Beamforming method, system and apparatus, communication device and storage medium

Abstract

The present application relates to a beamforming method, system and apparatus, a communication device and a storage medium. The method comprises: acquiring beam information of an access link, and reporting the beam information to a base station (S210); receiving beam indication information of the access link generated by the base station on the basis of the beam information, the beam indication information comprising precoding information of a phased array antenna of a network control repeater (S220); and, on the basis of the precoding information, controlling the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam of the access link (S230).

Description

Beamforming method, system, device, communication equipment and storage medium

[0001] Related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese patent application number 2023118178648, filed on December 26, 2023, entitled “Beamforming method, system, device, communication equipment and storage medium,” the entire text of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The present application relates to a beamforming method, system, apparatus, communication device and storage medium. Background Art

[0004] Coverage is a fundamental requirement for mobile cellular network deployment. Traditionally, RF (Radio Frequency) repeaters have been used to simply decode and forward received signals, which has limited coverage. However, with the advent of millimeter-wave communications, signals experience higher propagation losses during transmission, further limiting cell coverage. RF repeaters are no longer sufficient for mobile cellular network deployment in millimeter-wave bands.

[0005] To address this issue, 3GPP Release 18 introduced Network Controlled Repeaters (NCR) technology. NCR processes side control information through the network, enabling more efficient amplification and forwarding while reducing unnecessary noise amplification and simplifying network integration. However, the current beamforming technology used in NCR suffers from low beam pointing accuracy, hindering its practical application.

[0006] Therefore, the current NCR beamforming technology has the problem of low beam pointing accuracy.

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] According to various embodiments of the present application, a beamforming method, system, apparatus, communication device, computer-readable storage medium, and computer program product are provided.

[0009] A beamforming method is applied to a network-controlled repeater, wherein the network-controlled repeater is provided with a phased array antenna, the method comprising:

[0010] Obtaining beam information of the access link, and reporting the beam information to the base station;

[0011] receiving beam indication information of the access link generated by the base station according to the beam information; the beam indication information includes precoding information of the phased array antenna of the network controlled repeater; and

[0012] The phased array antenna is controlled to generate an access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information.

[0013] In one of the embodiments, when the phased array antenna is a rectangular planar array, the access link beam is a two-dimensional beam.

[0014] In one embodiment, the phased array antenna includes a first layer of array elements and a second layer of array elements, the access link beam includes at least one first beam and at least one second beam associated with the first beam, the first beam corresponds to the first layer of array elements, the second beam corresponds to the second layer of array elements, and the width of the second beam is smaller than the width of the first beam; controlling the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information includes:

[0015] controlling the phased array antenna to generate at least one first beam on the access link, so as to determine a first target beam from the at least one first beam according to a first measurement result of each first beam returned by the terminal; and

[0016] The phased array antenna is controlled to generate at least one second beam associated with the first target beam on the access link, so as to determine a second target beam from the at least one second beam according to a second measurement result of each second beam returned by the terminal.

[0017] In one embodiment, controlling the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information includes:

[0018] Determining phase shift information corresponding to the precoding information according to the third measurement result reported by the terminal;

[0019] Adjust the precoding information according to the phase shift information to obtain adjusted precoding information; and

[0020] The phased array antenna is controlled to generate the access link beam according to the adjusted precoding information.

[0021] In one embodiment, after controlling the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information, the method further includes:

[0022] In the event of a failure in the control link between the base station and the network controlled repeater, disabling a forwarding function of the network controlled repeater; and

[0023] When the control link failure is recovered, the forwarding function is enabled, and the phased array antenna is controlled to generate the access link beam according to the precoding information.

[0024] In one embodiment, when a control link between the base station and the network-controlled repeater fails, after disabling the forwarding function of the network-controlled repeater, the method further includes:

[0025] When the control link failure is recovered and new beam indication information generated by the base station according to the new beam information is received, enabling the forwarding function; the new beam indication information includes new precoding information; and

[0026] The phased array antenna is controlled to generate the access link beam according to the new precoding information.

[0027] A beamforming method, applied to a base station, comprising:

[0028] generating beam indication information of the access link according to beam information of the access link sent by a network control repeater; the network control repeater is provided with a phased array antenna, and the beam indication information includes precoding information of the phased array antenna; and

[0029] The beam indication information is sent to the network control repeater, so that the network control repeater controls the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information.

[0030] A beamforming system includes a base station and a network-controlled repeater, wherein the network-controlled repeater is provided with a phased array antenna;

[0031] The base station is configured to generate beam indication information of the access link based on the beam information of the access link sent by the network controlled repeater, and send the beam indication information to the network controlled repeater; the beam indication information includes precoding information of the phased array antenna of the network controlled repeater; and

[0032] The network control repeater is used to control the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information.

[0033] A beamforming device is applied to a network-controlled repeater, wherein the network-controlled repeater is provided with a phased array antenna, and the device comprises:

[0034] A reporting module, configured to obtain beam information of an access link and report the beam information to a base station;

[0035] a receiving module, configured to receive beam indication information of the access link generated by the base station according to the beam information; the beam indication information includes precoding information of the phased array antenna of the network controlled repeater; and

[0036] A control module is used to control the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information.

[0037] A beamforming device, applied to a base station, comprising:

[0038] a generating module, configured to generate beam indication information of the access link according to beam information of the access link sent by a network control repeater; the network control repeater is provided with a phased array antenna, and the beam indication information includes precoding information of the phased array antenna; and

[0039] A sending module is used to send the beam indication information to the network control repeater, so that the network control repeater controls the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information.

[0040] A communication device includes a memory and one or more processors, wherein the memory stores computer-readable instructions, and when the computer-readable instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the beamforming method provided in any embodiment of the present application are implemented.

[0041] One or more non-volatile computer-readable storage media storing computer-readable instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors, enable the one or more processors to implement the steps of the beamforming method provided in any embodiment of the present application.

[0042] A computer program product includes computer-readable instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the beamforming method provided in any embodiment of the present application.

[0043] The details of one or more embodiments of the present application are set forth in the following drawings and description. Other features, objects, and advantages of the present application will become apparent from the description, drawings, and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the conventional technology, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the conventional technology descriptions. Obviously, the drawings described below are merely embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on the disclosed drawings without any creative work.

[0045] FIG1 is a diagram illustrating an application environment of a beamforming method according to one or more embodiments.

[0046] FIG2 is a flowchart of a beamforming method according to one or more embodiments.

[0047] FIG3 is a diagram illustrating indexing access link beams according to one or more embodiments.

[0048] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of indexing access link beams in another embodiment.

[0049] FIG5 is a flowchart of a method for handling a C-link beam failure according to one or more embodiments.

[0050] FIG6 is a schematic flow chart of a beamforming method in another embodiment.

[0051] FIG7 is a block diagram of a beamforming system according to one or more embodiments.

[0052] FIG8 is a structural block diagram of a beamforming apparatus according to one or more embodiments.

[0053] FIG9 is a diagram illustrating an internal structure of a communication device according to one or more embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of this application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0055] The beamforming method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied in the application environment shown in Figure 1. A terminal (User Equipment, UE) 102 communicates with a base station 104 via a network-controlled relay 106. Terminal 102 may be, but is not limited to, various personal computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets, IoT devices, and portable wearable devices. IoT devices may include smart speakers, smart TVs, smart air conditioners, and smart car devices. Portable wearable devices may include smart watches, smart bracelets, and head-mounted devices. Base stations 104 include, but are not limited to, gNBs (next generation Node Bs).

[0056] The network control repeater 106 may include an NCR-MT (control function) module and an NCR-Fwd (forwarding function) module. The B-link (feedback link) between the base station 104 and the NCR-Fwd and the Ac-link (access link) between the NCR-Fwd and the terminal 102 are used for relay communication. The C-link (control link) between the base station 104 and the NCR-MT is used to transmit control signaling for relay communication. The network control repeater 106 may be provided with a phased array antenna.

[0057] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG2 , a beamforming method is provided. The method is described by taking the network control repeater 106 in FIG1 as an example, and includes the following steps:

[0058] Step S210: Obtain beam information of the access link and report the beam information to the base station.

[0059] Beam information includes but is not limited to beam index, beam width, beam direction and other information.

[0060] In a specific implementation, the NCR can obtain the beam information of the access link and report the beam information to the base station.

[0061] In actual applications, NCR can use wide or narrow beams for transmission in Ac-link. Wide beams are used for target area coverage scanning and transmission of information such as MIB (Master Information Block), SIB1 (System Information Block 1), and SSB (Synchronization Signal Block). Narrow beams are used to transmit UE service information, such as the UL (uplink) PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel), SRS (Sounding Reference Signal), and the DL (downlink) PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), and CSI-RS (Channel State Information Reference Signal). NCR can obtain the beam index of each Ac-link beam and associate the beam width and beam direction of each beam with the beam index to form beam information.

[0062] Figure 3 provides a schematic diagram of access link beam indexing. Based on Figure 3, two wide beams can be configured in the Ac-link, with beam indices wide beam 0 and wide beam 1. Z narrow beams can also be configured under each wide beam, with beam indices narrow beam 0 to narrow beam - 1. The NCR can report the beam index, beam width, and beam direction of each beam, including wide and narrow beams, as beam information to the gNB.

[0063] Step S220: receiving beam indication information of the access link generated by the base station according to the beam information; the beam indication information includes precoding information of the phased array antenna of the network control repeater.

[0064] The beam indication information may be beam information indicating relay transmission.

[0065] The precoding information may be a precoding codebook for the phased array antenna.

[0066] In a specific implementation, the base station can determine the beam used for relay transmission from the various beams of the access link based on the received beam information, generate beam indication information of the access link, and send the beam indication information to the NCR. The NCR obtains the precoding information of the phased array antenna from the received beam indication information.

[0067] In actual applications, the gNB can first control the NCR to perform wide-beam scanning on the UE, and determine the target wide beam from multiple wide beams based on the measurement results reported by the UE. The gNB can then control the NCR to perform narrow-beam scanning on the UE within the target wide beam, and determine the target narrow beam from multiple narrow beams based on the measurement results reported by the UE. The gNB can generate a precoding codebook for the NCR phased array antenna based on the target wide beam and target narrow beam, and send beam indication information carrying the precoding codebook to the NCR.

[0068] Step S230: Control the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information.

[0069] The access link beam may be a beam used by the access link for signal transmission.

[0070] In a specific implementation, the NCR can control the phase of each element of the phased array antenna according to the received precoding information, so that the phased array antenna forms an access link beam, and sends and receives access link information through the access link beam.

[0071] In actual applications, NCR can control the phased array antenna to generate a target wide beam based on the received precoding codebook for transmitting MIB, SIB1, SSB and other information. It can also control the phased array antenna to generate a target narrow beam for transmitting UE service information.

[0072] The above-mentioned beamforming method obtains the beam information of the access link, reports the beam information to the base station, and receives the beam indication information of the access link generated by the base station based on the beam information. The beam indication information includes the precoding information of the phased array antenna of the network control repeater. According to the precoding information, the phased array antenna is controlled to generate the access link beam of the access link; the access link can be beamformed by using the phased array antenna set on the network control repeater. Since the phased array antenna can accurately determine the direction of each beam of the access link, the accuracy of the beam pointing is improved.

[0073] In one embodiment, when the phased array antenna is a rectangular planar array, the access link beam is a two-dimensional beam.

[0074] In a specific implementation, the access link beam generated by the NCR can correspond to the array elements of the phased array antenna. If the phased array antenna is a rectangular planar array, the access link beam can be arranged in two dimensions in the transmission space to form a two-dimensional beam.

[0075] Figure 4 provides a schematic diagram of indexing access link beams. As shown in Figure 4, if the phased array antenna is a rectangular planar array, the access link can have M×N wide beams, with horizontal beam indices of m = 0, ..., M-1, and vertical beam indices of n = 0, ..., N-1. Each wide beam can have X×Y narrow beams, with horizontal beam indices of x = 0, ..., X-1, and vertical beam indices of y = 0, ..., Y-1.

[0076] In this embodiment, when the phased array antenna is a rectangular planar array, the access link beam is a two-dimensional beam, so that the phased array antenna can accurately control the direction of the access link beam in the transmission space, thereby improving the accuracy of beamforming.

[0077] In one embodiment, the phased array antenna includes a first layer of array elements and a second layer of array elements, the access link beam includes at least one first beam and at least one second beam associated with the first beam, the first beam corresponds to the first layer of array elements, the second beam corresponds to the second layer of array elements, and the width of the second beam is smaller than the width of the first beam; the above step S230 may specifically include: controlling the phased array antenna to generate at least one first beam in the access link, so as to determine a first target beam from the at least one first beam according to a first measurement result of each first beam returned by the terminal; controlling the phased array antenna to generate at least one second beam associated with the first target beam in the access link, so as to determine a second target beam from the at least one second beam according to a second measurement result of each second beam returned by the terminal.

[0078] The first-layer array elements may be array elements that generate wide beams. The second-layer array elements may be array elements that generate narrow beams. The first beam may be a wide beam. The second beam may be a narrow beam. The first target beam may be a target wide beam selected for access link transmission. The second target beam may be a target narrow beam selected for access link transmission. The first measurement result may be a measurement result obtained by the terminal measuring the received wide beam. The second measurement result may be a measurement result obtained by the terminal measuring the received narrow beam.

[0079] In a specific implementation, a first layer of array elements can be set in the phased array antenna to generate wide beams, and a second layer of array elements associated with the first layer can also be set to generate narrow beams under the wide beams. The NCR first controls the phased array antenna to generate multiple wide beams on the access link. The terminal measures each received wide beam, obtains a first measurement result, and feeds the first measurement result back to the NCR. The NCR can directly determine the target wide beam among the multiple wide beams based on the first measurement result, or forward the first measurement result to the base station. The base station determines the target wide beam among the multiple wide beams based on the first measurement result and returns the target wide beam information to the NCR. Afterwards, the NCR can control the phased array antenna to generate multiple narrow beams under the target wide beam and send them to the terminal. The terminal measures each received narrow beam to obtain a second measurement result, and feeds the second measurement result back to the NCR. The NCR can directly determine the target narrow beam among the multiple narrow beams based on the second measurement result, or forward the second measurement result to the base station. The base station determines the target narrow beam among the multiple narrow beams based on the second measurement result and returns the information of the target narrow beam to the NCR.

[0080] For example, the NCR can forward the gNB's SSB signal to the UE in a polling manner through M×N wide beams. The UE measures the RSRP (Reference Signal Receiving Power) corresponding to each wide beam based on the received SSB signal and feeds it back to the NCR or gNB. The NCR or gNB determines the wide beam corresponding to the maximum RSRP as the target wide beam. Subsequently, the NCR forwards the gNB's SSB signal through the target wide beam. The NCR can also forward the gNB's CSI-RS signal to the UE in a polling manner through X×Y narrow beams under the target wide beam. The UE measures the RSRP corresponding to each narrow beam based on the received CSI-RS signal and feeds it back to the NCR or gNB. The NCR or gNB determines the narrow beam corresponding to the maximum RSRP as the target narrow beam. Subsequently, the NCR forwards the gNB's CSI-RS signal through the target narrow beam.

[0081] In this embodiment, the phased array antenna is controlled to generate at least one first beam in the access link, so that a first target beam is determined from the at least one first beam based on the first measurement result of each first beam returned by the terminal. The phased array antenna is controlled to generate at least one second beam associated with the first target beam in the access link, so that a second target beam is determined from the at least one second beam based on the second measurement result of each second beam returned by the terminal. By searching for a wide beam first and then a narrow beam, the communication distance can be accurately and efficiently covered, thereby improving user throughput.

[0082] In one embodiment, the above-mentioned step S230 may further specifically include: determining phase shift information corresponding to the precoding information based on the third measurement result reported by the terminal; adjusting the precoding information based on the phase shift information to obtain adjusted precoding information; and controlling the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam based on the adjusted precoding information.

[0083] The third measurement result may be an RSRP measured for the received wide beam or narrow beam. The phase shift information may be a phase shift value determined according to the third measurement result.

[0084] In specific implementation, given the large signal transmission loss in frequency bands such as FR2 (millimeter wave), the beam generated according to the precoding codebook may introduce phase shift during the transmission process. In order to improve the accuracy of beamforming, the NCR can generate an analog precoding codebook for the phased array antenna, and control the phased array antenna to send a wide beam or a narrow beam to the terminal through the analog precoding codebook. The terminal measures the RSRP based on the received wide beam or narrow beam, and reports the RSRP as the third measurement result to the NCR. The NCR determines the phase difference corresponding to the analog precoding codebook based on the received RSRP, and determines the phase shift value that needs to be compensated for the analog precoding codebook based on the phase difference. The analog precoding codebook is adjusted according to the phase shift value to obtain the adjusted precoding codebook. Subsequently, the NCR can control the phased array antenna to generate a wide beam or a narrow beam for the access link based on the adjusted precoding codebook.

[0085] In this embodiment, phase shift information corresponding to the precoding information is determined based on the third measurement result reported by the terminal; the precoding information is adjusted based on the phase shift information to obtain adjusted precoding information; and the phased array antenna is controlled to generate an access link beam based on the adjusted precoding information. This can compensate for the phase shift value formed during the beamforming process, increase the accuracy of the beamforming, and improve system transmission performance.

[0086] In one embodiment, after the above step S230, it may further include: when a control link between the base station and the network control repeater fails, turning off the forwarding function of the network control repeater; when the control link failure is recovered, turning on the forwarding function, and controlling the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam according to the precoding information.

[0087] In specific implementation, if the control link between the base station and the NCR fails, the feedback link may also transmit inaccurate signals. At this time, the NCR shuts down the forwarding function. Later, if the control link failure is restored, the NCR can turn on the forwarding function and control the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam based on the original precoding information before the control link failure.

[0088] In this embodiment, when a control link between the base station and the network control repeater fails, the forwarding function of the network control repeater is turned off; when the control link failure is recovered, the forwarding function is turned on, and the phased array antenna is controlled to generate an access link beam based on precoding information. This allows the access link beam to be quickly generated when the control link failure is recovered, thereby reducing communication delays.

[0089] In one embodiment, in the event of a control link failure between a base station and a network control repeater, after the step of shutting down the forwarding function of the network control repeater, the method may further include: when the control link failure is recovered and new beam indication information generated by the base station based on the new beam information is received, turning on the forwarding function; the new beam indication information includes new precoding information; and according to the new precoding information, controlling the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam.

[0090] In the specific implementation, when the control link failure between the base station and the NCR is recovered, the base station can re-acquire the beam information of the access link, generate new beam indication information of the access link based on the new beam information, and send it to the NCR. When the NCR receives the new beam indication information, it can turn on the forwarding function and control the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam based on the new precoding codebook in the new beam indication information.

[0091] Figure 5 provides a flowchart of a C-link beam fault handling method. According to Figure 5, when the NCR-MT module detects a beam failure in the C-link, the NCR-Fwd module can perform the following processing:

[0092] In step S301, when the NCR-MT module detects a C-link failure, it indicates that the C-link beam is inaccurate. If the B-link and C-link transmit the same RF signal, the B-link beam is also inaccurate. Therefore, the NCR-Fwd module should be turned OFF. In addition, even if the B-link and C-link have independent RF, if the NCR-MT module has a beam status failure, the NCR-MT module cannot receive side control information from the gNB and cannot determine whether the gNB is performing beam indication. Therefore, the beam information cannot be forwarded under appropriate configuration. Therefore, the NCR-Fwd module must also be turned OFF.

[0093] Step S302: When the NCR-MT module detects that the beam failure is recovered, the NCR-Fwd module enters the ON state or remains in the OFF state;

[0094] Step S303: When the NCR-Fwd module is enabled, the beam configuration of the access link before the beam failure is used, that is, the precoding codebook before the C-link failure is used to generate the access link beam;

[0095] In step S304, when the NCR-Fwd module remains closed, when the NCR-MT module receives the latest beam indication configuration of C-link, the NCR-Fwd module is turned on, and a new precoding codebook is generated according to the new beam indication configuration, thereby forming a new access link beam.

[0096] In this embodiment, when a control link failure is recovered and new beam indication information generated by the base station based on the new beam information is received, the forwarding function is enabled; the new beam indication information includes new precoding information; based on the new precoding information, the phased array antenna is controlled to generate an access link beam. When the control link failure is recovered, the precoding codebook can be updated to match the real-time status of the access link, thereby improving the reliability of access link signal transmission.

[0097] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG6 , a beamforming method is provided. The method is described by taking the base station 104 in FIG1 as an example, and includes the following steps:

[0098] Step S410: Generate beam indication information of the access link based on the beam information of the access link sent by the network control repeater; the network control repeater is provided with a phased array antenna, and the beam indication information includes precoding information of the phased array antenna;

[0099] Step S420: Send the beam indication information to the network control repeater, so that the network control repeater controls the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information.

[0100] In the specific implementation, the NCR obtains the beam information of the access link and reports the beam information to the base station. The base station determines the beam used for relay transmission from the various beams of the access link based on the received beam information, generates the beam indication information of the access link, and sends the beam indication information to the NCR. The NCR obtains the precoding information of the phased array antenna from the received beam indication information, and controls the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam according to the precoding information.

[0101] Since the specific processing process of the base station has been described in detail in the above embodiments, it will not be repeated here.

[0102] The above-mentioned beamforming method generates beam indication information of the access link based on the beam information of the access link sent by the network control repeater, and sends the beam indication information to the network control repeater; the access link can be beamformed using the phased array antenna set on the network control repeater. Since the phased array antenna can accurately determine the direction of each beam of the access link, the accuracy of the beam pointing is improved.

[0103] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG7 , a beamforming system is provided, including a base station 104 and a network-controlled repeater 106 ; the network-controlled repeater 106 is provided with a phased array antenna;

[0104] The base station 104 is configured to generate beam indication information of the access link based on the beam information of the access link sent by the network control repeater 106, and send the beam indication information to the network control repeater 106; the beam indication information includes precoding information of the phased array antenna of the network control repeater 106;

[0105] The network control repeater 106 is configured to control the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information.

[0106] In the specific implementation, the NCR obtains the beam information of the access link and reports the beam information to the base station. The base station determines the beam used for relay transmission from the various beams of the access link based on the received beam information, generates the beam indication information of the access link, and sends the beam indication information to the NCR. The NCR obtains the precoding information of the phased array antenna from the received beam indication information, and controls the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam according to the precoding information.

[0107] Since the specific processing procedures of the base station and the NCR have been described in detail in the above embodiments, they will not be repeated here.

[0108] The above-mentioned beamforming system generates beam indication information of the access link through the base station based on the beam information of the access link sent by the network control repeater, and sends the beam indication information to the network control repeater. The network control repeater controls the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam of the access link based on the precoding information; the phased array antenna set on the network control repeater can be used to beamform the access link. Since the phased array antenna can accurately determine the direction of each beam of the access link, the accuracy of the beam pointing is improved.

[0109] In order to facilitate those skilled in the art to have a deeper understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a specific example will be used for illustration below.

[0110] This application proposes a network-controlled beamforming repeater, which aims to implement NCR beamforming through a precoding algorithm, and provides solutions for beam information and beam management to effectively expand the coverage of the wireless network.

[0111] The NCR proposed in this application is an enhanced version of the traditional RF repeater, capable of receiving and processing side control information from the network. This side control information enables the NCR to perform signal amplification and forwarding in a more efficient manner, while mitigating unnecessary noise amplification, enabling transmission and reception with better spatial directness, and simplifying network integration. As shown in Figure 1, the NCR includes an NCR-MT module and an NCR-Fwd module. The NCR-Fwd module has similar functions to traditional RF repeaters, enabling information exchange between the base station and the NCR via B-link, and between the NCR and users via Ac-link. The newly added NCR-MT module receives edge control information from the base station via C-link to enable information exchange.

[0112] In an embodiment of the present application, services can be transmitted between 5G base stations and user terminals through NCR, and service scenarios include but are not limited to eMBB (enhanced mobile broadband), mMTC (massive machine type communication), URLLC (high reliability and low latency communication) and V2X (vehicle to vehicle) communication.

[0113] In one embodiment, a device for implementing beamforming using a phased array is proposed, and information exchange is achieved through a beam retrieval method on an access link. Phased array precoding methods can be used to implement beamforming in the horizontal and vertical directions of the planar array on the access link.

[0114] NCR uses two types of beams for transmission in Ac-link, namely wide beams and narrow beams. Wide beams are used for target area coverage scanning and transmission of MIB, SIB1, SSB and other information; narrow beam scanning is used to transmit UE service information, such as PUSCH, PUCCH, SRS information in UL and PDSCH, PDCCH, CSI-RS and other information transmission in DL. Narrow beams have the effect of enhancing signal quality and throughput. In order to reduce signaling overhead, the number of beams in the access link can be limited. For example, in the FR1 (below 6GHz) frequency band, 2 wide beams are used for broadcasting and 4-8 narrow beams are used for UE signal transmission. In view of the large propagation loss and limited coverage distance of the FR2 frequency band, 4 wide beams can be used for broadcasting and 4-8 narrow beams can be used for UE signal transmission.

[0115] Each beam is defined by {beam indication, beam width, beam direction}, and the spatial relationship between beams is defined based on the beam width and beam direction. The NCR can report its access beam information to the gNB. The gNB determines the access beam set of the NCR based on the received access beam information.

[0116] NCR uses a phased array to achieve beamforming in both horizontal and vertical directions. Based on predefined rules, wide beams are indexed first, followed by narrow beams. Figure 3 shows the indexing mechanism. Wide beams can be indexed from 0 to 1, and narrow beams can be indexed from 0 to Z-1. By independently numbering the two different types of beams, wide beams and narrow beams can be sequentially indexed first according to different scenarios, and then narrow beams can be sequentially indexed from a selected wide beam.

[0117] Figure 4 illustrates the hierarchical distribution of wide and narrow beams based on the phased array planar array distribution. Figure 4 shows the layout of wide and narrow beams, where M and N represent the number of wide beams in the vertical and horizontal directions, respectively, and X and Y represent the number of narrow beams in the vertical and horizontal directions, respectively. The number of wide beams equals M*N, and the number of narrow beams in each wide beam equals X*Y. To identify each physical beam in an NCR access link, a beam index can be explicitly communicated to the gNB along with the NCR beam characteristic information (beam indicator, beam width, and beam direction). The spatial relationship between beams can be represented using a beam indicator, which is used to identify the physical beams in the access link. Generally, the bit width required for the beam indicator depends on the number of beams. While this unified numbering mechanism is simple, it can incur high signaling costs when the number of beams in an NCR access link is large.

[0118] The direction of traditional relay antennas is mostly fixed, and wide beam scanning coverage is usually performed on the relay side, and the base station equipment cannot adjust the relay forwarding beam. In the embodiment of the present application, the base station equipment can configure the transmit beam, receive beam and forwarding beam of the relay, and use beams of different directions and sizes to provide services to terminal devices in different geographical locations. In addition, since the NCR link module is divided into backhaul and access links, the traditional beam indication mechanism TCI (Transmission Configuration Indication) and the corresponding spatial relationship - QCL (Quasi Co Location) and reference signal - cannot be directly used. The present application also proposes an optimal receive and transmit beam solution for NCR beam management.

[0119] In one embodiment, on the base station and repeater side, the gNB sends a fixed-directional beam to the NCR at a fixed location. The beam carries beam control information (SSB signal) to inform the NCR how to perform beam scanning on the expanded coverage area. The NCR receiving end uses polling to determine the receiving beam on the gNB side and receives the beam control information through the beam. The gNB sends a fixed-directional beam to the NCR at a fixed location. The beam carries beam management control information (CSI-RS signal) to inform the NCR how to perform narrow beam scanning on the beam coverage area of ​​the best SSB signal. At the receiving end, the NCR receives the beam control information from the gNB.

[0120] For the access link between the repeater and the terminal device, the NCR transmits the SSB signal of the beam in the extended coverage area in a polling manner according to the beam management control information of the base station. The UE uses a fixed receive beam to receive the SSB signal forwarded by the NCR and controlled by the gNB. The NCR can also transmit the CSI-RS signal of the beam in the beam coverage area of ​​the best SSB signal in a polling manner according to the beam control information of the gNB. The receiving UE performs CSI-RS beam measurement and reports CSI-RSRP.

[0121] In one embodiment, a NCR beam calibration scheme for the FR2 frequency band is proposed. To compensate for the unknown phase difference and achieve accurate beamforming, the present application sets appropriate phase shift values ​​in the multi-chain NCR in the FR2 frequency band. When the unknown phase difference is time-invariant, the NCR uses a phased array to simulate the precoding codebook and finds the phase shift value suitable for adaptive NCR beamforming based on the beam scanning using the SSB scenario and CSI-RS / SRS measurement.

[0122] If the unknown phase difference changes rapidly and occasionally causes uncertain phase jumps, it will be difficult to accurately track the phase shift value and control the beam direction. Such unknown phase jumps are usually caused by RF state changes, such as DL-UL switching, OFF-ON transitions, and NCR-Fwd gain control. Therefore, to support FR2 NCR beamforming, it should be possible to ensure the feasibility of maintaining continuous relative error across different forward RF links.

[0123] By simulating and verifying three situations: without NCR, with NCR but without phase compensation, and with NCR and phase compensation, the simulation results in the FR2 frequency band simulation show that in the absence of NCR, the throughput performance does not change. After the introduction of NCR, the NCR throughput gain increases with the increase in the number of antennas, and after phase compensation, the NCR system has better throughput performance.

[0124] In one embodiment, it is proposed that the NCR-Fwd module of the NCR can configure periodic, semi-persistent, and aperiodic time domain resource information and beam indication information through RRC (Radio Resource Control) signaling. The time domain resource information includes frequency, reference subcarrier spacing, starting symbol and duration within the time slot, etc. A forwarding resource set includes periodic indication information. In downlink data forwarding, the SSB broadcast period is determined to be 20 milliseconds through RRC configuration, and the number of SSB blocks and the frequency domain location of the SSB blocks are determined.

[0125] When the NCR-MT module detects a beam failure in the C-link, the NCR-Fwd module can resolve the issue as shown in Figure 5. The solution includes the following steps:

[0126] Step S301: When the NCR-MT detects a C-link failure, it means that the C-link beam is inaccurate. Assuming that the B-link and C-link send the same RF signal, the B-link beam signal will obviously be inaccurate. Therefore, the NCR-Fwd module should be turned off. Even if the B-link and C-link have independent RF, during the period when the NCR-MT beam state fails, the NCR-MT cannot receive the side control information from the gNB. Therefore, the gNB is uncertain whether there is any action indicating the beam during the NCR-MT beam failure state, and the beam information cannot be forwarded under appropriate configuration. In order to avoid interference caused by NCR-Fwd forwarding inaccurate side control information, the NCR will shut down NCR-Fwd when a beam failure occurs in the C-link link.

[0127] Step S302: From the time the NCR-MT detects a beam failure to the time the beam failure is restored, the NCR-Fwd may be in the ON or OFF state depending on the scenario.

[0128] In step S303, the C-link beam failure causes NCR-Fwd to be closed, but does not affect the beam signal of the access link. When the beam failure is restored, the NCR receives the time domain resource indication information, updates the NCR-Fwd state to ON, and uses the beam configuration of the access link before the beam failure.

[0129] In step S304, when the beam failure is restored, NCR-Fwd is still closed. When NCR-MT receives the latest beam indication configuration of C-link, NCR-Fwd is opened.

[0130] The network-controlled repeater effectively implements beamforming through phased array precoding, expanding the coverage of the wireless network. Compared with traditional repeaters, it can effectively solve the problem of limited base station coverage in the FR2 frequency band and effectively reduce signaling overhead by controlling signaling information on the network side. The beamforming repeater can more accurately and efficiently cover the communication distance through sequential indexing of wide and narrow beams, thereby improving user throughput. At the same time, by providing a method for using the access link beam after the control link beam fails and after the beam is restored, the delay caused by communication failures is effectively reduced.

[0131] It should be understood that, although the various steps in the flowcharts involved in the various embodiments described above are displayed in sequence according to the instructions of the arrows, these steps are not necessarily executed in sequence in the order indicated by the arrows. Unless otherwise specified herein, there is no strict order restriction on the execution of these steps, and these steps can be executed in other orders. Moreover, at least a portion of the steps in the flowcharts involved in the various embodiments described above can include multiple steps or multiple stages, and these steps or stages are not necessarily executed and completed at the same time, but can be executed at different times, and the execution order of these steps or stages is not necessarily to be carried out in sequence, but can be executed in turn or alternately with other steps or at least a portion of steps or stages in other steps.

[0132] Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of the present application further provide a beamforming device for implementing the aforementioned beamforming method. The solution provided by this device is similar to the solution described in the aforementioned method. Therefore, the specific limitations of one or more beamforming device embodiments provided below can be found in the above-described limitations of the beamforming method and are not further elaborated here.

[0133] In one embodiment, as shown in FIG8 , a beamforming device is provided, including: a reporting module 510 , a receiving module 520 , and a control module 530 , wherein:

[0134] A reporting module 510 is configured to obtain beam information of an access link and report the beam information to a base station;

[0135] A receiving module 520 is configured to receive beam indication information of the access link generated by the base station according to the beam information; the beam indication information includes precoding information of the phased array antenna of the network controlled repeater; and

[0136] The control module 530 is configured to control the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information.

[0137] In one of the embodiments, when the phased array antenna is a rectangular planar array, the access link beam is a two-dimensional beam.

[0138] In one embodiment, the control module 530 is further configured to control the phased array antenna to generate at least one first beam in the access link, so as to determine a first target beam from the at least one first beam according to a first measurement result of each of the first beams returned by the terminal; and to control the phased array antenna to generate at least one second beam associated with the first target beam in the access link, so as to determine a second target beam from the at least one second beam according to a second measurement result of each of the second beams returned by the terminal.

[0139] In one embodiment, the control module 530 is further configured to determine, based on a third measurement result reported by the terminal, phase shift information corresponding to the precoding information; adjust the precoding information based on the phase shift information to obtain adjusted precoding information; and control the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam based on the adjusted precoding information.

[0140] In one embodiment, the beamforming device further includes:

[0141] a forwarding function disabling module, configured to disable the forwarding function of the network controlled repeater when a control link between the base station and the network controlled repeater fails; and

[0142] The forwarding function enabling module is used to enable the forwarding function when the control link failure is recovered, and control the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam according to the precoding information.

[0143] In one embodiment, the beamforming device further includes:

[0144] An information update module is used to enable the forwarding function when the control link failure is recovered and new beam indication information generated by the base station based on the new beam information is received; the new beam indication information includes new precoding information; and according to the new precoding information, control the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam.

[0145] In one embodiment, a beamforming device is provided, comprising:

[0146] a generating module, configured to generate beam indication information of the access link according to beam information of the access link sent by a network control repeater; the network control repeater is provided with a phased array antenna, and the beam indication information includes precoding information of the phased array antenna; and

[0147] A sending module is used to send the beam indication information to the network control repeater, so that the network control repeater controls the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information.

[0148] Each module in the aforementioned beamforming device may be implemented in whole or in part via software, hardware, or a combination thereof. Each module may be embedded in or independent of a processor within a communication device in hardware form, or may be stored in a memory within the communication device in software form, so that the processor can call and execute the corresponding operations of each module.

[0149] In one embodiment, a communication device is provided, which may be a server, and its internal structure diagram may be shown in Figure 9. The communication device includes a processor, a memory, an input / output (I / O) interface, and a communication interface. The processor, memory, and I / O interface are connected via a system bus, and the communication interface is connected to the system bus via the I / O interface. The processor of the communication device is configured to provide computing and control capabilities. The memory of the communication device includes a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium and an internal memory. The non-volatile computer-readable storage medium stores an operating system, computer-readable instructions, and a database. The internal memory provides an environment for the operation of the operating system and computer-readable instructions in the non-volatile computer-readable storage medium. The database of the communication device is configured to store beamforming data. The I / O interface of the communication device is configured to exchange information between the processor and external devices. The communication interface of the communication device is configured to communicate with external terminals via a network connection. When executed by the processor, the computer-readable instructions implement a beamforming method.

[0150] Those skilled in the art will understand that the structure shown in Figure 9 is merely a block diagram of a partial structure related to the scheme of the present application, and does not constitute a limitation on the communication device to which the scheme of the present application is applied. The specific communication device may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or have a different component arrangement.

[0151] In one embodiment, a communication device is further provided, comprising a memory and one or more processors, wherein the memory stores computer-readable instructions, and when the computer-readable instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the beamforming method provided in any embodiment of the present application are implemented.

[0152] In one embodiment, one or more non-volatile computer-readable storage media storing computer-readable instructions are provided. When the computer-readable instructions are executed by one or more processors, the one or more processors implement the steps of the beamforming method provided in any embodiment of the present application.

[0153] In one embodiment, a computer program product is provided, comprising computer-readable instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the beamforming method provided in any embodiment of the present application.

[0154] It should be noted that the user information (including but not limited to user device information, user personal information, etc.) and data (including but not limited to data used for analysis, stored data, displayed data, etc.) involved in this application are all information and data authorized by the user or fully authorized by all parties, and the collection, use and processing of relevant data must comply with the relevant laws, regulations and standards of relevant countries and regions.

[0155] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the processes in the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be implemented by instructing the relevant hardware through computer-readable instructions. The computer-readable instructions can be stored in a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium. When the computer-readable instructions are executed, they can include the processes of the embodiments of the above-mentioned methods. Among them, any reference to memory, database or other media used in the embodiments provided in this application may include at least one of non-volatile and volatile memory. Non-volatile memory may include read-only memory (ROM), magnetic tape, floppy disk, flash memory, optical memory, high-density embedded non-volatile memory, resistive random access memory (ReRAM), magnetic random access memory (MRAM), ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM), phase change memory (PCM), graphene memory, etc. Volatile memory may include random access memory (RAM) or external cache memory, etc. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM can be in various forms, such as static random access memory (SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (DRAM). The database involved in the various embodiments provided herein may include at least one of a relational database and a non-relational database. Non-relational databases may include, but are not limited to, distributed databases based on blockchains. The processor involved in the various embodiments provided herein may be, but are not limited to, a general-purpose processor, a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, a digital signal processor, a programmable logic unit, a data processing logic unit based on quantum computing, and the like.

[0156] The technical features of the above-mentioned embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. In order to make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above-mentioned embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0157] The above-described embodiments merely represent several implementation methods of the present application. While the descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the patent application. It should be noted that a person of ordinary skill in the art may make various modifications and improvements without departing from the spirit of the present application, and these modifications and improvements fall within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present patent application shall be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A beamforming method, characterized in that, Applied to a network control repeater, the network control repeater is provided with a phased array antenna; the method includes: Obtain beam information of an access link and report the beam information to a base station; Receive the beam indication information of the access link generated by the base station according to the beam information; the beam indication information includes precoding information of the phased array antenna of the network control repeater; and Control the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information.

2. The beamforming method according to claim 1, wherein When the phased array antenna is a rectangular planar array, the access link beam is a two-dimensional beam.

3. The beamforming method according to claim 2, wherein The phased array antenna includes a first layer of array elements and a second layer of array elements, the access link beam includes at least one first beam and at least one second beam associated with the first beam, the first beam corresponds to the first layer of array elements, the second beam corresponds to the second layer of array elements, and the width of the second beam is smaller than the width of the first beam; The controlling the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information includes: Control the phased array antenna to generate at least one first beam on the access link, and determine a first target beam from the at least one first beam according to first measurement results of each of the first beams returned by a terminal; And Control the phased array antenna to generate at least one second beam associated with the first target beam on the access link, and determine a second target beam from the at least one second beam according to second measurement results of each of the second beams returned by the terminal.

4. The beamforming method according to claim 1, characterized in that The controlling the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information includes: Determine phase shift information corresponding to the precoding information according to a third measurement result reported by a terminal; Adjust the precoding information according to the phase shift information to obtain adjusted precoding information; and Control the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam according to the adjusted precoding information.

5. The beamforming method according to claim 1, wherein After controlling the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information, it further includes: When a control link between the base station and the network control repeater fails, turn off the forwarding function of the network control repeater; and When the control link failure is recovered, turn on the forwarding function and control the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam according to the precoding information.

6. The beamforming method according to claim 5, wherein After turning off the forwarding function of the network control repeater when a control link between the base station and the network control repeater fails, it further includes: When the control link failure is recovered and new beam indication information generated by the base station according to new beam information is received, turn on the forwarding function; the new beam indication information includes new precoding information; and Control the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam according to the new precoding information.

7. A beamforming method, characterized in that, Applied to a base station; the method includes: Generate beam indication information for the access link according to the beam information of the access link sent by the network control repeater; the network control repeater is provided with a phased array antenna, and the beam indication information includes precoding information of the phased array antenna; and Send the beam indication information to the network control repeater for the network control repeater to control the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information.

8. A beamforming system, characterized in that, It includes a base station and a network control repeater; the network control repeater is provided with a phased array antenna; The base station is configured to generate beam indication information for the access link according to the beam information of the access link sent by the network control repeater, and send the beam indication information to the network control repeater; the beam indication information includes precoding information of the phased array antenna of the network control repeater; and The network control repeater is configured to control the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information.

9. A beamforming device, characterized in that, Applied to a network control repeater, the network control repeater is provided with a phased array antenna; the device includes: A reporting module, configured to obtain beam information of an access link and report the beam information to the base station; A receiving module, configured to receive the beam indication information of the access link generated by the base station according to the beam information; the beam indication information includes precoding information of the phased array antenna of the network control repeater; and A control module, configured to control the phased array antenna to generate an access link beam of the access link according to the precoding information.

10. The beamforming device according to claim 9, characterized in that, When the phased array antenna is a rectangular planar array, the access link beam is a two-dimensional beam.

11. The beamforming device according to claim 10, wherein The phased array antenna includes a first layer of array elements and a second layer of array elements, the access link beam includes at least one first beam and at least one second beam associated with the first beam, the first beam corresponds to the first layer of array elements, the second beam corresponds to the second layer of array elements, and the width of the second beam is smaller than the width of the first beam; the control module is further configured to control the phased array antenna to generate at least one first beam in the access link, and determine a first target beam from the at least one first beam according to a first measurement result of each of the first beams returned by the terminal; and control the phased array antenna to generate at least one second beam associated with the first target beam in the access link, and determine a second target beam from the at least one second beam according to a second measurement result of each of the second beams returned by the terminal.

12. The beamforming device according to claim 9, characterized in that, The control module is further configured to determine phase shift information corresponding to the precoding information according to a third measurement result reported by the terminal; adjust the precoding information according to the phase shift information to obtain adjusted precoding information; and control the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam according to the adjusted precoding information.

13. The beamforming device according to claim 9, wherein It further includes: A forwarding function closing module, configured to close the forwarding function of the network control repeater when a control link between the base station and the network control repeater fails; and A forwarding function enabling module, configured to enable the forwarding function when the control link failure is recovered, and control the phased array antenna to generate the access link beam according to the precoding information.

14. A communication device, comprising a memory and one or more processors, wherein computer-readable instructions are stored in the memory, characterized in that, When the computer-readable instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 are implemented.

15. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing computer-readable instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

Images