbps can be set.

[0334] Thus, the base station may be configured to indirectly set the unicast transmission section. Another specific example will be described later.

[0335] Note that in FIG. 25, in accordance with the state of FIG. 22, a frame configuration in which "(multicast) stream 1-1 data symbol (1)" 2501-1-1, "(multicast) stream 1-1 data symbol (2)" 2501-1-2, and "(multicast) stream 1-1 data symbol (3)" 2501-1-3 exist is described, but this is not restrictive. For example, data symbols of multicast streams other than stream 1 (stream 1-1) may exist, or data symbols of stream 1-2, which is the second transmission beam of stream 1, or a data stream of stream 1-3, which is the third transmission beam of stream 1, may exist. This will be explained later.

[0336] FIG. 26 shows a state where a new terminal is added to the state in which the base station of FIG. 22 is transmitting a multicast transmission stream to one terminal, and the same numbers are assigned to those that operate in the same manner as in FIG. 22.

[0337] In FIG. 26, the newly added terminal is 2202-2. The terminal 2202-2 generates a reception directivity 2203-2 by performing directivity control, and receives the transmission beam 2201-1 of “(for multicast) Stream 1-1”.

[0338] Next, FIG. 26 will be described.

[0339] In the following description, in FIG. 26, a new terminal 2202-2 participates in multicast communication with respect to the state in which the base station 700 and the terminal 2202-1 are performing multicast communication. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 27, the base station transmits a “terminal reception directivity control training symbol” 2701 and a “data symbol” 2702, and does not transmit the “base station transmission training symbol” shown in FIG. 24. In FIG. 27, the horizontal axis represents time.

[0340] FIG. 28 shows an example of an operation performed to enter a state in which the base station transmits a multicast transmission beam to two terminals as in FIG. 26.

[0341] [28-1] The terminal 2202-2 makes a “request for multicast transmission of Stream 1” to the base station. The “request for multicast transmission of Stream 1” is transmitted in the unicast transmission section in FIG. 25.

[0342] [28-2] Upon receiving [28-1], the base station notifies the terminal 2202-2 that “multicast transmission of Stream 1 is being performed”. The notification of “multicast transmission of Stream 1 is being performed” is transmitted in the unicast transmission section in FIG. 25.

[0343] [28 - 3] The terminal 2202 - 2 receives [28 - 2] and performs reception directivity control to start receiving the multicast stream 1. Then, the terminal 2202 - 2 performs reception directivity control and notifies the base station that it has received the "multicast stream 1".

[0344] [28 - 4] The base station receives [28 - 3] and confirms that the terminal has received the "multicast stream 1".

[0345] [28 - 5] The terminal 2202 - 2 performs reception directivity control and starts receiving the "multicast stream 1".

[0346] Figure 29 shows the state when a new terminal is added to the state where the base station in Figure 22 is transmitting a multicast transmission stream to one terminal. The same numbers are assigned to those that operate in the same way as in Figure 22.

[0347] In Figure 29, the newly added terminal is 2202 - 2. At this time, the difference from Figure 26 is that the base station 700 newly transmits the transmission beam 2201 - 2 of "(multicast) stream 1 - 2 (the second of stream 1)", and the terminal 2202 - 2 generates the reception directivity 2203 - 2 by performing directivity control and receives the transmission beam 2201 - 2 of "(multicast) stream 1 - 2".

[0348] Next, the control performed for the state as shown in Figure 29 will be described.

[0349] In the following description, in Figure 29, it is a state where the new terminal 2202 - 2 participates in the multicast communication with respect to the state where the base station 700 and the terminal 2202 - 1 are performing multicast communication.

[0350] FIG. 30 shows an example of operations performed to place the base station in a state where it is transmitting a multicast transmission beam to two terminals as shown in FIG. 29.

[0351] [30-1] Terminal 2202-2 requests the base station to perform "multicast transmission of stream 1". Note that the "request for multicast transmission of stream 1" is transmitted in the unicast transmission section in FIG. 25.

[0352] [30-2] The base station receives [30-1] and notifies terminal 2202-2 that "it is performing multicast transmission of stream 1". Note that the notification of "performing multicast transmission of stream 1" is transmitted in the unicast transmission section in FIG. 25.

[0353] [30-3] Terminal 2202-2 receives [30-2] and notifies the base station that "it is not receiving multicast stream 1". Note that the notification of "not receiving multicast stream 1" is transmitted in the unicast transmission section in FIG. 25.

[0354] [30-4] The base station receives [30-3] and decides to transmit another transmission beam for multicast stream 1 (i.e., transmission beam 2201-2 in FIG. 29). Here, it is determined to transmit another transmission beam for multicast stream 1, but it may also be determined not to transmit another transmission beam for multicast stream 1. This will be explained later.

[0355] Therefore, the base station transmits training symbols for transmission directivity control and training symbols for reception directivity control to terminal 2202-2 in order to perform multicast transmission of stream 1. Separately from the transmission of these symbols, the base station is transmitting the transmission beam of stream 1-1 in FIG. 29. This will be explained later.

[0356] [30-5] The terminal 2202-2 receives the training symbols for transmission directivity control and the training symbols for reception directivity control transmitted by the base station, and transmits feedback information to the base station in order for the base station to perform transmission directivity control and for the terminal 2202-2 to perform reception directivity control.

[0357] [30-6] The base station determines a method for transmission directivity control (such as determining the weighting coefficients used when performing directivity control), and transmits the data symbols of stream 1 (the transmission beam 2201-2 of stream 1-2 in FIG. 29).

[0358] [30-7] The terminal 2202-2 determines a method for reception directivity control (such as determining the weighting coefficients used when performing directivity control), and starts receiving the data symbols of stream 1 (the transmission beam 2201-2 of stream 1-2 in FIG. 29) transmitted by the base station.

[0359] Note that the "procedure for communication between the base station and the terminal" in FIG. 30 is an example, and the order of transmission of each piece of information is not limited to that in FIG. 30, and the same can be implemented even if the order of transmission of each piece of information is changed.

[0360] Also, in FIG. 30, the case where the terminal performs reception directivity control is described as an example, but the case where the terminal does not perform reception directivity control may also be applicable. At this time, in FIG. 30, the base station may not transmit the training symbols for reception directivity control, and the terminal may not determine the method for reception directivity control.

[0361] Also, when the base station performs transmission directivity control, if the configuration of the base station is the configuration in FIG. 1, for example, the multiplication coefficients in the multiplication units 204-1, 204-2, 204-3, 204-4 in FIG. 2 are set, and if the configuration of the base station is the configuration in FIG. 3, for example, in the weighting synthesis unit 301, the weighting coefficients are set. Note that the number of streams to be transmitted is "2" in the case of FIG. 29, but it is not limited to this.

[0362] When the terminals 2202-1 and 2202-2 perform reception directivity control, if the configuration of the terminal is the configuration shown in FIG. 4, for example, the multiplication coefficients in the multiplication units 503-1, 503-2, 503-3, and 503-4 in FIG. 5 are set. Also, if the configuration of the terminal is the configuration shown in FIG. 6, for example, the multiplication coefficients in the multiplication units 603-1, 603-2, ···, 603-L are set.

[0363] FIG. 31 is an example of the symbols transmitted by the base station when the base station transmits the data symbols of stream 1 after the communication between the base station and the terminal in FIG. 30 is completed, with the horizontal axis representing time.

[0364] In FIG. 31, since "stream 1-1" in FIG. 29 exists, similar to FIG. 25, "(multicast) stream 1-1 data symbol (M)" 2501-1-M, "(multicast) stream 1-1 data symbol (M + 1)" 2501-1-(M + 1), and "(multicast) stream 1-1 data symbol (M + 2)" 2501-1-M + 2 exist. Note that although it is described as "(M), (M + 1), (M + 2)", it is because (multicast) stream 1-1 has existed before (multicast) stream 1-2 exists. Therefore, in FIG. 31, M is an integer of 2 or more.

[0365] And as shown in FIG. 31, in the intervals other than the unicast transmission intervals 2503-1 and 2503-2, "(multicast) stream 1-2 data symbol (1)" 3101-1, "(multicast) stream 1-2 data symbol (2)" 3101-2, and "(multicast) stream 1-2 data symbol (3)" 3101-3 exist.

[0366] As described so far, it has the following features.

[0367] · “(For multicast) Stream 1-1 data symbol (M)” 2501-1-M, “(For multicast) Stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1)” 2501-1-(M+1), “(For multicast) Stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2)” 2501-1-(M+2), “(For multicast) Stream 1-2 data symbol (1)” 3101-1, “(For multicast) Stream 1-2 data symbol (2)” 3101-2, “(For multicast) Stream 1-2 data symbol (3)” 3101-3 are all data symbols for transmitting “Stream 1”.

[0368] · By obtaining the “data symbol of Stream 1-1”, the terminal can obtain the “data of Stream 1”. Also, by obtaining the “data symbol of Stream 1-2”, the terminal can obtain the “data of Stream 1”.

[0369] · The directivities of the transmission beams of 「(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M)」 2501-1-M, 「(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M+1)」 2501-1-(M+1), 「(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M+2)」 2501-1-(M+2) are different from those of the transmission beams of 「(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (1)」 3101-1, 「(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (2)」 3101-2, 「(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (3)」 3101-3. Therefore, the set of multiplication coefficients (or weighting coefficients) of the base station's transmission apparatus used to generate the transmission beams of 「(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M)」 2501-1-M, 「(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M+1)」 2501-1-(M+1), 「(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M+2)」 2501-1-(M+2) is different from the set of multiplication coefficients (or weighting coefficients) of the base station's transmission apparatus used to generate the transmission beams of 「(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (1)」 3101-1, 「(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (2)」 3101-2, 「(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (3)」 3101-3.

[0370] From the above, two terminals can receive the multicast stream transmitted by the base station. At this time, since directivity control is performed during transmission and reception, the effect of being able to widen the area where the multicast stream can be received is obtained. Also, since the addition of streams and the addition of transmission beams are performed only when necessary, the effect of being able to effectively utilize the frequency, time, and space resources for data transmission is obtained.

[0371] Note that control as described hereinafter may be performed. The details of the control are as follows.

[0372] FIG. 32 shows an example of symbols transmitted by a base station when the base station transmits data symbols (of stream 1) after communication between the base station and a terminal in FIG. 30 is completed, with the horizontal axis representing time. In FIG. 32, components that operate in the same manner as those in FIGS. 25 and 31 are assigned the same reference numerals.

[0373] In FIG. 32, the difference from FIG. 31 is that the unicast transmission intervals 2503-1 and 2503-2 are set to be longer in time, so the base station does not add and transmit any more multicast symbols.

[0374] FIG. 33 shows an example of operations when, in addition to the base station transmitting multicast transmission beams to two terminals (terminals 2202-1 and 2202-2) as in FIG. 29, a new terminal 2202-3 makes a request for an additional transmission beam to the base station. The modulation signal frame transmitted by the base station is shown in FIG. 32.

[0375] [33-1] Terminal 2202-3 makes a "request for multicast transmission of stream 1" to the base station. The "request for multicast transmission of stream 1" is transmitted in the unicast transmission interval in FIG. 32.

[0376] [33-2] Upon receiving [33-1], the base station notifies terminal 2202-3 that "multicast transmission of stream 1 is being performed". The "notification that multicast transmission of stream 1 is being performed" is transmitted in the unicast transmission interval in FIG. 32.

[0377] [33-3] Upon receiving [33-2], terminal 2202-3 notifies the base station that "it is not receiving multicast stream 1". The "notification that it is not receiving multicast stream 1" is transmitted in the unicast transmission interval in FIG. 32.

[0378] [33-4]Upon receiving [33-3], the base station determines whether it can transmit a transmission beam for multicast stream 1 that is different from the transmission beam of stream 1-1 and the transmission beam of stream 1-2. At this time, considering that it is the frame shown in FIG. 32, the base station determines not to transmit a different transmission beam for multicast stream 1. Therefore, the base station notifies terminal 2202-3 of "not transmitting a different transmission beam for multicast stream 1". Note that the "notification of not transmitting a different transmission beam for multicast stream 1" is transmitted in the unicast transmission section in FIG. 32.

[0379] [33-5]Terminal 2202-3 receives the "notification of not transmitting a different transmission beam for multicast stream 1".

[0380] Note that the "communication procedure between the base station and the terminal" in FIG. 33 is an example, and the order of transmission of each piece of information is not limited to FIG. 33, and the same can be implemented even if the order of each transmission is interchanged. Thus, when there is a shortage of communication resources for multicast transmission, it is not necessary to add a multicast transmission beam.

[0381] FIG. 34 shows an example of an operation in which, in addition to the base station shown in FIG. 29 transmitting transmission beams for multicast to two terminals (terminal 2202-1, 2202-2), a new terminal 2202-3 requests the addition of a transmission beam for another multicast stream (stream 2) to the base station. Note that the frame of the modulation signal transmitted by the base station is in the state as shown in FIG. 31.

[0382] [34-1]Terminal 2202-3 makes a "request for multicast transmission of stream 2" to the base station. Note that the "request for multicast transmission of stream 2" is transmitted in the unicast transmission section 2503 in FIG. 31.

[0383] [34-2] The base station receives [34-1] and notifies terminal 2202-3 that "the transmission of stream 2 for multicast is not being performed". Also, the base station determines whether it can add and transmit a transmission beam for stream 2 for multicast. At this time, considering the frame state as shown in FIG. 31, it notifies terminal 2202-3 that "it is corresponding to the transmission of the transmission beam of stream 2 for multicast". Note that the notification of "not performing the transmission of stream 2 for multicast" and the notification of "the transmission beam of stream 2 for multicast can be transmitted" are transmitted in the unicast transmission section 2503 in FIG. 31.

[0384] [34-3] Terminal 2203-3 receives [34-2] and notifies the base station that "the reception preparation for stream 2 for multicast has been completed". Note that the notification of "the reception preparation for stream 2 for multicast has been completed" is transmitted in the unicast transmission section 2503 in FIG. 31.

[0385] [34-4] The base station receives [34-3] and decides to transmit a transmission beam for stream 2 for multicast. Therefore, the base station transmits a training symbol for transmission directivity control and a training symbol for reception directivity control to terminal 2202-3 in order to perform multicast transmission of stream 2. Note that separately from the transmission of these symbols, the base station is transmitting the transmission beam of stream 1-1 and the transmission beam of stream 1-2 as shown in FIG. 31. This will be described later.

[0386] [34-5] Terminal 2202-3 receives the training symbol for transmission directivity control and the training symbol for reception directivity control transmitted by the base station, and transmits feedback information to the base station in order for the base station to perform transmission directivity control and for terminal 2202-3 to perform reception directivity control.

[0387] [34-6] The base station determines a transmission directivity control method (such as determining the weighting factor used when performing directivity control) based on the feedback information transmitted by the terminal 2202-3, and transmits the data symbols of stream 2.

[0388] [34-7] The terminal 2202-3 determines a reception directivity control method (such as determining the weighting factor used when performing directivity control), and starts receiving the data symbols of stream 2 transmitted by the base station.

[0389] Note that the "procedure for communicating between the base station and the terminal" in FIG. 34 is an example, and the order of transmitting each piece of information is not limited to FIG. 34, and the same can be implemented even if the order of transmitting each piece of information is changed. Also, in FIG. 34, the case where the terminal performs reception directivity control is described as an example, but the case where the terminal does not perform reception directivity control may also be applicable. At this time, in FIG. 34, the base station may not transmit the training symbols for reception directivity control, and the terminal does not determine the reception directivity control method.

[0390] Also, when the base station performs transmission directivity control, if the base station has the configuration shown in FIG. 1, for example, the multiplication coefficients in the multiplication units 204-1, 204-2, 204-3, 204-4 in FIG. 2 are set.

[0391] Then, when the terminals 2202-1, 2202-2, 2202-3 perform reception directivity control, if the terminal has the configuration shown in FIG. 4, for example, the multiplication coefficients in the multiplication units 503-1, 503-2, 503-3, 503-4 in FIG. 5 are set. Also, if the configuration of the terminal is the configuration shown in FIG. 6, for example, the multiplication coefficients in the multiplication units 603-1, 603-2, ···, 603-L are set.

[0392] FIG. 35 is an example of the symbols transmitted by the base station when the base station transmits the data symbols of stream 1 and stream 2 after the communication between the base station and the terminal in FIG. 34 is completed, with the horizontal axis representing time.

[0393] In FIG. 35, since the "Stream 1-1" and "Stream 1-2" shown in FIG. 31 exist, there are "(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M)" 2501-1-M, "(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M+1)" 2501-1-(M+1), "(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M+2)" 2501-1-(M+2), and also "(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (N)" 3101-N, "(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (N+1)" 3101-(N+1), "(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (N+2)" 3101-(N+2). Here, N and M are integers of 2 or more.

[0394] And as shown in FIG. 35, in the intervals other than the unicast transmission intervals 2503-1 and 2503-2, there are "(Multicast) Stream 2-1 Data Symbol (1)" 3501-1, "(Multicast) Stream 2-1 Data Symbol (2)" 3501-2, "(Multicast) Stream 2-1 Data Symbol (3)" 3501-3.

[0395] As described so far, at this time, it has the following features.

[0396] · "(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M)" 2501-1-M, "(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M+1)" 2501-1-(M+1), "(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M+2)" 2501-1-(M+2), "(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (N)" 3101-N, "(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (N+1)" 3101-(N+1), "(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (N+2)" 3101-(N+2) are all data symbols for transmitting "Stream 1".

[0397] · The terminal obtains the "data of Stream 1" by obtaining the "data symbol of Stream 1-1". Also, the terminal obtains the "data of Stream 1" by obtaining the "data symbol of Stream 1-2".

[0398] · The directivities of the transmission beams of "(for multicast) Stream 1-1 data symbol (M)" 2501-1-M, "(for multicast) Stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1)" 2501-1-(M+1), "(for multicast) Stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2)" 2501-1-(M+2) are different from the directivities of the transmission beams of "(for multicast) Stream 1-2 data symbol (1)" 3101-1, "(for multicast) Stream 1-2 data symbol (2)" 3101-2, "(for multicast) Stream 1-2 data symbol (3)" 3101-3.

[0399] Therefore, the set of multiplication coefficients (or weighting coefficients) of the base station's transmission device used to generate the transmission beams of "(for multicast) Stream 1-1 data symbol (M)" 2501-1-M, "(for multicast) Stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1)" 2501-1-(M+1), "(for multicast) Stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2)" 2501-1-(M+2) is different from the set of multiplication coefficients (or weighting coefficients) of the base station's transmission device used to generate the transmission beams of "(for multicast) Stream 1-2 data symbol (1)" 3101-1, "(for multicast) Stream 1-2 data symbol (2)" 3101-2, "(for multicast) Stream 1-2 data symbol (3)" 3101-3.

[0400] · "(for multicast) Stream 2-1 data symbol (1)" 3501-1, "(for multicast) Stream 2-1 data symbol (2)" 3501-2, "(for multicast) Stream 2-1 data symbol (3)" 3501-3 are data symbols for transmitting "Stream 2".

[0401] · The terminal obtains the data of "Stream 2" by obtaining the "data symbol of Stream 2-1". From the above, the terminal can receive a plurality of multicast streams (Stream 1 and Stream 2) transmitted by the base station. At this time, since directional control is performed during transmission and reception, an effect can be obtained that the area where the multicast stream can be received can be widened. In addition, since the addition of streams and the addition of transmission beams are performed only when necessary, an effect can be obtained that the resources of frequency, time, and space for transmitting data can be effectively utilized.

[0402] Note that the control as described hereinafter may be performed. The details of the control are as follows.

[0403] FIG. 32 shows an example of symbols transmitted by the base station when the base station transmits (the data symbols of Stream 1), with the horizontal axis representing time. In FIG. 32, those operating in the same manner as FIGS. 25 and 31 are given the same numbers.

[0404] In FIG. 32, the difference from FIG. 35 is that the unicast transmission intervals 2503-1 and 2503-2 are set to be longer in time, so the base station does not add and transmit more symbols for multicast, for example, symbols of a new stream.

[0405] FIG. 36 shows an example of an operation in which, in addition to the base station transmitting multicast transmission beams to two terminals (Terminal 2202-1 and 2202-2) as shown in FIG. 29, a new terminal 2202-3 requests the addition of a transmission beam for another multicast stream (Stream 2) to the base station. The frame of the modulation signal transmitted by the base station is shown in FIG. 32.

[0406] [36-1] Terminal 2202-3 requests the base station for "multicast transmission of Stream 2". Note that the "request for multicast transmission of Stream 2" is transmitted in the unicast transmission interval in FIG. 32.

[0407] [36-2] The base station receives [36-1] and notifies terminal 2202-3 that "the transmission of multicast stream 2 is not being performed". Note that "the transmission of multicast stream 2 is not being performed" is transmitted in the unicast transmission section in FIG. 32. Also, the base station determines whether it can transmit the transmission beam for multicast stream 2. Considering the frame shown in FIG. 32, the base station determines not to transmit the transmission beam for multicast stream 2. Therefore, the base station notifies terminal 2202-3 that "the transmission beam for multicast stream 2 is not being transmitted". Note that the "notification that the transmission beam for multicast stream 2 is not being transmitted" is transmitted in the unicast transmission section in FIG. 32.

[0408] [36-3] Terminal 2202-3 receives the "notification that the transmission beam for multicast stream 2 is not being transmitted".

[0409] Note that the "communication procedure between the base station and the terminal" in FIG. 36 is an example, and the order of transmission of each piece of information is not limited to FIG. 36, and the same can be implemented even if the order of each transmission procedure is interchanged. Thus, when communication resources for multicast transmission are insufficient, it may not be necessary to add a stream or add a multicast transmission beam.

[0410] A supplementary explanation will be given regarding the setting method of the unicast transmission sections 2503-1 and 2503-2 shown in FIG. 35 and the like.

[0411] For example, in FIG. 35, the maximum value of the number of transmission beams for multicast is determined or set in advance.

[0412] Upon receiving the requests from each terminal, the base station transmits transmission beams for multicast that are equal to or less than the maximum number of transmission beams for multicast. For example, in the case of FIG. 35, the number of transmission beams for multicast is 3. Then, the base station transmits a plurality of transmission beams for multicast, and defines the time idle time after transmitting these as the unicast transmission period.

[0413] As described above, the unicast transmission period may be defined.

[0414] (Supplementary Note 1) In Supplementary Note 1, the case where the base station performs unicast communication, that is, individual communication, with a plurality of terminals will be described.

[0415] At this time, for example, the #1 symbol group 901-1 of stream 1, the #2 symbol group 901-2 of stream 1, and the #3 symbol group 901-3 of stream 1 in FIG. 9 may be control information for broadcast transmission that the base station performs for a plurality of terminals in order to perform data communication with the plurality of terminals on the broadcast channel. Note that the control information is, for example, control information necessary for the base station and the terminal to realize data communication.

[0416] Also, for example, the #1 symbol group 901-1 of stream 1, the #2 symbol group 901-2 of stream 1, and the #3 symbol group 901-3 of stream 1 in FIG. 9 may be a common search space. Note that the common search space is control information for performing cell control. And the common search space is control information that is broadcast to a plurality of terminals.

[0417] Similarly, for example, the #1 symbol group 902-1 of stream 2, the #2 symbol group 902-2 of stream 2, and the #3 symbol group 902-3 of stream 2 in FIG. 9 may be control information for broadcast transmission that the base station performs for a plurality of terminals in order to perform data communication with the plurality of terminals on the broadcast channel.

[0418] Also, for example, the #1 symbol group 902-1 of stream 2, the #2 symbol group 902-2 of stream 2, and the #3 symbol group 902-3 of stream 2 in FIG. 9 may be a common search space.

[0419] Note that the features of the #1 symbol group 901-1 of stream 1, the #2 symbol group 901-2 of stream 1, the #3 symbol group 901-3 of stream 1, the #1 symbol group 902-1 of stream 2, the #2 symbol group 902-2 of stream 2, and the #3 symbol group 902-3 of stream 2 in FIG. 9 are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0420] For example, the #1 symbol group 1401-1 of modulation signal 1, the #2 symbol group 1401-2 of modulation signal 1, and the #3 symbol group 1401-3 of modulation signal 1 in FIG. 14 may be broadcast channels, that is, control information for the base station to perform broadcast transmission to a plurality of terminals in order for the base station to perform data communication with the plurality of terminals.

[0421] Also, for example, the #1 symbol group 1401-1 of modulation signal 1, the #2 symbol group 1401-2 of modulation signal 1, and the #3 symbol group 1401-3 of modulation signal 1 in FIG. 14 may be a common search space.

[0422] For example, the #1 symbol group 1402-1 of modulation signal 2, the #2 symbol group 1402-2 of modulation signal 2, and the #3 symbol group 1402-3 of modulation signal 2 in FIG. 14 may be broadcast channels, that is, control information for the base station to perform broadcast transmission to a plurality of terminals in order for the base station to perform data communication with the plurality of terminals.

[0423] Also, for example, the #1 symbol group 1402-1 of modulation signal 2, the #2 symbol group 1402-2 of modulation signal 2, and the #3 symbol group 1402-3 of modulation signal 2 in FIG. 14 may be a common search space.

[0424] Note that the #1 symbol group 1401-1, the #2 symbol group 1401-2, and the #3 symbol group 1401-3 of the modulation signal 1 in FIG. 14 are as described in the embodiments described so far, and the #1 symbol group 1402-1, the #2 symbol group 1402-2, and the #3 symbol group 1402-3 of the modulation signal 2 in FIG. 14 are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0425] For example, the stream 1-1 data symbol (1) 2501-1-1, the stream 1-1 data symbol (2) 2501-1-2, and the stream 1-1 data symbol (3) 2501-1-3 in FIG. 25 may be control information for broadcast transmission that the base station performs for a plurality of terminals in order for the base station to perform data communication with the plurality of terminals, that is, in a broadcast channel.

[0426] Also, the stream 1-1 data symbol (1) 2501-1-1, the stream 1-1 data symbol (2) 2501-1-2, and the stream 1-1 data symbol (3) 2501-1-3 in FIG. 25 may be a common search space.

[0427] Note that the stream 1-1 data symbol (1) 2501-1-1, the stream 1-1 data symbol (2) 2501-1-2, and the stream 1-1 data symbol (3) 2501-1-3 in FIG. 25 are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0428] For example, the stream 1-1 data symbols (M) 2501-1-M, stream 1-1 data symbols (M+1) 2501-1-(M+1), stream 1-1 data symbols (M+2) 2501-1-(M+2), stream 1-2 data symbols (1) 3101-1, stream 1-2 data symbols (2) 3101-2, and stream 1-2 data symbols (3) 3101-3 in FIGS. 31 and 32 may be control information for a broadcast channel, that is, control information for the base station to perform broadcast transmission to a plurality of terminals in order to perform data communication with the plurality of terminals.

[0429] Also, the stream 1-1 data symbols (M) 2501-1-M, stream 1-1 data symbols (M+1) 2501-1-(M+1), stream 1-1 data symbols (M+2) 2501-1-(M+2), stream 1-2 data symbols (1) 3101-1, stream 1-2 data symbols (2) 3101-2, and stream 1-2 data symbols (3) 3101-3 in FIGS. 31 and 32 may be a common search space.

[0430] Note that the stream 1-1 data symbols (M) 2501-1-M, stream 1-1 data symbols (M+1) 2501-1-(M+1), stream 1-1 data symbols (M+2) 2501-1-(M+2), stream 1-2 data symbols (1) 3101-1, stream 1-2 data symbols (2) 3101-2, and stream 1-2 data symbols (3) 3101-3 in FIGS. 31 and 32 are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0431] For example, in FIG. 35, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M) 2501-1-M, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1) 2501-1-(M+1), the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2) 2501-1-(M+2), the stream 1-2 data symbol (N) 3101-N, the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+1) 3101-(N+1), and the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+2) 3101-(N+2) may be control information for a broadcast channel, that is, broadcast transmission performed by a base station to a plurality of terminals for the base station to perform data communication with the plurality of terminals.

[0432] Also, in FIG. 35, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M) 2501-1-M, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1) 2501-1-(M+1), the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2) 2501-1-(M+2), the stream 1-2 data symbol (N) 3101-N, the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+1) 3101-(N+1), and the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+2) 3101-(N+2) may be a common search space.

[0433] For example, the stream 2-1 data symbol (1) 3501-1, the stream 2-1 data symbol (2) 3501-2, and the stream 2-1 data symbol (3) 3501-3 in FIG. 35 may be control information for a broadcast channel, that is, broadcast transmission performed by a base station to a plurality of terminals for the base station to perform data communication with the plurality of terminals.

[0434] Also, the stream 2-1 data symbol (1) 3501-1, the stream 2-1 data symbol (2) 3501-2, and the stream 2-1 data symbol (3) 3501-3 in FIG. 35 may be a common search space.

[0435] In FIG. 35, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M) 2501-1-M, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M + 1) 2501-1-(M + 1), the stream 1-1 data symbol (M + 2) 2501-1-(M + 2), the stream 1-2 data symbol (N) 3101-N, the stream 1-2 data symbol (N + 1) 3101-(N + 1), and the stream 1-2 data symbol (N + 2) 3101-(N + 2) are as described in the embodiments described so far. The stream 2-1 data symbol (1) 3501-1, the stream 2-1 data symbol (2) 3501-2, and the stream 2-1 data symbol (3) 3501-3 in FIG. 35 are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0436] In FIGS. 9, 14, 25, 31, 32, and 35, when transmitting each data symbol, a single-carrier transmission method may be used, or a multi-carrier transmission method such as OFDM may be used. Also, the temporal position of the data symbol is not limited to FIGS. 9, 14, 25, 31, 32, and 35.

[0437] Also, in FIGS. 25, 31, 32, and 35, although the horizontal axis is described as time, it is also possible to implement the same when the horizontal axis is frequency (carrier). When the horizontal axis is frequency (carrier), the base station transmits each data symbol using one or more carriers or sub-carriers.

[0438] (Supplementary Explanation 2) Supplementary Explanation 2 explains the case where the base station performs unicast communication, that is, individual communication, with a plurality of terminals.

[0439] At this time, for example, the #1 symbol group 901-1 of stream 1 in FIG. 9, the #2 symbol group 901-2 of stream 1, the #3 symbol group 901-3 of stream 1, the #1 symbol group 902-1 of stream 2, the #2 symbol group 902-2 of stream 2, and the #3 symbol group 902-3 of stream 2 may be data addressed to the base station or data addressed to any one of a plurality of terminals performing communication. At this time, the data may include control information.

[0440] Note that the #1 symbol group 901-1 of stream 1 in FIG. 9, the #2 symbol group 901-2 of stream 1, the #3 symbol group 901-3 of stream 1, the #1 symbol group 902-1 of stream 2, the #2 symbol group 902-2 of stream 2, and the #3 symbol group 902-3 of stream 2 are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0441] For example, the #1 symbol group 1401-1 of modulation signal 1 in FIG. 14, the #2 symbol group 1401-2 of modulation signal 1, the #3 symbol group 1401-3 of modulation signal 1, the #1 symbol group 1401-3 of modulation signal 2, the #2 symbol group 1402-2 of modulation signal 2, and the #3 symbol group 1402-3 of modulation signal 2 may be data addressed to the base station or data addressed to any one of a plurality of terminals performing communication. At this time, the data may include control information.

[0442] Note that the #1 symbol group 1401-1 of modulation signal 1 in FIG. 14, the #2 symbol group 1401-2 of modulation signal 1, the #3 symbol group 1401-3 of modulation signal 1, the #1 symbol group 1401-3 of modulation signal 2, the #2 symbol group 1402-2 of modulation signal 2, and the #3 symbol group 1402-3 of modulation signal 2 are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0443] For example, the stream 1-1 data symbol (1) 2501-1-1, the stream 1-1 data symbol (2) 2501-1-2, and the stream 1-1 data symbol (3) 2501-1-3 in FIG. 25 may be data addressed to the base station or data addressed to any one of a plurality of terminals performing communication. At this time, the data may include control information.

[0444] Note that the stream 1-1 data symbol (1) 2501-1-1, the stream 1-1 data symbol (2) 2501-1-2, and the stream 1-1 data symbol (3) 2501-1-3 in FIG. 25 are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0445] For example, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M) 2501-1-M, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M + 1) 2501-1-(M + 1), the stream 1-1 data symbol (M + 2) 2501-1-(M + 2), the stream 1-2 data symbol (1) 3101-1, the stream 1-2 data symbol (2) 3101-2, and the stream 1-2 data symbol (3) 3101-3 in FIGS. 31 and 32 may be data addressed to the base station or data addressed to any one of a plurality of terminals performing communication. At this time, the data may include control information.

[0446] Note that the stream 1-1 data symbol (M) 2501-1-M, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M + 1) 2501-1-(M + 1), the stream 1-1 data symbol (M + 2) 2501-1-(M + 2), the stream 1-2 data symbol (1) 3101-1, the stream 1-2 data symbol (2) 3101-2, and the stream 1-2 data symbol (3) 3101-3 in FIGS. 31 and 32 are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0447] For example, in FIG. 35, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M) 2501-1-M, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1) 2501-1-(M+1), the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2) 2501-1-(M+2), the stream 1-2 data symbol (N) 3101-N, the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+1) 3101-(N+1), and the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+2) 3101-(N+2) may be data addressed to the base station or data addressed to any one of a plurality of terminals performing communication. At this time, the data may include control information.

[0448] For example, the stream 2-1 data symbol (1) 3501-1, the stream 2-1 data symbol (2) 3501-2, and the stream 2-1 data symbol (3) 3501-3 in FIG. 35 may be data addressed to the base station or data addressed to any one of a plurality of terminals performing communication. At this time, the data may include control information.

[0449] In FIG. 35, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M) 2501-1-M, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1) 2501-1-(M+1), the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2) 2501-1-(M+2), the stream 1-2 data symbol (N) 3101-N, the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+1) 3101-(N+1), the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+2) 3101-(N+2), the stream 2-1 data symbol (1) 3501-1, the stream 2-1 data symbol (2) 3501-2, and the stream 2-1 data symbol (3) 3501-3 are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0450] In FIGS. 9, 14, 25, 31, 32, and 35, when transmitting each data symbol, a single-carrier transmission method may be used, or a multi-carrier transmission method such as OFDM may be used. Also, the temporal position of the data symbol is not limited to FIGS. 9, 14, 25, 31, 32, and 35.

[0451] Also, in FIGS. 25, 31, 32, and 35, the horizontal axis is described as time, but it is also possible to implement the same with the horizontal axis being frequency (carrier). Note that when the horizontal axis is frequency (carrier), the base station transmits each data symbol using one or more carriers or sub-carriers.

[0452] (Supplementary Note 3) When the base station is transmitting the #1 symbol group 901-1 of stream 1, the #2 symbol group 901-2 of stream 1, the #3 symbol group 901-3 of stream 1, the #1 symbol group 902-1 of stream 2, the #2 symbol group 902-2 of stream 2, and the #3 symbol group 902-3 of stream 2 in the time zone as shown in the frame configuration of FIG. 9, the base station may transmit another symbol group using a transmission beam different from the "transmission beam of the #1 symbol group 901-1 of stream 1, the transmission beam of the #2 symbol group 901-2 of stream 1, the transmission beam of the #3 symbol group 901-3 of stream 1, the transmission beam of the #1 symbol group 902-1 of stream 2, the transmission beam of the #2 symbol group 902-2 of stream 2, the transmission beam of the #3 symbol group 902-3 of stream 2".

[0453] Also, the base station in FIG. 3 may generate a transmission beam for the above-mentioned "another symbol group" by "signal processing of the signal processing unit 102 and signal processing by the weighting and combining unit 301" or "signal processing of the signal processing unit 102 or signal processing by the weighting and combining unit 301".

[0454] Also, when the base station is transmitting the #1 symbol group 1401-1 of modulation signal 1, the #2 symbol group 1401-2 of modulation signal 1, the #3 symbol group 1401-3 of modulation signal 1, the #1 symbol group 1402-1 of modulation signal 2, the #2 symbol group 1402-2 of modulation signal 2, and the #3 symbol group 1402-3 of modulation signal 2 as shown in the frame configuration of FIG. 14, the base station may transmit another symbol group using a transmission beam different from the "transmission beams of the #1 symbol group 1401-1 of modulation signal 1, the transmission beams of the #2 symbol group 1401-2 of modulation signal 1, the transmission beams of the #3 symbol group 1401-3 of modulation signal 1, the transmission beams of the #1 symbol group 1402-1 of modulation signal 2, the transmission beams of the #2 symbol group 1402-2 of modulation signal 2, and the transmission beams of the #3 symbol group 1402-3 of modulation signal 2".

[0455] At this time, the "another symbol group" may be a symbol group including data symbols for a certain terminal, or a symbol group including a control information symbol group as described in other parts of the present disclosure, or a symbol group including other multicast data symbols.

[0456] Also, the base station shown in FIG. 3 may generate a transmission beam for the above "another symbol group" by "signal processing of the signal processing unit 102 and signal processing by the weighting and combining unit 301", or by "signal processing of the signal processing unit 102 or signal processing by the weighting and combining unit 301".

[0457] (Supplementary Note 4) When the base station is transmitting the stream 1-1 data symbol (1) 2501-1-1, the stream 1-1 data symbol (2) 2501-1-2, and the stream 1-1 data symbol (3) 2501-1-3 as shown in the frame configuration of FIG. 25, the base station may transmit another symbol group using a transmission beam different from the "transmission beam for transmitting the stream 1-1 data symbol (1) 2501-1-1, the stream 1-1 data symbol (2) 2501-1-2, and the stream 1-1 data symbol (3) 2501-1-3".

[0458] Note that the same applies even when the horizontal axis represents frequency in FIG. 25. During the time period when the base station is transmitting stream 1-1 data symbol (1) 2501-1-1, stream 1-1 data symbol (2) 2501-1-2, and stream 1-1 data symbol (3) 2501-1-3, the base station may transmit another symbol group using a transmission beam different from the "transmission beam for transmitting stream 1-1 data symbol (1) 2501-1-1, stream 1-1 data symbol (2) 2501-1-2, and stream 1-1 data symbol (3) 2501-1-3".

[0459] Also, during the time period when the base station is transmitting stream 1-1 data symbol (M) 2501-1-M, stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1) 2501-1-(M+1), and stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2) 2501-1-(M+2) as in the frame configurations of FIGS. 31 and 32, the base station may transmit another symbol group using a transmission beam different from the "transmission beam for transmitting stream 1-1 data symbol (M) 2501-1-M, stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1) 2501-1-(M+1), and stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2) 2501-1-(M+2)".

[0460] Note that the same applies even when the horizontal axis represents frequency in FIGS. 31 and 32. During the time period when the base station is transmitting stream 1-1 data symbol (M) 2501-1-M, stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1) 2501-1-(M+1), and stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2) 2501-1-(M+2), the base station may transmit another symbol group using a transmission beam different from the "transmission beam for transmitting stream 1-1 data symbol (M) 2501-1-M, stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1) 2501-1-(M+1), and stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2) 2501-1-(M+2)".

[0461] And, when the base station is transmitting stream 1-2 data symbols (1) 3101-1, stream 1-2 data symbols (2) 3101-2, and stream 1-2 data symbols (3) 3101-3 as in the frame configurations of FIGS. 31 and 32, the base station may transmit another symbol group using a transmission beam different from the "transmission beam for transmitting stream 1-2 data symbols (1) 3101-1, stream 1-2 data symbols (2) 3101-2, and stream 1-2 data symbols (3) 3101-3".

[0462] Note that the same applies even when the horizontal axis represents frequency in FIGS. 31 and 32. When the base station is transmitting stream 1-2 data symbols (1) 3101-1, stream 1-2 data symbols (2) 3101-2, and stream 1-2 data symbols (3) 3101-3, the base station may transmit another symbol group using a transmission beam different from the "transmission beam for transmitting stream 1-2 data symbols (1) 3101-1, stream 1-2 data symbols (2) 3101-2, and stream 1-2 data symbols (3) 3101-3".

[0463] When the base station is transmitting stream 1-1 data symbols (M) 2501-1-M, stream 1-1 data symbols (M + 1) 2501-(M + 1), and stream 1-1 data symbols (M + 2) 2501-(M + 2) as in the frame configuration of FIG. 35, the base station may transmit another symbol group using a transmission beam different from the "transmission beam for transmitting stream 1-1 data symbols (M) 2501-1-M, stream 1-1 data symbols (M + 1) 2501-(M + 1), and stream 1-1 data symbols (M + 2) 2501-(M + 2)".

[0464] Note that the same applies even when the horizontal axis represents frequency in Fig. 35. When the base station is transmitting the stream 1-1 data symbol (M) 2501-1-M, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1) 2501-(M+1), and the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2) 2501-(M+2), the base station may transmit another symbol group using a transmission beam different from the "transmission beam for transmitting the stream 1-1 data symbol (M) 2501-1-M, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1) 2501-(M+1), and the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2) 2501-(M+2)" during that time period.

[0465] Also, when the base station is transmitting the stream 1-2 data symbol (N) 3101-N, the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+1) 3101-(N+1), and the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+2) 3101-(N+2) as in the frame configuration of Fig. 35, the base station may transmit another symbol group using a transmission beam different from the "transmission beam for transmitting the stream 1-2 data symbol (N) 3101-N, the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+1) 3101-(N+1), and the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+2) 3101-(N+2)" during that time period.

[0466] Note that the same applies even when the horizontal axis represents frequency in Fig. 35. When the base station is transmitting the stream 1-2 data symbol (N) 3101-N, the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+1) 3101-(N+1), and the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+2) 3101-(N+2), the base station may transmit another symbol group using a transmission beam different from the "transmission beam for transmitting the stream 1-2 data symbol (N) 3101-N, the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+1) 3101-(N+1), and the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+2) 3101-(N+2)" during that time period.

[0467] Then, when the base station is transmitting Stream 2-1 data symbols (1) 3501-1, Stream 2-1 data symbols (2) 3501-2, and Stream 2-1 data symbols (3) 3501-3 as in the frame configuration of FIG. 35, the base station may transmit another symbol group using a transmission beam different from the "transmission beam for transmitting Stream 2-1 data symbols (1) 3501-1, Stream 2-1 data symbols (2) 3501-2, and Stream 2-1 data symbols (3) 3501-3".

[0468] Note that in FIG. 35, the same applies even when the horizontal axis is frequency. When the base station is transmitting Stream 2-1 data symbols (1) 3501-1, Stream 2-1 data symbols (2) 3501-2, and Stream 2-1 data symbols (3) 3501-3, the base station may transmit another symbol group using a transmission beam different from the "transmission beam for transmitting Stream 2-1 data symbols (1) 3501-1, Stream 2-1 data symbols (2) 3501-2, and Stream 2-1 data symbols (3) 3501-3".

[0469] In the above, the "another symbol group" may be a symbol group including data symbols for a certain terminal, or a symbol group including control information symbols as described in other parts of this specification, or a symbol group including other multicast data symbols.

[0470] At this time, the base station in FIG. 1 may generate a transmission beam for the above "another symbol group" by signal processing of the signal processing unit 102, or the base station in FIG. 1 may generate a transmission beam for the above "another symbol group" by selecting antennas from antenna unit 106-1 to antenna unit 106-M.

[0471] Further, the base station in FIG. 3 may generate a transmission beam for the above-mentioned "another symbol group" by "signal processing of the signal processing unit 102 and signal processing by the weighting synthesis unit 301", or by "signal processing of the signal processing unit 102 or signal processing by the weighting synthesis unit 301".

[0472] And it may not be necessary to set the unicast transmission intervals 2503-1 and 2503-2 as described in FIGS. 25, 31, 32, and 35.

[0473] (Supplementary Note 5) The following descriptions are made in the explanations regarding FIGS. 31 and 32.

[0474] · "(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M)" 2501-1-M, "(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M+1)" 2501-1-(M+1), "(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M+2)" 2501-1-(M+2), "(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (1)" 3101-1, "(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (2)" 3101-2, "(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (3)" 3101-3 are all data symbols for transmitting "Stream 1".

[0475] · The terminal can obtain the "data of Stream 1" by obtaining the "data symbol of Stream 1-1". Also, the terminal can obtain the "data of Stream 1" by obtaining the "data symbol of Stream 1-2".

[0476] Also, the following descriptions are made in the explanations regarding FIG. 35.

[0477] · "(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M)" 2501-1-M, "(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M+1)" 2501-1-(M+1), "(Multicast) Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M+2)" 2501-1-(M+2), "(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (N)" 3101-N, "(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (N+1)" 3101-(N+1), "(Multicast) Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (N+2)" 3101-(N+2) are all data symbols for transmitting "Stream 1".

[0478] · By obtaining the "Data Symbol of Stream 1-1", the terminal can obtain the "Data of Stream 1". Also, by obtaining the "Data Symbol of Stream 1-2", the terminal can obtain the "Data of Stream 1".

[0479] The following provides supplementary explanations for the above. For example, in FIG. 35, the above can be realized by the following <Method 1-1>, or <Method 1-2>, or <Method 2-1>, or <Method 2-2>.

[0480] <Method 1-1> · The Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M) 2501-1-M and the Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (N) 3101-N contain the same data.

[0481] And the Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M+1) 2501-1-(M+1) and the Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (N+1) 3101-(N+1) contain the same data.

[0482] The Stream 1-1 Data Symbol (M+2) 2501-1-(M+2) and the Stream 1-2 Data Symbol (N+2) 3101-(N+2) contain the same data.

[0483] <Method 1-2> · There exists a Stream 1-2 data symbol (L) 3101-L that contains the same data as that contained in the Stream 1-1 data symbol (K) 2501-1-K. Here, K and L are integers.

[0484] <Method 2-1> · The Stream 1-1 data symbol (M) 2501-1-M and the Stream 1-2 data symbol (N) 3101-N contain some identical data.

[0485] And, the Stream 1-1 data symbol (M + 1) 2501-1-(M + 1) and the Stream 1-2 data symbol (N + 1) 3101-(N + 1) contain some identical data.

[0486] The Stream 1-1 data symbol (M + 2) 2501-1-(M + 2) and the Stream 1-2 data symbol (N + 2) 3101-(N + 2) contain some identical data.

[0487] <Method 2-2> · There exists a Stream 1-2 data symbol (L) 3101-L that contains a part of the data contained in the Stream 1-1 data symbol (K) 2501-1-K. Here, K and L are integers.

[0488] That is, the first base station or the first transmission system generates a first packet group containing the data of the first stream and a second packet group containing the data of the first stream, transmits the packets contained in the first packet group using a first transmission beam in a first period, transmits the packets contained in the second packet group using a second transmission beam different from the first transmission beam in a second period, and the first period and the second period do not overlap with each other.

[0489] Here, the second packet group may include a second packet containing the same data as the data included in the first packet included in the first packet group. As another configuration different from the above, the second packet group may include a third packet containing the same data as a part of the data included in the first packet included in the first packet group.

[0490] Also, the first transmission beam and the second transmission beam may be transmission beams having different directivities transmitted using the same antenna unit, or may be transmission beams transmitted using different antenna units.

[0491] Also, the second base station or the second transmission system further generates a third packet group including the data of the first stream in addition to the configuration of the first base station or the first transmission system, and transmits the packets included in the third packet group using a third transmission beam different from the first transmission beam and the second transmission beam in a third period, and the third period does not overlap with the first period and the second period.

[0492] Here, the second base station or the second transmission system may repeatedly set the first period, the second period, and the third period in a predetermined order.

[0493] Also, the third base station or the third transmission system further generates a third packet group including the data of the first stream in addition to the configuration of the first base station or the first transmission system, and transmits the packets included in the third packet group using a third transmission beam different from the first transmission beam and the second transmission beam in a third period, and at least a part of the third period overlaps with the first period.

[0494] Here, the third base station or the third transmission system may repeatedly set the first period, the second period, and the third period. At least a part of any of the repeatedly set third periods may overlap with the first period, or at least one of the repeatedly set third periods may not overlap with the first period.

[0495] In addition, the fourth base station or the fourth transmission system further generates a fourth packet including data of the second stream in addition to the configuration of the first base station or the first transmission system, and transmits the fourth packet in a fourth period using a fourth transmission beam different from the first transmission beam. At least a part of the fourth period overlaps with the first period.

[0496] In the above description, it was explained that the first period and the second period do not overlap with each other. However, a part of the first period and the second period may overlap with each other, all of the first period may overlap with the second period, or all of the first period may overlap with all of the second period.

[0497] In addition, the fifth base station or the fifth transmission system generates one or more groups of packets including data of the first stream, transmits each group of packets using a different transmission beam, and may increase or decrease the number of groups of packets generated based on the signal transmitted from the terminal.

[0498] Note that although the term "stream" is used above, as described elsewhere in this specification, the "stream 1-1 data symbol (M) 2501-1-M, and stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1) 2501-1-(M+1), and stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2) 2501-1-(M+2), and stream 1-2 data symbol (1) 3101-1, and stream 1-2 data symbol (2) 3101-2, stream 1-2 data symbol (3) 3101-3" in FIGS. 31 and 32, and the "stream 1-1 data symbol (M) 2501-1-M, and stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1) 2501-1-(M+1), stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2) 2501-1-(M+2), and stream 1-2 data symbol (N) 3101-N, and stream 1-2 data symbol (N+1) 3101-(N+1), and stream 1-2 data symbol (N+2) 3101-(N+2)" in FIG. 35 may be symbols including data symbols addressed to a certain terminal, or symbols including control information symbols, or symbols including data symbols for multicast.

[0499] (Embodiment 4) In this embodiment, a specific example of the communication system described in Embodiments 1 to 3 will be described.

[0500] The communication system in this embodiment is assumed to be composed of (a plurality of) base stations and a plurality of terminals. For example, consider a communication system composed of the base station 700 and terminals 704-1, 704-2, etc. in FIGS. 7, 12, 17, 19, 20, 26, 29, etc.

[0501] FIG. 37 shows an example of the configuration of the base station (700).

[0502] The logical channel generation unit 3703 takes the data 3701 and the control data 3702 as inputs and outputs a logical channel signal 3704. The logical channel signal 3704 is, for example, composed of logical channels for control such as "BCCH (Broadcast Control Channel), PCCH (Paging Control Channel), CCCH (Common Control Channel), MCCH (Multicast Control Channel), DCCH (Dedicated Control Channel)", and logical channels for data such as "DTCH (Dedicated Traffic Channel), MTCH (Multicast Traffic Channel)".

[0503] Note that "BCCH is a downlink channel for notifying system control information", "PCCH is a downlink channel for paging information", "CCCH is a common control channel used when there is no RRC (Radio Resource Control) connection in the downlink", "MCCH is a downlink channel for multicast channel scheduling and control for one-to-many MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service)", "DCCH is a dedicated control channel used for terminals with an RRC connection in the downlink", "DTCH is a dedicated traffic channel for a single terminal UE (User Equipment) and a dedicated channel for user data in the downlink", and "MTCH is a downlink channel for one-to-many MBMS user data".

[0504] The transport channel generation unit 3705 takes the logical channel signal 3704 as input, generates a transport channel signal 3706, and outputs it. The transport channel signal 3706 is assumed to be composed of, for example, BCH (Broadcast Channel), DL-SCH (Downlink Shared Channel), PCH (Paging Channel), MCH (Multicast Channel), etc.

[0505] Note that "BCH is a channel for system information notified across the entire cell", "DL-SCH is a channel that uses user data, control information, and system information", "PCH is a channel for paging information left across the entire cell", and "MCH is a channel for MBMS traffic and control information notified across the entire cell".

[0506] The physical channel generation unit 3707 takes the transport channel signal 3706 as input, generates a physical channel signal 3708, and outputs it. The physical channel signal 3708 is assumed to be composed of, for example, PBCH (Physical Broadcast Channel), PMCH (Physical Multicast Channel), PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), etc.

[0507] Note that "PBCH is for transmitting the BCH transport channel", "PMCH is for transmitting the MCH transport channel", "PDSCH is for transmitting the DL-SCH and transport channels", and "PDCCH is for transmitting the downlink L1 (Layer 1) / L2 (Layer 2) control signal".

[0508] The modulation signal generation unit 3709 takes the physical channel signal 3708 as an input, generates a modulation signal 3710 based on the physical channel signal 3708, and outputs it. Then, the base station 700 will transmit the modulation signal 3710 as radio waves.

[0509] First, consider the case where the base station is performing unicast communication, that is, individual communication, with a plurality of terminals.

[0510] At this time, for example, the symbol group #1 of stream 1 in 901-1 of FIG. 9, the symbol group #2 of stream 1 in 901-2, and the symbol group #3 of stream 1 in 901-3 may be broadcast channels (that is, control information for the base station to perform broadcast transmission to a plurality of terminals in order to perform data communication with the plurality of terminals). Note that the control information is, for example, control information necessary for the base station and the terminal to realize data communication.

[0511] Here, the broadcast channel will be described. The broadcast channel corresponds to "PBCH", "PMCH", and "a part of PD-SCH" in the physical channel (physical channel signal 3708).

[0512] Also, the broadcast channel corresponds to "BCH", "a part of DL-SCH", "PCH", and "MCH" in the transport channel (transport channel signal 3706).

[0513] And the broadcast channel corresponds to "BCCH", "CCCH", "MCCH", "a part of DTCH", and "MTCH" in the logical channel (logical channel signal 3704).

[0514] Similarly, for example, the symbol group #1 of stream 2 in 902-1 of FIG. 9, the symbol group #2 of stream 2 in 902-2, and the symbol group #3 of stream 2 in 902-3 may be broadcast channels (that is, control information for the base station to perform broadcast transmission to a plurality of terminals in order for the base station to perform data communication with the plurality of terminals). Note that the control information is, for example, control information necessary for the base station and the terminal to realize data communication.

[0515] Note that the broadcast channel corresponds to "PBCH", "PMCH", and "a part of PD-SCH" in the physical channel (physical channel signal 3708).

[0516] Also, the broadcast channel corresponds to "BCH", "a part of DL-SCH", "PCH", and "MCH" in the transport channel (transport channel signal 3706).

[0517] And the broadcast channel corresponds to "BCCH", "CCCH", "MCCH", "a part of DTCH", and "MTCH" in the logical channel (logical channel signal 3704).

[0518] At this time, the features of the symbol group #1 of stream 1 in 901-1 of FIG. 9, the symbol group #2 of stream 1 in 901-2, and the symbol group #3 of stream 1 in 901-3 are as described in the embodiments described so far. Also, the features of the symbol group #1 of stream 2 in 902-1 of FIG. 9, the symbol group #2 of stream 2 in 902-2, and the symbol group #3 of stream 2 in 902-3 are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0519] Note that, even if the symbol groups #1 (902-1), #2 (902-2), #3 (902-3), etc. of stream 2 in FIG. 9 are not transmitted. In particular, when transmitting a broadcast channel signal, the symbol groups of stream 2 may not be transmitted by the base station (in this case, for example, in FIG. 7, 703-1, 703-2, 703-3 are not transmitted by the base station 701).

[0520] For example, the symbol group #1 of the modulation signal 1 of 1401-1, the symbol group #2 of the modulation signal 1 of 1401-2, and the symbol group #3 of the modulation signal 1 of 1401-3 in FIG. 14 may be broadcast channels (that is, control information for the base station to perform broadcast transmission to a plurality of terminals for the base station to perform data communication with a plurality of terminals). Note that the control information is, for example, control information necessary for the base station and the terminal to realize data communication.

[0521] Note that the broadcast channel corresponds to "PBCH", "PMCH", and "a part of PD-SCH" in the physical channel (physical channel signal 3708).

[0522] Also, the broadcast channel corresponds to "BCH", "a part of DL-SCH", "PCH", and "MCH" in the transport channel (transport channel signal 3706).

[0523] And the broadcast channel corresponds to "BCCH", "CCCH", "MCCH", "a part of DTCH", and "MTCH" in the logical channel (logical channel signal 3704).

[0524] For example, the symbol group #1 of modulation signal 2 in 1402-1 of FIG. 14, the symbol group #2 of modulation signal 2 in 1402-2, and the symbol group #3 of modulation signal 2 in 1402-3 may be broadcast channels (that is, control information for the base station to perform broadcast transmission to a plurality of terminals for the base station to perform data communication with the plurality of terminals). Note that the control information is, for example, control information necessary for the base station and the terminal to realize data communication.

[0525] Note that the broadcast channel corresponds to "PBCH", "PMCH", and "a part of PD-SCH" in the physical channel (physical channel signal 3708).

[0526] Also, the broadcast channel corresponds to "BCH", "a part of DL-SCH", "PCH", and "MCH" in the transport channel (transport channel signal 3706).

[0527] And the broadcast channel corresponds to "BCCH", "CCCH", "MCCH", "a part of DTCH", and "MTCH" in the logical channel (logical channel signal 3704).

[0528] Note that the features of the symbol group #1 of modulation signal 1 in 1401-1 of FIG. 14, the symbol group #2 of modulation signal 1 in 1401-2, and the symbol group #3 of modulation signal 1 in 1401-3 are as described in the embodiments described so far, and the features of the symbol group #1 of modulation signal 2 in 1402-1 of FIG. 14, the symbol group #2 of modulation signal 2 in 1402-2, and the symbol group #3 of modulation signal 2 in 1402-3 are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0529] For example, the stream 1-1 data symbol (1) of 2501-1-1 in FIG. 25, the stream 1-1 data symbol (2) of 2501-1-2, and the stream 1-1 data symbol (3) of 2501-1-3 may be broadcast channels (that is, control information for the base station to perform broadcast transmission to a plurality of terminals in order for the base station to perform data communication with the plurality of terminals). Note that the control information is, for example, control information necessary for the base station and the terminal to realize data communication.

[0530] Note that the broadcast channel corresponds to "PBCH", "PMCH", and "a part of PD-SCH" in the physical channel (physical channel signal 3708).

[0531] Also, the broadcast channel corresponds to "BCH", "a part of DL-SCH", "PCH", and "MCH" in the transport channel (transport channel signal 3706).

[0532] And the broadcast channel corresponds to "BCCH", "CCCH", "MCCH", "a part of DTCH", and "MTCH" in the logical channel (logical channel signal 3704).

[0533] Note that the features of the stream 1-1 data symbol (1) of 2501-1-1 in FIG. 25, the stream 1-1 data symbol (2) of 2501-1-2, and the stream 1-1 data symbol (3) of 2501-1-3 are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0534] For example, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M) of 2501-1-M in FIGS. 31 and 32, and the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1) of 2501-1-(M+1), and the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2) of 2501-1-(M+2), and the stream 1-2 data symbol (1) of 3101-1, and the stream 1-2 data symbol (2) of 3101-2, and the stream 1-2 data symbol (3) of 3101-3 may be broadcast channels (that is, control information for the base station to perform broadcast transmission to a plurality of terminals for the base station to perform data communication with a plurality of terminals). Note that the control information is, for example, control information necessary for the base station and the terminal to realize data communication.

[0535] Note that the broadcast channel corresponds to "PBCH", "PMCH", and "a part of PD-SCH" in the physical channel (physical channel signal 3708).

[0536] Also, the broadcast channel corresponds to "BCH", "a part of DL-SCH", "PCH", and "MCH" in the transport channel (transport channel signal 3706).

[0537] And the broadcast channel corresponds to "BCCH", "CCCH", "MCCH", "a part of DTCH", and "MTCH" in the logical channel (logical channel signal 3704).

[0538] Note that the features of the stream 1-1 data symbol (M) of 2501-1-M in FIGS. 31 and 32, and the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1) of 2501-1-(M+1), and the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2) of 2501-1-(M+2), and the stream 1-2 data symbol (1) of 3101-1, and the stream 1-2 data symbol (2) of 3101-2, and the stream 1-2 data symbol (3) of 3101-3 are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0539] For example, in FIG. 35, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M) of 2501-1-M, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1) of 2501-1-(M+1), the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2) of 2501-1-(M+2), the stream 1-2 data symbol (N) of 3101-N, the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+1) of 3101-(N+1), and the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+2) of 3101-(N+2) may be broadcast channels (that is, control information for the base station to perform broadcast transmission to a plurality of terminals in order for the base station to perform data communication with the plurality of terminals). Note that the control information is, for example, control information necessary for the base station and the terminal to realize data communication.

[0540] Note that the broadcast channel corresponds to "PBCH", "PMCH", and "a part of PD-SCH" in the physical channel (physical channel signal 3708).

[0541] Also, the broadcast channel corresponds to "BCH", "a part of DL-SCH", "PCH", and "MCH" in the transport channel (transport channel signal 3706).

[0542] And the broadcast channel corresponds to "BCCH", "CCCH", "MCCH", "a part of DTCH", and "MTCH" in the logical channel (logical channel signal 3704).

[0543] For example, the stream 2-1 data symbol (1) of 3501-1, the stream 2-1 data symbol (2) of 3501-2, and the stream 2-1 data symbol (3) of 3501-3 in FIG. 35 may be broadcast channels (that is, control information for the base station to perform broadcast transmission to a plurality of terminals for the base station to perform data communication with a plurality of terminals). Note that the control information is, for example, control information necessary for the base station and the terminal to realize data communication.

[0544] Note that the broadcast channel corresponds to "PBCH", "PMCH", and "a part of PD-SCH" in the physical channel (physical channel signal 3708).

[0545] Also, the broadcast channel corresponds to "BCH", "a part of DL-SCH", "PCH", and "MCH" in the transport channel (transport channel signal 3706).

[0546] And the broadcast channel corresponds to "BCCH", "CCCH", "MCCH", "a part of DTCH", and "MTCH" in the logical channel (logical channel signal 3704).

[0547] In FIG. 35, the features of the stream 1-1 data symbol (M) of 2501-1-M, the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+1) of 2501-1-(M+1), the stream 1-1 data symbol (M+2) of 2501-1-(M+2), the stream 1-2 data symbol (N) of 3101-N, the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+1) of 3101-(N+1), and the stream 1-2 data symbol (N+2) of 3101-(N+2) are as described in the embodiments described so far. The features of the stream 2-1 data symbol (1) of 3501-1, the stream 2-1 data symbol (2) of 3501-2, and the stream 2-1 data symbol (3) of 3501-3 in FIG. 35 are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0548] In FIGS. 9, 14, 25, 31, 32, and 35, when transmitting each data symbol, a single-carrier transmission method may be used, or a multi-carrier transmission method such as OFDM may be used. Also, the temporal position of the data symbol is not limited to FIGS. 9, 14, 25, 31, 32, and 35.

[0549] In FIGS. 25, 31, 32, and 35, although the horizontal axis is described as time, it is also possible to carry out the same implementation with the horizontal axis as frequency (carrier). When the horizontal axis is the frequency (carrier), the base station will transmit each data symbol using one or more carriers or sub-carriers.

[0550] In the symbol group of stream 1 in FIG. 9, data (data for unicast) (or symbols) transmitted individually for each terminal may be included. Similarly, in the symbol group of stream 2 in FIG. 9, data (data for unicast) (or symbols) transmitted individually for each terminal may be included.

[0551] In the symbol group of Stream 1 in FIG. 14, data (data for unicast) (or symbols) to be transmitted individually for each terminal may be included. Similarly, in the symbol group of Stream 2 in FIG. 14, data (data for unicast) (or symbols) to be transmitted individually for each terminal may be included.

[0552] Also, the symbols of Stream 1-1 in FIG. 25 may include data (data for unicast) (or symbols) to be transmitted individually for each terminal. The symbols of Stream 1-1 and the symbols of Stream 1-2 in FIGS. 31 and 32 may include data (data for unicast) (or symbols) to be transmitted individually for each terminal.

[0553] And PBCH may be configured, for example, as "used to transmit the minimum information (such as system bandwidth, system frame number, number of transmission antennas, etc.) that the UE should read first after cell search".

[0554] PMCH may be configured, for example, as "used for the operation of MBSFN (Multicast-broadcast single-frequency network)".

[0555] PDSCH may be configured, for example, as "a shared data channel for transmitting downlink user data, and all data is aggregated and transmitted regardless of C (control)-plane / U (User)-plane".

[0556] PDCCH may be configured, for example, as "used by the eNodeB (gNodeB) (base station) to notify the user selected by scheduling of radio resource allocation information".

[0557] By implementing as described above, in multicast and broadcast data transmission, the base station transmits data symbols and control information symbols using a plurality of transmission beams, and the terminal selectively receives a beam with good quality from the plurality of transmission beams. Based on this, the terminal can obtain the effect that the terminal can obtain high data reception quality by receiving data symbols.

[0558] (Embodiment 5) In this embodiment, a supplementary explanation will be given of the configuration of the symbol group of stream 1 and the symbol group of stream 2 in FIG. 9 transmitted by the base station (700).

[0559] FIG. 38 shows an example of the frame configuration of stream 1 transmitted by the base station (700). In the frame configuration in FIG. 38, the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents frequency, showing the frame configuration from time 1 to time 10 and from carrier 1 to carrier 40. Therefore, FIG. 38 has a frame configuration of a multi-carrier transmission method such as the OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) method.

[0560] It is assumed that the symbol area 3801_1 of stream 1 in FIG. 38 exists from time 1 to time 10 and from carrier 1 to carrier 9.

[0561] It is assumed that the symbol group #i (3800_i) of stream 1 exists from time 1 to time 10 and from carrier 10 to carrier 20. Note that the symbol group #i (3800_i) of stream 1 corresponds to the symbol group #i (901-i) of stream 1 in FIG. 9.

[0562] It is assumed that the symbol area 3801_2 of stream 1 exists from time 1 to time 10 and from carrier 21 to carrier 40.

[0563] At this time, for example, when the base station unicasts individual data to one or more terminals as described in Embodiment 4, etc., the symbol areas 3801_1 and 3801_2 of Stream 1 in FIG. 38 can be used.

[0564] Then, as described in Embodiment 1, Embodiment 4, etc., the symbol group #i (3800_i) of Stream 1 in FIG. 38 will be used by the base station to transmit multicast data.

[0565] FIG. 39 shows an example of the frame configuration of Stream 2 transmitted by the base station (700). In the frame configuration in FIG. 39, the horizontal axis represents time, the vertical axis represents frequency, and the frame configuration from time 1 to time 10 and from carrier 1 to carrier 40 is shown. Therefore, FIG. 39 is a frame of a multi-carrier transmission system such as the OFDM system.

[0566] Assume that the symbol area 3901_1 of Stream 2 in FIG. 39 exists from time 1 to time 10 and from carrier 1 to carrier 9.

[0567] Assume that the symbol group #i (3900_i) of Stream 2 exists from time 1 to time 10 and from carrier 10 to carrier 20. Note that the symbol group #i (3900_i) of Stream 2 corresponds to the symbol group #i (902-i) of Stream 2 in FIG. 9.

[0568] Assume that the symbol area 3901_2 of Stream 2 exists from time 1 to time 10 and from carrier 21 to carrier 40.

[0569] At this time, for example, when the base station unicasts individual data to one or more terminals as described in Embodiment 4, etc., the symbol areas 3901_1 and 3901_2 of Stream 2 in FIG. 39 can be used.

[0570] Then, as described in Embodiment 1, Embodiment 4, etc., the symbol group #i(3900_i) of Stream 2 in FIG. 39 will be used by the base station to transmit multicast data.

[0571] Note that the base station will transmit the symbols of time X in FIG. 38 (in the case of FIG. 38, X is an integer from 1 to 10) and carrier Y (in the case of FIG. 38, Y is an integer from 1 to 40) and the symbols of time X and carrier Y in FIG. 39 using the same frequency and at the same time.

[0572] The features of the symbol group #1 of Stream 1 in 901-1, the symbol group #2 of Stream 1 in 901-2, and the symbol group #3 of Stream 1 in 901-3 in FIG. 9 are as described in the embodiments described so far. That is, the features of the symbol group #i of Stream 1 in FIG. 38 are the same as those of the symbol group of Stream 1 in FIG. 9 and are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0573] Also, the features of the symbol group #1 of Stream 2 in 902-1, the symbol group #2 of Stream 2 in 902-2, and the symbol group #3 of Stream 2 in 902-3 in FIG. 9 are as described in the embodiments described so far. That is, the features of the symbol group #i of Stream 2 in FIG. 39 are the same as those of the symbol group of Stream 2 in FIG. 9 and are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0574] Note that if there are symbols after time 11 in carriers 10 to 20 in the frame configurations of FIGS. 38 and 39, they may be used for multicast transmission or for individual data transmission (unicast transmission).

[0575] Also, when the base station transmits a frame like that in FIG. 9 in the frame configurations of FIGS. 38 and 39, the operations described in Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 4 may be performed in the same manner.

[0576] By implementing as described above, in multicast / broadcast data transmission, the base station transmits data symbols and control information symbols using a plurality of transmission beams, and the terminal selectively receives a beam with good quality from the plurality of transmission beams. Based on this, the terminal can obtain the effect that the terminal can obtain high data reception quality by receiving data symbols.

[0577] (Embodiment 6) In this embodiment, a supplementary explanation will be given regarding the configuration of the symbol group of modulation signal 1 and the symbol group of modulation signal 2 transmitted by base station (700) in FIG. 14.

[0578] FIG. 40 shows an example of the frame configuration of modulation signal 1 transmitted by base station (700). In the frame configuration in FIG. 40, the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents frequency, showing the frame configuration from time 1 to time 10 and from carrier 1 to carrier 40. Therefore, FIG. 40 has a frame configuration of a multi-carrier transmission method such as the OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) method.

[0579] It is assumed that the symbol region 4001_1 of modulation signal 1 in FIG. 40 exists from time 1 to time 10 and from carrier 1 to carrier 9.

[0580] It is assumed that the symbol group #i (4000_i) of modulation signal 1 exists from time 1 to time 10 and from carrier 10 to carrier 20. Note that the symbol group #i (4000_i) of modulation signal 1 corresponds to the symbol group #i (1401-i) of modulation signal 1 in FIG. 14.

[0581] It is assumed that the symbol region 4001_2 of modulation signal 1 exists from time 1 to time 10 and from carrier 21 to carrier 40.

[0582] At this time, for example, when the base station transmits individual data (unicasts) to one or more terminals as described in Embodiment 4, etc., the symbol regions 4001_1 and 4001_2 of stream 1 in FIG. 40 can be used.

[0583] And as described in Embodiment 1, Embodiment 4, etc., the symbol group #i (4000_i) of the modulation signal 1 in FIG. 40 will be used by the base station to transmit multicast data.

[0584] FIG. 41 shows an example of the frame configuration of the modulation signal 2 transmitted by the base station (700). In the frame configuration in FIG. 41, the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents frequency, showing the frame configuration from time 1 to time 10 and from carrier 1 to carrier 40. Therefore, FIG. 41 is a frame of a multi-carrier transmission method such as the OFDM method.

[0585] Assume that the symbol region 4101_1 of the modulation signal 2 in FIG. 41 exists from time 1 to time 10 and from carrier 1 to carrier 9.

[0586] Assume that the symbol group #i (4100_i) of the modulation signal 2 exists from time 1 to time 10 and from carrier 10 to carrier 20. Note that the symbol group #i (4100_i) of the modulation signal 2 corresponds to the symbol group #i (1402 - i) of the modulation signal 2 in FIG. 14.

[0587] Assume that the symbol region 4101_2 of the modulation signal 2 exists from time 1 to time 10 and from carrier 21 to carrier 40.

[0588] At this time, for example, when the base station transmits individual data (unicasts) to one or more terminals as described in Embodiment 4, etc., the symbol regions 4101_1 and 4101_2 of the modulation signal 2 in FIG. 41 can be used.

[0589] Then, as described in Embodiment 1, Embodiment 4, etc., the symbol group #i (4100_i) of the modulation signal 2 in FIG. 41 will be used by the base station to transmit multicast data.

[0590] Note that the base station will transmit the symbols at time X (in the case of FIG. 40, X is an integer from 1 to 10) and carrier Y (in the case of FIG. 40, Y is an integer from 1 to 40) in FIG. 40 and the symbols at time X and carrier Y in FIG. 41 using the same frequency and at the same time.

[0591] The features of the symbol group #1 of the stream 1 of 1401_1, the symbol group #2 of the modulation signal 1 of 1401_2, and the symbol group #3 of the modulation signal 1 of 1401_3 in FIG. 14 are as described in the embodiments described so far. That is, the features of the symbol group #i of the modulation signal 1 in FIG. 40 are the same as those of the symbol group of the modulation signal 1 in FIG. 14 and are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0592] The features of the symbol group #1 of the modulation signal 2 of 1402_1, the symbol group #2 of the modulation signal 2 of 1402_2, and the symbol group #3 of the modulation signal 2 of 1402_3 in FIG. 14 are as described in the embodiments described so far. That is, the features of the symbol group #i of the modulation signal 2 in FIG. 41 are the same as those of the symbol group of the modulation signal 2 in FIG. 14 and are as described in the embodiments described so far.

[0593] If there are symbols after time 11 in carriers 10 to 20 in the frame configurations of FIGS. 40 and 41, they may be used for multicast transmission or for individual data transmission (unicast transmission).

[0594] Also, when the base station transmits a frame like that in FIG. 14 in the frame configurations of FIGS. 40 and 41, the operations described in Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 4 may be performed in the same manner.

[0595] An example of the usage method of the symbol areas 3801_1 and 3801_2 of stream 1 in FIG. 38, the symbol areas 3901_1 and 3901_2 of stream 2 in FIG. 39, the symbol areas 4001_1 and 4001_2 of modulation signal 1 in FIG. 40, and the symbol areas 4101_1 and 4102_2 of modulation signal 2 in FIG. 41 in the above description will be described.

[0596] FIG. 42 shows an example of the allocation of "the symbol areas 3801_1 and 3801_2 of stream 1 in FIG. 38, the symbol areas 3901_1 and 3901_2 of stream 2 in FIG. 39, the symbol areas 4001_1 and 4001_2 of modulation signal 1 in FIG. 40, and the symbol areas 4101_1 and 4102_2 of modulation signal 2 in FIG. 41" to terminals. In FIG. 42, the horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents frequency (carrier).

[0597] As shown in FIG. 42, for example, "the symbol areas 3801_1 and 3801_2 of stream 1 in FIG. 38, the symbol areas 3901_1 and 3901_2 of stream 2 in FIG. 39, the symbol areas 4001_1 and 4001_2 of modulation signal 1 in FIG. 40, and the symbol areas 4101_1 and 4102_2 of modulation signal 2 in FIG. 41" are frequency-divided and allocated to terminals. And 4201_1 is a symbol group allocated for terminal #1, 4201_2 is a symbol group allocated for terminal #2, and 4201_3 is a symbol group allocated for terminal #3.

[0598] For example, when the base station (700) is communicating with terminal #1, terminal #2, and terminal #3, and the base station transmits data to terminal #1, the base station will transmit data to terminal #1 using the "symbol group 4201_1 allocated for terminal #1" in FIG. 42. When the base station transmits data to terminal #2, the base station will transmit data to terminal #2 using the "symbol group 4201_2 allocated for terminal #2" in FIG. 42. When the base station transmits data to terminal #3, the base station will transmit data to terminal #3 using the "symbol group 4201_3 allocated for terminal #3" in FIG. 42.

[0599] Note that the method of allocating to the terminals is not limited to that shown in FIG. 42, and the frequency band (number of carriers) may change over time or may be set in any way. Also, the method of allocation to the terminals may be changed over time.

[0600] FIG. 43 shows an example different from FIG. 42 in the allocation of "the symbol regions 3801_1 and 3801_2 of stream 1 in FIG. 38, the symbol regions 3901_1 and 3901_2 of stream 2 in FIG. 39, the symbol regions 4001_1 and 4001_2 of modulation signal 1 in FIG. 40, and the symbol regions 4101_1 and 4102_2 of modulation signal 2 in FIG. 41" to the terminals. In FIG. 43, the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents frequency (carriers).

[0601] As shown in FIG. 43, for example, "the symbol regions 3801_1 and 3801_2 of stream 1 in FIG. 38, the symbol regions 3901_1 and 3901_2 of stream 2 in FIG. 39, the symbol regions 4001_1 and 4001_2 of modulation signal 1 in FIG. 40, and the symbol regions 4101_1 and 4102_2 of modulation signal 2 in FIG. 41" are time- and frequency-divided and allocated to the terminals. And 4301_1 is a symbol group allocated for terminal #1, 4301_2 is a symbol group allocated for terminal #2, 4301_3 is a symbol group allocated for terminal #3, 4301_4 is a symbol group allocated for terminal #4, 4301_5 is a symbol group allocated for terminal #5, and 4301_6 is a symbol group allocated for terminal #6.

[0602] For example, the base station (700) is communicating with terminal #1, terminal #2, terminal #3, terminal #4, terminal #5, and terminal #6. When the base station transmits data to terminal #1, it will use the "symbol group 4301_1 assigned to terminal #1" in FIG. 43 to transmit data to terminal #1. When the base station transmits data to terminal #2, it will use the "symbol group 4301_2 assigned to terminal #2" in FIG. 43 to transmit data to terminal #2. When the base station transmits data to terminal #3, it will use the "symbol group 4301_3 assigned to terminal #3" in FIG. 43 to transmit data to terminal #3. When the base station transmits data to terminal #4, it will use the "symbol group 4301_4 assigned to terminal #4" in FIG. 43 to transmit data to terminal #4. When the base station transmits data to terminal #5, it will use the "symbol group 4301_5 assigned to terminal #5" in FIG. 43 to transmit data to terminal #5. When the base station transmits data to terminal #6, it will use the "symbol group 4301_6 assigned to terminal #6" in FIG. 43 to transmit data to terminal #6.

[0603] Note that the method of allocating to terminals is not limited to FIG. 43. The frequency band (number of carriers) and time width may vary, or they can be set in any way. Also, the allocation method to terminals may be changed over time.

[0604] In addition, in the symbol areas of stream 1, stream 2, modulation signal 1, and modulation signal 2 in FIGS. 38, 39, 40, and 41, different weighted syntheses may be performed for each carrier, or the weighted synthesis method may be determined in units of multiple carriers. Also, the parameters of weighted synthesis may be set for each terminal allocated as shown in FIGS. 43 and 44. The setting of the method of weighted synthesis in a carrier is not limited to these examples.

[0605] By implementing as described above, in multicast / broadcast data transmission, the base station transmits data symbols and control information symbols using a plurality of transmission beams, and the terminal selectively receives a beam with good quality from the plurality of transmission beams. Based on this, the terminal can obtain the effect that the terminal can obtain high-quality data reception by receiving data symbols.

[0606] (Embodiment 7) In this specification, as the configuration of the base station 700 in FIGS. 7, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 22, and the configuration of the base station described in other embodiments, it may be a configuration as shown in FIG. 44.

[0607] Hereinafter, the operation of the base station in FIG. 44 will be described. In FIG. 44, those that operate in the same manner as FIGS. 1 and 3 are given the same numbers and the description thereof is omitted.

[0608] The weighted combining unit 301 takes as inputs the signals 103_1, 103_2, ···, 103_M after signal processing and the control signal 159, performs weighted combining based on the control signal 159, and outputs weighted combined signals 4401_1, 4401_2, ···, 4401_K. Note that M is an integer of 2 or more, and K is an integer of 2 or more.

[0609] For example, if the signal 103_i (i is an integer from 1 to M) after signal processing is represented as ui(t) (t is time), and the signal 4401_g (g is an integer from 1 to K) after weighted combining is represented as vg(t), then vg(t) can be represented by the following equation.

[0610] [Equation]

[0611] The wireless unit 104_g takes the weighted synthesized signal 4401_g and the control signal 159 as inputs, performs predetermined processing based on the control signal 159, generates a transmission signal 105_g, and outputs it. Then, the transmission signal 105_g is transmitted from the antenna 303_1.

[0612] Note that the transmission method supported by the base station may be a multi-carrier method such as OFDM or a single-carrier method. Also, the base station may support both the multi-carrier method and the single-carrier method. At this time, there are multiple methods for generating the modulation signal of the single-carrier method, and any of these methods can be implemented. For example, examples of the single-carrier method include "DFT (Discrete Fourier Transform)-Spread OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing)", "Trajectory Constrained DFT-Spread OFDM", "OFDM based SC (Single Carrier)", "SC (Single Carrier)-FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access)", "Guard interval DFT-Spread OFDM", etc.

[0613] In Equation (7), it is described as a function of time, but in the case of a multi-carrier method such as the OFDM method, it may be a function of frequency in addition to time.

[0614] For example, in the OFDM method, different weighted syntheses may be performed for each carrier, or the weighted synthesis method may be determined in units of multiple carriers. The setting of the weighted synthesis method in a carrier is not limited to these examples.

[0615] (Supplementary Note 6) Naturally, multiple combinations of the embodiments, supplementary notes, and other contents described in this specification may be implemented.

[0616] As a configuration of the base station, for example, not limited to FIGS. 1 and 3, as long as it is a base station having a plurality of transmission antennas, generating a plurality of transmission beams (transmission directive beams), and transmitting, the present disclosure can be implemented.

[0617] Also, each embodiment is merely an example. For example, even if "modulation method, error correction coding method (error correction code used, code length, coding rate, etc.), control information, etc." are exemplified, the same configuration can be implemented even when another "modulation method, error correction coding method (error correction code used, code length, coding rate, etc.), control information, etc." is applied.

[0618] Regarding the modulation method, even if a modulation method other than the modulation methods described in this specification is used, it is possible to implement the embodiments and other contents described in this specification. For example, APSK (e.g., 16APSK, 64APSK, 128APSK, 256APSK, 1024APSK, 4096APSK, etc.), PAM (e.g., 4PAM, 8PAM, 16PAM, 64PAM, 128PAM, 256PAM, 1024PAM, 4096PAM, etc.), PSK (e.g., BPSK, QPSK, 8PSK, 16PSK, 64PSK, 128PSK, 256PSK, 1024PSK, 4096PSK, etc.), QAM (e.g., 4QAM, 8QAM, 16QAM, 64QAM, 128QAM, 256QAM, 1024QAM, 4096QAM, etc.) may be applied, and in each modulation method, uniform mapping or non-uniform mapping may be used. Also, the arrangement method of signal points such as 2, 4, 8, 16, 64, 128, 256, 1024, etc. in the I-Q plane (modulation methods having 2, 4, 8, 16, 64, 128, 256, 1024, etc. signal points) is not limited to the signal point arrangement method of the modulation methods shown in this specification.

[0619] In this specification, it is conceivable that devices equipped with a transmission device include, for example, communication and broadcasting devices such as broadcasting stations, base stations, access points, terminals, mobile phones, etc. At this time, it is conceivable that devices equipped with a receiving device include communication devices such as televisions, radios, terminals, personal computers, mobile phones, access points, base stations, etc. Further, the transmission device and the receiving device in the present disclosure are devices having a communication function, and it is also conceivable that the device can be connected by disassembling some interface to a device for executing applications such as televisions, radios, personal computers, mobile phones, etc. Also, in this embodiment, symbols other than data symbols, for example, pilot symbols (preambles, unique words, postambles, reference symbols, etc.), symbols for control information, etc. may be arranged in the frame in any manner. And here, they are named pilot symbols and symbols for control information, but any naming method may be used, and the function itself is important.

[0620] The pilot symbol may be, for example, a known symbol modulated using PSK modulation in a transceiver. The receiver uses this symbol to perform frequency synchronization, time synchronization, channel estimation of each modulation signal (estimation of CSI (Channel State Information)), signal detection, etc. Alternatively, the pilot symbol may be such that when the receiver synchronizes, the receiver can know the symbol transmitted by the transmitter.

[0621] Also, the symbol for control information is a symbol for transmitting information (for example, modulation method used for communication, error correction coding method, coding rate of the error correction coding method, setting information at the upper layer, etc.) that needs to be transmitted to the communication partner to realize communication other than data (data such as applications).

[0622] Note that the present disclosure is not limited to each embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, in each embodiment, the case of performing as a communication device is described, but it is not limited thereto, and it is also possible to perform this communication method as software.

[0623] For example, a program for executing the above communication method may be stored in a ROM in advance, and the program may be operated by a CPU.

[0624] Also, a program for executing the above communication method may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, the program stored in the storage medium may be recorded in a RAM of a computer, and the computer may be operated according to the program.

[0625] And each configuration such as the above embodiments may typically be realized as an LSI which is an integrated circuit having an input terminal and an output terminal. These may be integrated into individual chips, or may be integrated into one chip so as to include all or some of the configurations of each embodiment. Here, although it is an LSI, depending on the degree of integration, it may also be referred to as an IC, a system LSI, a super LSI, or an ultra LSI. Also, the method of integrating into a circuit is not limited to an LSI, and it may be realized by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. After manufacturing the LSI, an FPGA that can be programmed, or a reconfigurable processor that can reconfigure the connection and setting of circuit cells inside the LSI may be used. Furthermore, if an integrated circuit technology that replaces the LSI appears due to the progress of semiconductor technology or other derived technologies, naturally, the integration of functional blocks may be performed using that technology. The application of biotechnology etc. may be possible.

[0626] In this specification, various frame configurations have been described. A modulation signal of the frame configuration described in this specification is transmitted by, for example, a base station (AP) equipped with the transmission device of FIG. 1 using a multi-carrier method such as the OFDM method. At this time, when a terminal (user) communicating with the base station (AP) transmits a modulation signal, an application method can be considered in which the modulation signal transmitted by the terminal is in a single-carrier format. (By using the OFDM method, the base station (AP) can transmit a data symbol group to a plurality of terminals simultaneously, and the terminal can reduce power consumption by using the single-carrier method.)

[0627] Also, the terminal may apply a TDD (Time Division Duplex) method in which the modulation method is transmitted using a part of the frequency band used by the modulation signal transmitted by the base station (AP).

[0628] The configurations of the antenna units 106-1, 106-2, ···, 106-M in FIG. 1 are not limited to the configurations described in the embodiments. For example, the antenna units 106-1, 106-2, ···, 106-M may not be composed of a plurality of antennas, and the antenna units 106-1, 106-2, ···, 106-M may not receive the signal 159 as an input.

[0629] The configurations of the antenna units 401-1, 401-2, ···, 401-N in FIG. 4 are not limited to the configurations described in the embodiments. For example, the antenna units 401-1, 401-2, ···, 401-N may not be composed of a plurality of antennas, and the antenna units 401-1, 401-2, ···, 401-N may not receive the signal 410 as an input.

[0630] Note that the transmission methods supported by the base station and the terminal may be multi-carrier methods such as OFDM or single-carrier methods. Also, the base station may support both multi-carrier and single-carrier methods. At this time, there are multiple methods for generating a modulation signal of the single-carrier method, and any of these methods can be implemented. For example, as examples of the single-carrier method, there are "DFT (Discrete Fourier Transform)-Spread OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing)", "Trajectory Constrained DFT-Spread OFDM", "OFDM based SC (Single Carrier)", "SC (Single Carrier)-FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access)", "Guard interval DFT-Spread OFDM", and so on.

[0631] Also, at least multicast (broadcast) data will exist in the information #1 (101_1), information #2 (101_2), ···, information #M (101_M) in FIGS. 1, 3, and 44. For example, in FIG. 1, if information #1 (101_1) is data for multicast, a plurality of streams or a modulation signal including this data will be generated by the signal processing unit 102 and output from the antenna.

[0632] In FIG. 3, if information #1 (101_1) is data for multicast, a plurality of streams or a modulation signal including this data will be generated by the signal processing unit 102 and / or the weighted synthesis unit 301 and output from the antenna.

[0633] In FIG. 44, if information #1 (101_1) is data for multicast, a plurality of streams or a modulation signal including this data will be generated by the signal processing unit 102 and / or the weighted synthesis unit 301 and output from the antenna.

[0634] Note that, regarding the states of multiple streams or modulation signals, it is as described with reference to FIGS. 7, 9, 12, 14, 17, 18, and 19.

[0635] Furthermore, among the information #1 (101_1), information #2 (101_2), ···, information #M (101_M) in FIGS. 1, 3, and 44, there may be data addressed to individual terminals. This is as described in the embodiments of this specification.

[0636] Note that at least one of an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) may be configured to be able to download all or part of the software necessary to implement the communication method described in the present disclosure by wireless communication or wired communication. Furthermore, it may be configured to be able to download all or part of the software for updating by wireless communication or wired communication. Then, the downloaded software is stored in a storage unit, and at least one of the FPGA and the CPU is operated based on the stored software, so that the digital signal processing described in the present disclosure may be executed.

[0637] At this time, a device including at least one of an FPGA and a CPU may be connected wirelessly or wired to a communication modem, and the communication method described in the present disclosure may be implemented by this device and the communication modem.

[0638] For example, communication devices such as the base stations, APs, and terminals described in this specification include at least one of an FPGA and a CPU, and the communication device may include an interface for obtaining from the outside software for operating at least one of the FPGA and the CPU. Furthermore, the communication device may include a storage unit for storing the software obtained from the outside, and the signal processing described in the present disclosure may be implemented by operating the FPGA and the CPU based on the stored software.

[0639] Hereinafter, an example of a communication system to which the wireless communication method using a plurality of antennas described in Embodiments 1 to 7 can be applied will be described. Note that the wireless communication method using a plurality of antennas described in Embodiments 1 to 7 is merely an example of a wireless communication method applicable to the communication system described hereinafter. That is, the wireless communication method used in the communication system described hereinafter may be the wireless communication method using a plurality of antennas described in Embodiments 1 to 7, or may be another wireless communication method using a plurality of antennas. Further, the wireless communication method used in the communication system described hereinafter may be a wireless communication method using one antenna, or may be a communication method that performs communication using a device other than an antenna such as optical communication.

[0640] (Embodiment A1) In this embodiment, a method for constructing a network by the communication system according to this embodiment will be described.

[0641] FIG. 45 is a diagram showing an example of the connection between a network and a gateway. The communication system of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 45.

[0642] As shown in FIG. 45, the communication system includes an outdoor gateway 4501, an indoor gateway 4502, an outdoor network 4503, and an indoor network 4504.

[0643] The outdoor gateway 4501 is a gateway device that is communicably connected to the outdoor network 4503. The outdoor gateway 4501 includes a communication IF (interface) 4501a, a communication IF 4501b, and a wireless power receiving unit 4501c. The outdoor gateway 4501 can be realized by, for example, a computer. However, it does not have to be configured by a computer. The outdoor gateway 4501 corresponds to the first communication device. Note that the outdoor gateway 4501 may be one node constituting the outdoor network 4503.

[0644] The communication IF4501a is a communication interface device communicably connected to the outdoor network 4503.

[0645] The communication IF4501b is a communication interface device communicably connected to the indoor gateway 4502.

[0646] The wireless power receiving unit 4501c is a power receiving device that wirelessly receives power supply from the indoor gateway 4502. The power supply can adopt a method using electromagnetic induction, a wireless power transmission method, or a wireless power feeding method. More specifically, for example, the Qi standard can be adopted. However, the applicable power transmission methods are not limited to this.

[0647] The outdoor gateway 4501 receives communication frames from surrounding communication devices through the communication IFs 4501a and 4501b and transmits them to other appropriate communication devices. Further, the outdoor gateway 4501 controls which frame is to be transmitted by which communication IF by exchanging routing information with surrounding communication devices through the communication IFs 4501a and 4501b.

[0648] The indoor gateway 4502 is a gateway device communicably connected to the indoor network 4504. The indoor gateway 4502 includes a communication IF4502a, a communication IF4502b, a power receiving unit 4502c, and a wireless power feeding unit (wireless power transmission unit) 4502d. The indoor gateway 4502 can be realized by, for example, a computer. However, it does not have to be configured by a computer. The indoor gateway 4502 corresponds to the second communication device. Note that the indoor gateway 4502 may be one node constituting the indoor network 4504.

[0649] The communication IF4502a is a communication interface device communicably connected to the indoor network 4504.

[0650] The communication IF4502b is a communication interface device communicably connected to the outdoor gateway 4501.

[0651] The power receiving unit 4502c is a power supply terminal arranged indoors. For example, it is a power receiving unit that receives power supply for driving the indoor gateway 4502 from a power outlet or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector. The power receiving unit 4502c is connected to the power outlet by a power cord and receives power supply of, for example, AC100V, or is connected to a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connector and receives power supply.

[0652] The wireless power supply unit (wireless power transmission unit) 4502d is a power supply device (power transmission device) that wirelessly supplies power to the outdoor gateway 4501. The power supplied by the wireless power supply unit 4502d is a part of the power received by the power receiving unit 4502c from the power outlet. The power supply is the same as that of the wireless power receiving unit 4501c.

[0653] The indoor gateway 4502 receives communication frames from surrounding communication devices through the communication IFs 4502a and 4502b and transmits them to other appropriate communication devices. Also, the indoor gateway 4502 controls which frame is transmitted through which communication IF by exchanging route information with surrounding communication devices through the communication IFs 4502a and 4502b.

[0654] The outdoor network 4503 is a network installed in, for example, an outdoor space (also referred to as the first space). The outdoor network 4503 is a wireless network (also referred to as the first network). Specifically, it is a network compliant with communication standards such as IEEE 802.11ad and IEEE 802.11ay. However, this network may use communication methods other than these standards (for example, IEEE 802.11a standard, IEEE 802.11g standard, IEEE 802.11n standard, IEEE 802.11ac standard, IEEE 802.11ax standard, cellular standards may also be used).

[0655] The outdoor network 4503 may be connected to a wired network configured using, for example, an optical fiber. In this case, the outdoor network 4503 has the role of connecting the indoor network 4504 and the above-mentioned wired network. Note that the outdoor network 4503 may be a closed network that is not connected to the above-mentioned wired network.

[0656] The indoor network 4504 is a network installed in an indoor space (also referred to as the second space). The indoor network 4504 is a wireless network (also referred to as the second network). Specifically, for example, it is a network compliant with the communication standards of IEEE 802.11ad and IEEE 802.11ay. However, this network may use a communication method other than this standard (for example, the IEEE 802.11a standard, the IEEE 802.11g standard, the IEEE 802.11n standard, the IEEE 802.11ac standard, the IEEE 802.11ax standard, or a cellular standard may also be used).

[0657] Note that the outdoor gateway 4501 or the indoor gateway 4502 is assumed to have the configuration shown in, for example, FIG. 1 (or FIG. 3, or FIG. 44). Since the operations of each part in FIG. 1 (or FIG. 3, or FIG. 44) and the operations of each part in FIG. 4 have already been described, the description will be omitted.

[0658] Note that the indoor space and the outdoor space are separated by a plate or the like. In this case, the communication IF4501b and the communication IF4502b are connected by wireless communication using radio waves through this plate. The plate is, for example, an outer wall (for example, the outer wall of a building or a house), a glass plate (for example, a glass plate installed at an opening of a building or a house), or the like.

[0659] Note that when the outdoor network 4503 is a wireless network, the communication IF4501a is a wireless communication interface. Also, when the indoor network 4504 is a wireless network, the communication IF4502a is a wireless communication interface.

[0660] Also, the communication IF 4501a communicates, for example, in the TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) mode. Also, the communication IF 4502a communicates, for example, in the CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access) mode. However, the communication IF 4501a may communicate in a mode other than TDMA, and the communication IF 4502a may communicate in a mode other than CSMA.

[0661] Also, the outdoor network 4503 and the indoor network 4504 may each be a wireless multi-hop network (a wireless mesh network). In this case, the communication IF 4501a is connected to the outdoor network 4503 configured as a wireless multi-hop network (a wireless mesh network), and the communication IF 4502a is connected to the indoor network 4504 configured as a wireless multi-hop network (a wireless mesh network).

[0662] Also, the control method of the communication system includes the steps of connecting to the outdoor network 4503 by the outdoor gateway 4501, performing wireless communication by the outdoor gateway 4501, connecting to the indoor network 4504 by the indoor gateway 4502, and connecting to the outdoor gateway 4501 by wireless communication by the indoor gateway 4502.

[0663] FIG. 46 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the communication system. More specifically, FIG. 46 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of a mesh network which is the outdoor network 4503 using a wireless signal repeater (also simply referred to as a "repeater").

[0664] A plurality of repeaters are respectively arranged at multiple points in a predetermined area to form a mesh-type wireless backhaul. For example, repeater 4800B transmits the signal received from repeater 4800A to repeater 4800C. Also, repeater 4800B transmits the signal received from repeater 4800A to edge node (or node) 4810 connected to the repeater 4800B. Edge node (or node) 4810 is a gateway device installed in a house. Further, repeater 4800B transmits the signal received from edge node (or node) 4810 connected to the repeater 4800B to another repeater 4800C.

[0665] In this way, the form of wireless connection from the repeater 4800B to the house is called WTTH (Wireless To The Home). However, the naming is not limited to this.

[0666] Also, the edge node (or node) may be a gateway device installed in the network within a building. In this way, the form of wireless connection from the repeater to the building is called WTTB (Wireless To The building). However, the naming is not limited to this.

[0667] Also, the edge node (or node) may be, for example, a Wi-Fi access point.

[0668] In this way, the use cases of wirelessly connecting edge nodes (or nodes) in the outdoor network 4503 are collectively called WTTX (Wireless to the X).

[0669] Figure 47 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the indoor network 4504.

[0670] The indoor network 4504 shown in FIG. 47 constitutes a mesh network (multi-hop network), and includes MPs (Mesh Points) *1, *2, *3, *4, *5, *6, *7, and *8 (also referred to as "MP*1 etc."), and MAPs (Mesh Access Points) #1, #2, #3, and #4 (also referred to as "MAP#1 etc."). Here, the indoor gateway 4502 is also described as one node constituting the mesh network. Note that MP*1 etc. or MAP#1 etc. are assumed to have the configuration shown in FIG. 1 (or FIG. 3, or FIG. 44), for example. The operations of each part in FIG. 1 (or FIG. 3, or FIG. 44) and the operations of each part in FIG. 4 have already been described, so the description is omitted.

[0671] Also, the "dashed line" connecting an MP or a MAP means that the MPs or MAPs connected by the dashed line can communicate with each other, and the "solid line" connecting an MP or a MAP means that the communication link connecting them has been selected as a communication path in the mesh network.

[0672] For example, the indoor gateway 4502 and MP*1 connected by a solid line are in a communicable state, which means that the communication link connecting the indoor gateway 4502 and MP*1 has been selected as a communication path. Also, MP*3 and MP*4 connected by a dashed line are in a communicable state, but it means that the communication link connecting MP*3 and MP*4 has not been selected as a communication path. Also, MP*3 and MAP#3 not connected by either a solid line or a dashed line mean that communication is impossible.

[0673] Each of MP*1 etc. is a node that constitutes a mesh network. Each of MP*1 etc. has a routing table and enables communication between terminals and other communication devices connected to the mesh network by transmitting packets according to the routing table. The routing table may be statically set (static routing table) or may be dynamically set (dynamic routing table) by MP*1 etc. exchanging information with each other according to a routing protocol.

[0674] Each of MAP#1 etc. is, for example, a node that constitutes a mesh network and further has a function as a base station (access point) that provides wireless access to terminals existing indoors. The function of each of MAP#1 etc. in constituting a mesh network is the same as that of MP*1 etc. Also, the function of each of MAP#1 etc. as a base station is the same as that of a general base station. MAP#1 etc. have a function as a base station (access point) of a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) such as the 2.4 GHz band, 5 GHz band, 60 GHz band, etc.

[0675] By MP*1 etc. and MAP#1 etc. performing (1) an initial operation for constituting a mesh network, (2) an operation for constituting a mesh network (specifically, a communication path determination process, etc.), and (3) an operation of packet transfer by MP*1 etc. and MAP#1 etc., the terminals connected to MAP#1 etc. can communicate with the indoor gateway 4502 via the mesh network.

[0676] Hereinafter, the operations (1) to (3) will be described in detail.

[0677] (1) Regarding the initial operation for constituting a mesh network Each of the indoor gateway 4502, MP*1, etc., and MAP#1, etc. searches for adjacent nodes. Note that a node is any one of the indoor gateway 4502, MP*1, etc., and MAP#1, etc. As a result, for example, MP*3 will know that it can communicate with MP*1, MP*2, MP*4, and MP*6. At this time, for example, MP*3 may also perform beamforming training.

[0678] Note that the indoor gateway does not search for devices installed outdoors (for example, outdoor gateway, outdoor MP, outdoor MAP. All are not shown).

[0679] Specifically, the indoor gateway 4502, MP*1, etc., and MAP#1, etc. each notify the surrounding nodes by frame transmission that they belong to the indoor network. Similarly, the outdoor gateway 4501, outdoor MP, and outdoor MAP notify the surrounding nodes by frame transmission that they belong to the outdoor network.

[0680] Therefore, information regarding the network to which each node belongs will be included in the transmission frame. Also, the above transmission frame shall include control information as to whether the information included in the frame is "broadcast (multicast) information" or "unicast information". Further, the above transmission frame includes information indicating whether each source node is a gateway (specifically, indoor gateway 4502 or outdoor gateway 4501), MP (specifically, indoor MP*1, etc. or outdoor MP), or MAP (specifically, indoor MAP#1 or outdoor MAP).

[0681] Next, each node shares connection information. Here, the connection information is broadcast (multicast) to the surroundings. The indoor gateway 4502, MP#1, etc., and MAP*1, etc. will obtain the surrounding node connection information.

[0682] For example, MP*3 recognizes that it can communicate with MP*1. Then, MP*3 transmits the fact that "MP*3 can communicate with MP*1" to other nodes (indoor gateway 4502, indoor MP#1, and indoor MAP*1).

[0683] Therefore, for example, MP*3 will send the information that "MP*3 can communicate with MP*1" to MP*1, MP*2, MP*4, MP*6, and MAP#4. MP*6 will send the information that "MP*3 can communicate with MP*1" to MP*7, MP*5, and MAP#2. Each of MP*1, MP*2, MP*4, and MAP#4 will also send the information that "MP*3 can communicate with MP*1".

[0684] Here, each node such as indoor gateway 4502, MP*1, etc., and MAP#1 needs a function not to broadcast (multicast) the same data as the data received in the past when it receives the same data.

[0685] For example, MAP#4 first receives the information that "MP*3 can communicate with MP*1" from MP*3. Then, MAP#4 sends the information that "MP*3 can communicate with MP*1" to MP*1, etc., and MAP#1, etc. Next, MAP#4 receives the information that "MP*3 can communicate with MP*1" from MAP#4. At this time, MAP#4 does not send the information that "MP*3 can communicate with MP*1" to MP*1, etc., and MAP#1, etc. However, the broadcast (multicast) is only performed within the indoor network.

[0686] During the above operations, each node transmits a frame including, for example, "symbols for beamforming", "control information symbols", "data symbols", etc. An example of this frame is shown in FIG. 48. FIG. 48 is a diagram showing the configuration of the above frame with the horizontal axis being time. Hereinafter, the case where the first node transmits the frame having the configuration shown in FIG. 48 will be described as an example.

[0687] The symbol for beamforming is a symbol for the signal processing method of transmission beamforming and the signal processing method of reception beamforming when the first node communicates with a communication partner node. Note that the communication partner node may be a plurality of nodes.

[0688] The control information symbol includes at least one or more symbols of a "network attribute information symbol", a "node information symbol", and a "device identification information symbol".

[0689] The network attribute information symbol is information about the network to which the first node belongs. The network attribute information symbol is, for example, a symbol for notifying either "the first node belongs to an indoor network" or "the first node belongs to an outdoor network".

[0690] The node information symbol is information about the node to which the first node belongs. For example, it is a symbol for notifying either "the first node is a gateway", "the first node is an MP", or "the first node is a MAP".

[0691] The device identification information symbol is a symbol for notifying other nodes of the unique number for device identification of the first node.

[0692] With reference to FIGS. 49 and 50, the initial operation for configuring a mesh network will be described. FIG. 49 is a diagram showing the communication flow with other nodes after the first node transmits a frame during the operation of (1).

[0693] As shown in FIG. 49, first, the first node transmits the frame in operation (1) to each of the second node and the third node. This frame transmission may be performed one or more times. Then, each of the second node and the third node transmits a frame for a response to the first node in response to receiving the frame.

[0694] FIG. 50 is a diagram showing the frame configuration of the frame used by the first node to transmit connection information to other nodes. In FIG. 50, the horizontal axis represents time.

[0695] As shown in FIG. 50, this frame includes a preamble, a control information symbol, and a data symbol.

[0696] The preamble is a symbol for the first node to perform time synchronization, frame synchronization, frequency synchronization, etc. with the communication partner. For example, the control information symbol includes a "data destination information symbol" and a "transmission method information symbol".

[0697] The data destination information symbol is information regarding the destination of the frame transmitted by the first node. For example, when the first node transmits this frame to the second node, the data destination information symbol is information that "it is a frame being transmitted to the second node".

[0698] The transmission method information symbol is a symbol for transmitting information regarding the transmission method of the frame transmitted by the first node. Since this frame is a frame for broadcast (multicast), it is assumed that the transmission method information symbol includes information that "it is a frame for multicast". Note that when the frame to be transmitted is a frame for unicast, it may include information that "it is a frame for unicast". Also, it may include information regarding the transmission method such as the method of error correction code, modulation method, and the number of streams to be transmitted used to generate the data symbol.

[0699] A data symbol is a symbol that contains data carried by this frame. For example, the data symbol includes a "connection information symbol".

[0700] The connection information symbol is a symbol for transmitting information about the nodes to which the first node connects. For example, since the first node is connected to the second node and the third node, the "connection information symbol" includes information such as "the first node is connected to the second node" and "the first node is connected to the third node". Note that this symbol may include the unique identification information of the first node, the unique identification information of the second node, and the unique identification information of the third node.

[0701] Note that in the above example, an example of a frame for broadcast (multicast) is described. Therefore, the second node that receives this frame will transmit the connection information symbol to other nodes. Also, the third node will transmit the connection information symbol to other nodes.

[0702] That is, a node that receives the connection information symbol will transmit a frame including the connection information symbol. However, as described before, if a node that has received the connection information symbol once and transmitted a frame including the connection information symbol receives the connection information symbol again, it is assumed that the node will not transmit a frame including the connection information symbol.

[0703] In this way, each node can know the configuration of the mesh network.

[0704] (2) Processing for configuring a mesh network Two methods will be described for the processing of configuring a mesh network. The first method is a method in which the indoor gateway 4502 creates a route map for each MAP. The second method is a method in which the indoor gateway 4502 creates a route map for each MAP but does not share the map. These will be described in detail.

[0705] (2-1) First method In the first method, the indoor gateway 4502 creates a route map for each MAP. As a result of creating the route map, the formed mesh network is, for example, the one shown in FIG. 51.

[0706] The indoor gateway 4502 creates a route map for MAP#1. This route map shows that, for example, (a) the indoor gateway 4502 transmits data to MP*4, MP*4 transmits data to MP*5, MP*5 transmits data to MP*6, MP*6 transmits data to MP*7, and MP*7 transmits data to MAP#1, so that the indoor gateway 4502 can transmit data to MAP#1. Further, (b) MAP#1 transmits data to MP*7, MP*7 transmits data to MP*6, MP*6 transmits data to MP*5, MP*5 transmits data to MP*4, and MP*4 transmits data to the indoor gateway 4502, so that MAP#1 can transmit data to the indoor gateway 4502.

[0707] Then, in order to share this route map with MAP#1, the indoor gateway 4502 transmits a frame including the information of this route map to MAP#1. The frame including the information of the route map includes information about the route of the node as control information. Each node transmitting this frame can know the destination of transmitting the frame by referring to this control information included in the frame.

[0708] (3) Operation of packet transmission Thereafter, when the indoor gateway 4502 transmits information to MAP#1, data transmission is performed based on this route map. That is, the indoor gateway 4502 transmits control information about the route of the node based on the route map. Each node sequentially transmits a frame based on the transmitted control information.

[0709] Also, when MAP#1 transmits information to the indoor gateway 4502, data is transmitted based on this route map. That is, MAP#1 transmits control information regarding the route via nodes based on the route map. Each node sequentially transmits frames based on the transmitted control information.

[0710] FIG. 52 is a diagram showing an example of a frame configuration. FIG. 52 shows an example of a frame configuration when, for example, the indoor gateway 4502 transmits information to MAP#1. In FIG. 52, the horizontal axis represents time.

[0711] For example, the indoor gateway 4502 transmits a preamble. The preamble is a symbol for performing, for example, time synchronization, frame synchronization, and frequency synchronization when MP*4 receives the modulation signal of this frame (it may also be used for signal detection).

[0712] The control information symbol includes a "node route information symbol" and a "transmission method information symbol". The data symbol is a symbol containing data for the indoor gateway 4502 to transmit to MAP#1.

[0713] The node route information symbol is a symbol for transmitting information regarding the "route map when the indoor gateway 4502 transmits this frame to MP*4".

[0714] The transmission method information symbol is a symbol for transmitting information regarding the transmission method of the frame transmitted by the indoor gateway 4502. The transmission method information symbol may include, for example, information such as "whether the data is broadcast or unicast", and information regarding the error correction coding method, modulation method, and number of streams to be transmitted used to generate the modulation signal of the data symbol.

[0715] The data symbol is a symbol that contains data for the indoor gateway to transmit to MAP#1 and is also a symbol that the indoor gateway transmits to MP*4.

[0716] When MP*4 transmits a modulation signal to MP*5, when MP*5 transmits a modulation signal to MP*6, when MP*6 transmits a modulation signal to MP*7, and when MP*7 transmits a modulation signal to MAP#1, by adopting the same frame structure, the data transmitted by the indoor gateway 4502 can be transmitted to MAP#1.

[0717] Note that this frame structure may also be considered as the frame when MAP#1 transmits information to the indoor gateway 4502.

[0718] For example, MAP#1 transmits a preamble. The preamble is a symbol for, for example, time synchronization, frame synchronization, and frequency synchronization when MP*7 receives the modulation signal of this frame (it may also be used for signal detection).

[0719] The control information symbol includes a "node routing information symbol" and a "transmission method information symbol". The data symbol is a symbol that contains data for MAP#1 to transmit to the indoor gateway 4502.

[0720] The node routing information symbol is a symbol for transmitting information regarding the "route map when MAP#1 transmits this frame to MP*7".

[0721] The transmission method information symbol is a symbol for transmitting information regarding the transmission method of the frame transmitted by MAP#1. The transmission method information symbol may include information such as whether the data is broadcast data or unicast data, and information regarding the error correction coding method, modulation method, and number of streams to be transmitted used to generate the modulation signal of the data symbol.

[0722] The data symbol is a symbol that contains data for MAP#1 to transmit to the indoor gateway 4502, and is also a symbol that MAP#1 transmits to MP*7.

[0723] When MP*7 transmits a modulation signal to MP*6, when MP*6 transmits a modulation signal to MP*5, when MP*5 transmits a modulation signal to MP*4, and when MP*4 transmits a modulation signal to the indoor gateway, by adopting the same frame configuration, the data transmitted by MAP#1 can be transmitted to the indoor gateway 4502.

[0724] (2-2) The second method In the second method, the indoor gateway 4502 creates a route map for each MAP, but does not share the map.

[0725] FIG. 53 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the indoor network. Note that as a result of creating the route map, the formed mesh network is, for example, the one shown in FIG. 53.

[0726] The indoor gateway 4502 creates a route map for MAP#1. This route map shows, for example, (a) that the indoor gateway 4502 can transmit data to MAP#1 by transmitting data to MP*4, MP*4 transmitting data to MP*5, MP*5 transmitting data to MP*6, MP*6 transmitting data to MP*7, and MP*7 transmitting data to MAP#1. Also, further, (b) that MAP#1 can transmit data to the indoor gateway 4502 by transmitting data to MP*7, MP*7 transmitting data to MP*6, MP*6 transmitting data to MP*5, MP*5 transmitting data to MP*4, and MP*4 transmitting data to the indoor gateway.

[0727] (3) Operation of packet transmission The in-house gateway 4502 transmits information based on the information of this route map. When transmitting this information, the in-house gateway 4502 also transmits control information including information regarding the route of the nodes. Therefore, each node will know the destination to which the frame is to be transmitted based on the transmitted control information.

[0728] Similarly, MAP#1 creates a route map for the in-house gateway 4502. Then, MAP#1 transmits information based on the information of this route map. When transmitting this information, MAP#1 also transmits control information including information regarding the route of the nodes. Therefore, each node will know the destination to which the frame is to be transmitted based on the transmitted control information.

[0729] The frame configuration and the operation example are the same as the description in FIG. 52.

[0730] As described above, the communication from the in-house gateway 4502 to the terminal can be realized wirelessly, and thereby the effect of providing an environment with less wiring for data transmission indoors can be obtained. Also, regarding the connection between the in-house network and the outdoor network, it is also possible to realize it by wireless data communication, and the effect of providing an environment with less wiring for data transmission can be obtained.

[0731] Next, two cases, specifically case 1 and case 2, will be described regarding the timing for executing the operation in (1) above (see FIG. 54). Case 1 is a case where the operations in (1) and (2) are executed at a certain time interval. Case 2 is a case where the operation in (1) is executed again when adding an MP or MAP in the in-house network.

[0732] Case 1 has already been described. Below, case 2 will be described.

[0733] Here, consider the case of changing from the network configuration shown in FIG. 55 to the network configuration shown in FIG. 56. Note that since the network configuration of FIG. 55 has already been described, the description thereof is omitted. The network configuration shown in FIG. 56 has MP*100 added to the network configuration shown in FIG. 55. Also, the configuration of the indoor network 4504 after MP*100 is added is shown in FIG. 57.

[0734] The process when MP*100 is added to the indoor network 4504 will be described with reference to FIG. 58.

[0735] First, MP*100 notifies the nodes in the indoor network 4504 that it will participate in the indoor network 4504. At this time, the "notification of participation in the indoor network" is broadcast (multicast) transmitted.

[0736] Actually, the above notification will only be notified to the adjacent nodes of MP*100. As shown in FIG. 57, the adjacent nodes of MP*100 are the indoor gateway and MP*6, so the above notification will be received by the indoor gateway 4502 and MP*6.

[0737] In addition, MP*100 broadcasts (multicasts) transmits a "reset request for the indoor network configuration". The "reset request for the indoor network configuration" will be received by the indoor gateway and MP*6 in the same manner as described above.

[0738] Next, the indoor gateway 4502 and MP*6 broadcast (multicast) transmit the "notification of participation in the indoor network" and the "reset request for the indoor network configuration". Thereafter, other nodes will also broadcast (multicast) transmit the "notification of participation in the indoor network" and the "reset request for the indoor network configuration", but the example of the broadcast (multicast) transmission rules is as already described.

[0739] In the above example, an example where an MP is added to the indoor network 4504 has been described. However, an MAP may be added. At this time, if the description of the operation of the above MP is replaced with the operation of the MAP and the operation is performed, it can be implemented in the same manner.

[0740] Thereafter, the operations (1) and (2) are performed, and the operation (3) becomes possible.

[0741] As described above, in the indoor network 4504, by configuring a network in which a new MP or MAP can be added, the indoor communication environment can be improved. As a result, effects such as an improvement in the data transmission quality and an improvement in the data transmission speed can be obtained.

[0742] In the above description, "indoor network" is described. However, the indoor gateway 4502, MP*1, etc. and MAP#1, etc. may be installed outdoors. That is, the installation locations of the indoor gateway 4502, MP*1, etc. and MAP#1, etc. are not limited to indoors.

[0743] Also, although MP*1, etc. have a relay function (data transfer function), MP*1, etc. may have a function as an access point for communicating with a terminal. Similarly, the indoor gateway 4502 may have a function as an access point for communicating with a terminal.

[0744] Further, the indoor gateway 4502, MP*1, etc. and MAP#1, etc. may be equipped with a device that generates data such as a camera or a sensor. Further, the indoor gateway 4502, MP*1, etc. and MAP#1, etc. are equipped with an interface for connecting to a device that generates data such as a camera or a sensor, and in order to transmit the data generated by these devices to a terminal or the indoor gateway 4502, the relay function (data transfer function) described in this embodiment may be used.

[0745] (Supplementary Note A1) In FIG. 45, the indoor gateway 4502 receives power from an AC (Alternating Current) power source or a DC (Direct Current) power source, for example, by wire, via a power receiving unit 4502c. As a result, an effect can be obtained in which more stable power is supplied to the indoor gateway 4502.

[0746] On the other hand, the outdoor gateway 4501 does not include a power receiving unit that receives power from an AC power source or a DC power source by wire, and as shown in the drawing, a configuration in which power is received from the indoor gateway 4502 by wireless power feeding is conceivable. More specifically, wireless power feeding (power transmission) is performed wirelessly from the wireless power feeding unit 4502d of the indoor gateway 4502 to the wireless power receiving unit 4501c of the outdoor gateway 4501. With such a configuration, the possibility of a short circuit in the "power receiving unit that receives power from an AC power source or a DC power source by wire" due to rainfall or snowfall can be reduced, and as a result, an effect that waterproofing and drip-proofing become easier can be obtained.

[0747] The indoor gateway 4502 and the outdoor gateway 4501 in FIG. 45, FIG. 46 or FIG. 47, the Wi-Fi AP and the repeater in FIG. 46, and the MP and the MAP in FIG. 47 may have a wireless communication function in one frequency band, or may have a wireless communication function in two or more frequency bands.

[0748] Here, "having a wireless communication function in one frequency band" may mean, for example, "having only a wireless communication function in the 60 GHz band".

[0749] Also, "having a wireless communication function in two or more frequency bands" may mean, for example, "having a wireless communication function in the 2.4 GHz band and a wireless communication function in the 60 GHz band", or "having a wireless communication function in the 5 GHz band and a wireless communication function in the 60 GHz band", or "having a wireless communication function in the 2.4 GHz band, a wireless communication function in the 5 GHz band, and a wireless communication function in the 60 GHz band".

[0750] Note that "having a wireless communication function in two or more frequency bands" is not limited to the above. For example, it may be "having a wireless communication function in a frequency band of A (Hz: Hertz) and a wireless communication function in a frequency band of B (Hz). However, A is a real number of 0 or more, B is a real number of 0 or more, and A≠B holds."

[0751] Alternatively, separately from this, it may be "having a wireless communication function in a frequency band of A (Hz), a wireless communication function in a frequency band of B (Hz), and a wireless communication function in a frequency band of C (Hz). However, A is a real number of 0 or more, B is a real number of 0 or more, C is a real number of 0 or more, and A≠B, A≠C, and B≠C hold."

[0752] The indoor gateway 4502, the outdoor gateway 4501 in FIG. 45, FIG. 46, or FIG. 47, the Wi-Fi AP and the repeater in FIG. 46, and the MP and the MAP in FIG. 47 may have an optical communication function, may constitute the mesh network (multi-hop network) described in this specification by optical communication, and can relay frames. In this way, the same effects as those described above can be obtained.

[0753] Also, when there is an object (for example, a glass plate) that transmits light such as a glass window between the indoor gateway 4502 and the outdoor gateway 4501 in FIG. 45, optical communication can be used for the communication between the indoor gateway 4502 and the outdoor gateway 4501.

[0754] For example, assume that the WTTH network formed using the outdoor gateway 4501 is formed by wireless communication via radio waves, and the indoor network 4504 formed using the indoor gateway 4502 is also formed by wireless communication via radio waves. At this time, the communication between the indoor gateway 4502 and the outdoor gateway 4501 may be optical communication, may be wireless communication via radio waves, or may be communication that switches between optical communication and wireless communication via radio waves according to the communication situation or the like. Further, it may be communication that switches between optical communication and wireless communication via radio waves according to the material between the indoor gateway and the outdoor gateway.

[0755] (Embodiment A2) FIG. 59 shows an example of the configuration of the nodes (that is, the indoor gateway 4502, MP*1, etc., and MAP#1, etc.) in FIG. 47. The configuration shown in FIG. 59 shows the functions related to the transmission and reception of frames among the functions of the nodes.

[0756] The first transmission / reception device 1505 is a transmission / reception device for the first wireless communication method in the frequency band of A (Hz). The second transmission / reception device 1514 is a transmission / reception device for the second wireless communication method in the frequency band of B (Hz). Here, let A be a real number of 0 or more, B be a real number of 0 or more, and A > B. For example, assume that the first wireless communication method uses the frequency band of 60 GHz (A = 60G), and the second wireless communication method uses the frequency band of 2.4 GHz (B = 2.4G).

[0757] Note that FIG. 59 shows an example of the configuration of a node using two frequency bands, but the node may use three or more frequency bands. In this case, the node is provided with transmission / reception devices necessary for communication in three or more frequency bands.

[0758] The first transmission / reception device 1505 takes the received signal 1502 received by the antenna 1501 as an input, performs processes such as demodulation and error correction decoding, and outputs the received data 1506. Note that the received signal 1502 is a signal of the first wireless communication method in the frequency band of A (Hz).

[0759] Further, the first transceiver 1505 takes the received signal 1502 as an input, estimates the communication environment, and outputs a reception status signal 1599.

[0760] The first transceiver 1505 takes the transmission data 1507 as an input, performs processes such as error correction encoding, mapping, and frequency conversion, generates a transmission signal 1504, and outputs it. Then, the antenna 1503 outputs the transmission signal 1504 as a radio wave. Note that the transmission signal 1504 is a signal of the first wireless communication system in the frequency band of A (Hz).

[0761] The shared information generation unit 1508 takes the received data 1506 and the reception status signal 1599 as inputs, generates information 1509 for sharing, and outputs it. Note that this will be described later.

[0762] The second transceiver 1514 takes the received signal 1511 received by the antenna 1510 as an input, performs processes such as demodulation and error correction decoding, and outputs received data 1515. Note that the received signal 1511 is a signal of the second wireless communication system in the frequency band of B (Hz).

[0763] The second transceiver 1514 takes the transmission data 1516 and the information 1509 for sharing as inputs, performs processes such as error correction encoding, mapping, and frequency conversion, generates a transmission signal 1513, and outputs it. Then, the antenna 1512 outputs the transmission signal 1513 as a radio wave. Note that the transmission signal 1513 is a signal of the second wireless communication system in the frequency band of B (Hz).

[0764] FIG. 60 shows an example of communication between MP*3 and MP*4 in FIG. 47. Assume that MP*3 and MP*4 are devices having the configuration shown in FIG. 59.

[0765] In FIG. 60, graph 1651 shows the communication flow of the first transceiver 1505 of MP*3. Graph 1652 shows the communication flow of the second transceiver 1514 of MP*3. Graph 1661 shows the communication flow of the first transceiver 1505 of MP*4. Graph 1662 shows the communication flow of the second transceiver 1514 of MP*4. In graphs 1651, 1652, 1661, and 1662, the horizontal axis represents time.

[0766] As shown in FIG. 60, first, the first transceiver 1505 of MP*3 transmits frame 1601. An example of the configuration of frame 1601 is as shown in FIG. 48. Also, frame 1601 is a frame of the "first wireless communication method in the frequency band of A (Hz)".

[0767] Then, for example, the first transceiver 1505 of MP*4 receives frame 1601. After receiving frame 1601, the first transceiver 1505 of MP*4 estimates the reception state when the first transceiver 1505 of MP*3 transmits a modulation signal. Also, the first transceiver 1505 of MP*4 will know that it is MP*3 that transmitted the modulation signal by obtaining the device identification information from the device identification information symbol.

[0768] Then, the second transceiver 1514 of MP*4 transmits frame 1602. Note that frame 1602 is a frame of the "second wireless communication method in the frequency band of B (Hz)".

[0769] An example of the configuration of frame 1602 is shown in FIG. 61. The horizontal axis represents time. For example, frame 1602 is configured to include a preamble, a control information symbol, and a data symbol.

[0770] The preamble in FIG. 61 is a symbol for a communication partner to perform, for example, time synchronization and frequency synchronization. (Signal detection may be performed.) In the description here, the communication partner is assumed to be one or more, or two or more devices. Here, the devices are the indoor gateway 4502, MP#1, etc., MAP*1, etc.

[0771] The control information symbol in FIG. 61 includes a transmission method information symbol. The transmission method information symbol includes information indicating "whether frame 1602 is a frame for broadcast (multicast) or a frame for unicast". Note that frame 1602 is a frame for broadcast (multicast). Further, it may include information regarding the transmission method such as the method of error correction code, modulation method information used to generate the data symbol, and the number of streams to be transmitted.

[0772] The data symbol in FIG. 61 includes an information symbol for sharing. When performing communication as shown in FIG. 60, the information symbol for sharing is assumed to include information on "estimation of the reception state when the first transceiver 1505 of MP*3 transmits a modulation signal" and information on "MP*3 having transmitted the modulation signal".

[0773] Then, one or more, or two or more devices receive frame 1602 transmitted by the second transceiver 1514 of MP*4, and these devices will obtain information on "estimation of the reception state when the first transceiver 1505 of MP*3 transmits a modulation signal" and information on "MP*3 having transmitted the modulation signal". Note that in FIG. 47, frame 1602 will be received by the indoor gateway 4502, MP*1, MP*2, MP*3, MP*5, MP*6, MP*7, MP*8, MAP#1, MAP#2, MAP#3, and MAP#4.

[0774] This is easily realized because A > B. This is because the communication range of radio waves with a relatively low frequency is longer.

[0775] As a result, one or two or more devices can easily have the communication status between MP*3 and MP*4, and the effect that the configuration of the mesh network of each node can be easily understood and the route map in the mesh network can be prepared can be obtained.

[0776] Note that although the method of sharing the communication status between MP*3 and MP*4 with the device has been described here, it is also possible to implement the sharing of the communication status between devices other than "the communication status between MP*3 and MP*4" with the device in the same way.

[0777] Also, for example, the first wireless communication method may use a frequency band of 60 GHz (A = 60G), and the second wireless communication method may use a frequency band of 5 GHz (B = 5G). However, it is not limited to this example.

[0778] Also, in this description, the indoor environment is used as an example, but it is not limited to this. For example, even if the indoor gateway 4502 in FIG. 47 is used as the outdoor gateway 4501 and the things described so far are implemented, it can be implemented in the same way and the same effects can be obtained.

[0779] Note that the information for sharing included in the information symbol for sharing is not limited to the examples described in this embodiment. For example, a configuration in which an information symbol includes information necessary for sharing information necessary for configuring a mesh network (multi-hop network) can be considered.

[0780] (Embodiment A3) FIG. 62 shows an example of the configuration of the indoor gateway 4502, MP*1, etc. and MAP#1, etc. in FIG. 47. The first transceiver 1505 is a transceiver for a first wireless communication system for optical communication, and the second transceiver 1514 is a transceiver for a second wireless communication system in a frequency band of B (Hz), where B is a real number greater than or equal to 0. Note that FIG. 62 shows an example with two transceivers, but a configuration with three or more transceivers may also be possible.

[0781] The first transceiver 1505 takes the received signal 1502 received by the light receiving unit 1801 as an input, performs processes such as demodulation and error correction decoding, and outputs the received data 1506. Note that the light receiving unit 1801 can be realized by, for example, a photodiode, a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor, an organic CMOS image sensor, etc.

[0782] Also, the first transceiver 1505 takes the received signal 1502 as an input, estimates the communication environment, and outputs the received state signal 1599.

[0783] The first transceiver 1505 takes the transmission data 1507 as an input, performs processes such as error correction encoding, mapping, and frequency conversion, generates the transmission signal 1504, and outputs it. Then, the light emitting unit 1803 outputs the transmission signal 1504 as a radio wave. Note that the light emitting unit 1803 can be realized by, for example, an LED (Light Emitting Diode), etc.

[0784] The shared information generation unit 1508 takes the received data 1506 and the received state signal 1599 as inputs, generates the information 1509 for sharing, and outputs it. Note that this will be explained later.

[0785] The second transceiver 1514 takes the received signal 1511 received by the antenna 1510 as an input, performs processes such as demodulation and error correction decoding, and outputs the received data 1515. Note that the received signal 1511 is a signal of the second wireless communication method in the frequency band of B (Hz).

[0786] The second transceiver 1514 takes the transmission data 1516 and the information 1509 for sharing as inputs, performs processes such as error correction encoding, mapping, and frequency conversion, generates the transmission signal 1513, and outputs it. Then, the antenna 1512 outputs the transmission signal 1513 as radio waves. Note that the transmission signal 1513 is a signal of the second wireless communication method in the frequency band of B (Hz).

[0787] Figure 60 shows an example of the communication between MP*3 and MP*4 in Figure 47. Assume that MP*3 and MP*4 are devices with the configuration shown in Figure 62.

[0788] In Figure 60, the graph 1651 shows the communication flow of the first transceiver 1505 of MP*3. The graph 1652 shows the communication flow of the second transceiver 1514 of MP*3. The graph 1661 shows the communication flow of the first transceiver 1505 of MP*4. The graph 1662 shows the communication flow of the second transceiver 1514 of MP*4. In the graphs 1651, 1652, 1661, and 1662, the horizontal axis represents time.

[0789] As shown in Figure 60, first, the first transceiver 1505 of MP*3 transmits the frame 1601. An example of the configuration of the frame 1601 is as shown in Figure 48. Also, the frame 1601 is a frame of the optical communication method.

[0790] Then, for example, the first transceiver 1505 of MP*4 receives frame 1601. After receiving frame 1601, the first transceiver 1505 of MP*4 performs "estimation of the reception state when the first transceiver 1505 of MP*3 transmits a modulation signal". Also, the first transceiver 1505 of MP*4 will know that it is MP*3 that transmitted the modulation signal by obtaining the device identification information from the device identification information symbol.

[0791] Then, the second transceiver 1514 of MP*4 transmits frame 1602. Note that frame 1602 is a frame of "the second wireless communication method in the frequency band of B (Hz)".

[0792] An example of the configuration of frame 1602 is shown in FIG. 61. Note that the horizontal axis represents time. For example, frame 1602 is assumed to be composed of a preamble, a control information symbol, and a data symbol.

[0793] The preamble in FIG. 61 is a symbol for the communication partner to perform time synchronization, frequency synchronization, etc. In the description here, the communication partner is assumed to be one or more, or two or more devices. At this time, the devices are the indoor gateway 4502, MP#1, etc., MAP*1, etc.

[0794] The control information symbol in FIG. 61 includes a transmission method information symbol. The transmission method information symbol includes information indicating "whether frame 1602 is a frame for broadcast (multicast) or a frame for unicast". Note that frame 1602 is a frame for broadcast (multicast). Also, it may include information regarding the transmission method such as the method of error correction code, modulation method information used to generate the data symbol, and the number of streams to be transmitted.

[0795] The data symbol in FIG. 61 includes an information symbol for sharing. When communication is performed as shown in FIG. 60, the information symbol for sharing is assumed to include information on "estimation of the reception state when the first transceiver 1505 of MP*3 transmits a modulation signal" and information on "the fact that it is MP*3 that has transmitted the modulation signal".

[0796] Then, one or more, or two or more devices receive the frame 1602 transmitted by the second transceiver 1514 of MP*4, and these devices will obtain information on "estimation of the reception state when the first transceiver 1505 of MP*3 transmits a modulation signal" and information on "the fact that it is MP*3 that has transmitted the modulation signal". In FIG. 47, the frame 1602 will be received by the indoor gateway 4502, MP*1, MP*2, MP*3, MP*5, MP*6, MP*7, MP*8, MAP#1, MAP#2, MAP#3, and MAP#4.

[0797] At this time, if the "second wireless communication method in the frequency band of B (Hz)" is a wireless communication method using radio waves, it is easy to implement. This is because, considering the rectilinear propagation of light, the communicable range of optical communication is limited.

[0798] As a result, the effect that one or more, or two or more devices can easily obtain the communication status between MP*3 and MP*4 can be obtained. As a result, the configuration of the mesh network of each node can be easily understood, and the effect that a route map in the mesh network (multi-hop network) can be easily created can be obtained.

[0799] Note that although the sharing method of the communication status between MP*3 and MP*4 with devices has been described here, it is similarly possible to implement the sharing of the communication status between devices other than "the communication status between MP*3 and MP*4" with devices.

[0800] In addition, although this description uses an indoor environment as an example, it is not limited to this. For example, if the indoor gateway 4502 in FIG. 47 is used as the outdoor gateway 4501 and the operations described so far are implemented, the same operations can be carried out and the same effects can be obtained.

[0801] Note that the information to be shared included in the information symbol for sharing is not limited to the examples described in this embodiment. For example, a configuration can be considered in which an information symbol includes information necessary for sharing information that needs to be shared in constructing a mesh network (multi-hop network).

[0802] (Embodiment A4) In Embodiment A2, FIG. 59 shows the configuration of the nodes in FIG. 47 (that is, the indoor gateway 4502, MP*1, etc., and MAP#1, etc.). The first transceiver 1505 is a transceiver for the first wireless communication system in the frequency band of A (Hz), and the second transceiver 15...

Claims

1. A communication system comprising a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the first communication device comprises a first communication interface connected to a first network and a second communication interface for wireless communication, wherein the second communication device comprises a third communication interface connected to a second network and a fourth communication interface connected to the second communication interface of the first communication device by wireless communication, wherein the first communication device is disposed in a first outdoor space, wherein the second communication device is disposed in a second indoor space separated from the first space by a plate body, wherein the second communication interface and the fourth communication interface are connected by wireless communication using radio waves passing through the plate body, wherein the second communication device comprises a power receiving unit for receiving power for driving the second communication device from a power supply terminal installed in the second space and a wireless power supply unit for wirelessly supplying power to the first communication device, wherein the first communication device comprises a wireless power receiving unit for wirelessly receiving power for driving the first communication device from the wireless power supply unit through the plate body, wherein the second communication interface performs optical communication with the fourth communication interface communication system.

2. The first communication interface communicates in a TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) system, and the third communication interface communicates in a CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access) system The communication system according to claim 1.

3. The first communication interface is a wireless communication interface and is connected to the first network which is a wireless network, and the third communication interface is a wireless communication interface and is connected to the second network which is a wireless network The communication system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The first communication interface is connected to the first network which is a wireless multi-hop network, and the third communication interface is connected to the second network which is a wireless multi-hop network The communication system according to claim 3.

5. A control method for a communication system comprising a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the first communication device is disposed in a first outdoor space, comprises a first communication interface connected to a first network and a second communication interface for wireless communication, ​ The second communication device is disposed in a second indoor space separated from the first space by a plate body, a third communication interface connected to a second network, a fourth communication interface connected to the second communication interface of the first communication device by wireless communication, a power receiving unit that receives power for driving the second communication device from a power supply terminal installed in the second space, and includes a wireless power supply unit that wirelessly supplies power to the first communication device, the second communication interface and the fourth communication interface are connected by wireless communication using radio waves through the plate body, the first communication device further includes a wireless power receiving unit that wirelessly receives power for driving the first communication device from the wireless power supply unit through the plate body, the control method is a step in which the first communication device connects to the first network through the first communication interface, a step in which the first communication device performs wireless communication through the second communication interface, a step in which the second communication device connects to the second network through the third communication interface, and includes a step in which the second communication device is connected to the second communication interface of the first communication device by wireless communication through the fourth communication interface, the second communication interface performs optical communication with the fourth communication interface control method.

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