Transceiver and antenna device

Abstract

To provide a transmitting / receiving device and an antenna device capable of achieving high-gain wireless communication in a wide area while keeping down a circuit scale.SOLUTION: A transmitting / receiving device includes: a transmitting / receiving circuit; an antenna unit 100 having a plurality of directional antenna elements 110; and a switching circuit provided between the transmitting / receiving circuit and the antenna unit 100. The directional antenna elements 110 are arranged circumferentially or radially.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a transmission / reception device and an antenna device including an antenna unit having a plurality of directional antenna elements.

Background Art

[0002] Based on the rapid increase in mobile communication traffic, a configuration of a base station that switches antennas for a wide area has been proposed.

[0003] For example, in Non-Patent Document 1, six polarization-sharing omnidirectional antenna elements are evenly arranged around a cylindrical reflector, and a planar reflector that divides an area between adjacent elements is arranged, thereby proposing an antenna used for dynamic area change.

[0004] Also, in Patent Document 1, a transmission / reception device capable of rapidly switching a plurality of beams using a Butler matrix has been proposed.

Prior Art Documents

Non-Patent Documents

[0005]

Non-Patent Document 1

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

[0008] In particular, propagation loss increases significantly at higher frequencies, requiring high-gain antennas and transceivers to compensate for this loss. To achieve high gain through directivity, the antenna aperture needs to be large, resulting in a larger array antenna configuration, generally known as Massive-MIMO (for example, 64 or more channels).

[0009] In conventional technology, achieving high-gain MIMO wireless communication with directionality over a wide area requires either connecting multiple array antennas, each positioned to cover the area, to a transceiver circuit, or connecting array antennas to a transceiver circuit in combination with a Butler matrix or similar circuit. This necessitates preparing and controlling numerous transceiver systems.

[0010] Alternatively, if the transmitting and receiving circuits are to be divided into areas, it is necessary to separate the areas with reflectors or similar devices, prepare separate transmitting and receiving systems for each area, and control those systems.

[0011] As a result, the antenna and signal processing circuit configurations become larger, leading to challenges such as increased installation area and power consumption.

[0012] Therefore, the following disclosure is made in light of these circumstances, and aims to provide a transceiver and antenna device that can achieve high-gain wireless communication over a wide area while keeping the circuit size down. [Means for solving the problem]

[0013] One aspect of the present disclosure is a transmitting and receiving device (transmitting and receiving device 10) comprising a transmitting and receiving circuit (transmitting circuit 20, receiving circuit 30), an antenna unit (e.g., antenna unit 100) having a plurality of directional antenna elements (e.g., directional antenna elements 110), and a switching circuit (high-speed switching circuit 50) provided between the transmitting and receiving circuit and the antenna unit, wherein the directional antenna elements are arranged circumferentially or radially.

[0014] One aspect of the present disclosure is an antenna device having a plurality of directional antenna elements, wherein the antenna device is connected to a transmitting and receiving circuit via a switching circuit, and the directional antenna elements are arranged circumferentially or radially. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] Figure 1 shows an example of the block configuration of the transmitting / receiving device 10. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a plan view (top view) of the antenna section 100 according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a side view of the antenna section 100 according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 4] Figure 4 shows an example configuration of the directional antenna element 110 according to Example 1. [Figure 5] Figure 5 shows an example of the S-parameters of the directional antenna element 110 according to Example 1. [Figure 6A] Figure 6A shows an example of the directivity (E-plane directivity) of the directional antenna element 110 according to Example 1. [Figure 6B] Figure 6B shows an example of the directivity (H-plane directivity) of the directional antenna element 110 according to Example 1. [Figure 7] Figure 7 is a side view of the antenna section 100A according to Embodiment 2. [Figure 8]FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of S parameters of the directional antenna element 110 according to Example 2. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the directivity (H-plane directivity) of the directional antenna element 110 according to Example 2. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the relationship between the distance h and the gain of the antenna unit 100A. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a plan view of the antenna unit 100B according to Example 3. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a side view of the antenna unit 100B according to Example 3. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of S parameters of the directional antenna elements 110A and 110B according to Example 3. [Figure 14A] FIG. 14A is a diagram showing an example of the directivity (E-plane directivity) of the directional antenna elements 110A and 110B according to Example 3. [Figure 14B] FIG. 14B is a diagram showing an example of the directivity (H-plane directivity) of the directional antenna elements 110A and 110B according to Example 3. [Figure 15] FIG. 15 is a side view of the antenna unit 100C according to Example 4. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of S parameters of the directional antenna element 110C according to Example 4. [Figure 17A] FIG. 17A is a diagram showing an example of the directivity (E-plane directivity) of the directional antenna element 110C according to Example 4. [Figure 17B] FIG. 17B is a diagram showing an example of the directivity (H-plane directivity) of the directional antenna element 110C according to Example 4. [Figure 18] FIG. 18 is a plan (top) view and a side view of the antenna unit 100D according to Example 5. [Figure 19] FIG. 19 is a plan (top) view and a side view of the antenna unit 100E according to Example 6. [Figure 20] FIG. 20 is a plan view of the antenna unit 100F according to Example 7. [Figure 21] Figure 21 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the transmitting circuit 20 and the receiving circuit 30. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0016] The embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that identical or similar reference numerals are used to denote the same functions and components, and their descriptions will be omitted as appropriate.

[0017] (1) Overall schematic configuration of the transmitting and receiving device Figure 1 shows an example of the block configuration of the transceiver 10. As shown in Figure 1, the transceiver 10 includes a transmitting circuit 20, a receiving circuit 30, a transmit / receive switching switch 40, a high-speed switching circuit 50, a synchronization control unit 60, a beam control unit 70, and an antenna unit 100.

[0018] The transmitting circuit 20 includes a transmit data generation unit and a reference signal generation unit, and has the functions of a precoder, IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform), GI (Guard Interval) addition, D / A conversion, and power amplification (PA). The receiving circuit 30 has the functions of low noise amplification (LNA), A / D conversion, GI addition, FFT (Fast Fourier Transform), and decoder, and includes a reference signal processing unit and a data processing unit.

[0019] The transmitting circuit 20 and the receiving circuit 30 together may be called the transmitting and receiving circuit. In this embodiment, the transmitting and receiving device 10 is assumed to utilize time-division dulling (TDD).

[0020] The transmit / receive selector switch 40 switches between the transmit circuit 20 and the receive circuit 30 in accordance with the timing of the uplink and downlink signals according to the TDD.

[0021] The transmit / receive switching switch 40 may be implemented using a circulator instead of a switch. In the case of an FDD, a frequency sharer or the like may be used.

[0022] The high-speed switching circuit 50 is provided between the transmitting / receiving circuit and the antenna unit 100. The high-speed switching circuit 50 (which may also be simply called a switching circuit) has L input / output ports on the transmitting circuit 20 or receiving circuit 30 side and N input / output ports on the antenna unit 100 side, and provides high-speed switching between the input / output ports.

[0023] Each of the L input / output ports receives L transmit / receive signals from the transmit circuit 20 or the receive circuit 30 via the transmit / receive selector switch 40.

[0024] The high-speed switching circuit 50 selects L input / output ports from among the N input / output ports connected to the antenna unit 100, based on control by the beam control unit 70. The transmission circuit 20 or the reception circuit 30 is connected to the power supply unit 117 (not shown in Figure 1, see Figure 2, etc.) of the directional antenna element 110 via the selected L input / output ports, enabling the transmission and reception of signals.

[0025] The synchronous control unit 60 controls the beam control unit 70 to select port #1 on the transmitting / receiving circuit side by sweeping each of the N input / output ports using the high-speed switching circuit 50 in a time-division manner. The synchronous control unit 60 also controls the reference signal generation unit of the transmitting circuit 20 to generate a different reference signal at each sweep timing.

[0026] The beam control unit 70 controls the beam (antenna beam) transmitted from the antenna unit 100. Specifically, the beam control unit 70 can control the high-speed switching circuit 50 to select L input / output ports from the N input / output ports connected to the antenna unit 100.

[0027] The antenna section 100 has multiple directional antenna elements 110. Specifically, the antenna section 100 has directional antenna elements 110 numbered #1 to #N. The value of N is not particularly limited, but in the following embodiment, it is assumed to be 12 or less.

[0028] The antenna unit 100 may be separated from the high-speed switching circuit 50 and other components as a standalone antenna device. The antenna device may be connected to the transmit / receive circuit via the high-speed switching circuit 50 (and transmit / receive selector switch 40).

[0029] As shown in the following embodiment, the directional antenna elements may be arranged circumferentially or radially. Circumferential arrangement means that multiple directional antenna elements are arranged to surround a predetermined area. In this case, the planar shape formed by the multiple directional antenna elements may be, for example, a triangle or a polygon. Furthermore, there may be areas on the outer perimeter where no directional antenna elements are provided.

[0030] Radial arrangement may mean that multiple directional antenna elements are arranged radially outward from a central point, and at least some of the directions of these multiple directional antenna elements are different from each other. The multiple directional antenna elements may be arranged to cover all directions (a range of 360 degrees) or to cover a range of directions (for example, a range of 180 degrees).

[0031] The specific configuration of the antenna section will be explained in the following embodiment.

[0032] (2) Connection procedure using the transmitting / receiving device 10 To facilitate understanding, this section describes a connection procedure using the example where the transceiver 10 is a base station and the party communicating with the transceiver 10 is a mobile station (terminal). Of course, the configuration is not limited to this; the transceiver 10 may be a mobile station and the party communicating with the transceiver 10 may be a base station, or both may be mobile stations.

[0033] In the initial state of wireless communication, the synchronization control unit 60 of the transceiver 10 (base station) controls the beam control unit 70 to select port #1 on the transceiver circuit side by sweeping each of the N input / output ports in a time-division manner using the high-speed switching circuit 50.

[0034] In sync with the timing of this switching, the synchronization control unit 60 controls the reference signal generation unit of the transmission circuit 20 to generate different reference signals at each sweep timing.

[0035] The mobile station measures the reception quality of all N reference signals in the reference signal processing unit of the receiving circuit 30, and feeds back the indices of the top L beams with good reception quality to the transceiver 10 (base station).

[0036] The transceiver 10 (base station) selects L input / output ports from among the N input / output ports connected to the antenna unit 100, as specified by the beam control unit 70, and transmits and receives signals with the power supply unit 117 (see Figure 2, etc.) of the directional antenna element 110 corresponding to the selected input / output ports.

[0037] The transceiver 10 performs this sweep process in accordance with the movement of the mobile station, and updates the input / output ports on the antenna section 100 used for wireless communication as needed.

[0038] The reference signal (which may also be called RS, pilot signal, etc.) contains synchronization information, and the synchronization control unit 60 establishes synchronization between the base station and the mobile station in accordance with the reference signal. The base station then transmits and receives signals using L beams fed back from the mobile station at the timing when communicating with the mobile station.

[0039] Here, we have described an example of sweeping according to TDD, but sweeping can also be done by dividing by code according to Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), or by dividing by frequency according to Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA). Furthermore, sweeping can be performed by simultaneously transmitting reference signals using different codes or frequencies from multiple ports.

[0040] The antenna unit 100 can be installed, for example, on the ceiling of an indoor room. With conventional antennas, the circuit size required to cover the entire room was, for example, N x N systems. However, with the antenna unit 100, it is possible to achieve high-gain MIMO wireless communication of 14 dBi or more in the entire area around where the antenna unit 100 is installed, while keeping the circuit size to N systems.

[0041] (3) Examples of antenna section Next, embodiments of the antenna section (including a substrate such as a conductive plate) will be described. Specifically, embodiments 1 to 7 will be described. The antenna section is assumed to be installed indoors, particularly on the ceiling. However, the installation location of the antenna section does not necessarily have to be on the ceiling, nor does it have to be indoors.

[0042] (3.1) Example 1 Figure 2 is a plan view (top view) of the antenna section 100 according to Embodiment 1. Figure 3 is a side view of the antenna section 100 according to Embodiment 1. Note that in Figure 2, the directional antenna element 110 is not shown with a dotted line (the same applies hereafter).

[0043] As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the antenna section 100 includes a plurality of radially arranged directional antenna elements 110, and a conductive plate 120 is provided above the directional antenna elements 110 (when installed on the ceiling). However, the conductive plate 120 is not necessarily required.

[0044] The antenna section 100 may be composed of N directional antenna elements 110. Each directional antenna element 110 is an element that mainly transmits and receives horizontally polarized radio waves, and N (8 in the example shown in the figure) are arranged radially.

[0045] Figure 4 shows an example configuration of a directional antenna element 110 according to Embodiment 1. As shown in Figure 4, in this embodiment, the directional antenna element 110 is composed of a Yagi-Uda antenna consisting of a reflector 111, a radiator 113, and a director 115. The radiator may also be called a radiation source or projector, and the radiator 113 is provided with a feed point 117. Alternatively, a directional antenna element other than a Yagi-Uda antenna may be used.

[0046] The antenna section 100 is constructed by arranging multiple directors 115 of directional antenna elements 110 radially with their ends facing outwards. Specifically, the directional antenna elements 110 may be arranged radially in all directions (360 degrees) such that the directivity of the directors 115 is directed radially outwards.

[0047] Here, the lengths of the reflector 111, radiator 113, and director 115 are denoted as lref, lrad, and ldir, respectively, and the interval between them is denoted as d (in this embodiment, lref = 0.46λ, lrad = 0.42λ, ldir = 0.37λ, and d = 0.24λ).

[0048] As described above, assuming that the antenna section 100 is installed on the ceiling of an indoor building, a circular conductive plate 120 with radius r (50 mm in this embodiment unless otherwise specified) is provided on the upper part of the antenna section 100, as shown in Figure 3. The distance between the conductive plate 120 and the directional antenna element 110 is set to h (10 mm in this embodiment unless otherwise specified). The conductive plate 120 may be made of a metal plate or the like.

[0049] Figure 5 shows an example of the S-parameters of the directional antenna element 110 according to Embodiment 1. The antenna unit 100 operates in the 28 GHz band, and the amount of coupling between each directional antenna element is sufficiently suppressed.

[0050] Figures 6A and 6B show examples of the directivity (E-plane directivity and H-plane directivity) of the directional antenna element 110 according to Embodiment 1. E-plane directivity shows directivity from the top surface of the antenna portion 100, and H-plane directivity shows directivity from the side surface of the antenna portion 100.

[0051] Each beam has a directivity along the directional antenna element 110 in the horizontal direction and is tilted slightly downward relative to the horizontal due to the influence of the conductor plate 120. Furthermore, high antenna gains of approximately 14 dBi under the condition r=50 mm and approximately 17 dBi under the condition r=100 mm can be achieved.

[0052] (3.2) Example 2 In Example 2, the relationship between the directional antenna element 110 and the conductor plate 120, as described in Example 1, is different. Figure 7 is a side view of the antenna section 100A according to Example 2.

[0053] As shown in Figure 7, in this embodiment, the conductor plate 120A is configured to be sufficiently large. On the other hand, the directional antenna element 110 has the same structure as in Embodiment 1. The distance from the conductor plate 120A to the directional antenna element 110 is h (10 mm in this embodiment unless otherwise specified).

[0054] Furthermore, the diameter of the conductor plate 120A only needs to be sufficiently large compared to the length of two directional antenna elements 110, and the relationship between the two does not need to be specifically defined.

[0055] Figure 8 shows an example of the S-parameters of the directional antenna element 110 according to Embodiment 2. In this embodiment as well, the antenna section 100A operates in the 28 GHz band, and the amount of coupling between each directional antenna element is sufficiently suppressed.

[0056] Figure 9 shows an example of the directivity (H-plane directivity) of the directional antenna element 110 according to Example 2. The antenna section 100A operates in the 28GHz band, and the amount of coupling between each directional antenna element is sufficiently suppressed, so that each directional antenna element operates with a different directivity.

[0057] Figure 10 shows the relationship between the distance h of the antenna section 100A and the gain. As shown in Figure 10, under the condition that h is greater than 3 mm, a high gain of approximately 16 dBi or more can be achieved in the 28 GHz band. Furthermore, even without the conductive plate 120A, a high gain of approximately 14 dBi can be achieved in the 28 GHz band.

[0058] According to the antenna unit 100A of Example 2, an area can be constructed under conditions with even higher gain than the antenna unit 100 of Example 1.

[0059] (3.3) Example 3 In Example 3, the configuration of the directional antenna element described in Example 1 is different. Figure 11 is a plan view of the antenna section 100B according to Example 3. Figure 12 is a side view of the antenna section 100B according to Example 3.

[0060] As shown in Figures 11 and 12, the antenna section 100B is composed of N directional antenna elements. Specifically, N (12 in the example) directional antenna elements 110A (6 in the example) that mainly transmit and receive horizontally polarized radio waves and directional antenna elements 110B (6 in the example) that mainly transmit and receive vertically polarized radio waves are arranged alternately radially.

[0061] In other words, the antenna section 100B has a directional antenna element 110A for horizontal polarization and a directional antenna element 110B for vertical polarization arranged adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction.

[0062] Directional antenna elements 110A and 110B are configured similarly to directional antenna element 110, and their orientation differs depending on the polarization. Here, horizontal and vertical polarizations are arranged alternately, but they may also be arranged alternately with polarizations such as +45 degrees and -45 degrees, or a directional antenna element that can handle both polarizations may be used.

[0063] Furthermore, similar to Example 1, assuming that the antenna section 100B is installed on the ceiling of an indoor building, a circular conductive plate 120 with radius r (50 mm in this embodiment unless otherwise specified) is provided on the upper part of the antenna section 100B, as shown in Figure 12. The distance between the conductive plate 120 and the directional antenna element 110 is set to h (10 mm in this embodiment unless otherwise specified).

[0064] Figure 13 shows examples of S-parameters for directional antenna elements 110A and 110B according to Embodiment 3. The antenna unit 100 operates in the 28 GHz band, and the amount of inter-convergence between each directional antenna element is sufficiently suppressed.

[0065] Figures 14A and 14B show examples of the directivity of the directional antenna element 110A and directional antenna element 110B according to Embodiment 3.

[0066] Each beam has a directivity along the directional antenna element 110 in the horizontal direction and is tilted slightly downward relative to the horizontal due to the influence of the conductor plate 120. Furthermore, high antenna gains of approximately 14 dBi under the condition r=50 mm and approximately 15 dBi under the condition r=100 mm can be achieved.

[0067] The antenna unit 100A according to Example 3 can construct areas with multiple polarizations compared to the antenna unit 100 according to Example 1. Therefore, when L is set to 2 or more, it is expected that sufficient MIMO correlation will be achieved between polarizations, enabling more stable communication.

[0068] (3.4) Example 4 In Example 4, the installation angle of the directional antenna element described in Example 1 is different. Figure 15 is a side view of the antenna section 100C according to Example 4.

[0069] As shown in Figure 15, the directional antenna element 110C constituting the antenna section 100C is configured to be tilted by T degrees in the opposite direction to the conductor plate 120, centered on the element on the reflector 111 side (see Figure 4) of the directional antenna element 110C. Figure 15 shows examples of T = 3, 5, and 10 degrees. The structure of the directional antenna element 110C itself may be the same as that of the directional antenna element 110 (see Figure 4) (the number of directors 115 may be different).

[0070] Figure 16 shows an example of the S-parameters of the directional antenna element 110C according to Embodiment 4. The antenna section 100C operates in the 28 GHz band.

[0071] Figures 17A and 17B show examples of the directivity of the directional antenna element 110C according to Embodiment 4. Each beam has directivity along the directional antenna element 110C in the horizontal direction and is tilted slightly downward relative to the horizontal due to the influence of the conductor plate 120. Furthermore, tilting the directional antenna element 110C expands the area in the downward direction. In addition, a high antenna gain of approximately 13 dBi can be achieved.

[0072] According to the antenna section 100C, although the gain is slightly reduced, a wider area can be constructed, including the area below the antenna, compared to Example 1.

[0073] (3.5) Example 5 In Example 5, the installation direction of the multiple directional antenna elements is different from that of the antenna section 100B in Example 3.

[0074] Figure 18 shows a plan (top) view and a side view of the antenna section 100D according to Embodiment 5. In antenna section 100B and the like, multiple directional antenna elements were arranged radially from the radial center to cover all directions, but in antenna section 100D, the directional antenna elements are arranged circumferentially. Circumferential arrangement, as described above, means that multiple directional antenna elements are arranged to surround a predetermined area.

[0075] Specifically, the antenna section 100D is composed of N directional antenna elements (3 in the example shown). Each directional antenna element has a structure in which a conductor plate 140, a Yagi-Uda array 160 (3 in the example shown) that mainly transmits and receives horizontally polarized radio waves, and a slot array 150 (3 in the example shown) that mainly transmits and receives vertically polarized radio waves are arranged in a stacked manner at a distance from each other. Thus, the antenna section 100D may be composed of multiple directional antenna elements arranged around the circumference. The conductor plate 140 may be rectangular in shape to match the shape of each directional antenna element, but it may also be circular, similar to the antenna section 100B.

[0076] The Yagi-Uda array 160 may be composed of one or more Yagi-Uda antennas 161. Similarly, the slot array 150 may be composed of one or more slot array antennas 151.

[0077] The directional antenna element may be composed of a microstrip array antenna, a slot array antenna, or a combination of a microstrip array antenna and a slot array antenna.

[0078] The antenna section 100D can generate 4N different beams (12 in the example shown) bidirectionally on the directional antenna element by varying the feed point and polarization of the directional antenna element.

[0079] According to the antenna section 100D, the number of directional antenna elements required to achieve the same number of beams as the antenna section 100B in Embodiment 3 can be reduced to one-quarter, and multiple polarization areas can be constructed with a low-profile antenna.

[0080] (3.6) Example 6 Example 6 has a configuration that is generally similar to Example 5, but the type of directional antenna element is different. Figure 19 shows a plan (top) view and a side view of the antenna section 100E according to Example 6.

[0081] As shown in Figure 19, the antenna section 100E is composed of N directional antenna elements (3 in the example shown). Each directional antenna element has a structure in which a conductor plate 140, a strip array 170 (3 in the example shown) that mainly transmits and receives horizontally polarized radio waves, and a slot array 150 (3 in the example shown) that mainly transmits and receives vertically polarized radio waves are arranged in a stacked manner at a distance from each other.

[0082] The strip array 170 may consist of one or more microstrip array antennas 171.

[0083] The antenna section 100E can also generate 4N different beams (12 in the example shown in the figure) bidirectionally on the directional antenna element, depending on the difference in the feed point and polarization of the directional antenna element.

[0084] According to the antenna section 100E, similar to the antenna section 100D, the number of directional antenna elements required to achieve the same number of beams as the antenna section 100B according to Embodiment 3 can be reduced to one-quarter, and multiple polarization areas can be constructed with a low-profile antenna.

[0085] (3.7) Example 7 In Example 7, instead of using the metal or other conductive plate 120 described in Example 1 and others, an artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) substrate is used. Figure 20 is a plan view of the antenna section 100F according to Example 7.

[0086] As shown in Figure 20, the antenna section 100F is provided with an AMC substrate 120B using an artificial magnetic conductor instead of a conductive plate 120.

[0087] The AMC substrate 120B is a substrate in which a large number of square patch elements are arranged on a dielectric substrate. AMC may also be called a metamaterial. The configuration of the directional antenna element 110 is the same as in Example 1. Note that the conductor plate in Examples 2 to 6 may also be an AMC substrate.

[0088] The distance h between the AMC substrate 120B and the directional antenna element 110 may be shorter than when a conductive plate 120 is used, as in Example 1.

[0089] According to the antenna section 100F, a similar area can be constructed with an even lower-profile antenna, i.e., a more compact antenna section, compared to other embodiments.

[0090] (4) Action and Effects According to the above-described embodiment, high-gain wireless communication can be achieved over a wide area while keeping the circuit size of the transmitting and receiving circuits low.

[0091] (5) Other embodiments Although the present invention has been described above in accordance with the examples, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to these descriptions and that various modifications and improvements are possible.

[0092] For example, in the embodiment described above, the transceiver 10 included a transmitting circuit 20 and a receiving circuit 30, but the transmitting side or the receiving side may be configured separately as a single device, that is, a transmitting device with a transmitting circuit 20 and a receiving device with a receiving circuit 30.

[0093] Furthermore, as mentioned above, the antenna unit 100 may be treated as a standalone antenna device, and may be manufactured, sold, and traded as a standalone antenna device.

[0094] Furthermore, the block diagram (Figure 1) used in the description of the embodiments above shows functional units. These functional blocks (components) are realized by any combination of at least one of hardware and software. Moreover, the method of realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized using one device that is physically or logically coupled, or it may be realized using two or more physically or logically separated devices that are directly or indirectly connected (for example, using wired or wireless connections). A functional block may also be realized by combining the above one device or the above multiple devices with software.

[0095] Functions include, but are not limited to, judgment, decision, judgment, calculation, calculation, processing, derivation, investigation, exploration, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, resolution, selection, selection, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, assumption, broadcasting, notifying, communicating, forwarding, configuring, reconfiguring, allocating (mapping), and assigning. For example, a functional block (configuration part) that enables transmission is called a transmitting unit or transmitter. In any case, as mentioned above, the method of implementation is not particularly limited.

[0096] Furthermore, the transmitting circuit 20 and receiving circuit 30 (the device) described above may function as a computer that processes the wireless communication method of this disclosure. Figure 21 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the device. As shown in Figure 21, the device may be configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, memory 1002, storage 1003, communication device 1004, input device 1005, output device 1006, and bus 1007.

[0097] In the following explanation, the term "device" can be replaced with "circuit," "device," "unit," etc. The hardware configuration of the device may include one or more of the devices shown in the diagram, or it may be configured to omit some of the devices.

[0098] Each functional block of the device (see Figure 1) is implemented by any hardware element of the computer device, or a combination of such hardware elements.

[0099] Furthermore, each function in the device is realized by loading predetermined software (programs) onto hardware such as the processor 1001 and memory 1002, which allows the processor 1001 to perform calculations, control communication by the communication device 1004, and control at least one of data reading and writing in the memory 1002 and storage 1003.

[0100] The processor 1001 controls the entire computer, for example, by running an operating system. The processor 1001 may consist of a central processing unit (CPU) that includes interfaces with peripheral devices, control units, arithmetic units, registers, and so on.

[0101] Furthermore, the processor 1001 reads programs (program code), software modules, data, etc., from at least one of the storage 1003 and the communication device 1004 into the memory 1002 and executes various processes accordingly. The program used is one that causes the computer to execute at least a part of the operations described in the above embodiment. Moreover, the above-mentioned various processes may be executed by one processor 1001, or by two or more processors 1001 simultaneously or sequentially. The processor 1001 may be implemented by one or more chips. The program may be transmitted from a network via a telecommunications line.

[0102] Memory 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium and may consist of at least one of the following: Read Only Memory (ROM), Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), etc. Memory 1002 may also be called a register, cache, main memory, etc. Memory 1002 can store a program (program code), software modules, etc., that can execute a method according to one embodiment of this disclosure.

[0103] Storage 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium and may consist of at least one of the following: an optical disc such as a Compact Disc ROM (CD-ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (e.g., a compact disc, a digital multipurpose disc, a Blu-ray® disc), a smart card, flash memory (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive), a floppy® disk, a magnetic strip, etc. Storage 1003 may also be called an auxiliary storage device. The recording medium described above may also be, for example, a database, server, or other suitable medium including at least one of memory 1002 and storage 1003.

[0104] The communication device 1004 is hardware (transceiver / receiver device) for communicating between computers via at least one of a wired network and a wireless network, and is also called a network device, network controller, network card, communication module, etc.

[0105] The communication device 1004 may be configured to include, for example, a high-frequency switch, a duplexer, a filter, a frequency synthesizer, etc., in order to implement at least one of frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD).

[0106] The input device 1005 is an input device that accepts input from an external source (e.g., a keyboard, mouse, microphone, switch, button, sensor, etc.). The output device 1006 is an output device that outputs to an external source (e.g., a display, speaker, LED lamp, etc.). The input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be configured as an integrated unit (e.g., a touch panel).

[0107] Furthermore, each device, such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002, is connected by a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus 1007 may be configured using a single bus, or different buses may be configured for each device.

[0108] Furthermore, the device may include hardware such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), and some or all of each functional block may be implemented by such hardware. For example, processor 1001 may be implemented using at least one of these hardware components.

[0109] Each aspect / embodiment described herein may be applied to at least one of the following: Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4th generation mobile communication system (4G), 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), Future Radio Access (FRA), New Radio (NR), W-CDMA®, GSM®, CDMA2000, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi®), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX®), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-WideBand (UWB), Bluetooth®, and other appropriate systems, as well as next-generation systems extended based thereon. Furthermore, multiple systems may be applied in combination (for example, a combination of at least one of LTE and LTE-A with 5G).

[0110] The processing procedures, sequences, flowcharts, etc., of each aspect / embodiment described herein may be reordered, provided they are consistent with each other. For example, the methods described herein present various step elements in an exemplary order and are not limited to that specific order.

[0111] Each aspect / embodiment described herein may be used individually, in combination, or switched between as needed during implementation. Furthermore, notification of specific information (e.g., notification that "X is") is not limited to explicit notification, but may also be implicit (e.g., by not providing such notification).

[0112] Software should be broadly interpreted to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, execution threads, procedures, functions, and so on, whether they are called software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or by any other name.

[0113] Furthermore, software, instructions, information, etc., may be transmitted and received via a transmission medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using at least one of wired technology (such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) and wireless technology (such as infrared or microwave), then at least one of these wired and wireless technologies is included in the definition of a transmission medium.

[0114] The information, signals, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using any of the various different technologies. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination thereof.

[0115] In addition, terms used in this disclosure and terms necessary for understanding this disclosure may be replaced with terms having the same or similar meanings. For example, at least one of the channel and symbol may be a signal (signaling). Also, a signal may be a message. Furthermore, a component carrier (CC) may be called a carrier frequency, cell, frequency carrier, etc.

[0116] The terms “system” and “network” as used in this disclosure are interchangeable.

[0117] Furthermore, the information, parameters, etc., described in this disclosure may be expressed using absolute values, relative values ​​from a given value, or other corresponding information. For example, wireless resources may be indicated by an index.

[0118] In this disclosure, terms such as "Base Station (BS)," "wireless base station," "fixed station," "NodeB," "eNodeB (eNB)," "gNodeB (gNB)," "access point," "transmission point," "reception point," "transmission / reception point," "cell," "sector," "cell group," "carrier," and "component carrier" may be used interchangeably. Base stations may also be referred to by terms such as macrocell, small cell, femtocell, and picocell.

[0119] A base station can house one or more (e.g., three) cells (also called sectors). If a base station houses multiple cells, the entire coverage area of ​​the base station can be divided into multiple smaller areas, each of which can also be provided with communication services by a base station subsystem (e.g., a small indoor base station (Remote Radio Head: RRH)).

[0120] The terms "cell" or "sector" refer to a portion or all of the coverage area of ​​at least one of the base stations and base station subsystems that provide communication services in this coverage.

[0121] In this disclosure, terms such as "Mobile Station (MS)," "user terminal," "User Equipment (UE)," and "terminal" may be used interchangeably.

[0122] A mobile station may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other appropriate term.

[0123] At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be called a transmitting device, a receiving device, a communication device, etc. At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be a device mounted on a mobile body, the mobile body itself, etc. The mobile body may be a vehicle (e.g., a car, an airplane, etc.), an unmanned mobile body (e.g., a drone, an autonomous vehicle, etc.), or a robot (manned or unmanned). At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be a device that does not necessarily move during communication operation. For example, at least one of the base station and the mobile station may be an Internet of Things (IoT) device such as a sensor.

[0124] Furthermore, the term "base station" in this disclosure may be interpreted as "mobile station" (user terminal, hereinafter the same). For example, the various aspects / embodiments of this disclosure may be applied to a configuration in which communication between a base station and a mobile station is replaced with communication between multiple mobile stations (which may be called, for example, Device-to-Device (D2D), Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X), etc.). In this case, the mobile station may have the functions that a base station has. Also, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" may be interpreted as terms corresponding to terminal-to-terminal communication (for example, "side"). For example, uplink channel, downlink channel, etc. may be interpreted as side channel (or side link).

[0125] Similarly, the term "mobile station" in this disclosure may be interpreted as "base station." In this case, the base station may be configured to have the functions that a mobile station has.

[0126] The terms “connected,” “coupled,” or any variation thereof, mean any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements, and may include the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are “connected” or “coupled” with each other. The coupling or connection between elements may be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. For example, “connection” may be reinterpreted as “access.” As used in this disclosure, two elements may be considered to be “connected” or “coupled” with each other using at least one of one or more wires, cables, and printed electrical connections, and, in some non-limiting and non-exclusive examples, electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency domain, microwave domain, and optical (both visible and invisible) domain.

[0127] The reference signal can also be abbreviated as Reference Signal (RS), and may be called a pilot depending on the applicable standard.

[0128] In this disclosure, the phrase "based on" does not mean "based solely on" unless otherwise specified. In other words, the phrase "based on" means both "based solely on" and "based at least on."

[0129] In the configuration of each of the above devices, "means" may be replaced with "part," "circuit," "device," etc.

[0130] Any reference to elements using designations such as “First,” “Second,” etc., as used in this disclosure does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations may be used in this disclosure as a convenient way to distinguish between two or more elements. Accordingly, references to the First and Second elements do not imply that only two elements may be employed therein, or that the First element must precede the Second element in any way.

[0131] Where the terms “include,” “including,” and variations thereof are used in this disclosure, these terms are intended to be inclusive, as is the term “comprising.” Furthermore, the term “or” as used in this disclosure is not intended to mean exclusive OR.

[0132] In this disclosure, if articles are added through translation, such as a, an, and the in English, this disclosure may include the fact that the noun following these articles is plural.

[0133] As used in this disclosure, the terms “determining” and “determining” may encompass a wide variety of actions. “Determining” may include, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up, searching, inquiry (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), and ascertaining. “Determining” may also include, for example, receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., sending information), input, output, and accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory). Furthermore, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering something as having been "judged" or "decided" after resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, etc. In other words, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering something as having been "judged" or "decided" after some action. Also, "judgment (decision)" can be reinterpreted as "assuming," "expecting," or "considering."

[0134] In this disclosure, the term "A and B are different" may mean "A and B are different from each other." The term may also mean "A and B are each different from C." Terms such as "separate" and "combine" may be interpreted similarly to "different."

[0135] Although the present disclosure has been described in detail above, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described herein. The present disclosure can be implemented in modified and altered forms without departing from the intent and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims. Therefore, the descriptions in the present disclosure are illustrative and not intended to be restrictive in any way. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0136] 10 Transmitter / Receiver 20 Transmitter Circuit 30 Receiving Circuit 40 Transmit / Receive Switch 50 High-Speed ​​Switching Circuits 60 Synchronization Control Unit 70 Beam Control Unit 100 Antenna section 100A, 100B, 100C, 100D, 100E, 100F Antenna section 110, 110A, 110B, 110C directional antenna elements 111 Reflector 113 Radiator 115 Waveguide 117 Power supply section 120, 120A Conductor Plate 120B AMC board 140 Conductor Plate 150 slot array 151 Slot Array Antenna 160 Yagi-Uda Alley 161 Yagi-Uda Antenna 170 Strip Array 171 Microstrip Array Antenna 1001 Processor 1002 memory 1003 Storage 1004 Communication device 1005 Input device 1006 Output device 1007 Bus

Claims

1. Transceiver circuit and An antenna section having multiple directional antenna elements, A switching circuit is provided between the transmitting and receiving circuit and the antenna section. Equipped with, The antenna section comprises N directional antenna elements arranged circumferentially. The directional antenna element has a structure in which a conductive plate, an array for transmitting and receiving horizontally polarized radio waves, and an array for transmitting and receiving vertically polarized radio waves are arranged in a stacked manner at a distance from each other. A transmitting and receiving device that generates 4N different beams bidirectionally from the directional antenna element depending on the difference in the feed point and polarization of the directional antenna element.

2. An antenna device having multiple directional antenna elements, The aforementioned antenna device is connected to the transmitting and receiving circuit via a switching circuit. The antenna device has N directional antenna elements arranged circumferentially, The directional antenna element has a structure in which a conductive plate, an array for transmitting and receiving horizontally polarized radio waves, and an array for transmitting and receiving vertically polarized radio waves are arranged in a stacked manner at a distance from each other. An antenna device that generates 4N different beams in both directions from the directional antenna element depending on the difference in the feed point and polarization of the directional antenna element.

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