COMMUNICATION CONTROL DEVICE, COMMUNICATION CONTROL METHOD, AND COMMUNICATION DEVICE

Abstract

[Problem] To reduce the amount of computation for communication using beam forming. [Solution] A communication control device of the present disclosure is provided with a processing unit for dividing a plurality of beams that a communication device is capable of transmitting into one or more groups, and controlling the use of the beams in the communication device for each group.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a communication control device, a communication control method, and a communication device. [Background technology]

[0002] The problem of a depletion of radio wave resources (frequencies) that can be allocated to wireless systems has surfaced due to the increase in wireless environments where a variety of wireless systems coexist and the enrichment of content provided via wireless. As a result, "Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA)," which utilizes white space in time and space among frequency bands already allocated to specific wireless systems, is rapidly gaining attention as a means of freeing up necessary radio wave resources. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2019 / 026375 [Patent Document 2] International Publication No. 2020 / 230659 [Non-patent literature]

[0004] [Non-Patent Document 1] WINNF-TS-0112-V1.9.0 Requirements for Commercial Operation in the US 3550-3700 MHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service Band [Non-patent document 2] WINNF-TS-0016-V1.2.1 Signaling Protocols and Procedures for Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS): Spectrum Access System (SAS) - Citizens Broadband Radio Service Device (CBSD) Interface Technical Specification [Non-Patent Document 3] Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47, Chapter I, Subchapter A, Part 1, Subpart X Spectrum Leasing [available at https: / / www.ecfr.gov / cgi-bin / text-idx?node=sp47.1.1.x] [Non-Patent Document 4] WINNF-TS-0061-V1.5.1 Test and Certification for Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS); Conformance and Performance Test Technical Specification; SAS as Unit Under Test (UUT) [available at https: / / cbrs.wirelessinnovation.org / release-1-of-the-baseline-standard-specifications [Non-Patent Document 5] WINNF-TS-0016-V1.2.4 Signaling Protocols and Procedures for Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS): Spectrum Access System (SAS) - Citizens Broadband Radio Service Device (CBSD) Interface Technical Specification [available at https: / / cbrs.wirelessinnovation.org / release-1-of-the-baseline-standard-specifications [Non-patent document 6] 940660 D02 CBSD Handshake Procedures v02 [available at https: / / apps.fcc.gov / kdb / GetAttachment.html?id=RQe7oZJVSWt0fCcNiBV%2Bfw%3D%3D&desc=940660%20D02%20CPE-CBSD%20Handshake%20Procedures%20v02&tracking_number=229297] [Non-Patent Document 7] “940660 D02 CPE-CBSD Handshake Procedures v02”, Federal Communications Commission Office of Engineering and Technology Laboratory Division, October 2019, available at https: / / apps.fcc.gov / oetcf / kdb / forms / FTSSearchResultPage.cfm?id=229297&switch=P Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The fifth-generation mobile communication system, which is currently being introduced in countries around the world, achieves more efficient frequency utilization by using radio base station equipment with beamforming functionality that can obtain high beam gain using many antennas.

[0006] On the other hand, existing institutionalized DSA systems, such as the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) commercially available in the U.S., do not properly take this beamforming function into account. Specifically, this beamforming function is not properly taken into account when calculating the interference power from the secondary system to the primary system or when exchanging messages between communication control devices and wireless base station devices.

[0007] For example, Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose a method called Iterative Allocation Process (IAP), which allocates the interference margin (interference tolerance power) of a primary system to each wireless base station device by repeatedly reducing the transmission power of the wireless base station device (base station) by a fixed amount until the interference to the primary system falls below a tolerance value. However, since this method reduces the transmission power on a base station-by-base station basis, in the case of a base station having a beamforming function that forms multiple beams, the transmission power of other beams is determined to match the beam that causes the strongest interference to the primary system. As a result, even a beam that causes weak interference to the primary system is forced to match the transmission power of the beam that causes the strongest interference. This does not mean that radio wave resources are being used as effectively as possible.

[0008] Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose a method of individually evaluating the interference power to the primary system for each beam, and individually determining the transmission power and availability for each beam. In this method of determining the transmission power and availability for each beam, the amount of calculation increases in proportion to the number of beams, compared to when calculations are performed for each base station. For example, in 3GPP, a base station using Frequency Range 2 (FR2) can transmit a maximum of 64 beams. Therefore, for base stations using FR2, the amount of calculation required to protect the primary system may become enormous.

[0009] The present disclosure provides a communication control device, a communication control method, and a communication device that reduce the amount of calculation in communication using beamforming. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] A communication control device according to the present disclosure includes a processing unit that divides a plurality of beams of a communication device capable of transmitting the plurality of beams into one or more groups and controls the use of the beams in the communication device on a group-by-group basis. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system model according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] 1 illustrates a network configuration in which autonomous decision-making can be applied. [Figure 3] 1 illustrates a network configuration in which centralized decision-making can be applied. [Figure 4] A diagram showing a network configuration when both centralized and decentralized decision-making are applied. [Figure 5] A diagram explaining the 3-tier structure of CBRS. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the flow of signaling between terminals. [Figure 7] 1 is a block diagram of a communication network according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 8]FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an interference calculation model assumed in the present embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the spatial positional relationship between communication devices of a primary system and a secondary system. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the relationship between the elevation angle of the beam direction and the size of the beam coverage. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of changing the beam direction in the azimuth angle direction. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a range within a certain angle from the direction in which the primary protection area exists. [Figure 13] 6 is a flowchart of a first method (method 1) executed by a processing unit of a communication control device according to the present embodiment. [Figure 14] 10 is a flowchart of a second method (method 2) executed by a processing unit of the communication control device according to the present embodiment. [Figure 15] 10 is a flowchart of a third method (Method 3) executed by a processing unit of the communication control device according to the present embodiment. [Figure 16] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of dividing a grouping target range in terms of beam direction into two or more ranges. [Figure 17] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of calculating the beam range of motion from a given beam direction. [Figure 18] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example in which a movable range including a plurality of beam movable ranges is set as a grouping target range. [Figure 19] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of beam pattern synthesis. [Figure 20] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of beam pattern synthesis. [Figure 21] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example in which common sampling points are used in all beam directions. [Figure 22] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example in which sampling points differ for each beam direction. [Figure 23] FIG. 10 illustrates an intermediate direction between two beams. [Figure 24] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the range of beam width from the beam direction of a certain beam. [Figure 25]10 is a flowchart of an example of a DPA Move List calculation algorithm. [Figure 26] 10 is a flowchart of an example of an algorithm for calculating a list of beams that cannot be transmitted. [Figure 27] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example in which beams are rearranged in order of interference power. [Figure 28] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of selecting a beam. [Figure 29] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of selecting a beam within a certain range from the direction in which the primary system is installed. [Figure 30] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of a method for rearranging beams. [Figure 31] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of a method for rearranging beams. [Figure 32] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of a method for rearranging beams. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] <<1. Typical scenarios assumed>> 1.1 System model 1 shows a system model according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the system model is represented by a communication network 100 including wireless communication, and typically comprises the following entities: Communication device 110 Terminal 120 Communication control device 130 This system model also includes at least a primary system and a secondary system that use the communication network 100. The primary system and the secondary system are configured by a communication device 110, or by a communication device 110 and a terminal 120. Various communication systems can be treated as the primary system or the secondary system, but in this embodiment, the primary system and the secondary system use part or all of the frequency bands. Note that the frequency bands allocated to the primary system and the secondary system may overlap partly or completely, or may not overlap at all. In other words, this system model will be described as a model of a wireless communication system related to dynamic spectrum sharing (DSA). Note that this system model is not limited to systems related to dynamic spectrum sharing.

[0013] The communication device 110 is typically a wireless device that provides wireless communication services to the terminal 120, such as a wireless base station (Base Station, Node B, eNB, gNB, etc.) or a wireless access point. That is, the communication device 110 provides wireless communication services to enable wireless communication of the terminal 120. The communication device 110 may also be a wireless relay device or an optical device called a Remote Radio Head (RRH). In the following description, unless otherwise specified, the communication device 110 will be described as an entity that constitutes a secondary system.

[0014] The coverage (communication area) provided by the communication device 110 can be of various sizes, ranging from a large one such as a macrocell to a small one such as a picocell. A plurality of communication devices 110 may form one cell, such as in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Furthermore, if the communication device 110 has a beamforming capability, a cell or service area may be formed for each beam.

[0015] In this disclosure, it is assumed that there are two different types of communication devices 110.

[0016] In the present disclosure, a communication device 110 that can access the communication control device 130 without using a wireless path that requires permission from the communication control device 130 is referred to as a "communication device 110A." Specifically, for example, a communication device 110 that can connect to the Internet via a wired connection can be considered a "communication device 110A." Furthermore, for example, even if a wireless relay device does not have a wired Internet connection function, if a wireless backhaul link using a frequency that does not require permission from the communication control device 130 is established with another communication device 110A, such a wireless relay device can also be considered a "communication device 110A."

[0017] In the present disclosure, a communication device 110 that cannot access the communication control device 130 without a wireless path that requires permission from the communication control device 130 is referred to as a "communication device 110B." For example, a wireless relay device that needs to establish a backhaul link using a frequency that requires permission from the communication control device 130 can be considered as a "communication device 110B." Also, for example, a device such as a smartphone that has a wireless network provision function, typified by tethering, and that uses a frequency that requires permission from the communication control device 130 in both the backhaul link and the access link may be treated as a "communication device 110B."

[0018] The communication device 110 does not necessarily have to be fixed. For example, the communication device 110 may be installed on a moving object such as an automobile. Furthermore, the communication device 110 does not necessarily have to be located on the ground. For example, the communication device 110 may be provided on an object in the air or space, such as an aircraft, a drone, a helicopter, a High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS), a balloon, or a satellite. Furthermore, the communication device 110 may be provided on an object on or under the sea, such as a ship or a submarine. Typically, such a mobile communication device 110 corresponds to the communication device 110B, and secures an access path to the communication control device 130 by performing wireless communication with the communication device 110A. Naturally, even a mobile communication device 110 can be treated as the communication device 110A as long as the frequency used for wireless communication with the communication device 110A is not managed by the communication control device 130.

[0019] In this disclosure, unless otherwise specified, the term "communication device 110" encompasses both communication device 110A and communication device 110B, and may be interpreted as either one.

[0020] The communication device 110 may be used, operated, or managed by various operators. For example, a mobile network operator (MNO), a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), a mobile network enabler (MNE), a mobile virtual network enabler (MVNE), a shared facility operator, a neutral host network (NHN) operator, a broadcasting operator, an enterprise, an educational institution (such as a school corporation or a local government board of education), a real estate (such as a building or condominium) manager, or an individual may be considered as an operator related to the communication device 110. Note that the operator related to the communication device 110 is not particularly limited. Furthermore, the communication device 110A may be a shared facility used by multiple operators. Furthermore, the installation, use, operation, and management of the facility may be performed by different operators.

[0021] A communication device 110 operated by a service provider is typically connected to the Internet via a core network. Operation, administration, and maintenance are performed using a function called OA&M (Operation, Administration & Maintenance). For example, as shown in FIG. 1, an intermediate device (network manager) 110C may exist that performs integrated control of the communication devices 110 within the network. The intermediate device may be either a communication device 110 or a communication control device 130.

[0022] Terminal 120 (e.g., User Equipment, User Terminal, User Station, Mobile Terminal, or Mobile Station) is a device that performs wireless communication using a wireless communication service provided by communication device 110. Typically, a communication device such as a smartphone corresponds to terminal 120. Note that any device equipped with a wireless communication function can also correspond to terminal 120. For example, a device such as a professional camera with a wireless communication function can also correspond to terminal 120, even if wireless communication is not its main purpose. Furthermore, communication devices that transmit data to terminal 120, such as a broadcasting service radio station (FPU: Field Pickup Unit) that transmits television broadcast images from outside (the field of) a broadcast station to a broadcast station for sports coverage, etc., also correspond to terminal 120. Furthermore, terminal 120 does not necessarily have to be used by a person. For example, as in so-called MTC (Machine Type Communication), devices such as factory machines and sensors installed in a building may be connected to a network and operate as terminal 120. Furthermore, a device called Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) that is provided to ensure Internet connection may act as the terminal 120.

[0023] Furthermore, the terminal 120 may be provided with a relay communication function, as typified by D2D (Device-to-Device) and V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything).

[0024] Similarly to the communication device 110, the terminal 120 does not need to be fixed or located on the ground. For example, an object in the air or space, such as an aircraft, a drone, a helicopter, or a satellite, may operate as the terminal 120. Furthermore, an object on or under the sea, such as a ship or a submarine, may operate as the terminal 120.

[0025] In this disclosure, unless otherwise specified, the terminal 120 corresponds to an entity that terminates a wireless link using a frequency that requires permission from the communication control device 130. However, depending on the functions that the terminal 120 has and the network topology that is applied, the terminal 120 may operate in the same manner as the communication device 110. In other words, depending on the network topology, a device that can correspond to the communication device 110, such as a wireless access point, may also correspond to the terminal 120, and a device that can correspond to the terminal 120, such as a smartphone, may also correspond to the communication device 110.

[0026] The communication control device 130 is typically a device that determines, authorizes, instructs, and / or manages communication parameters of the communication device 110. For example, database servers called TVWSDB (TV White Space Database), GLDB (Geolocation database), SAS (Spectrum Access System), and AFC (Automated Frequency Coordination) correspond to the communication control device 130. In other words, a database server that has the authority and role of authenticating and supervising radio wave usage related to secondary usage of frequencies can be considered to be the communication control device 130.

[0027] The communication control device 130 also corresponds to a database server having a role different from the above. For example, a control device that controls radio interference between communication devices, such as the Spectrum Manager (SM) in EN 303 387 of the ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute), the Coexistence Manager (CM) in IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.19.1-2018, or the Coexistence Manager (CxM) in CBRSA-TS-2001, also corresponds to the communication control device 130. In addition, a Registered Location Secure Server (RLSS) specified in IEEE 802.11-2016 also corresponds to the communication control device 130. In other words, without being limited to these examples, an entity that determines, authorizes, instructs, manages, and the like communication parameters of the communication device 110 may be called the communication control device 130. Basically, the communication control device 130 controls the communication device 110, but the communication control device 130 may also control the terminal 120 under the control of the communication device 110.

[0028] A combination of multiple database servers with different roles also corresponds to the communication control device 130. For example, the CBRS Alliance SAS (CSAS), which is a combination of SAS and CxM as specified in CBRSA-TS-2001, can also be considered as the communication control device 130.

[0029] The communication control device 130 can also be realized by installing software having the same functions as the database server in one database server. For example, an SAS that has the same functions or software as a CxM can also be considered as the communication control device 130.

[0030] There may be multiple communication control devices 130 with similar roles. When there are multiple communication control devices 130 with similar roles, at least one of at least the following three types of decision-making topologies may be applied to the communication control devices 130: ·Autonomous Decision-Making ·Centralized Decision-Making ·Distributed Decision-Making

[0031] Autonomous decision-making is a decision-making topology in which a decision-making entity (decision-making entity, in this case, communication control device 130) makes decisions independently of other decision-making entities. The communication control device 130 independently performs the necessary frequency allocation and interference control calculations. For example, autonomous decision-making can be applied when multiple communication control devices 130 are deployed in a distributed manner, as shown in FIG. 2.

[0032] Centralized decision-making is a decision-making topology in which a decision-making entity delegates decision-making to another decision-making entity. When centralized decision-making is implemented, a model such as that shown in FIG. 3 is assumed. FIG. 3 shows a model (so-called master-slave model) in which one communication control device 130 centrally controls multiple communication control devices 130. In the model of FIG. 3, a master communication control device 130A controls multiple slave communication control devices 130B, and is capable of making decisions in a centralized manner.

[0033] Distributed decision-making is a decision-making topology in which a decision-making entity cooperates with other decision-making entities to make decisions. For example, as in the autonomous decision-making shown in FIG. 2, multiple communication control devices 130 make decisions independently, but each communication control device 130 may mutually adjust and negotiate the decision-making results after making a decision. This can be considered "distributed decision-making." Also, for example, in the centralized decision-making shown in FIG. 3, the master communication control device 130A dynamically delegates or revokes decision-making authority to each slave communication control device 130B for the purpose of load balancing, which can also be considered "distributed decision-making."

[0034] There may be cases where both centralized decision-making and distributed decision-making are applied. In FIG. 4, the slave communication control device 130B operates as an intermediate device that bundles multiple communication devices 110. The master communication control device 130A does not need to control the communication devices 110 bundled by the slave communication control device 130B, that is, the secondary system configured by the slave communication control device 130B. In this way, as a modified example, an implementation such as that shown in FIG. 4 is also possible.

[0035] To perform its function, the communication control device 130 may obtain necessary information from entities other than the communication devices 110 and the terminals 120 of the communication network 100. Specifically, the communication control device 130 may obtain information necessary for protecting the primary system from a database (regulatory database) managed or operated by a national or regional radio regulatory agency (NRA: National Regulatory Authority). An example of a regulatory database is the Universal Licensing System (ULS) operated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Examples of information necessary for protecting the primary system include location information of the primary system, communication parameters of the primary system, out-of-band emission limits (OOBE), adjacent channel leakage ratios (ACLR), adjacent channel selectivities, fading margins, and protection ratios (PR). In regions where fixed values, acquisition methods, derivation methods, etc. are prescribed by law in order to protect the primary system, it is desirable to use the information prescribed by that law as the information necessary to protect the primary system.

[0036] Furthermore, a database that records communication devices 110 and terminals 120 that have received compliance certification, such as the Equipment Authorization System (EAS) managed by the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology (OET), also falls under the category of regulatory database. From such a regulatory database, it is possible to obtain information on the operable frequencies of the communication devices 110 and terminals 120, information on the maximum equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP), and the like. Naturally, the communication control device 130 may use this information to protect the primary system.

[0037] It is also possible that the communication control device 130 acquires radio wave sensing information from a radio wave sensing system that is installed and operated for the purpose of detecting radio waves of the primary system. As a specific example, in the U.S. Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), the communication control device 130 acquires radio wave detection information of the shipboard radar, which is the primary system, from a radio wave sensing system called an Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC). Furthermore, if the communication device 110 or the terminal 120 has a sensing function, the communication control device 130 may acquire radio wave detection information of the primary system from them.

[0038] It is also conceivable that the communication control device 130 acquires activity information of the primary system from a portal system that manages activity information of the primary system. As a specific example, in the U.S. Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), the communication control device 130 acquires activity information of the primary system from a calendar-type system called the Informing Incumbent Portal. Based on the acquired activity information, a protection area called a Dynamic Protection Area (DPA) is activated to protect the primary system. A similar method is also used with an equivalent system called Informing Incumbent Capability (IIC) to protect the primary system.

[0039] The interfaces between the entities constituting this system model may be wired or wireless. For example, the interface between the communication control device 130 and the communication device 110 may be not only a wired line, but also a wireless interface that does not depend on frequency sharing. Examples of wireless interfaces that do not depend on frequency sharing include wireless communication lines provided by mobile communication carriers via licensed bands and Wi-Fi communications that use existing license-exempt bands. <1.2 Terminology related to frequencies and sharing>

[0040] As described above, in this embodiment, a dynamic spectrum access (Dynamic Spectrum Access) environment is assumed. As a representative example of dynamic spectrum access, a system defined by CBRS in the United States (i.e., a system defined by Part 96 of the FCC rules, Citizens Broadband Radio Service) will be described.

[0041] In CBRS, each frequency band user is classified into one of three groups, called tiers, as shown in Figure 5. The three groups are called the Incumbent Tier, Priority Access Tier, and General Authorized Access (GAA) Tier, respectively.

[0042] The Incumbent Tier is a group consisting of incumbent users who have traditionally used the frequency band. Incumbent users are also commonly called primary users. In CBRS, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), fixed satellite operators, and Grandfathered Wireless Broadband Licensees (GWBLs) are defined as incumbent users. The Incumbent Tier is not required to avoid interference with the Priority Access Tier and GAA Tier, which have lower priority, or to restrict frequency band usage. The Incumbent Tier is also protected from interference by the Priority Access Tier and GAA Tier. In other words, Incumbent Tier users can use the frequency band without considering the existence of other groups.

[0043] The Priority Access Tier is a group of users who use the frequency band based on the aforementioned PAL (Priority Access License). Users of the Priority Access Tier are also commonly called secondary users. When using the frequency band, the Priority Access Tier is required to avoid interference with the Incumbent Tier, which has a higher priority than the Priority Access Tier, and to suppress the use of the frequency band. On the other hand, the Priority Access Tier is not required to avoid interference with the GAA Tier, which has a lower priority than the Priority Access Tier, and is not required to suppress the use of the frequency band. In addition, the Priority Access Tier is not protected from interference by the Incumbent Tier, which has a higher priority, but is protected from interference by the GAA Tier, which has a lower priority.

[0044] The GAA Tier is a group of frequency band users that do not belong to the Incumbent Tier or Priority Access Tier. Similar to the Priority Access Tier, GAA Tier users are also generally referred to as secondary users. However, because they have a lower priority for shared use than the Priority Access Tier, they are also called low-priority secondary users. When using frequency bands, the GAA Tier is required to avoid interference with and limit frequency band usage by the Incumbent Tier and Priority Access Tier, which have higher priorities. Furthermore, the GAA Tier is not protected from interference by the Incumbent Tier and Priority Access Tier, which have higher priorities.

[0045] Although the mechanism of CBRS has been described above as a typical example of dynamic spectrum sharing, this embodiment is not limited to the definition of CBRS. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, CBRS generally adopts a three-tier structure, but in this embodiment, a two-tier structure may be adopted. Typical examples of two-tier structures include Authorized Shared Access (ASA), Licensed Shared Access (LSA), evolved LSA (eLSA), TVWS (TV band white space), and the US 6 GHz band sharing. ASA, LSA, and eLSA do not have a GAA tier, and adopt a structure equivalent to a combination of an incumbent tier and a priority access tier. Furthermore, TVWS and the US 6 GHz band sharing do not have a priority access tier, and adopt a structure equivalent to a combination of an incumbent tier and a GAA tier. Furthermore, four or more tiers may exist. Specifically, for example, four or more tiers may be created by providing multiple intermediate tiers equivalent to the priority access tier and further assigning different priorities to each intermediate tier. In addition, for example, the GAA tier may also be similarly divided and given priority, thereby increasing the number of tiers. In other words, each group may be divided.

[0046] Furthermore, the primary system of this embodiment is not limited to the definition of CBRS. For example, radio systems such as TV broadcasting, fixed microwave systems (FS: Fixed Systems), meteorological radars, radio altimeters, communications-based train control systems, and radio astronomy systems are possible examples of primary systems. Furthermore, any radio system can be the primary system of this embodiment, without being limited to these.

[0047] As mentioned above, this embodiment is not limited to a frequency-sharing environment. Generally, in frequency sharing or secondary frequency usage, an existing system using a target frequency band is called a primary system, and a secondary user is called a secondary system. However, when this embodiment is applied to a non-frequency-sharing environment, these terms should be replaced with other terms. For example, a macrocell base station in a heterogeneous network (HetNet) may be called a primary system, and a small cell base station or relay station may be called a secondary system. Alternatively, a base station may be called a primary system, and a Relay UE (User Equipment) or Vehicle UE that realizes D2D or V2X within its coverage may be called a secondary system. The base station is not limited to a fixed type, and may be a portable or mobile type. In such a case, for example, the communication control device 130 of this embodiment may be provided in a core network, a base station, a relay station, a Relay UE, or the like.

[0048] Furthermore, when the present embodiment is applied to an environment other than a frequency sharing environment, the term "frequency" in the present disclosure is replaced with another term shared in the application destination. For example, it is assumed that the term "frequency" is replaced with a term such as "resource," "resource block," "resource element," "resource pool," "channel," "component carrier," "carrier," "subcarrier," "Bandwidth Part (BWP)," or another term having an equivalent or similar meaning. <<2. Explanation of Procedures Assumed in This Embodiment>>

[0049] Here, a basic procedure that can be used when implementing this embodiment will be described. Note that the description up to <2.5> below will be given assuming that the procedure is implemented mainly in the communication device 110A. <2.1 Registration Procedure>

[0050] The registration procedure is a procedure for registering information about a wireless system that intends to use a frequency band. More specifically, it is a procedure for registering device parameters related to a communication device 110 of the wireless system in the communication control device 130. Typically, the registration procedure is initiated when the communication device 110 representing the wireless system that intends to use the frequency band notifies the communication control device 130 of a registration request including the device parameters. Note that, if multiple communication devices 110 belong to the wireless system that intends to use the frequency band, the device parameters of each of the multiple communication devices are included in the registration request. Furthermore, the device that transmits the registration request on behalf of the wireless system may be determined as appropriate. <2.1.1 Details of required parameters>

[0051] The device parameters refer to, for example, the following information: Information about the user of the communication device 110 (hereinafter referred to as user information) Information specific to the communication device 110 (hereinafter referred to as "specific information") Information regarding the location of the communication device 110 (hereinafter referred to as location information) Information regarding the antenna of the communication device 110 (hereinafter referred to as antenna information) Information regarding the wireless interface of the communication device 110 (hereinafter referred to as wireless interface information) Legal information regarding the communication device 110 (hereinafter referred to as legal information) Information about the installer of the communication device 110 (hereinafter referred to as installer information) Information about the group to which the communication device 110 belongs (hereinafter, group information)

[0052] Device parameters are not limited to those described above. Information other than these may also be treated as device parameters. It should be noted that device parameters do not need to be transmitted all at once, but may be transmitted in multiple batches. In other words, multiple registration requests may be transmitted for one registration procedure. In this way, one procedure or one process within a procedure may be performed in multiple batches. The same applies to the procedures described below.

[0053] User information refers to information related to the user of communication device 110. For example, user information may include a user ID, account name, user name, user contact information, and call sign. The user ID and account name may be generated independently by the user of communication device 110, or may be issued in advance by communication control device 130. It is desirable to use a call sign issued by an NRA.

[0054] The user information can be used, for example, for interference resolution. As a specific example, in the frequency usage notification procedure described in <2.5> below, the communication control device 130 may determine whether to suspend use of a frequency currently in use by the communication device 110 and issue an instruction based on the suspension determination, but may still notify a frequency usage notification request for that frequency. In this case, the communication control device 130 may suspect a malfunction of the communication device 110 and contact the user contact information included in the user information to request a behavior check of the communication device 110. This example is not limited to this example, and the communication control device 130 may contact the communication device 110 using the user information if it is determined that the communication device 110 is operating in a manner contrary to the communication control performed by the communication control device 130.

[0055] The unique information is information that can identify the communication device 110, product information of the communication device 110, information related to the hardware or software of the communication device 110, and the like.

[0056] The information that can identify the communication device 110 may include, for example, the manufacturing number (serial number) of the communication device 110, the ID of the communication device 110, etc. The ID of the communication device 110 may be, for example, an ID that is uniquely assigned by the user of the communication device 110.

[0057] The product information of the communication device 110 may include, for example, an authentication ID, a product model number, information about the manufacturer, etc. An authentication ID is an ID given by a certification body in each country or region, such as an FCC ID in the United States, a CE number in Europe, or a technical standards conformity certificate (Giteki) in Japan. An ID issued by an industry group or the like based on its own certification program may also be considered an authentication ID.

[0058] Such unique information can be used, for example, as an allow list or a deny list. For example, if any information related to an active communication device 110 is included in the deny list, the communication control device 130 can instruct the communication device 110 to suspend frequency usage in the frequency usage notification procedure described in <2.5> below. Furthermore, the communication control device 130 can behave in such a way that it does not lift the suspension of usage until the communication device 110 is removed from the deny list. Furthermore, for example, the communication control device 130 can refuse to register a communication device 110 included in the deny list. Furthermore, the communication control device 130 can perform operations such as not considering communication devices 110 corresponding to information included in the deny list in the interference calculation of the present disclosure, or considering only communication devices 110 corresponding to information included in the allow list in the interference calculation.

[0059] In the present disclosure, the FCC ID may be treated as information related to transmission power. For example, information about certified devices can be obtained from an EAS (Equipment Authorization System) database, which is a type of regulatory database, and its API (Application Programming Interface) is also publicly available. For example, certified maximum EIRP information may be included in the information along with the FCC ID. Since such power information is linked to the FCC ID, the FCC ID can be treated as transmission power information. Similarly, the FCC ID may be treated as equivalent to other information included in the EAS. Furthermore, if there is information linked to an authentication ID other than the FCC ID, the authentication ID may be treated as equivalent to that information.

[0060] The information about the hardware of communication device 110 may include, for example, transmission power class information. For example, in U.S. Title 47 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Part 96, two types of transmission power class information, Category A and Category B, are defined, and information about the hardware of communication device 110 that conforms to these regulations may include information indicating which of the two classes the device belongs to. Also, TS36.104 and TS 38.104 of 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) define several classes of eNodeB and gNodeB, and these regulations may also be used.

[0061] The transmission power class information can be used, for example, for interference calculation. The interference calculation can be performed by setting the maximum transmission power specified for each class as the transmission power of the communication device 110.

[0062] The information about the software of the communication device 110 may include, for example, version information and build number of an execution program that describes the processing required for interaction with the communication control device 130. It may also include version information and build number of software for operating as the communication device 110.

[0063] The location information is typically information that can identify the location of the communication device 110. For example, it is coordinate information acquired by a positioning function represented by GPS (Global Positioning System), Beidou, QZSS (Quasi-Zenith Satellite System), Galileo, or A-GPS (Assisted Global Positioning System). Typically, the location information may include information related to latitude, longitude, height above ground / sea level, altitude, and positioning error. Alternatively, it may be location information registered in an information management device managed by, for example, the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) or an agency entrusted by it. Alternatively, it may be, for example, coordinates of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis with a specific geographical position as the origin. In addition to such coordinate information, an identifier indicating whether the communication device 110 is located outdoors or indoors may be assigned.

[0064] Furthermore, location uncertainty may be included in the location information. For example, the location accuracy information may be provided for both or either the horizontal and vertical planes. The location uncertainty may be used as a correction value when calculating the distance to an arbitrary point. Furthermore, for example, the location accuracy information may also be used as area information where the communication device 110 may be located. In this case, the location uncertainty may be used for processing such as identifying frequency information that can be used within the area indicated by the positioning accuracy information.

[0065] The location information may also be information indicating the area in which the communication device 110 is located. For example, information indicating an area designated by an administrative body, such as a postal code or an address, may be used. Alternatively, the area may be indicated by a set of three or more geographic coordinates. Such information indicating the area may be provided together with the coordinate information.

[0066] Furthermore, when the communication device 110 is located indoors, the location information may also include information indicating the floor of the building on which the communication device 110 is located. For example, the location information may include an identifier indicating the floor number, ground level, or basement. Furthermore, the location information may include information indicating a further enclosed space indoors, such as a room number or room name within the building.

[0067] Typically, it is desirable that the positioning function be provided by the communication device 110. However, there are cases where the performance of the positioning function does not meet the required accuracy. Furthermore, even if the performance of the positioning function meets the required accuracy, there are cases where location information meeting the required accuracy cannot be obtained depending on the installation location of the communication device 110. Therefore, the positioning function may be provided by a device separate from the communication device 110, and the communication device 110 may obtain information related to the location from that device. The device having the positioning function may be an available existing device, or may be provided by the installer of the communication device 110. In such cases, it is desirable that the location information measured by the installer of the communication device 110 be written to the communication device 110.

[0068] The antenna information is typically information indicating the performance and configuration of an antenna provided in the communication device 110. Typically, the information may include, for example, information such as the antenna installation height, tilt angle (Downtilt), horizontal direction (Azimuth), boresight, antenna peak gain, and antenna model.

[0069] The antenna information may also include information about the beams that can be formed, such as beam width, beam pattern, and analog or digital beamforming capabilities.

[0070] The antenna information may also include information about the performance and configuration of MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) communication. For example, the information may include the number of antenna elements and the maximum number of spatial streams (or the number of MIMO layers). The antenna information may also include information about a codebook to be used and weight matrix information. The weight matrix information may be a unitary matrix, a ZF (Zero-Forcing) matrix, an MMSE (Minimum Mean Square Error) matrix, or the like, which may be obtained by SVD (Singular Value Decomposition), EVD (Eigen Value Decomposition), BD (Block Diagonalization), or the like. In addition, if the communication device 110 has a function such as MLD (Maximum Likelihood Detection) that requires nonlinear calculation, information indicating the function may be included in the antenna information.

[0071] The antenna information may also include ZoD (Zenith of Direction, Departure). ZoD is a type of radio wave arrival angle. Note that ZoD may not be notified from the communication device 110, but may be estimated by another communication device 110 from radio waves radiated from the antenna of the communication device 110 and notified. In this case, the communication device 110 may be a device operating as a base station or an access point, a device performing D2D communication, or a moving relay base station. ZoD can be estimated by a radio wave arrival direction estimation technique such as MUSIC (Multiple Signal Classification) or ESPRIT (Estimation of Signal Propagation via Rotation Invariance Techniques). Furthermore, ZoD can be used by the communication control device 130 as measurement information.

[0072] The radio interface information typically refers to information indicating the radio interface technology provided by the communication device 110. For example, the radio interface information may include identifier information indicating technologies used in GSM, CDMA2000, UMTS, E-UTRA, E-UTRA NB-IoT, 5G NR, 5G NR NB-IoT, or further next-generation cellular systems. It may also include identifier information indicating LTE (Long Term Evolution) / 5G-compliant derivative technologies such as MultiFire, LTE-U (Long Term Evolution-Unlicensed), and NR-U (NR-Unlicensed). It may also include identifier information indicating standard technologies such as MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) technologies such as WiMAX and WiMAX2+, and IEEE 802.11-based wireless LANs. It may also include identifier information indicating XGP (Extended Global Platform) and sXGP (Shared XGP). It may also be identifier information for communication technologies for LPWA (Local Power, Wide Area). It may also include identifier information indicating proprietary radio technologies. The version or release number of the technical specifications that define these technologies may also be included as air interface information.

[0073] The radio interface information may also include information about frequency bands supported by the communication device 110. For example, the frequency band information may be represented by an upper limit frequency, a lower limit frequency, a center frequency, a bandwidth, a 3GPP Operating Band number, or a combination of at least two of these. Furthermore, information about one or more frequency bands may be included in the radio interface information.

[0074] The frequency band information supported by the communication device 110 may further include information indicating the capabilities of bandwidth extension technologies such as carrier aggregation (CA) and channel bonding. For example, information on bands that can be combined may be included. Regarding carrier aggregation, information on bands to be used as a primary component carrier (PCC) or a secondary component carrier (SCC) may also be included. The number of component carriers that can be simultaneously aggregated (number of CCs) may also be included.

[0075] The frequency band information supported by the communication device 110 may further include information indicating a combination of frequency bands supported by Dual Connectivity and Multi Connectivity. In addition, information on other communication devices 110 that cooperate to provide Dual Connectivity and Multi Connectivity may also be provided. In subsequent procedures, the communication control device 130 may make a decision on communication control disclosed in this embodiment, taking into account other communication devices 110 that are in a cooperative relationship.

[0076] The frequency band information supported by the communication device 110 may also include information indicating radio wave usage priority, such as PAL and GAA.

[0077] The radio interface information may also include modulation scheme information supported by the communication device 110. For example, representative examples include information indicating primary modulation schemes such as FSK (Frequency Shift Keying), n-ary PSK (Phase Shift Keying, where n is a power of 2 such as 2, 4, or 8), and n-ary QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation, where n is a power of 4 such as 4, 16, 64, 256, or 1024). Also, information indicating secondary modulation schemes such as OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing), Scalable OFDM, DFT-s-OFDM (DFT spread OFDM), GFDM (Generalized Frequency Division Multiplexing), and FBMC (Filter Bank Multi Carrier).

[0078] The radio interface information may also include information about error correction codes, such as capabilities of Turbo codes, Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes, Polar codes, erasure correction codes, and the like, as well as information about the coding rate to be applied.

[0079] Alternatively, the modulation scheme information and the information on the error correction code can be expressed as an MCS (Modulation and Coding Scheme) index.

[0080] The radio interface information may also include information indicating functions specific to each wireless technical specification supported by the communication device 110. For example, a representative example is Transmission Mode (TM) information defined in LTE. In addition, if a specific function has two or more modes, the radio interface information may include TM information. Furthermore, if the communication device 110 supports a function that is not required by the specification even if the technical specification does not have two or more modes, the radio interface information may also include information indicating the supported function.

[0081] The radio interface information may also include information on radio access technologies (RATs) supported by the communication device 110. For example, information indicating time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), power division multiple access (PDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), sparse code multiple access (SCMA), interleave division multiple access (IDMA), spatial division multiple access (SDMA), carrier sense multiple access / collision avoidance (CSMA / CA), and carrier sense multiple access / collision detection (CSMA / CD) may be included. Note that TDMA, FDMA, and OFDMA are classified as orthogonal multiple access (OMA). PDMA, CDMA, SCMA, IDMA, and SDMA are classified as non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA). A typical example of PDMA is a method realized by combining Superposition Coding (SPC) and Successive Interference Canceller (SIC). CSMA / CA and CSMA / CD are classified as opportunistic access methods.

[0082] When the radio interface information includes information indicating an opportunistic access method, it may further include information indicating details of the access method. As a specific example, it may include information indicating whether the access method is Frame Based Equipment (FBE) or Load Based Equipment (LBE) defined in ETSI EN 301 598.

[0083] When the radio interface information indicates an LBE, it may further include information specific to the LBE, such as a Priority Class.

[0084] The radio interface information may also include information related to duplex modes supported by the communication device 110. As a representative example, information related to methods such as FDD (Frequency Division Duplex), TDD (Time Division Duplex), and FD (Full Duplex) may be included.

[0085] When TDD is included as the radio interface information, it may include information on the TDD frame structure used or supported by the communication device 110. Also, information on the duplex mode may be included for each frequency band indicated by the frequency band information.

[0086] When the FD is included as the radio interface information, information on the interference power detection level may be included.

[0087] The radio interface information may also include information about transmit diversity techniques supported by the communication device 110. For example, space time coding (STC) may be included.

[0088] The radio interface information may also include guard band information. For example, the radio interface information may include information about a guard band size predetermined for the radio interface. Alternatively, the radio interface information may include information about a guard band size desired by the communication device 110.

[0089] Regardless of the above aspect, the radio interface information may be provided for each frequency band.

[0090] The legal information typically refers to information about regulations that the communication device 110 must comply with, as determined by the radio regulatory agency or an equivalent agency of each country or region, and certification information that the communication device 110 has acquired. The regulatory information may typically include, for example, information about the upper limit of out-of-band emissions and information about the blocking characteristics of the receiver. The certification information may typically include, for example, type approval information and information about laws and regulations that serve as the basis for obtaining certification. Examples of type approval information include an FCC ID in the United States and a technical standards compliance certificate in Japan. Examples of legal information include an FCC rule number in the United States and an ETSI Harmonized Standard number in Europe.

[0091] Numerical values ​​in the legal information may be substituted by those specified in the standards for the air interface technology. Examples of standards for the air interface technology include 3GPP TS 36.104 and TS 38.104. These standards specify the adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR). Instead of the upper limit value information for out-of-band emissions, the ACLR specified in the standards may be used to derive and use the upper limit value for out-of-band emissions. The ACLR itself may also be used as needed. Adjacent channel selectivity (ACS) may also be used instead of blocking characteristics. These may also be used together, or the adjacent channel interference ratio (ACIR) may also be used. Generally, the ACIR has the following relationship with the ACLR and ACS:

number

[0092] The installer information may include information that can identify the person (installer) who installed communication device 110, unique information linked to the installer, and the like. Typically, the installer information may include information about a Certified Professional Installer (CPI) defined in Non-Patent Document 3, which is information about an individual who is responsible for the location information of communication device 110. The CPI discloses a Certified Professional Installer Registration ID (CPIR-ID) and a CPI name. Furthermore, unique information linked to the CPI may include, for example, a mailing address or contact address, an email address, a telephone number, a PKI (Public Key Identifier), and the like. The installer information may include other information related to the installer as needed, without being limited to these.

[0093] The group information may include information about a communication device group to which the communication device 110 belongs. Specifically, for example, information about groups of the same or similar type as those disclosed in WINNF-SSC-0010 may be included. Also, for example, if a communication carrier manages communication devices 110 on a group-by-group basis according to its own operation policy, information about the group may be included in the group information.

[0094] The information listed up to this point may not be provided by the communication device 110 to the communication control device 130, but may be inferred by the communication control device 130 from other information provided by the communication device 110. Specifically, for example, guard band information can be inferred from radio interface information. When the radio interface used by the communication device 110 is E-UTRA or 5G NR, the guard band information can be inferred based on the E-UTRA transmission bandwidth specifications described in 3GPP TS36.104, the 5G NR transmission bandwidth specifications described in 3GPP TS38.104, and the table described in TS38.104 shown below. [Table 1] [Table 2] [Table 3] [Table 4]

[0095] In other words, it is sufficient for the communication control device 130 to acquire the information listed above, and it is not necessary for the communication device 110 to provide this information to the communication control device 130. Furthermore, an intermediate device 130B (e.g., a network manager) that bundles multiple communication devices 110 does not necessarily have to provide this information to the communication control device 130A. Providing information from the communication device 110 or intermediate device 130B to the communication control device 130 or 130A is merely one means of providing information in this embodiment. The information listed above is information that may be necessary for the communication control device 130 to successfully complete this procedure, and the means of providing the information does not matter. For example, WINNF-TS-0061 allows such a method, which it calls Multi-Step Registration.

[0096] It should also be understood that the information listed above may be selectively applicable depending on local legal systems and technical specifications. <2.1.1.1 Supplementary information on required parameters>

[0097] In the registration procedure, it is expected that in some cases device parameters related to not only the communication device 110 but also the terminal 120 will be required to be registered in the communication control device 130. In such cases, the term "communication device" in the explanation given in <2.1.1> may be replaced with "terminal" or a term equivalent thereto. Furthermore, parameters specific to "terminal" that are not mentioned in <2.1.1> may also be treated as required parameters in the registration procedure. For example, the UE (User Equipment) Category defined by 3GPP may be mentioned. <2.1.2 Details of Registration Process>

[0098] As described above, the communication device 110 (representing a wireless system that wishes to use a frequency band) generates a registration request including device parameters and notifies the communication control device 130 of the request.

[0099] Here, if the device parameters include installer information, the communication device 110 may use the installer information to process the registration request to prevent tampering. Furthermore, some or all of the information included in the registration request may be encrypted. Specifically, for example, a unique public key may be shared in advance between the communication device 110 and the communication control device 130, and the communication device 110 may encrypt information using a private key corresponding to the public key. Examples of information that may be encrypted include location information, which is sensitive in terms of crime prevention.

[0100] It is also possible that the ID and location information of the communication device 110 are publicly available, and the communication control device 130 stores in advance the IDs and location information of the main communication devices 110 that exist within its coverage area. In such cases, the communication control device 130 can acquire the location information from the ID of the communication device 110 that sent the registration request, so the location information does not need to be included in the registration request. It is also possible that the communication control device 130 replies with the necessary device parameters to the communication device 110 that sent the registration request, and in response, the communication device 110 sends a registration request including the device parameters necessary for registration. In this way, the information included in the registration request may vary depending on the situation.

[0101] After receiving the registration request, the communication control device 130 performs registration processing for the communication device 110 and returns a registration response according to the processing results. If there is no lack of information required for registration or if there are no abnormalities, the communication control device 130 records the information in an internal or external storage device and notifies the communication device 110 of successful completion. Otherwise, it notifies the communication device 110 of a failed registration. If the registration is successful, the communication control device 130 may assign an ID to each communication device 110 and notify the communication device 110 of the ID information in the response. If the registration fails, the communication device 110 may re-notify the modified registration request. The communication device 110 may also modify the registration request and attempt to repeat the registration procedure until the registration is successfully completed.

[0102] The registration procedure may be performed even after successful registration. Specifically, the registration procedure may be performed again if the location information changes beyond a predetermined standard due to, for example, movement or accuracy improvement. The predetermined standard is typically determined by the legal system of each country or region. For example, in the United States, 47 CFR Part 15 requires that Mode II personal / portable white space devices, i.e., devices using open frequencies, must re-register if their location changes by more than 100 meters. <2.2 Available Spectrum Query Procedure>

[0103] The available frequency information inquiry procedure is a procedure in which a wireless system that intends to use a frequency band inquires of the communication control device 130 about information on available frequencies. Note that it is not necessary to perform the available frequency information inquiry procedure. Furthermore, the communication device 110 that makes the inquiry on behalf of the wireless system that intends to use the frequency band may be the same as or different from the communication device 110 that generated the registration request. Typically, the procedure is initiated when the communication device 110 making the inquiry notifies the communication control device 130 of an inquiry request that includes information that can identify the communication device 110.

[0104] Here, the available frequency information typically refers to information indicating frequencies that can be safely used for secondary purposes by the communication device 110 without causing fatal interference to the primary system.

[0105] The available frequency information is determined based on, for example, a secondary use prohibited area called an Exclusion Zone. Specifically, for example, if the communication device 110 is installed in a secondary use prohibited area that is established for the purpose of protecting a primary system that uses frequency channel F1, the frequency channel F1 is not notified to the communication device 110 as an available channel.

[0106] The available frequency information may be determined, for example, by the degree of interference to the primary system. Specifically, even if a frequency channel is outside the secondary use prohibited area, if it is determined that the frequency channel will cause fatal interference to the primary system, the frequency channel may not be notified as an available channel. An example of a specific calculation method is described later in <2.2.2>.

[0107] Furthermore, as described above, there may be frequency channels that are not notified as available due to conditions other than the primary system protection requirements. Specifically, for example, in order to prevent interference that may occur between communication devices 110 in advance, a frequency channel that is being used by another communication device 110 that is located near the communication device 110 may not be notified as an available channel. In this way, available frequency information that is set in consideration of interference with other communication devices 110 may be set as, for example, "recommended use frequency information" and provided together with the available frequency information. In other words, it is desirable that the "recommended use frequency information" be a subset of the available frequency information.

[0108] Even if it would have an impact on the primary system, if the impact can be avoided by reducing the transmission power, it is possible to notify the same frequency as that of the primary system or nearby communication device 110 as an available channel. In such a case, the available frequency information typically includes maximum allowable transmission power information. The maximum allowable transmission power is typically expressed in EIRP. However, this does not necessarily have to be the case, and it may be provided as a combination of conducted power and antenna gain, for example. Furthermore, the allowable peak gain of the antenna gain may be set for each spatial direction. <2.2.1 Details of required parameters>

[0109] The information that can identify the wireless system that is going to use the frequency band can be, for example, the unique information registered during the registration procedure, the ID information mentioned above, or the like.

[0110] The inquiry request may also include inquiry requirement information. The inquiry requirement information may include, for example, information indicating a frequency band for which availability is desired. The inquiry requirement information may also include, for example, transmission power information. For example, the communication device 110 making the inquiry may include transmission power information when it only wants to know frequency information for which a desired transmission power is likely to be available. The inquiry requirement information does not necessarily need to be included in the inquiry request.

[0111] The information indicating the frequency band may also include information indicating the format of the available frequency information. In the IEEE 802.11 standard, a channel number is specified for each band. For example, a flag indicating whether or not availability of a channel specified in such an air interface technical specification is requested may be included. As another format, a flag indicating whether or not availability of a unit frequency range is requested rather than a specified channel may be included. If the unit frequency is 1 MHz, available frequency information is requested for each 1 MHz frequency range. When this flag is used, the desired unit frequency information may be enclosed in the flag.

[0112] The inquiry request may also include a measurement report. The measurement report includes the results of measurements performed by the communication device 110 and / or the terminal 120. Some or all of the measurement results may be represented as raw data or processed data. For example, standardized metrics such as RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power), RSSI (Reference Signal Strength Indicator), and RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality) may be used for the measurements. <2.2.2 Details of available frequency evaluation process>

[0113] After receiving the inquiry request, the available frequencies are evaluated based on the inquiry requirement information. For example, as described above, the available frequencies can be evaluated taking into consideration the primary system, its secondary use prohibited area, and the presence of nearby communication devices 110.

[0114] The communication control device may derive the secondary use prohibited area. For example, MaxTx(dBm) and minimum transmit power P MinTx(dBm) is specified, it is possible to determine the secondary use prohibited area by calculating the range of the separation distance between the primary system and the secondary system using the following formula:

number

[0115] Maximum allowable transmission power information may be derived. Typically, the maximum allowable transmission power information is calculated using allowable interference power information in the primary system or its protection zone, location information of a reference point for calculating the interference power level suffered by the primary system, registration information of the communication device 110, and a propagation loss estimation model. Specifically, as an example, the maximum allowable transmission power information is calculated using the following formula:

number

[0116] Furthermore, equation (2) is written based on the assumption that a single communication device 110 is the interference source (single-station interference). For example, if it is necessary to consider the cumulative interference (aggregated interference) from multiple communication devices 110 at the same time, a correction value may be added. Specifically, for example, the correction value may be determined based on the three types of interference margin allocation methods (Fixed / Predetermined, Flexible, Flexible Minimized) disclosed in Non-Patent Document 4 (ECC Report 186).

[0117] It should be noted that, as in equation (2), the tolerable interference power information itself is not necessarily directly usable. For example, when the required signal-to-interference power ratio (SIR) and SINR (Signal to Interference Plus Noise Ratio) of the primary system are available, they may be converted into the tolerable interference power and used. It should be noted that such conversion processing is not limited to this processing, and may also be applied to processing of other procedures.

[0118] Although Equation (2) is expressed using logarithms, it may be converted to anti-logarithms in practice. Furthermore, all parameters expressed in logarithmic notation in the present disclosure may be converted to anti-logarithms as appropriate.

[0119] Furthermore, when the aforementioned transmission power information is included in the inquiry requirement information, it is possible to evaluate the available frequency by a method other than the above-mentioned method. Specifically, for example, assuming that the desired transmission power indicated by the transmission power information is used, if the estimated interference amount is lower than the allowable interference power in the primary system or its protection zone, the frequency channel is determined to be available and notified to the communication device 110.

[0120] Furthermore, for example, when an area or space in which communication device 110 can use a frequency band is predetermined, similar to an area of ​​a REM (Radio Environment Map), available frequency information may be derived based solely on coordinates (X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis coordinates or latitude, longitude, and height above ground of communication device 110) included in location information of communication device 110. Also, for example, even when a lookup table that associates the location coordinates of communication device 110 with available frequency information is prepared, the available frequency information may be derived based solely on the location information of communication device 110. As such, there are various methods for determining available frequencies, and these methods are not limited to the examples of the present disclosure.

[0121] In addition, if the communication control device 130 has acquired information about the capabilities of bandwidth extension technologies such as Carrier Aggregation (CA) and Channel Bonding as frequency band information supported by the communication device 110, the communication control device 130 may include available combinations, recommended combinations, etc. of these in the available frequency information.

[0122] In addition, when the communication control device 130 acquires information about the combination of frequency bands supported by Dual Connectivity and Multi Connectivity as frequency band information supported by the communication device 110, the communication control device 130 may include information such as available frequencies and recommended frequencies for Dual Connectivity and Multi Connectivity in the available frequency information.

[0123] Furthermore, when providing available frequency information for the above-mentioned band extension technology, if an imbalance in maximum allowable transmission power occurs among multiple frequency channels, the available frequency information may be provided after adjusting the maximum allowable transmission power of each frequency channel. For example, from the viewpoint of protecting the primary system, the maximum allowable transmission power of each frequency channel may be adjusted to the maximum allowable transmission power of a frequency channel with a low maximum allowable power flux density (PSD: Power Spectral Density).

[0124] The evaluation of available frequencies does not necessarily have to be performed after receiving an inquiry request. For example, the evaluation may be performed by the communication control device 130 independently, without an inquiry request, after the aforementioned registration procedure has been successfully completed. In such a case, the REM or lookup table shown as an example above, or an information table similar thereto, may be created.

[0125] Evaluation may also be performed on radio wave usage priority such as PAL or GAA. For example, if registered device parameters or query requirements include information on radio wave usage priority, whether frequency usage is possible may be determined based on the priority and notified. Furthermore, for example, as disclosed in Non-Patent Document 3, if a user has previously registered information (called a Cluster List in Non-Patent Document 3) about communication device 110 that will use high priority (e.g., PAL) in communication control device 130, evaluation may be performed based on that information.

[0126] After the evaluation of the available frequencies is completed, the communication control device 130 notifies the communication device 110 of the evaluation result.

[0127] The communication device 110 may select desired communication parameters using the evaluation results received from the communication control device 130. If a spectrum grant procedure (described later) is not adopted, the communication device 110 may start radio wave transmission using the selected desired communication parameters as communication parameters. <2.3 Spectrum Grant Procedure>

[0128] The frequency use permission procedure is a procedure by which a wireless system that wishes to use a frequency band receives a secondary frequency use permission from the communication control device 130. The communication device 110 that performs the frequency use permission procedure on behalf of the wireless system may be the same as or different from the communication device 110 that performed the previous procedures. Typically, the procedure is initiated when the communication device 110 notifies the communication control device 130 of a frequency use permission request that includes information that can identify the communication device 110. Note that, as mentioned above, the available frequency information inquiry procedure is not required. Therefore, the frequency use permission procedure may be performed after the available frequency information inquiry procedure or after the registration procedure.

[0129] In this embodiment, it is assumed that at least the following two types of frequency use permission request methods can be used. ·Designation method Flexible method

[0130] The designation method is a request method in which the communication device 110 designates desired communication parameters and requests permission to operate based on the desired communication parameters from the communication control device 130. The desired communication parameters include, but are not limited to, a desired frequency channel and maximum transmission power. For example, parameters specific to the wireless interface technology (such as modulation method and duplex mode) may be designated. Information indicating radio wave usage priority, such as PAL and GAA, may also be included.

[0131] The flexible method is a request method in which the communication device 110 specifies only requirements related to communication parameters and requests the communication control device 130 to specify communication parameters that satisfy the requirements and allow secondary use. Requirements related to communication parameters include, but are not limited to, bandwidth, desired maximum transmission power, and desired minimum transmission power. For example, parameters specific to the air interface technology (such as modulation method and duplex mode) may be specified. Specifically, for example, one or more TDD frame structures may be selected in advance and notified.

[0132] Similar to the inquiry request, the frequency use permission request may also include a measurement report, regardless of whether it is a designated method or a flexible method. The measurement report includes the results of measurements performed by the communication device 110 and / or the terminal 120. The measurements may be represented as raw data or processed data. For example, standardized metrics such as RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power), RSSI (Reference Signal Strength Indicator), and RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality) may be used for the measurements.

[0133] The method information used by the communication device 110 may be registered in the communication control device 130 during the registration procedure described in <2.1>. <2.3.1 Details of frequency use permission process>

[0134] After receiving the frequency use permission request, the communication control device 130 performs frequency use permission processing based on the frequency use permission request method. For example, by using the method described in <2.2>, it is possible to perform frequency use permission processing taking into consideration the primary system, secondary use prohibited areas, the presence of nearby communication devices 110, etc.

[0135] When the flexible method is used, the maximum allowable transmission power information may be derived using the method described in <2.2.2>. Typically, the maximum allowable transmission power information is calculated using information on the allowable interference power in the primary system or its protection zone, location information of a reference point for calculating the interference power level suffered by the primary system, registration information of the communication device 110, and a propagation loss estimation model. Specifically, as an example, the maximum allowable transmission power information is calculated using the above formula (2).

[0136] Furthermore, as mentioned above, equation (2) is written based on the assumption that a single communication device 110 is the interference source. For example, if it is necessary to consider the aggregated interference from multiple communication devices 110 at the same time, a correction value may be added. Specifically, the correction value may be determined based on one of three methods (Fixed / Predetermined, Flexible, Flexible Minimized) disclosed in Non-Patent Document 4 (ECC Report 186).

[0137] The communication control device 130 can use various propagation loss estimation models in frequency use permission procedures, available frequency evaluation processing in response to available frequency information inquiry requests, etc. When a model is specified for each application, it is desirable to use the specified model. For example, Non-Patent Document 3 (WINNF-TS-0112) adopts propagation loss models such as Extended Hata (eHATA) and Irregular Terrain Model (ITM) for each application. Naturally, propagation loss models are not limited to these.

[0138] Some propagation loss estimation models require information about the radio wave propagation path. The information about the radio wave propagation path may include, for example, information indicating whether the path is line of sight (LOS: Line of Sight and / or NLOS: Non Line of Sight), topographical information (e.g., topography, elevation, etc.), and environmental information (e.g., urban, suburban, rural, open sky). When using a propagation loss estimation model, the communication control device 130 may estimate this information from already acquired registration information about the communication device 110 and information about the primary system. Alternatively, if there are pre-specified parameters, it is desirable to use those parameters.

[0139] If a propagation loss estimation model is not specified for a specific application, different models may be used as needed. For example, when estimating the interference power to other communication devices 110, a model that calculates a small loss, such as a free space loss model, may be used, but when estimating the coverage of the communication device 110, a model that calculates a large loss may be used.

[0140] Furthermore, when a designated propagation loss estimation model is used, it is possible to perform frequency use permission processing by, for example, evaluating the risk of interference. Specifically, for example, assuming that a desired transmission power indicated by the transmission power information is used, if the estimated amount of interference is lower than the allowable interference power in the primary system or its protection zone, it is determined that use of the frequency channel is permissible, and this is notified to the communication device 110.

[0141] In both the designated method and the flexible method, radio wave usage priority such as PAL or GAA may also be evaluated, as with the inquiry request. For example, if the registered device parameters or inquiry requirements include information regarding radio wave usage priority, whether frequency usage is possible may be determined based on the priority and notified. Also, for example, if a user has previously registered information about a communication device 110 that will use high priority (e.g., PAL) in the communication control device 130, evaluation may be performed based on that information. For example, in Non-Patent Document 3 (WINNF-TS-0112), information about the communication device 110 is called a Cluster List.

[0142] Furthermore, in any of the above calculations, when using location information of the communication device, location uncertainty may be used to correct the location information or coverage to determine frequency availability.

[0143] The frequency use permission process does not necessarily have to be triggered by the reception of a frequency use permission request. For example, the communication control device 130 may perform the process independently without a frequency use permission request after the above-mentioned registration procedure has been successfully completed. Furthermore, for example, the frequency use permission process may be performed periodically. In such a case, the above-mentioned REM, a lookup table, or a similar information table may be created. This allows the permissible frequencies to be determined using only the location information, so the communication control device 130 can quickly return a response after receiving a frequency use permission request. <2.4 Spectrum Use Notification / Heartbeat>

[0144] The frequency usage notification is a procedure in which a wireless system using a frequency band notifies the communication control device 130 of the use of the frequency based on communication parameters whose use has been approved in the frequency use permission procedure. The communication device 110 that performs the frequency usage notification on behalf of the wireless system may be the same as or different from the communication device 110 that performed the previous procedures. Typically, the communication device 110 notifies the communication control device 130 of a notification message that includes information that can identify the communication device 110.

[0145] It is desirable that the frequency usage notification be performed periodically until the use of the frequency is rejected by the communication control device 130. In this case, the frequency usage notification is also called a heartbeat.

[0146] After receiving the frequency usage notification, the communication control device 130 may determine whether to start or continue frequency usage (in other words, radio wave transmission at the permitted frequency). One method of determination is, for example, checking frequency usage information of the primary system. Specifically, it is possible to determine whether to permit or deny the start or continuation of frequency usage (radio wave transmission at the permitted frequency) based on a change in the frequency used by the primary system, a change in the frequency usage status of a primary system that does not regularly use radio waves (for example, a U.S. CBRS shipboard radar), etc. If the start or continuation is permitted, the communication device 110 may start or continue frequency usage (radio wave transmission at the permitted frequency).

[0147] After receiving the frequency usage notification, the communication control device 130 may instruct the communication device 110 to reconfigure the communication parameters. Typically, the reconfiguration of the communication parameters may be instructed in the communication control device 130's response to the frequency usage notification. For example, information on recommended communication parameters (hereinafter, recommended communication parameter information) may be provided. It is desirable that the communication device 110 that has been provided with the recommended communication parameter information performs the frequency use permission procedure described in <2.4> again using the recommended communication parameter information. <2.5 Supplementary information on procedures>

[0148] As will be explained below, the above procedures do not necessarily need to be implemented separately. For example, two different procedures may be realized by substituting a third procedure that fulfills the functions of the two different procedures. Specifically, for example, a registration request and an available frequency information inquiry request may be notified together. Also, for example, a frequency use permission procedure and a frequency use notification may be performed together. Naturally, the present invention is not limited to these combinations, and three or more procedures may be performed together. Furthermore, as mentioned above, one procedure may be performed separately multiple times.

[0149] Furthermore, the term "acquire" or similar expressions in this disclosure does not necessarily mean that the information is acquired according to the procedure described in this disclosure. For example, although it is described that the location information of the communication device 110 is used in the available frequency evaluation process, it does not necessarily have to be information acquired in the registration procedure. If location information is included in the available frequency inquiry procedure request, that location information may also be used. In other words, the acquisition procedure described in this disclosure is an example, and acquisition by other procedures is also permitted within the scope of this disclosure and within the scope of technical feasibility.

[0150] Furthermore, the information that has been described as being included in the response from the communication control device 130 to the communication device 110 may be actively notified by the communication control device 130 using a push method, if possible. As a specific example, available frequency information, recommended communication parameter information, a notification of refusal to continue radio wave transmission, and the like may be notified using a push method. <2.6 Terminal-related procedures>

[0151] Up to this point, the explanation has been given assuming that the processing is mainly performed by the communication device 110A. However, depending on the embodiment, not only the communication device 110A but also the terminal 120 and the communication device 110B may operate under the management of the communication control device 130. That is, a scenario is assumed in which communication parameters are determined by the communication control device 130. Even in such a case, it is basically possible to use the procedures described in <2.1> to <2.4>. However, unlike the communication device 110A, the terminal 120 and the communication device 110B must use frequencies managed by the communication control device 130 for the backhaul link and cannot transmit radio waves independently. Therefore, it is desirable to start backhaul communication for the purpose of accessing the communication control device 130 only after detecting radio waves or an authorization signal transmitted by the communication device 110A (a communication device 110 capable of providing wireless communication services, or a master communication device 110 in a master-secondary configuration).

[0152] On the other hand, since the terminals and the communication device 110B are under the management of the communication control device 130, allowable communication parameters may be set for the terminals and the communication device 110B in order to protect the primary system. However, the communication control device 130 cannot know the location information of these devices in advance. Furthermore, it is highly likely that these devices have mobility. In other words, their location information is dynamically updated. Depending on the legal system, if the location information changes by more than a certain amount, re-registration with the communication control device 130 may be required.

[0153] Taking into account such diverse usage patterns and operation patterns of terminals 120 and communication devices 110, the TVWS operation pattern defined by the UK Office of Communication (Ofcom) (Non-Patent Document 5) specifies the following two types of communication parameters: ·Generic Operational Parameters Specific Operational Parameters

[0154] Generic operational parameters are communication parameters defined in Non-Patent Document 5 as "parameters that can be used by any slave WSD located within the coverage area of ​​a predetermined master WSD (corresponding to communication device 110)." A feature of these parameters is that they are calculated by the WSDB without using location information of the slave WSDs.

[0155] The generic operational parameters can be provided by unicast or broadcast from the communication device 110 that has already been permitted to transmit radio waves by the communication control device 130. For example, a broadcast signal such as a Contact Verification Signal (CVS) defined in Part 15 Subpart H of the FCC rules in the United States can be used. Alternatively, the generic operational parameters can be provided by a broadcast signal specific to the radio interface. This allows the terminal 120 and the communication device 110B to handle the generic operational parameters as communication parameters to be used for radio wave transmission for the purpose of accessing the communication control device 130.

[0156] Specific operational parameters are communication parameters defined in Non-Patent Document 5 as "parameters that can be used by a specific slave WSD (White Space Device)." In other words, they are communication parameters calculated using device parameters of the slave WSD corresponding to the terminal 120. A feature of these parameters is that they are calculated by a WSDB (White Space Database) using location information of the slave WSD.

[0157] The CPE-CBSD Handshake Procedure defined in Non-Patent Document 6 can be considered as another form of terminal-related procedure. The CPE-CBSD does not have a wired backhaul line and accesses the Internet via the BTS-CBSD. Therefore, it cannot obtain permission to transmit radio waves in the CBRS band from the SAS without special provisions and procedures. The CPE-CBSD Handshake Procedure allows the CPE-CBSD to transmit radio waves at the same maximum EIRP and minimum required duty cycle as the terminal (EUD) until it obtains permission to transmit radio waves from the SAS. Accordingly, the communication device 110B sets its transmission EIRP to the maximum EIRP of the terminal and then communicates wirelessly with the communication device 110A at the minimum required duty cycle, thereby establishing a line for obtaining permission to transmit radio waves from the communication control device 130. After obtaining permission to transmit radio waves, it can use up to the maximum EIRP specified for the communication device within the permitted range. <2.7 Procedures occurring between communication control devices> <2.7.1 Information Exchange>

[0158] The communication control device 130 can exchange management information with other communication control devices 130. It is desirable that at least the following information be exchanged. Information related to the communication device 110 Area information Protected system information

[0159] The information related to the communication device 110 includes at least registration information and communication parameter information of the communication device 110 that is operating under the permission of the communication control device 130. Registration information of the communication device 110 that does not have the permitted communication parameters may also be included.

[0160] The registration information of the communication device 110 typically refers to the device parameters of the communication device 110 that are registered in the communication control device 130 in the registration procedure described above. It is not necessary for all registered information to be exchanged. For example, information that may be considered personal information does not necessarily need to be exchanged. Furthermore, when exchanging the registration information of the communication device 110, the registration information may be encrypted and exchanged, or the content of the registration information may be obfuscated before being exchanged. For example, information converted into binary values ​​or information signed using a digital signature mechanism may be exchanged.

[0161] The communication parameter information of the communication device 110 typically refers to information related to the communication parameters currently being used by the communication device 110. It is desirable that the information includes at least information indicating the frequency to be used and the transmission power. Other communication parameters may also be included.

[0162] Area information typically refers to information that indicates a predetermined geographical area, and this information may include area information with various attributes in various forms.

[0163] For example, the area information may include protection area information of the communication device 110 that is a high-priority secondary system, such as the PAL Protection Area (PPA) disclosed in Non-Patent Document 3 (WINNF-TS-0112). In this case, the area information may be expressed, for example, as a set of three or more coordinates indicating a geographical location. Also, for example, if multiple communication control devices 130 can refer to a common external database, the area information may be expressed by a unique ID, and the actual geographical area may be referenced from the external database using that ID.

[0164] Furthermore, for example, information indicating the coverage of the communication device 110 may also be included. In this case, the area information may also be expressed, for example, as a set of three or more coordinates indicating a geographical position. Furthermore, for example, assuming that the coverage is a circle centered on the geographical position of the communication device 110, the area information may also be expressed as information indicating the size of the radius. Furthermore, for example, if multiple communication control devices 130 can refer to a common external database that records area information, the information indicating the coverage may be expressed by a unique ID, and the actual coverage may be referenced from the external database using the ID.

[0165] In another aspect, information related to area divisions predetermined by the government or the like may also be included. Specifically, for example, a certain area can be indicated by indicating an address. For example, license areas and the like can also be expressed in a similar manner.

[0166] In yet another embodiment, the area information does not necessarily need to represent a planar area, but may represent a three-dimensional space. For example, it may be represented using a spatial coordinate system. Furthermore, information indicating a predetermined closed space, such as the number of floors in a building, floor number, or room number, may be used.

[0167] The protected system information is information about a wireless system that is treated as a protected target, such as the incumbent tier described above. For example, situations requiring cross-border coordination are examples of situations in which this information needs to be exchanged. It is quite conceivable that different protected targets exist in the same band between neighboring countries or regions. In such cases, the protected system information can be exchanged as needed between communication control devices 130 belonging to different countries or regions.

[0168] In another aspect, the protected system information may include information about a secondary licensee and information about a wireless system operated by the secondary licensee. A secondary licensee is specifically a lessee of a license. For example, it is assumed that a secondary licensee rents a PAL from a license holder and operates its own wireless system. When the communication control device 130 independently manages rentals, it may exchange information about the secondary licensee and information about the wireless system operated by the secondary licensee with other communication control devices for the purpose of protection.

[0169] This information can be exchanged between the communication control devices 130 regardless of the decision-making topology applied to the communication control devices 130 .

[0170] This information can be exchanged in a variety of ways, including the following: ID specification method ·Period specification method ·Area specification method Dump method

[0171] The ID designation method is a method of acquiring information corresponding to an ID that is assigned in advance to identify information managed by the communication control device 130. For example, assume that a communication device 110 with ID:AAA is managed by the first communication control device 130. In this case, the second communication control device 130 issues an information acquisition request to the first communication control device 130, designating ID:AAA. After receiving the request, the first communication control device 130 searches for information on ID:AAA, and notifies information on the communication device 110 with ID:AAA, such as registration information and communication parameter information, in a response.

[0172] The period specification method is a method in which information that satisfies predetermined conditions can be exchanged during a specified period.

[0173] The predetermined condition may be, for example, whether or not information has been updated. For example, if the request specifies acquisition of information related to communication devices 110 during a specific period, the response may include registration information for communication devices 110 that were newly registered during that specific period. The response may also include registration information or communication parameter information for communication devices 110 whose communication parameters have been changed during that specific period.

[0174] An example of the predetermined condition is whether or not the information has been recorded by the communication control device 130. For example, if a request specifies acquisition of information related to the communication device 110 during a specific period, the response may include notification of registration information or communication parameter information recorded by the communication control device 130 during that period. If the information has been updated during that period, notification of the latest information for that period may be provided. Alternatively, notification of an update history for each piece of information may be provided.

[0175] In the area designation method, a specific area is designated, and information on communication devices 110 belonging to that area is exchanged. For example, when a request specifies acquisition of information on communication devices 110 in a specific area, registration information or communication parameter information on communication devices 110 installed in that area may be notified in a response.

[0176] The dump method is a method of providing all information recorded by the communication control device 130. It is desirable that at least the information related to the communication device 110 and the area information be provided by the dump method.

[0177] The above explanation of information exchange between communication control devices 130 is based on the pull method. That is, the response is information corresponding to parameters specified in a request, which can be realized by the HTTP GET method, for example. However, the method does not have to be limited to the pull method, and information can also be actively provided to other communication control devices 130 by the push method. The push method can be realized by the HTTP POST method, for example. <2.7.2 Order and request procedures>

[0178] The communication control devices 130 may issue commands or requests to each other. Specifically, one example is reconfiguration of communication parameters of the communication devices 110. For example, when it is determined that a first communication device 110 managed by the first communication control device 130 is receiving significant interference from a second communication device 110 managed by the second communication control device 130, the first communication control device 130 may request the second communication control device 130 to change the communication parameters of the second communication device 110.

[0179] Another example is reconfiguration of area information. For example, if a defect is found in the calculation of coverage information or protection area information related to the second communication device 110 managed by the second communication control device 130, the first communication control device 130 may request the second communication control device 130 to reconfigure the area information. In addition to this, a request for reconfiguration of area information may be made for various other reasons. <2.8 Means of information transmission>

[0180] The signaling between the entities described above can be achieved via various media, and will be described using E-UTRA or 5G NR as examples, although of course the implementation is not limited to these. 2.8.2 Signaling between the communication control device 130 and the communication device 110

[0181] The notification from the communication device 110 to the communication control device 130 may be performed, for example, at the application layer. For example, it may be performed using HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol). Signaling can be performed by describing required parameters in the HTTP message body according to a predetermined format. Furthermore, when HTTP is used, the notification from the communication control device 130 to the communication device 110 is also performed according to the HTTP response mechanism. 2.8.3 Signaling between the communication device 110 and the terminal 120

[0182] The notification from communication device 110 to terminal 120 may be performed using, for example, at least one of Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, System Information (SI), and Downlink Control Information (DCI). Also, examples of downlink physical channels include a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), an NR-PDCCH, an NR-PDSCH, and an NR-PBCH, and the notification may be performed using at least one of these.

[0183] The notification from the terminal 120 to the communication device 110 may be performed using, for example, RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling or uplink control information (UCI), or may be performed using uplink physical channels (PUCCH: Physical Uplink Control Channel, PUSCH: Physical Uplink Shared Channel, PRACH: Physical Random Access Channel).

[0184] Signaling may be performed not only in the physical layer but also in a higher layer. For example, when performing signaling in the application layer, required parameters may be written in the HTTP message body in a predetermined format. 2.8.4 Signaling between terminals 120

[0185] FIG. 6 shows an example of a signaling flow assuming that communication between terminals 120 is D2D (Device-to-Device) or V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) as communication of the secondary system. D2D or V2X communication between terminals 120 may be performed using a physical sidelink channel (PSCCH: Physical Sidelink Control Channel, PSSCH: Physical Sidelink Shared Channel, PSBCH: Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel). The communication control device 130 calculates communication parameters to be used by the secondary system (T101) and notifies the communication device 110 of the secondary system (T102). The communication control device 130 may determine and notify values ​​of the communication parameters, or may determine and notify conditions indicating ranges of the communication parameters, etc. The communication device 110 acquires communication parameters to be used by the secondary system (T103) and sets communication parameters to be used by the communication device 110 itself (T104). Then, the communication device 110 notifies the terminals 120 of the communication parameters to be used by the terminals 120 under the control of the communication device 110 (T105). Each terminal 120 under the control of the communication device 110 acquires (T106) and sets (T107) the communication parameters to be used by the terminal 120. Then, communication is carried out with other terminals 120 in the secondary system (T108).

[0186] When a frequency channel subject to frequency sharing is used in a sidelink (direct communication between terminals 120), communication parameters may be notified, acquired, or configured in association with a sidelink resource pool within the frequency channel. The resource pool is radio resources for the sidelink configured using specific frequency resources or time resources. Examples of frequency resources include resource blocks and component carriers. Examples of time resources include radio frames, subframes, slots, and mini-slots. When a resource pool is configured within a frequency channel subject to frequency sharing, the communication device 110 configures the resource pool in the terminal 120 based on at least one of RRC signaling, system information, and downlink control information. The communication device 110 also configures the resource pool and communication parameters to be applied in the sidelink in the terminal 120 based on at least one of RRC signaling, system information, and downlink control information transmitted from the communication device 110 to the terminal 120. The notification of the resource pool configuration and the notification of the communication parameters to be used in the side link may be simultaneous or separate.

[0187] <<3. Embodiments of the present invention>> In this embodiment, it is assumed that multiple communication devices 110, which make secondary use of the frequency band allocated to a primary system (primary system), each communicate with other devices by beamforming. The other devices are, for example, terminals 120 and other communication devices 110. In this embodiment, when each communication device 110 is capable of selectively forming and transmitting multiple beams, the multiple beams are divided into one or more groups, and beam utilization (e.g., beam transmission power or whether or not to transmit) is controlled on a group-by-group basis. Here, multiple beams are classified into at least one of the multiple groups. This achieves higher frequency utilization efficiency than when beam utilization is controlled for each communication device, while reducing the amount of calculations compared to when utilization is controlled for each beam. In this embodiment, examples of controlling beam utilization on a group-by-group basis are used in which the beam transmission power is determined on a group-by-group basis, or whether or not to use a beam on a group-by-group basis. However, the control of beam utilization is not limited to these examples. For example, the usage time of a beam may be controlled on a group-by-group basis.

[0188] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a communication network 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The communication network 100 in FIG. 7 includes a communication device 110 and a communication control device 130. Only blocks related to the portion that performs processing mainly related to this embodiment are shown, and blocks related to other processing are not shown. The communication device 110 corresponds to the above-mentioned CBSD as an example, but is not limited to the CBSD and may be other devices such as a wireless LAN access point. The communication control device 130 corresponds to the above-mentioned SAS as an example, but is not limited to the SAS and may be a control device for a 5G core network, etc.

[0189] The communication control device 130 includes a receiving unit 131, a processing unit 133, a transmitting unit 134, a control unit 135, and a storage unit 136. The control unit 135 controls each element within the communication control device 130, thereby controlling the entire communication control device 130.

[0190] The communication device 110 includes a receiving unit 111, a processing unit 113, a transmitting unit 114, a control unit 115, and a storage unit 116. The control unit 115 controls each element within the communication device 110, thereby controlling the entire communication device 110.

[0191] The storage unit 136 of the communication control device 130 stores various information necessary for communication with the communication device 110 and other communication control devices 130. The storage unit 116 of the communication device 110 stores various information necessary for communication with the communication control device 130 and communication with the terminal 120.

[0192] Each processing block of the communication control device 130 is configured by a hardware circuit, software (programs, etc.), or both. The storage unit 136 of the communication control device 130 is configured by any storage device such as a memory device, a magnetic storage device, or an optical disk. Each processing block of the communication device 110 is configured by a hardware circuit, software (programs, etc.), or both. The storage unit 116 of the communication device 110 is configured by any storage device such as a memory device, a magnetic storage device, or an optical disk.

[0193] The storage unit 136 of the communication control device 130 may not be located within the communication control device 130, but may be externally connected to the communication control device 130 by wire or wirelessly. The transmission unit 134 and the reception unit 131 in the communication control device 130 may include one or more network interfaces depending on the number or type of connectable networks. The storage unit 116 of the communication device 110 may not be located within the communication device 110, but may be externally connected to the communication device 110 by wire or wirelessly. The transmission unit 114 and the reception unit 111 in the communication device 110 may include one or more network interfaces depending on the number or type of connectable networks.

[0194] When the transmitter 134 and the receiver 131 in the communication control device 130 perform wireless communication with another device, the communication control device 130 may include one or more antennas. When the transmitter 114 and the receiver 111 in the communication device 110 perform wireless communication with another device, the communication device 110 may include one or more antennas.

[0195] The communication device 110 has a function for performing beamforming. For example, the communication device 110 can select a beam appropriate for a communication partner from among a plurality of beam patterns that the communication device 110 can form, and transmit the selected beam. One or more systems to be protected (e.g., primary systems) exist in the vicinity of each communication device 110. The transmission of a beam causes interference power to the systems to be protected. The magnitude of the interference power depends on the transmission power of the beam, the distance to the systems to be protected, the gain of the antenna on the transmitting side, the gain of the antenna on the receiving side, etc.

[0196] The processing unit 113 of the communication device 110 performs processing related to communication with other devices (e.g., terminal 120, other communication devices 110). The processing unit 113 transmits and receives information to and from the communication control device 130 via the transmitting unit 114 and the receiving unit 111. The processing unit 113 performs processing required for communication with other devices, between the communication control device 130 and the processing unit 113. For example, the processing unit 113 requests the communication control device 130 to issue a grant, which is permission to use a frequency, acquires the grant, and performs radio wave transmission (including beam transmission) to other devices based on the acquired grant.

[0197] The processing unit 113 transmits various types of information related to the communication device 110 to the communication control device 130. An example of the information related to the communication device 110 is capability information of the communication device 110. The capability information includes, for example, information related to beams that the communication device 110 can form, or information necessary for the communication control device 130 to calculate beams that can be formed by the communication device 110. The capability information also includes various other information, which will be described later. The information related to the communication device 110 may also include information related to the location or specifications of the communication device 110.

[0198] The processing unit 113 transmits to the communication control device 130 inquiry information regarding the use of multiple beams that the communication device 110 can transmit. In this embodiment, the processing unit 113 transmits to the communication control device 130 information inquiring about the transmission power (e.g., maximum allowable transmission power) allowed for each beam or the availability of each beam. In response to the inquiry, the processing unit 113 receives from the communication control device 130, for example, information regarding the usage conditions of beams for each group of multiple beams (in this example, information indicating the transmission power or availability and information indicating the group to which the beam belongs). Based on the received information, the processing unit 113 identifies the group to which the beam to be used belongs and determines the usage conditions of the identified group, in this example, the transmission power (e.g., maximum allowable transmission power) or availability. Therefore, the transmission power is determined for each group, and the same transmission power is applied to beams in the same group. Alternatively, the processing unit 113 may receive from the communication control device 130 information indicating the transmission power or availability individually for each beam that the communication device 110 can transmit. The processing unit 113 sends information regarding the transmission power or availability of the beam to be used to the control unit 115. The control unit 115 controls the transmission power or availability of the beam based on the information received from the processing unit 113. The processing unit 113 may select one of multiple beams depending on the location of the device with which to communicate, and transmit a signal to this device using the selected beam. The communication device 110 may also be capable of simultaneously using two or more beams to communicate with one or more devices.

[0199] The processing unit 133 of the communication control device 130 performs processing related to communication with one or more communication devices 110. The processing unit 133 transmits and receives information to and from the communication devices 110 via the transmitting unit 134 and the receiving unit 131. The processing unit 133 may grant permission for frequency use in response to a frequency use notification request from each communication device 110. In this case, the processing unit 133 may issue a grant indicating permission for frequency use, and transmit information including information on the granted frequency band and an identifier of the grant to the communication device 110.

[0200] The processing unit 133 performs processing to control the use of beams of the communication device 110 in response to inquiry information from each communication device 110. The processing unit 133 divides multiple beams that the communication device 110 can transmit into one or more groups, and performs processing to control the use of beams on a group-by-group basis. In the example of this embodiment, the processing unit 133 determines the transmission power of beams on a group-by-group basis. A common transmission power value is applied to beams that belong to the same group. Alternatively, the processing unit 133 determines whether or not beams can be used on a group-by-group basis. A common determination result of whether or not to use beams is applied to beams that belong to the same group. Details of the processing to determine the transmission power of beams or whether or not to use beams on a group-by-group basis will be described later.

[0201] In this way, the processing unit 133 divides multiple beams into one or more groups for each communication device 110 and determines the beam usage conditions (transmission power or availability in this example) for each group, thereby reducing the amount of calculation compared to determining the transmission power or availability for each beam individually. Also, compared to determining the transmission power or availability for each beam for each communication device 110, frequency usage efficiency can be improved.

[0202] The processing unit 133 transmits to the communication device 110 information indicating the usage conditions for each group (in this example, information indicating the transmission power and information about the group to which the beam belongs). Alternatively, the processing unit 133 transmits to the communication device 110 information indicating whether or not a beam is usable for each group and information about the group to which each beam belongs. Note that the processing unit 133 can also transmit to the communication device 110 information indicating the transmission power or usability for each beam individually. In other words, the determination of the transmission power or usability is made on a group-by-group basis, but notification to the communication device 110 is made on a beam-by-beam basis. Here, the transmission power notified to the communication device 110 may be the power value supplied to the antenna (antenna power) or the power value actually radiated from the antenna. Furthermore, the transmission power notified to the communication device 110 may be the output power value of any circuit (e.g., an amplifier) ​​involved in signal transmission within the communication device 110.

[0203] This embodiment will be described in more detail below. In this chapter, the description will be given in the following order: <3.1 Procedures required to realize the embodiment of the present invention> 3.2 Interference calculation model <3.3 How to determine the beam pattern> 3.4 Method for reducing computational complexity by grouping transmit beams <3.5 Specific examples of grouping methods> 3.6 Example of beam pattern synthesis <3.7 Method for notifying communication device of transmission power or transmission availability information for each beam or group>

[0204] <3.1 Procedures required to realize this embodiment> In an embodiment of the present invention, a communication device 110 having a function for performing beamforming uses a frequency band as a secondary user. At this time, the communication device 110 inquires of a communication control device 130 (SAS: Spectrum Access System) about the allowable transmission power (e.g., maximum allowable transmission power) for each of a plurality of beams that the communication device 110 can transmit, and transmits each beam according to the maximum allowable transmission power notified by the communication control device 130.

[0205] The type of beamforming is not limited, and may be digital beamforming, analog beamforming, or hybrid beamforming that combines both digital beamforming and analog beamforming.

[0206] When the communication control device 130 calculates the maximum allowable transmission power of each beam, it may use beamforming capability information included in the antenna information acquired during the registration procedure.

[0207] The capability information is, for example, pattern information regarding one or more beams that the communication device 110 can form. The following parameters can be assumed as beam pattern information that can be used to determine the maximum allowable transmission power for each beam: The processing unit 133 can determine one or more beams that the communication device 110 can transmit based on information about the communication device 110 (capability information). [1] One or more precoding matrices, weight matrices, or steering vectors [2] Combination of one or more beam directions and antenna element information [3] One or more combinations of beam direction, beam width, and maximum beam gain [4] Combination of one or more beam directions and sampled beam patterns [5] Combination of one or more beam steering ranges and antenna element information [6] A combination of beam deflection, beam width, and maximum beam gain of 1 or more [7] Combination of one or more beam excursions and sampled beam patterns

[0208] The precoding matrix, weight matrix, or steering vector in [1] may represent analog beamforming, digital beamforming, or a hybrid beamforming that combines the two.

[0209] In the case of hybrid beamforming, a precoding matrix, weight matrix, and steering vector representing analog beamforming and a precoding matrix, weight matrix, and steering vector representing digital beamforming may be separately notified. In this case, communication control device 130 may obtain a precoding matrix, weight matrix, and steering vector by combining these.

[0210] The beam direction in [2] to [4] typically refers to the horizontal direction (azimuth angle) and vertical direction (elevation angle) at which the beam gain is maximized.

[0211] Similarly, the beam movement range in [5] to [7] is typically the range in which the horizontal direction (azimuth angle) and vertical direction (elevation angle) can be moved to maximize the beam gain.

[0212] The azimuth and elevation angles at which the beam gain is maximized may be determined as absolute values ​​based on a standard common to all antennas, such as true north or zenith, or as relative values ​​based on the azimuth, elevation, tilt, etc. of the antennas of each communication device.

[0213] The beam movable range may also be a combination of one or more movable ranges of the azimuth angle and elevation angle at which the beam gain is maximized, and one or more immovable ranges.

[0214] The antenna element information in [2] and [5] typically includes information indicating the number of elements and element spacing in the vertical and horizontal directions of the antenna array provided in the communication device 110.

[0215] The beamwidth in [3] and [6] is typically the half-width from the beam direction that exhibits the maximum beam gain. Different beamwidths may be used in azimuth and elevation.

[0216] Of course, the beam width does not necessarily have to be the half-width, but may be the range of azimuth and elevation angles from the beam direction required for the beam gain to attenuate by a certain value from the maximum gain.

[0217] The sampled beam patterns in [4] and [7] are beam patterns that can be transmitted by the communication device 110, sampled at sampling points set in azimuth and elevation angles. The beam pattern is expressed by multiple combinations of azimuth angles, elevation angles, and beam gains.

[0218] The sampling points of the beam pattern do not necessarily have to be at regular intervals, but may be only points at which the amount of attenuation from the maximum beam gain is a constant value.

[0219] Furthermore, in addition to sampling an accurate beam pattern, it is also possible to use a sampled beam pattern that is abstracted, such as the envelope of the beam pattern.

[0220] These beam maximum gains and beam patterns may be absolute values ​​that include the antenna gain of each element of the array antenna, or may be relative values ​​that do not include the antenna gain of each element.

[0221] Furthermore, multiple beam widths, beam gains, and beam patterns may be defined for one beam direction and range.

[0222] The beam width, beam gain, and beam pattern may be common to all beam directions and ranges of motion, or may differ depending on the beam direction or range of beam motion.

[0223] The communication device 110 registers one or more of [1] to [7] in the communication control device 130 as beam capability information. Based on this capability information, the communication control device 130 identifies all beam patterns that the communication device 110 can transmit. The communication control device 130 determines the maximum allowable transmission power of the beam for each beam pattern of the communication device 110. The method for identifying all beam patterns that can be transmitted will be described in detail in <3.6>.

[0224] Note that beamforming capability information does not necessarily have to be registered during the registration procedure. Beamforming capability information may be registered or changed during the available frequency information inquiry procedure, frequency use permission procedure, or frequency use notification.

[0225] Furthermore, for example, the beam capability information may include information that can identify a beam that is to be used preferentially or a beam that does not cause any problems if it is unavailable.

[0226] The capability information of the beams may also include a desired transmit power that differs for each beam, which may be an absolute value or a relative value such as a difference from the desired transmit power of the communication device.

[0227] In addition, when one communication device 110 can form multiple beams simultaneously, the communication device 110 may notify the communication control device 130 of the effective required transmission power, which is, for example, the desired transmission power multiplied by the number of simultaneously transmittable beams. Alternatively, the communication device 110 may notify the communication control device 130 of the desired transmission power of a single device and the number of simultaneously transmittable beams separately, and the communication control device 130 may consider the product of the desired transmission power of a single device and the number of simultaneously transmittable beams to be the effective required transmission power. The communication control device 130 may use this actual required transmission power to calculate the interference power.

[0228] In addition, the communication device 110 may notify the communication control device 130 of the number of beams that can be transmitted simultaneously, and the communication control device 130 may duplicate the communication device 110 with the same parameters as the number of beams that can be transmitted simultaneously, and may calculate the interference by treating these communication devices as separate communication devices.

[0229] Furthermore, the communication control device 130 may consider the calculated interference power of the communication device 110 multiplied by the number of simultaneously transmittable beams notified by the communication device 110 as the magnitude of the effective interference power.

[0230] Furthermore, communication control device 130 does not necessarily need to calculate the interference power for all beams notified by communication device 110. For example, communication control device 130 may determine whether there is actually a terminal that can communicate using that beam, and if not, may exclude that beam from the calculation of interference power. If a beam is excluded from the calculation of interference power, communication control device 130 may notify communication device 110 of negative infinity in logarithmic notation as the allowable transmission power of that beam, or may notify information that transmission is not possible. 3.2 Interference calculation model An interference calculation model assumed in this embodiment will now be described. Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the interference calculation model assumed in this embodiment.

[0231] The interference model in FIG. 8 assumes that the primary system 200 is a wireless system with a service area. This service area corresponds to, for example, the protection area PA of the primary system 200. One or more interference calculation reference points (hereinafter referred to as interference calculation points or protection points P) are set in the protection area PA. In this embodiment, it is assumed that multiple protection points are set. Protection points are set, for example, by the operator of the primary system 200 or an official institution that manages radio waves (hereinafter referred to as the administrator). For example, the administrator may divide the protection area into a grid and set the center of a predetermined grid as a protection point. The method of determining protection points is arbitrary. Protection points may be set not only horizontally but also vertically. In other words, protection points may be arranged three-dimensionally.

[0232] The protection point may be the point where the communication device 110 is installed, rather than the point located within the service area of ​​the primary system 200.

[0233] The interference margin (accumulated value of allowable interference power) of each protection point is set by an administrator or the like. Fig. 8 shows how multiple communication devices 110 constituting a secondary system cause interference to protection points. The communication control device 130 needs to control the transmission power of the multiple communication devices 110 so that the accumulated interference power at each protection point does not exceed the interference margin set for each protection point.

[0234] First, a method for calculating the interference power applied from the communication device 110 to each protection point when the communication device 110 of the secondary system does not have the function for performing beamforming will be described.

[0235] In the interference calculation, as shown in Fig. 9, the antenna height at the protection point p is h ps The primary system is ssThe spatial positional relationship between the communication device 110 of the secondary system (a communication device of any secondary system is referred to as communication device n) and the secondary system of the protection point p is taken into consideration. For example, the direction in which the communication device of the secondary system is located as seen from the primary system on the protection point p as seen from communication device n of the secondary system may be identified using the position information and antenna height information of each of the primary system and the secondary system. Similarly, the direction in which the primary system on the protection point p is located as seen from communication device n of the secondary system may be identified. These directions can be expressed by an azimuth angle φ and an elevation angle θ. In FIG. 9, the direction of communication device n of the secondary system as seen from the primary system on the protection point p is represented by φ p→n and θ p→n Let φ be the direction of the primary system at the protection point p as seen from the communication device n of the secondary system. n→p and θ n→p The total number of communication devices that are the targets of interference calculation for the protection point p is N p For 1<=n<=N p This becomes:

[0236] Using these azimuth and elevation angles, the interference power from communication device n of the secondary system to the primary system installed at protection point p is expressed by the following equation (3).

number

[0237] The variables are defined as follows: I n→p : Interference power from communication device n of the secondary system to the primary system installed at protection point p per bandwidth used by the primary system P n : Antenna power per bandwidth used in the primary system of communication device n of the secondary system G n (φ n→p ,θ n→p ): The direction (φ) of the primary system on the protection point p as seen from the communication device n of the secondary system n→p ,θ n→p) the transmit antenna gain of the communication device n of the secondary system L n→p : Radio wave propagation loss between communication device n of the secondary system and the primary system at protection point p (Note: Model does not matter) G ps (φ p→n ,θ p→n ): The direction (φ p→n ,θ p→n ) The receiving antenna gain of the primary system

[0238] The communication control device 130 performs similar calculations for the communication devices 110 of all secondary systems and calculates the total sum of these, thereby being able to calculate the cumulative interference power to the primary system at the protection point p.

[0239] In this embodiment, the communication control device 130 adjusts, for example, the antenna power P n and determines whether or not communication device n is allowed to transmit.

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[0240] Next, a method for calculating interference power from the communication device 110 (communication device n) to each protection point p when the communication device 110 of the secondary system has a function for performing beamforming will be described.

[0241] First, as in the case where the function for performing beamforming is not provided, as shown in FIG. 9, the direction φ where the communication device n of the secondary system is located as seen from the primary system on the protection point p is p→n ,θ p→nAlso, the direction φ of the primary system on the protection point p as seen from the communication device n of the secondary system is specified. n→p ,θ n→p Identify.

[0242] In addition, the total number of beams that communication device n of the secondary system can form is B n Let each beam be b (1<=b<=B n ) It is assumed that the communication device n of the secondary system can change the transmission power for each beam.

[0243] When communication device n of the secondary system forms beam b using these azimuth and elevation angles, the interference power to the primary system installed at protection point p is expressed by the following equation (5).

number

[0244] The communication control device 130 performs the same calculation for all communication devices n of the secondary system and all formable beams b, and calculates the sum of the maximum interference power calculated for each beam of communication device n among communication devices n. This makes it possible to calculate the worst value (maximum value) of the accumulated interference power to the primary system at protection point p. Note that here it is assumed that one communication device n transmits one beam simultaneously. If communication device n transmits multiple beams simultaneously, the sum of the interference power when the maximum number of beams that can be transmitted simultaneously is calculated for each communication device, and the sum of the maximum values ​​of the sums calculated for all communication devices can be calculated to calculate the worst value (maximum value) of the accumulated interference power.

[0245] It is difficult for the communication control device 130 to always grasp in real time the beam b that is actually formed by the communication device n of the secondary system. For this reason, it is necessary to set a transmission power condition (for example, a maximum allowable transmission power value) so that the primary system can be reliably protected no matter which of the multiple beams the communication device n forms (no matter which beam with the maximum interference power is formed). For example, in this embodiment, the communication control device 130 sets the antenna power P when the communication device n of the secondary system forms the beam b so that the cumulative interference power satisfies the condition of the following equation (6) at all protection points p. n,b and determines whether or not communication device n is allowed to transmit.

number

[0246] <3.3 How to determine the beam pattern> The method of specifying the beam gain used when calculating the interference power from the communication device 110 to the primary system located at the protection point may differ depending on the type of capability information of the beam.

[0247] When capability information is given in the form of one or more precoding matrices, weight matrices, or steering vectors as in [1] of <3.1>, beam gains may be calculated using these matrices and vectors and a vector representing the direction of the protection point as seen from the communication device. In this case, the number of transmit beams may be set equal to the number of precoding matrices, weight matrices, or steering vectors.

[0248] When a communication device performs hybrid beamforming and the precoding matrix, weight matrix, and steering vector are notified separately for analog beamforming and digital beamforming, the device may calculate the beam gain for each combination of these. The device may also determine the number of transmission beams depending on the number of combinations.

[0249] Next, when one or more beam directions expressed by at least one of azimuth angle and elevation angle are given as in [2] to [4] of <3.1>, these beam directions may be used as the beam directions of the beams formed by the communication device. Therefore, the number of transmission beams is determined according to the number of given beam directions. Note that multiple beam patterns may be defined for the same beam direction. Furthermore, the beam gain in the direction of the protection point may be calculated using a beam pattern specified by a method according to capability information, as will be described later.

[0250] As in [5] to [7] of <3.1>, when one or more beam movement ranges expressed by at least one of an azimuth angle and an elevation angle are given, the beam movement range may be sampled by at least one of an azimuth angle and an elevation angle. Then, a beam with these sampling points as the beam direction may be formed by the communication device. In this way, by sampling within the beam movement range based on information (capability information) about the communication device 110, at least one beam that the communication device 110 can transmit can be determined.

[0251] The sampling interval in the beam movement range may be determined, for example, according to the beam width. As will be described later, the method for determining the beam width differs depending on the type of capability information. The beam width does not necessarily have to be a specific beam width (for example, 3 dB beam width), and the angle at which the gain is attenuated by an arbitrary value may be used as the beam width.

[0252] Furthermore, the sampling interval in the beam movement range does not necessarily have to be uniform, and the value of the sampling interval may be changed depending on at least one of the azimuth angle and the elevation angle. For example, the sampling interval may be changed depending on the frequency of beam use depending on the beam direction. If there is a range of beam directions in which the frequency of beam use is higher than others, a smaller sampling interval is used within this range. A larger sampling interval is used for other ranges. The frequency of beam use may be notified by the communication device together with the beam capability information.

[0253] Furthermore, the sampling interval may be changed depending on the size of the geographical coverage of the beam for each beam direction. Generally, in a communication device that performs beamforming, for beams of the same width W1, as shown in FIG. 10, the greater the elevation angle of the beam direction, the greater the coverage of each beam formed by the antenna 51. In the example shown in the figure, coverages C1, C2, C3, and C4 are formed in ascending order of elevation angle, with coverage C4 being the largest and coverage C1 being the smallest. Thus, if there are differences in beam coverage, the sampling interval for the beam direction with wider coverage may be narrowed and the sampling interval for the beam direction with narrower coverage may be widened. Furthermore, even if the beam direction can be changed not only in elevation angle but also in azimuth angle direction D3 as shown in FIG. 11, the sampling interval may be changed in consideration of the difference in coverage due to elevation angle. The figure shows multiple coverage areas C11 for each beam direction and the overall coverage C12 of the communication device 110. The size of the geographical coverage of the beam may be notified by the communication device 110, or may be calculated by the communication control device 130 using information notified by the communication device 110.

[0254] Furthermore, the beam sampling interval may be changed depending on the relationship between the beam direction and the direction in which the primary system is located. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, within the beam movable range M of the communication device 110, the sampling interval may be narrowed for a range RC within a certain angle range (Δφ) from the direction in which the primary protection area is located, and the sampling interval may be widened for other ranges. Note that the relationship with the direction in which the primary system is located may take into consideration not only the azimuth angle but also the elevation angle. Furthermore, if multiple primary systems exist for a single communication device 110 of a secondary system, calculations may be performed with a similar narrow sampling interval for all primary systems. In this case, the same sampling result may be used for all primary systems, or different sampling results may be used for each primary system. If different sampling results are used, when notifying the communication device of transmission power, it is necessary to notify the transmission power at the narrowest sampling interval in each direction.

[0255] Furthermore, when the sampling interval is changed based on some standard, a minimum sampling interval may be set and all sampling intervals may be limited to multiples of the minimum sampling interval.

[0256] Furthermore, the capability information of the beam may include multiple beam movement ranges. In this case, sampling may be performed individually for all movement ranges, and all sampling points may be set as the beam direction.

[0257] Only in the case of [6] in <3.1>, the beam movable range may be divided into one or more parts by the beam width, etc., and the center of the division may be set as the beam direction. In this case, the division interval may be variable according to at least one of the azimuth angle and elevation angle, as with the sampling interval.

[0258] The beam movement range may also be expressed as a combination of one or more ranges in which the beam is movable and one or more ranges in which the beam is not movable. Sampling or division need not be performed on the ranges in which the beam is not movable.

[0259] Also, when antenna element information is given as in [2] and [5] in <3.1>, the beam gain and beam width toward the protected point may be calculated using this antenna element information and beam direction. When using antenna element information and beam direction, the beam pattern may be calculated using, for example, the formula disclosed in Chapter 5 of Annex 1 of Recommendation ITU-R M.2101. The beam width may be calculated from this beam pattern.

[0260] When calculating beam gain from antenna element information, a protection point may exist in the direction of a null in the beam pattern. In this case, even a slight angle error can cause a large fluctuation in interference power, potentially causing significant interference to the primary system. To address this issue, clipping may be performed to set the lower limit of the beam gain to a predetermined value, or the null may be reduced by filtering. Alternatively, the envelope of the beam pattern calculated from the antenna element information may be used as the beam pattern.

[0261] Next, we will discuss the case where one or more combinations of beam widths and maximum beam gains are given, as in [3] and [6] in <3.1>. Within the beam width of a beam pattern, the beam gain may be constant at the maximum gain, or the beam gain may be a curved or straight line connecting the beam direction to the beam width (for example, within a range of ±15° from the beam direction). Outside the beam width, the gain may be a constant value, or may be a value corresponding to at least one of the azimuth angle and the elevation angle. These values ​​may be predetermined by standards, legislation, specifications of the communication device 110, or may be obtained from the communication device 110.

[0262] Also, when a sampled beam pattern is given, as in [4] and [7] in <3.1>, the beam gain may be calculated by interpolating between the sampling points of the beam pattern. The interpolation method may be linear interpolation, any nonlinear interpolation, or stepwise (or at regular intervals). The beam width may be calculated from the interpolation result.

[0263] 3.4 Method for reducing computational complexity by grouping transmit beams In the method of determining the transmit power or availability for each beam, the amount of calculation increases in proportion to the number of beams compared to when the determination is made for each communication device (base station). As a result, the amount of calculation required for primary system protection may become enormous.

[0264] Therefore, in this embodiment, beams transmitted by one communication device (base station) are divided into one or more groups based on a certain criterion, and beam utilization is controlled for each group (for example, determining transmission power or whether transmission is possible). This embodiment achieves higher frequency efficiency than when calculations are performed for each base station, while reducing the amount of calculations compared to when calculations are performed for each beam.

[0265] Here, the number of groups after grouping the beams that communication device n of the secondary system can form is defined as Dn, and each group is represented by d (d<=d<=Dn). In this case, for example, the interference power I from group d of communication device n of the secondary system to the primary system installed at protection point p is n,d→p is expressed by the following formula (7).

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[0266] The variables are defined as follows: P n,d : The antenna power per bandwidth used by the primary system of the communication device n of the secondary system when forming the beam b included in the group d G n,d (φn→p ,θ n→p ): The direction (φ n→p ,θ n→p ) The representative value of the beam gain of the beam included in group d of communication device n of the secondary system in L n→p and G ps has the same definition as equation (3).

[0267] No matter which group the communication device 110 forms a beam in, it is necessary to reliably protect the primary system. For example, in this embodiment, the communication control device 130 determines the antenna power P when the communication device n of the secondary system forms a beam included in group d so that the cumulative interference power satisfies the condition of the following equation (8) at all protection points (protection targets). n,d Alternatively, the communication control device 130 determines whether or not to transmit a beam for each group of communication device n of the secondary system so that the cumulative interference power satisfies the condition of the following equation (8) at all protection points (protection targets). The condition of equation (8) corresponds to the condition that the cumulative total of interference power from each group of multiple communication devices is equal to or less than the interference margin of the protection target.

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[0268] 13 is a flowchart of a first method (method 1) executed by the processing unit 133 of the communication control device 130 according to this embodiment. In method 1, the communication control device 130 acquires information about beams from the communication devices 110 (S101), and based on the acquired information, groups the beams that can be transmitted by each communication device 110 according to a certain criterion for each communication device 110 (S102).

[0269] Next, for each group, the beam patterns of the beams belonging to the group are synthesized to generate a beam pattern (synthesized beam pattern) for each group (S103). For example, a representative value Gn,d (φ n→p ,θ n→p ) is calculated for multiple azimuth angles and multiple elevation angles, and a composite beam pattern is generated based on the calculated representative values. Using this composite beam pattern, a representative value G of the beam gain from group d to protection point p is calculated. n,d (φ n→p ,θ n→p ) and the interference power I n,d→p Then, the transmission power or whether to transmit is determined for each group so as to satisfy equation (8) (S104). Finally, the results of the determination of the transmission power or whether to transmit are notified to each communication device 110 for each beam or for each group (S105). The beam pattern synthesis method will be described in detail in <3.6>.

[0270] Fig. 14 is a flowchart of a second method (method 2) executed by the processing unit 133 of the communication control device 130 according to this embodiment. Steps S201, S202, S204, and S205 are the same as steps S101, S102, S104, and S105 in Fig. 13. The processing in step S203 differs from method 1 described in Fig. 13.

[0271] In step S203, after grouping the beams, a representative value of the beam gain or the representative value of the interference power for each protection point is calculated for each group. The calculated representative value of the beam gain or the representative value of the interference power is used to determine the transmission power or whether or not to transmit for each group (S204). In other words, the representative value G of the beam gain from group d to protection point p is calculated in advance. n,d (φ n→p ,θ n→p ) or Interference I n,d→p A representative value of the signal is calculated in advance, and the calculated representative value is used to determine the transmission power or whether or not to transmit. Unlike Method 1, Method 2 does not combine beam patterns.

[0272] Here, the calculation of the representative value of the beam gain or the representative value of the interference may be performed by calculating the maximum value or average value of the beam gain in the direction of each protection point for each group. For example, the maximum value G of the beam gain to the protection point p for each group is calculated as follows: n,d (φ n→p ,θ n→p ) is the set of beams included in the group B n,d This can be expressed as equation (9) using

number

[0273] Furthermore, the calculation of the representative value of the beam gain or the representative value of the interference may be performed by calculating the maximum or average value of the interference power for each group. For example, the beam gain G from the beam in the group to the protection point p is calculated as follows: n,d (φ n→p ,θ n→p ) for all protected points, and then the interference power I n,d→p Then calculate I n,d→p The representative value of is calculated using the following equation (10): The value calculated using equation (10) is used as is to determine the transmission power or whether or not to transmit.

number

[0274] In the above description, the representative values ​​for all protection points are calculated first, and then the transmission power or whether or not to transmit is determined. However, the representative value may be calculated each time the interference power for each protection point is calculated.

[0275] Fig. 15 is a flowchart of a third method (method 3) executed by the processing unit 133 of the communication control device 130 according to this embodiment. Steps S301, S302, S304, and S305 are the same as steps S101, S102, S104, and S105 in Fig. 13. The processing in step S303 differs from method 1 described in Fig. 13.

[0276] In step S303, after grouping the beams, one beam is selected for each group that is optimal for calculating the interference power to each protection point. The beam selected from a certain group of communication device n is designated as b selected n,d The selected beam is regarded as the beam pattern of the group, and the transmission power or whether to transmit is determined for each group. In other words, the representative value G of the beam gain to the protection point p for each group is n,d (φ n→p ,θ n→p ) is the selected beam b selected n,d Beam gain to the protection point TIFF0007821403000016.tif19168. And TIFF0007821403000017.tif19168 is beam b selected n,d The beam gain is calculated using the beam pattern and the direction of the protection point. n,d→p Calculate.

[0277] Here, the selection of the optimal beam for calculating the interference power to each protection point is the beam b that maximizes the beam gain or interference power in the direction of each protection point. selected n,d For each group, the beam gain G to the protection point p may be selected. n,b (φ n→p ,θ n→p ) is maximized, b selected n,d can be expressed by equation (11).

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[0278] <3.5 Specific examples of grouping methods> Here, a specific example of a method for grouping beams will be described.

[0279] First, we will discuss grouping based on beam direction. For example, as shown in FIG. 16, one or more grouping target ranges (division target ranges) GT are determined in advance with respect to beam direction, and the grouping target range GT is divided into two or more ranges (directional ranges) based on a certain criterion. Beams whose beam directions fall within the same range are grouped together into one beam group. In the example of FIG. 16, the grouping target range GT is divided into four, and the beams included in each divided range are grouped together into one group, thereby generating four groups 1 to 4. Each of groups 1 to 4 includes at least one beam. Beam GB3 included in group 3 is shown as an example, but other beams not shown may also exist.

[0280] The grouping range may be determined according to not only the azimuth angle but also the elevation angle. In this case, the grouping range may be divided by both the azimuth angle and the elevation angle. Furthermore, if a beam exists outside the grouping range, the beam may not be grouped, and the transmit power or transmit availability may be determined individually.

[0281] The grouping target range may be determined by specifications, legislation, or agreements, or may be acquired from specification data of the communication device 110 or from the communication device 110 together with beam pattern information.

[0282] The grouping target range may also be determined by the communication control device 130 based on the antenna parameters of the communication device 110. For example, in the case of a three-sector antenna, the grouping target range may be a range of ±60 degrees in azimuth angle centered on the front direction of the antenna panel. Furthermore, if the front direction of the antenna panel is shifted due to antenna tilt or the like, the grouping target range corresponding to this antenna panel may be offset according to the tilt angle or the like.

[0283] The grouping target range may also be estimated by the communication control device 130 from the beam capability information given to the communication device 110. Note that the method for determining the grouping target range may be changed depending on how the beam capability information is given, as described in <3.1>.

[0284] When one or more beam directions expressed by at least one of an azimuth angle and an elevation angle are given as in [2] to [4], the grouping target range may be estimated from these beam directions. For example, as shown in FIG. 17, a beam movement range MA1 may be calculated from the given beam direction, and the movement range MA1 may be used as the division target range. Also, as shown in FIG. 17, a certain margin may be set for the beam movement range MA1, and the range including the margin may be used as the division target range. This margin may be determined based on, for example, the beam width. In FIG. 17, the division target range is determined as a range MA2 including a margin according to the beam width BW1 of beam 1 and a margin according to the beam width BW2 of beam 5. Note that the grouping target range may be determined based on not only the movement range of the azimuth angle but also the movement range of the elevation angle.

[0285] As in [5] to [7], when one or more beam movement ranges expressed by at least one of azimuth angle and elevation angle are given, these movement ranges may be used as the grouping target range as they are. When two or more movement ranges are given, each movement range may be used as a grouping target range, and grouping may be performed individually. Also, in this case, as in the case where the beam direction is given, a certain amount of margin may be set for the beam movement range, and the range including the margin may be used as the grouping target range.

[0286] Furthermore, when two or more beam movable ranges are given, these beam movable ranges may be used to estimate one or more different grouping target ranges. For example, as shown in FIG. 18, a movable range MA3 that includes all beam movable ranges MA11, MA12, and MA13 may be calculated, and the movable range MA3 may be used as the grouping target range. Even when calculating one grouping target range from two or more beam movable ranges, a certain amount of margin may be set for the calculated beam movable range, as in the case of one or more beam directions being given in FIG. 17, and the range including the margin may be used as the grouping target range. In the example of FIG. 18, a range MA4 including a margin according to the beam width BW3 of beam 1 and a margin according to the beam width BW4 of beam 3 is determined as the division target range. Note that the grouping target range may be determined not only according to the azimuth angle movable range but also according to the elevation angle movable range.

[0287] Furthermore, when a precoding matrix, a weight matrix, a steering vector, or the like is given as in [1], one or more beam directions may be found from these matrices and vectors, and the grouping target range may be estimated using the found beam directions. For example, the beam movement range may be calculated from the found beam direction, and the calculated movement range may be used as the grouping target range. Note that the beam direction may be, for example, the direction in which the beam gain is maximized. Even in this case, as in the case in which one or more beam directions are given, a certain amount of margin may be set for the beam movement range, and the range including the margin may be used as the grouping target range.

[0288] Furthermore, the communication control device 130 does not need to group the entire area within the estimated grouping target range. For example, the communication control device 130 may calculate the range of beam directions in which no communicable terminals 120 actually exist, and exclude the range in which no terminals 120 exist from the grouping target range. Such a range in which no terminals 120 exist may also be excluded from the calculation of interference power. In this case, the communication device 110 may be notified that transmission is not possible for beams within this range, or may be notified of a transmission power of negative infinity in logarithmic notation.

[0289] Furthermore, when determining whether the beam directions are included in the same range in order to group the beams, the procedure for determining whether the beam directions are included in the same range differs depending on the capability information of the beams.

[0290] When one or more beam directions expressed by at least one of azimuth angle and elevation angle are given as in [2] to [4], the acquired beam direction is used as is to determine whether the beam direction is within the range corresponding to each group.

[0291] As in [5] to [7], when one or more beam movement ranges expressed by at least one of azimuth angle and elevation angle are given, one or more beam directions are identified by the method described in <3.3>, and then it is determined whether these beam directions are within the ranges corresponding to each group. Note that, as in [6], even if the beam movement range is divided into one or more parts by beam width, etc., and the center of the divided range is set as the beam direction, it is also determined whether this beam direction is within the range corresponding to each group.

[0292] As in [1], even when a precoding matrix, weight matrix, steering vector, etc. are given, the beam direction is calculated from these matrices and vectors, and it is determined whether the calculated beam direction is within the range corresponding to each group. Note that the beam direction may be, for example, the direction in which the beam gain is maximized.

[0293] Furthermore, when dividing the grouping target range, it may be divided at equal intervals, or the division interval may be changed depending on the beam direction.

[0294] In this case, the number of divisions, i.e., the number of groups, may be determined based on, for example, the number of identified beam directions. That is, the size of each division range (division interval) is changed according to the distribution density of the beam directions. For example, the more identified beam directions (the higher the distribution density of directions), the greater the number of divisions (narrower the division range). This allows for more accurate calculation of the interference power.

[0295] Similarly, the number of divisions and the number of groups may be determined depending on the identified beam width. For example, the narrower the beam width, the more divisions there are. This allows for more accurate calculation of the interference power.

[0296] Furthermore, the number of divisions and the number of groups may be determined depending on the size of the grouping target range of the identified beam. For example, the larger the grouping target range, the more divisions are set. This allows for more accurate calculation of the interference power.

[0297] The number of divisions, or groups, can be determined according to the frequency band. In the case of 5G, the millimeter wave band generally allows for more beams to be transmitted than the Sub-6 band, so the higher the frequency, the more divisions there are. This allows for high accuracy in calculating the interference power.

[0298] In addition to the above-mentioned criteria, other criteria may be used. As another criterion, the number of divisions and the number of groups may be determined depending on the calculation performance of the communication control device 130. If the calculation performance of the communication control device 130 is limited, the number of divisions is set so that the calculation amount falls within the range of the calculation performance. Alternatively, the above-mentioned criteria may be combined with other criteria. For example, by setting a certain upper limit on the number of divisions, the calculation amount is kept within the calculation performance of the communication control device 130. Furthermore, the calculation amount may be reduced by suppressing the rate of increase in the number of divisions depending on the calculation performance of the communication control device 130.

[0299] When the division interval is variable depending on the beam direction, the division interval (i.e., the size of each range obtained by division) may be changed according to the azimuth angle and elevation angle, taking into consideration the priority of each beam direction. The priority of each beam direction may be, for example, the frequency of beam use. For beam directions that are expected to be used frequently, the division interval may be narrowed and the number of divisions may be increased to prioritize utilization efficiency, and for beam directions that are used less frequently, the division interval may be widened and the number of divisions may be reduced to prioritize calculation load.

[0300] The priority of each beam direction may be notified to the communication control device 130 from the communication device 110 according to the actual usage status of the beam. For example, a high priority may be assigned to a direction corresponding to a range near the front of the antenna panel, and a low priority may be assigned to a direction corresponding to a range at a large angle from the front of the antenna panel.

[0301] The division interval may also be determined according to the size of the geographical coverage of the beam as shown in Figures 10 and 11. The division interval should be as narrow as possible for areas with wide coverage, and conversely, the division interval should be wide for areas with narrow coverage. This allows for more accurate calculation of the interference power in areas with a large impact.

[0302] Alternatively, the division interval may be changed depending on the relationship between the beam direction and the direction in which the primary system is located. For example, as shown in Fig. 12 above, the division interval is set narrower within a certain range angle (Δφ) from the direction in which the protection area of ​​the primary system 200 is located, and wider in other areas. This makes it possible to more accurately calculate the interference power of beams that have a large interfering power to the primary system 200.

[0303] Furthermore, even when the division interval is variable, the total number of divisions may be determined in the same way as when dividing at equal intervals, and the division interval may then be determined according to the above-mentioned criteria so that the number of groups falls within this number of divisions.

[0304] Furthermore, as a classification criterion other than beam direction, grouping may be performed based on the magnitude of interference power or the magnitude of beam gain to each protection point. For example, a range of the magnitude of interference power or beam gain of beams to be classified into each group may be determined in advance. After calculating the interference power or beam gain of each beam, it may be determined which group range each beam falls into, and the beam may be classified into the determined group. The reason for this is that even if the same calculation result is applied to beams with similar interference power or beam gain, there is a high possibility that the frequency utilization efficiency will not decrease significantly. Note that the grouping method may differ for each protection point.

[0305] The range of interference power or beam gain of beams to be classified into each group may be variable based on the magnitude of the interference power or beam gain. For example, the interference power or beam gain is calculated first, and the range of interference power or beam gain is widened for areas where the interference power or beam gain is large. On the other hand, the range of interference power or beam gain is narrowed for areas where the interference power or beam gain is small. This allows the transmission power or usability to be precisely calculated only for beams with low interference power and high probability of use, while reducing the calculation accuracy for other beams, thereby reducing the overall amount of calculation.

[0306] Of course, there may be ranges that are not subject to grouping. For example, beams whose interference power is above or below a preset value may not be grouped, and the transmission power or availability may always be calculated for each beam.

[0307] 3.6 Example of beam pattern synthesis Here, a specific example of a beam pattern synthesis method used in the above-mentioned method 1 (see FIG. 13) will be described.

[0308] In this embodiment, combining beam patterns means, for example, modeling (envelope) the beam patterns of all beam directions included in each group using maximum values ​​(beam gains), as shown in FIG. 19. That is, in the example of FIG. 19, a combined beam pattern BP3 is generated by taking the envelope of the maximum values ​​of beam pattern BP1 of beam 1 and beam pattern BP2 of beam 2. As another example of combining beam patterns, as shown in FIG. 20, an average value is calculated between the maximum values ​​(beam gains) of the beams of each beam pattern, and modeling (envelope) is performed using the average value. That is, in the example of FIG. 20, a combined beam pattern BP4 is generated by calculating the average value of the beam gain between beam pattern BP1 of beam 1 and beam pattern BP2 of beam 2, and taking the envelope of the average value.

[0309] In this case, when modeled at the maximum value as shown in Figure 19, the beam gain G in any direction of φ and θ in group d after beam pattern synthesis is n,d (φ, θ) can be expressed by the following equation (12).

number

[0310] Except for [4] and [7], the beam gain can be expressed mathematically and can be calculated for any direction. Therefore, when calculating the beam gain for each direction, it is sufficient to calculate the gain for all beams and then calculate the maximum and average values.

[0311] When using sampled beam patterns as in [4] and [7], the beam gain may be calculated by precalculating the sampled combined beam pattern and interpolating it for any direction. Note that, as in FIG. 21, if all beam directions are sampled at a common sampling point, they may be combined at each sampling point as is. That is, in the example of FIG. 21, the sampling point SP1 of the beam pattern BP1 of beam 1 and the sampling point SP2 of the beam pattern BP2 of beam 2 are common sampling points. In this case, the beam patterns are combined using the sampling points of each beam pattern as is. On the other hand, as in FIG. 22, if the sampling points are different for each beam direction, the beam patterns of each beam direction are interpolated, and re-sampled at a common sampling point. Then, the beam patterns are combined using the interpolated sampling points. That is, in the example of FIG. 22, the sampling point SP1 of the beam pattern BP1 of beam 1 and the sampling point SP2 of the beam pattern BP2 of beam 2 are set independently. In this case, the beam patterns of each beam direction are interpolated, and re-sampled at a common sampling point. Then, the beam patterns are combined using the interpolated sampling points.

[0312] Even if it is not [4] or [7], it is possible to define common sampling points for all beam directions for each group, and then calculate the maximum or average value of the beam gain at each sampling point in advance. Then, the beam gain can be calculated by interpolating for any direction.

[0313] <3.7 Method for notifying communication device of transmission power or transmission availability information for each beam or group> A method for notifying a communication device of the maximum allowable antenna power (transmission power) for each beam and whether or not a beam can be transmitted will be described. When notifying the communication device 110 of the maximum antenna power allowed for each beam and whether or not the beam is transmittable, the notification method may be changed depending on the capability information of the beam.

[0314] When capability information is given in the form of one or more precoding matrices, weight matrices, or steering vectors as in [1] of <3.1>, the communication control device 130 may notify the communication device 110 of the transmission power or whether transmission is possible for each matrix / vector. When hybrid beamforming is performed and a beam pattern is calculated using a combination of multiple matrices / vectors, information on the combination used in the calculation may also be notified.

[0315] When one or more beam directions expressed by at least one of an azimuth angle and an elevation angle are given as in [2] to [4] in <3.1>, the communication control device 130 may notify the communication device 110 of the transmission power or whether transmission is possible for each given beam direction. Also, when multiple beam widths, beam gains, beam patterns, etc. are defined for one beam direction, the information is also notified separately.

[0316] Note that the communication device 110, having received notification of the maximum antenna power (transmission power) or transmission availability for each beam direction, determines the transmission power or transmission availability of the beams it forms based on the notified information. At this time, the communication device 110 does not necessarily apply the result (transmission power or availability) only to beams whose beam directions exactly match the notified beam directions. For each notified beam direction, the communication device 110 may determine the range of beam directions to which the corresponding maximum antenna power or transmission availability should be applied, and apply the maximum antenna power or transmission availability to beams pointing within that range. For example, as shown in FIG. 23, the maximum antenna power or transmission availability of beam X may be applied to beams pointing within a range RA between an intermediate direction D1 between a certain beam X and an adjacent beam Y and an intermediate direction D2 between beam X and an adjacent beam Z. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 24, the same maximum antenna power or transmission availability may be applied to beams pointing within a beam width range RB from the beam direction of a certain beam X. If a beam is directed within a beam width common to two or more beams, the maximum, minimum, or average value of the maximum antenna power of those two or more beams may be calculated and applied to the beam. In the case of whether transmission is possible or not, either a result indicating transmission is possible or not possible may be applied.

[0317] When one or more beam movement ranges expressed by at least one of azimuth angle and elevation angle are given as in [5] to [7] in <3.1>, the communication control device 130 may notify the communication device 110 of the maximum antenna power or whether transmission is possible, along with information on the direction of the azimuth angle, elevation angle, etc., for each beam direction obtained by sampling.

[0318] In this case, the communication device 110 may determine, for each sampled beam direction, a range of beam directions to which the corresponding maximum antenna power or transmission enable / disable setting should be applied, and apply the maximum antenna power or transmission enable / disable setting to beams pointing within that range. For example, as shown in FIG. 23 above, the maximum antenna power or transmission enable / disable setting of beam X may be applied to beams pointing within a range RA between an intermediate direction D1 between a certain beam X and an adjacent beam Y and an intermediate direction D2 between beam X and an adjacent beam Z. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 24, the same maximum antenna power or transmission enable / disable setting may be applied to beams pointing within a beam width range RB from the beam direction of a certain beam X. If a certain beam points within a beam width common to two or more beams, the maximum, minimum, or average value of the maximum antenna power of those two or more beams may be determined, and the determined value may be applied to the beam. In the case of transmission enable / disable, either a transmission enable or transmission disable result may be applied.

[0319] 23 and 24, the communication control device 130 may determine the range of beam directions to which each calculation result (transmission power or availability, etc.) should be applied from the beam direction, and notify the communication device 110 of the maximum antenna power or transmission availability along with information on the determined beam direction range. In this case, the communication device 110 applies the corresponding maximum antenna power to the beams directed within each range.

[0320] When multiple beam widths, beam gains, and beam patterns are defined in one beam movable range, information on these multiple definitions may also be notified separately.

[0321] In addition, the communication control device 130 may notify the absolute amount (absolute value) of the maximum antenna power of each beam, or may notify the maximum antenna power as a relative amount (relative value), such as the difference from the beam with the highest maximum antenna power.

[0322] Furthermore, the communication control device 130 may periodically recalculate the maximum allowable transmission power or transmission feasibility for each beam in order to accommodate addition or deletion of a primary system, addition or deletion of a secondary system, parameter changes, etc. If the calculation result of the maximum allowable power changes as a result of the calculation, the communication control device 130 may notify the communication device 110 of information on the changed maximum allowable power or transmission feasibility using a frequency use permission procedure or a response to a frequency use notification.

[0323] At this time, in order to reduce the amount of communication data required for the procedure, the communication control device 130 may, for example, notify only information about beams whose maximum allowable power has decreased. Alternatively, the communication control device 130 may notify only information about beams whose transmission permission has changed. Alternatively, the communication control device 130 may notify only information about beams whose use has been notified in the frequency use permission procedure or frequency use notification.

[0324] When beams are grouped according to this embodiment, there are two possible methods for notifying the communication device 110 of the transmission power or whether transmission is possible.

[0325] In the first method, the transmission power or transmission possibility information calculated for each group, or the transmission power or transmission possibility information calculated for one beam selected from a group, is applied to all beams in the same group, and the communication device 110 is notified of the transmission power or transmission possibility for each beam, just as in the case of not grouping.

[0326] In the second method, information on transmission power or transmission availability is notified to communication device 110 for each group, and information on the group to which each beam belongs is also notified to communication device 110. Then, communication device 110 determines the transmission power or transmission availability of each beam based on the information received from communication control device 130.

[0327] Note that if the grouping method differs for each protection point, naturally, multiple calculation results, such as transmission power or transmission availability information, will exist for one beam. For this reason, communication control device 130 must ultimately determine the transmission power or transmission availability information to be notified to communication device 110 based on the calculation results for each protection point. For example, in the case of transmission power, the minimum value of the transmission power calculated for all protection points is determined, and the determined minimum value is notified to communication device 110. In the case of transmission availability, a transmission availability decision is given priority among the transmission availability results for all protection points. In other words, if there is even one protection point with a transmission availability result, the communication device 110 is notified that transmission is unavailable.

[0328] Alternatively, if there are beams to which common parameters can be applied, these beams may be regrouped and the calculation results may be notified to the communication device 110 for each group after the regrouping.

[0329] <<4. An example of a method for determining whether or not to transmit for each beam>> Here, an example of application of the above-mentioned method of reducing the amount of calculation by grouping beams will be described. Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a method for calculating a list of communication devices that should stop radio wave transmission so that the cumulative interference from the communication devices to the primary system does not exceed a tolerance (interference margin). This list includes a fixed satellite service (FSS) out-of-band emission (OOBE) purge list or a dynamic protection area (DPA) move list. This method determines whether transmission is permitted for each communication device.

[0330] On the other hand, in this chapter, we will explain a method that extends the method of Non-Patent Document 1 so that the possibility of transmission can be determined for each beam, rather than determining the possibility of transmission for each communication device as in Non-Patent Document 1.

[0331] <4.1 Calculation method for DPA Move List and FSS OOBE Purge List> This section describes a method for calculating the DPA Move List in the existing CBRS, which is disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1. In this method, communication devices with high interference power are added to the DPA Move List with priority, so that as many communication devices as possible can use radio waves, while ensuring that the total value of interference from communication devices (CBSDs) does not exceed the allowable interference power (interference margin). When radio wave use by the primary system is detected, the communication control device instructs the communication devices added to the DPA Move List to stop radio wave transmission.

[0332] The DPA Move List protects shipboard radars and other similar devices. Shipboard radars rotate their direction of direction by 360 degrees. For this reason, when calculating the Move List, the directional direction of the radar's beam pattern must be changed in angle by half the beam width within the specified range so that the directional direction satisfies the interference condition (the cumulative interference power to the shipboard radar is below the threshold).

[0333] FIG. 25 shows a flowchart of an example of a calculation algorithm for the DPA Move List. In the explanation, the protection point and the channel to be protected are respectively designated as p and c, and the total number of communication devices that need to be considered at the protection point p and the channel c is designated as N p,c , each communication device is n(1<=n<= N p,c ) index. The maximum antenna power of communication device n in channel c is expressed as P c Let's say.

[0334] To calculate the DPA Move List, first, a protection point p and a channel c for which the Move List is to be calculated are selected (S401). p,c For all communication devices, the interference power excluding the antenna gain of the primary system at protection point p and channel c is TIFF0007821403000020.tif14168 is calculated (S402). Here, G c,n→pis the antenna gain of communication device n in the direction of protection point p in channel c, L c,n→p is the median value of the path loss from communication device n to protection point p in channel c. Then, the index n of the communication device is expressed as the interference power I n,p,c The sequence The first element of the sequence is the index of the communication device with the smallest interference power, and the last element of the sequence is the index of the communication device with the largest interference power (S403).

[0335] Next, the interference power to the primary system when the radar beam direction is a TIFF0007821403000022.tif15170 to sequence S p,c The first i (0<=i< N p,c ) for the communication devices, the CDF (cumulative probability distribution) of the total value is calculated as the path loss L c,n→p The reliability of G is calculated by performing a Monte Carlo simulation (S404). c,a→n is the receiving antenna gain of the primary system in the direction of communication device n when the radar beam direction is a.

[0336] For protection point p, channel c, and beam direction a, the sequence S p,c The CDF of the total interference power of the first i communication devices is p,c,a (i). And this CDF p,c,a Find the maximum i for which the 95% value of (i) is less than the threshold for all possible beam directions a, and p,c (S405).

[0337] This i p,c The Move List for the protection point p and channel c is the sequence S p,c i p,c+1 A new sequence of numbers extracted from the th onwards This is obtained as TIFF0007821403000023.tif18170 (S406).

[0338] Repeat the above steps for all protection points and all channels. p,c (S407). p,c is regarded as a set of indexes of communication devices, and the union of all protection points and all channels is taken as the final DPA Move List (S408).

[0339] In the FSS OOBE Purge List, when determining the maximum i, the interference power is calculated using the average value of the propagation loss.

[0340] <4.2 Specific example of determining whether or not to transmit for each beam> In the calculation of the Move List described in <4.1>, whether transmission is possible or not is determined for each communication device, so if there is even one beam in the same communication device that has strong interfering power to the primary system, transmission will not be possible even if the interfering power is weak. Therefore, with this method, it is not possible to maximize the spectral efficiency improvement effect achieved by beamforming.

[0341] In this embodiment, the interference power of all beams formed by all communication devices is calculated individually, and then transmission availability is determined for each beam (not for each communication device) in descending order of interference power, thereby improving the utilization efficiency of communication devices with beamforming capabilities during secondary use.

[0342] FIG. 26 shows a flowchart of an example of an algorithm according to this embodiment for determining whether transmission is possible for each beam and calculating a list of beams for which transmission is not possible.

[0343] As a premise, the total number of beams that communication device n can form is B n Let the index of each beam be b(1<=b<=B n ) where N p,c The total number of beams of communication devices is TIFF0007821403000024.tif20170. Also, B p,c For each beam, a new set of indices b'(1<=b'<=B p,c ) is given.

[0344] As with the calculation of the Move List, to calculate the list of beams that cannot be transmitted, a protection point p and a channel c for which the list is to be calculated are selected (S501). The interference power excluding the antenna gain of the primary system at the protection point p and channel c is calculated as TIFF0007821403000025.tif16170 is calculated individually for all beams b' (S502). c,b’→p , L c,n→p are the transmission beam gain in the direction of protection point p when beam b' is used in channel c, and the median value of the propagation loss from communication device n transmitting beam b' to protection point p.

[0345] Then, the beam index b' is I b’,p,c The sequence Set the file name to TIFF0007821403000026.tif16170 (S503).

[0346] Next, S p,c Take out the first i beams from the beginning of the table and calculate the interference power I b’,p,c The beam with the largest value is determined for each communication device n (S504), and the index of the determined beam is designated as b' n,i In addition, the number of communication devices whose beams are transmitted among these i beams is expressed as N i p,c In other words, b' n,i Also N i p,c The interference power to the primary system when the radar beam direction is a is TIFF0007821403000027.tif18170 to N i p,cThe CDF of the sum of the values ​​for the communication devices is the path loss L c,n→p The reliability of N is calculated by performing Monte Carlo simulation (S505). i p,c The CDF of the total interference power of communication devices is p,c,a (i). And this CDF p,c,a Find the maximum i for which the 95% value of (i) is less than the threshold for all possible beam directions a, and p,c (S506).

[0347] The total interference power calculated here is calculated by dividing the beam with the largest interference power by N i p,c Although the total is calculated for communication devices, it does not necessarily have to be the total of the maximum interference power. For example, the total of the average interference power of the beams of communication device n included in i beams may be used.

[0348] This i p,c Using the above, the list of beams that cannot be transmitted for the protection point p and channel c is given by the sequence S p,c i p,c+1 A new sequence of numbers extracted from the th onwards This is obtained as TIFF0007821403000028.tif16170 (S507).

[0349] Repeat the above steps for all protection points and all channels. p,c (S508). p,c is regarded as a set of indexes of communication devices, and the union of all protection points and all channels is taken as the final list of beams that cannot be transmitted (S509).

[0350] Figure 27 illustrates how beams are actually sorted in order of interference power. This is the case for TIFF0007821403000029.tif16170. A series of indexes b' from 1 to 12 is reassigned to all beams. The beams are sorted in order of interference power and the sequence S p,c It is as follows.

[0351] Figure 28 shows the sequence S in Figure 27. p,c For each of the three communication devices, select the beam b' with the greatest interference power. n,i An example of selecting i is shown below. For these three selected beams, the CDF of the total value of the interference power is calculated using a Monte Carlo simulation, and the largest i that satisfies the 95% threshold condition is found. Note that it is not necessary to include all beams formed by the communication device in the calculation. For example, one or more beams may be excluded from the calculation target beams based on criteria such as the interference power, SINR, beam gain in the direction of the protection point, and beam aiming direction. For example, beams whose interference power is equal to or less than the value obtained by dividing the interference margin (allowable interference power) of the protected object by the number of communication devices being calculated may be deemed to have sufficiently low interference power and may be excluded from the calculation target.

[0352] For the purpose of reducing the amount of calculation, only beams whose beam direction is within a certain range Δφ from the direction in which the primary system 200 is installed may be subject to calculation, as shown in Fig. 29. The installation position of the primary system may be one or more protection points. Also, the beams subject to calculation may be different for each protection point.

[0353] <4.3 Other beam rearrangement methods> In <4.2>, beams are sorted in order of interference power in order to prioritize the removal of beams with the greatest interference power, but it is not necessary to sort beams based solely on the magnitude of the interference power. Even if beams are not sorted in order of interference power, it is possible to ensure that the interference power to the primary system is below the allowable value.

[0354] First, as shown in Figure 30, the maximum value of the interference power of the beam is calculated for each communication device, and the beam groups of the communication devices are rearranged in ascending order of the maximum interference power between the communication devices. After this, the beams are rearranged again in ascending order of the interference power within the same communication device. In this case, i p,c For a communication device that transmits a beam, there may be beams that are available for transmission and beams that are unavailable for transmission. For other communication devices, all beams may be available or unavailable.

[0355] In addition to the maximum interference power, communication devices may be arranged based on criteria such as (1) propagation loss to the primary system, (2) average interference power of the beam, and (3) interference power of the communication device excluding the beam gain. Furthermore, rearrangement within the same communication device may be based on the priority of the beam in addition to the interference power. For example, rearrangement may be based on the beam utilization rate, geographical coverage, or beam use (such as for control signals).

[0356] Also, as shown in Fig. 31, a method of assigning priorities to beams within each communication device is possible. The priorities of beams may be expressed, for example, by integer indexes. After prioritizing beams within each communication device, beams of the same priority from different communication devices are grouped together. The groups are sorted in descending order of priority, and beams of groups with the same priority are sorted, for example, in descending order of interference power.

[0357] In addition, communication devices with similar values ​​of maximum interference power, propagation loss to the primary system, average interference power, interference power of communication devices excluding beam gain, etc. are grouped together, and these groups are sorted in ascending order of the reference value. Furthermore, beams within each group may be sorted based on the magnitude of interference power, etc. In this method, i p,c For a communication device in a group including the th beam, there may be usable beams and unavailable beams.

[0358] For example, as shown in Fig. 32, a method of dividing communication devices into groups based on the maximum interference power is also possible. In the example of Fig. 32, four communication devices are divided into two groups: one with a large maximum interference power and one with a small maximum interference power. The group with the small maximum interference power is a group that includes communication device 2 having a beam ranked third in interference power and communication device 4 having a beam ranked fourth in interference power. The group with the large maximum interference power is a group that includes communication device 1 having a beam ranked first in interference power and communication device 3 having a beam ranked second in interference power. These groups are rearranged in ascending order of maximum interference power. Then, within each group, the beams may be further rearranged by the magnitude of the interference power (for example, in ascending order of interference power).

[0359] Furthermore, communication devices are divided into groups based on similar values ​​of maximum interference power, propagation loss to the primary system, average interference power, interference power of communication devices excluding beam gain, etc. After rearranging the groups, the beams may be rearranged in the same group by beam priority as shown in Fig. 31 above, and then the beams within the same priority may be rearranged in order of interference power.

[0360] Furthermore, when rearranging beams using the method described above, the interference power of each reference beam may be reduced by an arbitrary value according to the priority of each beam. However, this process is for rearranging the beams and does not actually reduce the transmission power when the communication device transmits.

[0361] To ensure fairness among communication devices, a total amount of interference power reduction per communication device may be set and allocated to each beam of the communication device to reduce the interference power of each beam and prioritize them. The total amount of interference power reduction may be set to a fixed amount, such as 1 / 10 (10 dB).

[0362] Furthermore, when the total amount of attenuation is the same for a communication device with a large number of beams that it can transmit and a communication device with a small number of beams, the communication device with a large number of beams will have a smaller amount of attenuation per beam, so it is possible to increase the amount of attenuation allocated to one communication device according to the number of beams that it can transmit. Also, when the number of beams is large, the maximum beam gain generally increases, so it is possible to increase the amount of attenuation allocated to one communication device according to the maximum beam gain.

[0363] <<5. Modifications>> The above-described embodiments can be diverted to purposes other than the protection of an existing system (incumbent system). For example, the above-described embodiments can be applied to interference control between secondary systems.

[0364] The above-described embodiment shows an example for realizing the present disclosure, and the present disclosure can be implemented in various other forms. For example, various modifications, substitutions, omissions, or combinations thereof are possible without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. Such modifications, substitutions, omissions, etc. are also included within the scope of the present disclosure, as well as within the scope of the inventions described in the claims and their equivalents.

[0365] Furthermore, the effects of the present disclosure described in this specification are merely examples, and other effects may also be present.

[0366] The present disclosure can also be configured as follows. [Explanation of symbols]

[0367] 51: Antenna 100: Communication Network 110, 110A, 110B, 110C: Communication equipment 111: Receiving unit 113: Processing section 114: Transmitter 115: Control unit 116: Storage section 120, 120A: Terminal 130, 130A, 130B: communication control device 131: Receiving unit 132: Processing section 133: Processing section 134: Transmitter 135: Control unit 136: Storage section 200: Primary system

Claims

1. dividing the beams of a communication device capable of transmitting a plurality of beams into one or more groups before evaluating the transmission power and availability of the beams; generating a composite beam pattern by combining the patterns of all beams included in the group; a processing unit that determines, in units of the group, the transmission power or availability of the beam in the communication device based on the synthesized beam pattern; A communication control device comprising:

2. The processing unit calculates interference power given to a protected object by transmission of a beam according to the composite beam pattern or a beam gain of the beam according to the composite beam pattern, and controls use of the beams included in the group based on the interference power or the beam gain. The communication control device according to claim 1 .

3. The processing unit controls the use of the beam for each of the communication devices in the group unit based on a condition that a cumulative total of the interference powers of the plurality of communication devices is equal to or less than an interference margin to be protected. The communication control device according to claim 2 .

4. The processing unit calculates a representative value of interference power given to a protected object by transmission of the beams included in the group or a representative value of beam gain of the beams, and controls use of the beams included in the group based on the representative value of interference power or the representative value of beam gain. The communication control device according to claim 1 .

5. The processing unit controls the use of the beam for each of the communication devices on a group basis based on a condition that a cumulative total of the representative values ​​of the interference powers of the plurality of communication devices is equal to or less than an interference margin to be protected. The communication control device according to claim 4.

6. The processing unit selects a representative beam from among the beams included in the group, and controls the use of the beams included in the group based on interference power given to a protected object by transmission of the selected beam or beam gain of the selected beam. The communication control device according to claim 1 .

7. The processing unit controls the use of the beam for each of the communication devices in the group unit based on a condition that a cumulative total of the interference powers of the plurality of communication devices is equal to or less than an interference margin to be protected. The communication control device according to claim 6.

8. The processing unit divides the plurality of beams into the one or more groups based on beam directions of the plurality of beams. The communication control device according to claim 1 .

9. The processing unit divides the plurality of beams into the one or more groups based on interference power that the plurality of beams imparts to a protected object or beam gains of the plurality of beams. The communication control device according to claim 1 .

10. The processing unit divides the plurality of beams into the one or more groups depending on which of a plurality of direction ranges corresponding to a plurality of groups the direction of the beam belongs to. The communication control device according to claim 1 .

11. The processing unit determines a division target range for beam directions based on the ranges of motion of the plurality of beams, and generates the plurality of direction ranges by dividing the division target range. The communication control device according to claim 10.

12. The processing unit determines priorities of the plurality of direction ranges based on information about the plurality of beams, and changes the sizes of the direction ranges according to the priorities. The communication control device according to claim 11.

13. The processing unit changes the sizes of the plurality of direction ranges according to a distribution density of the beam directions of the plurality of beams. The communication control device according to claim 11.

14. a transmitting unit that transmits, to the communication device, information indicating the transmission power for each of the groups and information on the group to which the beam belongs; The communication control device according to claim 1 , comprising:

15. a transmitting unit that transmits, to the communication device, information indicating the availability of the beam for each group and information on the group to which the beam belongs; The communication control device according to claim 1 , comprising:

16. dividing the beams of a communication device capable of transmitting a plurality of beams into one or more groups before evaluating the transmission power and availability of the beams; generating a composite beam pattern by combining the patterns of all beams included in the group; Based on the composite beam pattern, the transmission power or availability of the beam in the communication device is commonly determined for each group. Communication control method.

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