Methods of selecting a subset from a set of antennas of one or more transceiver nodes, a computer program product, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, a wireless device, transceiver nodes, a processor, and a system therefor
By selecting a subset of antennas based on phase and signal strength, the method optimizes antenna usage and reduces calibration complexity, enhancing performance and reliability in MIMO systems.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- PCT/SE2025/050058
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2024-02-22
- Filing Date
- 2025-01-27
- Publication Date
- 2025-08-28
AI Technical Summary
Existing MIMO systems face challenges in optimizing antenna usage and calibration complexity, particularly in outdoor settings, leading to increased power consumption and suboptimal performance.
A method for selecting a subset of antennas based on phase and signal strength, reducing the need for calibration by determining phases and signal strengths of each antenna unit and transmitting a feedback signal to transceiver nodes to utilize the selected subset for communication.
Improves performance and reliability while reducing power consumption and calibration complexity, achieving a better trade-off between performance and power usage.
Smart Images

Figure SE2025050058_28082025_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
[0001] Methods of selecting a subset from a set of antennas of one or more transceiver nodes, a computer program product, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, a wireless device, transceiver nodes, a processor, and a system therefor
[0002] Technical field
[0003] The present disclosure relates to a method for selecting, by a wireless device, a subset from / of a set of antennas of one or two or more transceiver nodes, a corresponding method of a set of the one or two or more transceiver nodes, a computer program product, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, a wireless device, a transceiver node, a processor, and a system therefor. More specifically, the disclosure relates to a method for selecting, by a wireless device, a subset from / of a set of antennas of one or two or more transceiver nodes, a corresponding method of a set of the one or two or more transceiver nodes, a computer program product, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, a wireless device, a transceiver node, a processor, and a system as defined in the introductory parts of the independent claims.
[0004] Background art
[0005] Multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO), distributed MIMO (D-MIMO), and Massive MIMO for 5G or 5G-NR is known. MIMO systems use multiple antennas at the transmitter and receiver ends of a wireless communication system. Multiple antennas use the spatial dimension for multiplexing in addition to the time and frequency dimensions, without changing the bandwidth requirements of the system. Furthermore, the use of massive MIMO antennas increases sector throughput and capacity density using large numbers of antennas (e.g., more than 10). This includes Single User MIMO and Multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). Each antenna is individually controlled and may embed radio transceiver components. In general, more antennas equal better performance. But more antennas also require bigger arrays that draw more power. For in-building coverage, the performance gain is often worth the increased power usage. However, for other locations, such as e.g., outdoor or street-level, the benefits may not outweigh the increased power usage. Thus, there may be a need for a better trade-off or a more optimised usage of antennas (for e.g., distributed MIMO systems).
[0006] Furthermore, signals originating from different antennas of one or more transceiver nodes, such as one or more base stations, which are received at a wireless device may differ in phase and / or signal strength. Such differences are usually dealt with by performing calibration to align the phases of the different received signals. However, (phase) calibration may be time-consuming, resource-consuming and / or power-consuming. Thus, there is a need for methods and / or apparatuses involving no or less (phase) calibration or reduced complexity in calibration (or signalling therefor).
[0007] US 2017 / 0085303 Al discloses a channel information feedback method, in which a base station transmits M types of pilot signals and configures N pilot ports from M pilot ports to a specific terminal through signalling, where N is less than M; and in which the specific terminal receives and detects N pilot signals of the N pilot ports; and in which the terminal selects K pilot ports from the N pilot ports, where K is less than N, according to the quality of the received signals; and in which the terminal feeds back channel information about a channel formed by the K pilot ports and the terminal. However, in US 2017 / 0085303 Al the selection of K pilot ports is based (only) on the quality of the received signals.
[0008] Therefore, there is a need for methods and apparatuses handling the above- mentioned issues. E.g., there is a need for methods / apparatuses with excellent performance with less or no (phase) calibration.
[0009] An object of the present disclosure is to mitigate, alleviate or eliminate one or more of the above-identified deficiencies and disadvantages in the prior art and / or solve at least the above-mentioned problem or other problems.
[0010] According to a first aspect there is provided a method for selecting from a set of antenna units comprised by (or belonging to) two or more transceiver nodes (TNodes), the two or more TNodes belonging to a set of TNodes, a subset of antenna units to utilize for communication between the two or more TNodes and a wireless device (WD), the WD comprising one or more antennas and a processor, the method comprising: receiving , by the processor a set of time-frequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for each antenna unit of the set of antenna units; determining, by the processor, a phase for each of the antenna units of the set of antenna units from the received pilot signals and / or patterns; selecting, by the processor, the subset of antenna units in dependence of or based on the determined phases; and transmitting, by the WD, a feedback signal to two or more TNodes of the set of TNodes, and the feedback signal is indicative of the subset of antenna units.
[0011] According to some embodiments, the method comprises determining, by the processor, a received signal strength (RSS) for each of the antenna units of the set of antenna units from the received pilot signals and / or patterns; and selecting the subset of antenna units is performed in dependence of the determined RSSs.
[0012] According to some embodiments, selecting the subset of antenna units comprises grouping the antenna units into one or more groups in dependence of the phase, so that each antenna unit grouped into a group has a phase which differs with a phase threshold value or less from each of the phases of the antenna units of the group and wherein each antenna unit grouped into the group has a received signal strength, RSS, larger than an RSS threshold.
[0013] According to some embodiments, selecting the subset of antenna units comprises including all antenna units of the group, of the one or more groups, comprising the most antenna units, into the subset of antenna units.
[0014] According to some embodiments, selecting the subset of antenna units comprises including all antenna units of the group comprising a predetermined number of antenna units and having the smallest variance or the smallest maximum phase difference between the antenna units, into the subset of antenna units.
[0015] According to some embodiments, selecting the subset of antenna units comprises including all antenna units of the group, of the one or more groups, having the smallest difference in received signal strength (RSS) between the antenna unit having the largest RSS and the antenna unit having the smallest RSS, into the subset of antenna units.
[0016] According to some embodiments, the method further comprises repeating, every time period, one or more of the steps of receiving, determining, selecting, and transmitting.
[0017] According to some embodiments, the feedback signal comprises a set of timefrequency resources, wherein each time-frequency resource of the set is indicative of one or more antenna units of the subset of antenna units. According to some embodiments, the feedback signal comprises a signal sequence and the signal sequence is transmitted at one or more time-frequency resources associated with the subset of antenna units.
[0018] According to some embodiments, the feedback signal comprises the determined phase for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units.
[0019] According to a second aspect there is provided a method of a set of transceiver nodes (TNodes) comprising two or more TNodes for communicating with a wireless device (WD) utilizing only a subset of antenna units of an available set of antenna units of the two or more TNodes, the subset of antenna units is selected by the WD in dependence on a determined phase of each of the antennas of the set of antenna units, and the method comprises: configuring each antenna unit to utilize one or more time-frequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for the antenna unit; receiving, by one or two or more TNodes of the set of TNodes a feedback signal from the WD, and the feedback signal is indicative of the subset of antenna units; determining the subset of antenna units from the feedback signal; and communicating with the WD utilizing only the subset of antenna units.
[0020] According to some embodiments, the feedback signal comprises the determined phase for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units, and the method further comprises obtaining the determined phase for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units from the feedback signal, and pre-coding data to communicate to the WD in accordance with the determined phase for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units.
[0021] According to a third aspect there is provided: a computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium, having stored thereon a computer program comprising program instructions, the computer program being loadable into a data processing unit and configured to cause execution of the method of the first aspect, the second aspect, or any of the embodiments mentioned herein when the computer program is run by the data processing unit; a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor of a processing device, cause the processing device to carry out the method according to the first aspect, the second aspect, or any of the embodiments mentioned herein; or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured to be executed by one or more processors of a processing device, the one or more programs comprising instructions which, when executed by the processing device, causes the processing device to carry out the method according to the first aspect, the second aspect, or any of the embodiments mentioned herein.
[0022] According to a fourth aspect there is provided a wireless device (WD), the WD comprising one or more antennas and a processor, and the WD configured to cause: reception of a set of time-frequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for each antenna unit of a set of antenna units of two or more transceiver nodes (TNodes), the two or more TNodes belonging to a set of TNodes; determination of a phase for each of the antenna units of the set of antenna units from the received pilot signals and / or patterns; selection of a subset of antenna units of the set of antenna units in dependence on the determined phases; and transmission of a feedback signal to one or two or more TNodes of the set of TNodes, and the feedback signal is indicative of the selected subset of antenna units.
[0023] According to a fifth aspect there is provided a group of transceiver nodes (TNodes) comprising two or more TNodes, each TNode able to communicate with a wireless device (WD), the group of TNodes comprising a set of antenna units (distributed between the two or more TNodes) and each TNode configured to cause: configuration of each antenna unit comprised by (or belonging to) the / that TNode to utilize one or more time-frequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for the antenna unit; reception of a feedback signal from the WD (directly or via another TNode), the feedback signal is indicative of a subset of antenna units of the set of antenna units; determination of the subset of antenna units comprised by (or belonging to) the / that TNode from the feedback signal; and communication with the WD utilizing only the subset of antenna units comprised by (or belonging to) the / that TNode.
[0024] According to a sixth aspect there is provided a processor comprisable in a wireless device (WD), the processor configured to cause: reception of a set of time-frequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for each antenna unit of a set of antenna units, the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) being distributed between two or more transceiver nodes (TNodes), the two or more TNodes belonging to a set of TNodes; determination of a phase for each of the antenna units of the set of antenna units from the received pilot signals and / or patterns; selection of a subset of antenna units of the set of antenna units in dependence on the determined phases; and transmission of a feedback signal to one or more of the (two or more) TNodes of the set of TNodes, and the feedback signal is indicative of the selected subset of antenna units.
[0025] According to a seventh aspect there is provided a system comprising: a wireless device (WD), the WD comprising one or more antennas and a processor; and a set of transceiver nodes, TNodes, comprising two or more TNodes, each TNode able to communicate with the WD, the set of TNodes comprising a set of antenna units, each of the two or more Tnodes is configured to cause: configuration of each antenna unit comprised by (or belonging to) the / that TNode to utilize one or more time-frequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for the antenna unit; the WD is configured to cause: reception of the set of time-frequency resources comprising the pilot signal and / or the pattern for each antenna unit of the set of antenna units of the two or more TNodes; determination of a phase for each of the antenna units of the set of antenna units from the received pilot signals and / or patterns; selection of a subset of antenna units of the set of antenna units in dependence on the determined phases; and transmission of a feedback signal to one or two or more TNodes of the set of TNodes, the feedback signal is indicative of the selected subset of antenna units; and each of the two or more TNodes is (further) configured to cause: reception of the feedback signal directly from the WD or from the WD via another TNode; determination of a / the subset of antenna units comprised by (or belonging to) the TNode from the feedback signal; and communication with the WD utilizing only the subset of antenna units comprised by (or belonging to) the TNode.
[0026] According to some embodiments, the subset of antenna units is a proper subset.
[0027] According to an eighth aspect there is provided a chip.
[0028] Effects and features of the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth aspects are fully or to a substantial extent analogous to those described above in connection with the first aspect and vice versa.
[0029] Embodiments mentioned in relation to the first aspect are fully or largely compatible with the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth aspects and vice versa.
[0030] An advantage of some embodiments is that performance (of the antennas, the radio transmission, or the WD) is improved or optimized. Another advantage of some embodiments is that the radio transmission is more reliable.
[0031] A further advantage of some embodiments is that power consumption is reduced or optimized (for the WD, for the base station, and / or for the antenna circuits with transceivers).
[0032] Yet a further advantage of some embodiments is that the usage of antennas (and transceivers) is improved or optimized.
[0033] Yet another advantage of some embodiments is that no or less (phase) calibration is needed / performed and / or that complexity in calibration (or signalling therefor) is reduced.
[0034] Yet another further advantage of some embodiments is that excellent performance with less or no (phase) calibration is achieved.
[0035] Yet an advantage of some embodiments, is an optimized / improved trade-off between performance and power consumption.
[0036] Other advantages are that the signal quality is increased, that efficiency is improved / increased, that signalling is reduced, that complexity (e.g., in signalling) is reduced, that power consumption is reduced, that spectral capacity is increased, that configuration is faster, less time-consuming, less resource-consuming and / or less power-consuming (e.g., since no or less calibration is performed / needed).
[0037] The present disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description given below. The detailed description and specific examples disclose preferred embodiments of the disclosure by way of illustration only. Those skilled in the art understand from guidance in the detailed description that changes, and modifications may be made within the scope of the disclosure.
[0038] Hence, it is to be understood that the herein disclosed disclosure is not limited to the particular component parts of the device described or steps of the methods described since such apparatus and method may vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. It should be noted that, as used in the specification and the appended claims, the articles "a", "an", "the", and "said" are intended to mean that there are one or more of the elements unless the context explicitly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a unit" or "the unit" may include several devices, and the like. Furthermore, the words "comprising", "including", "containing" and similar wordings do not exclude other elements or steps. Moreover, the term "configured" or "adapted" is intended to mean that a unit or similar is shaped, sized, connected, connectable or otherwise adjusted for a purpose.
[0039] Brief descriptions of the drawings
[0040] The above objects, as well as additional objects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure, will be more fully appreciated by reference to the following illustrative and non-limiting detailed description of example embodiments of the present disclosure, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
[0041] Figure 1A is a schematic drawing illustrating a wireless device according to some embodiments;
[0042] Figure IB is a flowchart illustrating some method steps according to some embodiments;
[0043] Figure 1C is a schematic drawing illustrating a transceiver node according to some embodiments;
[0044] Figure ID is a schematic drawing illustrating transceiver nodes according to some embodiments;
[0045] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating some method steps according to some embodiments;
[0046] Figure 3 is a schematic drawing illustrating a system comprising one or more wireless devices and one or two or more transceiver nodes according to some embodiments;
[0047] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating actions / method steps implemented in a wireless device and / or in a processor thereof according to some embodiments;
[0048] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating actions / method steps implemented in a set of one or two or more transceiver nodes and / or in one or two or more processors according to some embodiments; and Figure 6 is a schematic drawing illustrating a computer readable (storage) medium according to some embodiments.
[0049] Detailed description
[0050] The present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred example embodiments of the disclosure are shown. The disclosure may, however, be embodied in other forms and should not be construed as limited to the herein disclosed embodiments. The disclosed embodiments are provided to fully convey the scope of the disclosure to the skilled person.
[0051] Terminology
[0052] Herein is referred to a processor / processing unit. The processor may be a digital processor. Alternatively, the processor may be a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a co-processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), an image signal processor, a quantum processing unit, or an analog signal processor. The processing unit may comprise one or more processors and optionally other units, such as a control unit. Thus, the processor may be implemented as a single-processor, a dualprocessor system, or a multiprocessor system. Furthermore, the invention can also be practiced in distributed computing environments where certain tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network, e.g., 5G, to one or more local processors. In a distributed computing environment, program modules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. Moreover, some processing (e.g., for the data plane) may be moved to a centralized node, such as a centralized transceiver node (TNode). For example, baseband processing and / or higher layer processing, such as processing at layers above the physical layer, may be moved to a cloud, such as an mmW RAN cloud (wherein processing is performed by cloud processors). Such a (mmW) cloud deployment may bring significant cost savings to the operator due to centralized processing, collaborative radio processing, and availability of cheap commodity hardware.
[0053] Herein is referred to a baseband (BB) processor / processing unit. A BB processor is a processor specifically adapted for processing baseband signals / data.
[0054] Herein is referred to millimetre Wave (mmW) utilization, mmW communication, mmW communication capability and mmW frequency range. The mmW frequency range is from 24.25 Gigahertz (GHz) to 71 GHz or more generally from 24 to 300 GHz. The mmW frequency range may also be referred to as Frequency Range 2 (FR2).
[0055] Herein is referred to centimetre Wave (emW) utilization, emW communication, emW communication capability and emW frequency range. The emW frequency range is from 7 or 10 Gigahertz (GHz) to 30 GHz.
[0056] Herein is referred to Frequency range / band 1 (FR1) utilization, FR1 GHz communication, FR1 communication capability and FR1 frequency range / band. FR1 may also be referred to as sub 6 GHz. The sub 6 GHz frequency range / band may comprise the interval from 0.5 to 6 GHz.
[0057] Herein is referred to a chip. A chip is an integrated circuit (chip) or a monolithic integrated circuit (chip) and may also be referred to as an IC, or a microchip.
[0058] Herein is referred to a wireless device (WD). A wireless device is any device capable of transmitting or receiving signals wirelessly. Some examples of wireless devices are user equipment (UE), mobile phones, cell phones, smart phones, Internet of Things (loT) devices, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) devices, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) devices, vehicle-to-network (V2N) devices, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) devices, vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) devices, vehicle- to-device (V2D) devices, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) devices, fixed wireless access (FWA) points, and tablets.
[0059] Herein is referred to a "transceiver node" (TNode). A TNode may be a radio unit (RRU), a repeater, a wireless node, or a base station (BS), such as a radio base station (RBS), a Node B, an Evolved Node B (eNB) or a gNodeB (gNB). Thus, a TNode may be a network (NW) node. Furthermore, a TNode may be a BS for a neighbouring cell, a BS for a handover (HO) candidate cell, a radio unit (RRU), a distributed unit (DU), another WD (e.g., a remote WD) or a base station (BS) for a (active / deactivated) secondary cell (SCell) or for a serving / primary cell (PCell, e.g., associated with an active TCI state), a laptop, a wireless station, a relay, a repeater device, a reconfigurable intelligent surface, or a large intelligent surface.
[0060] Herein is referred to an antenna unit. An antenna unit may be one single antenna. However, an antenna unit may also be a dual antenna, such as a dual patch antenna with a first (e.g., horizontal) and a second (e.g., vertical) polarization, thus functioning as two separate antennas or an antenna unit having two ports. Moreover, an antenna unit may be an antenna array, e.g., if analog beamforming is performed. Each antenna unit may have an identity (ID; such as an ID number), e.g., an antenna unit ID. Alternatively, each antenna unit has a number / post / address in an index, such as an antenna unit index.
[0061] Herein is referred to an antenna port. An antenna port comprises one or more antenna units. Each antenna port may have an identity (ID; such as an ID number), e.g., an antenna port ID. Alternatively, each antenna port has a number / post / address in an index, such as an antenna port index. Herein is referred to received signal strength (RSS). RSS is a measure of the strength of the radio signal and may be a negative number from OdBm (best signal) to - llOdBm (weakest / no signal). Determination of RSS may involve determination of an RSS indicator (RSSI).
[0062] Herein is referred to a non-terrestrial network (NTN). Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) are wireless communication systems that operate above the Earth's surface. One or more NTNs comprises one or more NTN units, such as one or more satellites at low Earth orbit (LEO), one or more satellites at medium Earth orbit (MEO), one or more satellites at geostationary orbit (GEO), one or more high-altitude platforms (HAPs) and / or one or more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In some embodiments, an NTN comprises one or more (wireless) networks providing connectivity through one or more NTN units, such as one or more spaceborne vehicles (e.g., one or more GEO, MEO, and / or LEO satellites), one or more airborne platforms (e.g., one or more airships and / or one or more air balloons), and / or one or more unmanned aircraft system (UAS) platforms. A UAS platform may comprise one or more unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), such as one or more drones.
[0063] Herein the expression "based on" is equivalent to any of the expressions "in accordance with" and "in dependence of" (and vice versa).
[0064] Herein the term "comprise" is equivalent to the term "include".
[0065] Herein is referred to a "proper subset". A proper subset of a set is a subset of the set which comprises only elements of the set, but not all elements of the set.
[0066] Prior Art
[0067] US 2014 / 0105121 Al discloses that the UE determines channel feedback based on the received pilot signals and the determined phase rotations for each of the serving base station and the at least one interfering base station. Although D2 discloses that signal strength is fed back, this information is not utilized to group antenna units.
[0068] US 2016 / 0233936 Al discloses a method for grouping antennas in a multiple-input multiple-output antenna system, which includes selecting one of the antenna grouping patterns using the grouped codebook vectors for the antenna grouping patterns. The code vectors of US 2016 / 0233936 Al are utilized by the BS to pre-code the antennas in the determined subset. In the present invention, instead of utilizing pre-coding, an antenna subset that is sufficiently coherent at the position of the UE is selected. Thus, less signalling (e.g., since no code index needs to be transmitted) and hence increased spectral capacity is achieved. Furthermore, in US 2016 / 0233936 Al a relative distance value needs to be calculated. In the present invention no such relative distance value needs to be calculated, thus complexity is reduced.
[0069] Basic concept
[0070] The basic concept of the invention is to select from a set of antennas a (proper) subset (of the set) of antennas (for communication between two or more TNodes and a WD). The antennas of the set of antennas may be residing / located at (one or) two or more transceiver nodes (TNodes). E.g., the set of antennas may comprise a first (non-empty) set, a second (nonempty) set and a third (non-empty) set of antennas; a first TNode comprises the first set of antennas, a second TNode comprises the second set of antennas, and a third TNode comprises the third set of antennas (thus, the set of antennas is a distributed MIMO / antenna system, in which the antennas are distributed over a number of TNodes); and the subset of antennas is selected as a (first) (proper) subset of the first set of antennas, a (second) (proper) subset of the second set of antennas, and / or a (third) (proper) subset of the third set of antennas (i.e., the subset of antennas may comprise antennas from two or more of the first set of antennas, the second set of antennas, and the third set of antennas). The selection of the subset of antennas is performed based on phase values (phases) associated with the antennas (of the set of antennas) and / or associated with radio signals received by the antennas (and transmitted by the one or two or more TNodes). E.g., if there are antennas which have similar phase values, these antennas can be selected and no or less (phase) calibration or phase adjustment needs to be performed (i.e., beamforming for transmission and / or efficient transmission utilizing D-MIMO is achieved without a need for extensive phase calibration of Tnode transceivers). The phase values are determined, by the WD (or a processor thereof) from pilot signals and / or patterns received from the one or two or more TNodes.
[0071] Furthermore, the selection is performed by the WD and a feedback signal indicating the selected antennas are transmitted to one or two or more of the TNodes or to another TNode connected / connectable to the one or two or more TNodes. The radio signals transmitted from the one or two or more TNodes to the WD are (then or thereafter) utilizing (only) the subset (of the set) of antennas (i.e., the radio signals transmitted from the one or two or more TNodes to the WD are transmitted only via the subset of antennas).
[0072] Embodiments
[0073] In the following, embodiments will be described where figure 1A illustrates a wireless device (WD) 302 according to some embodiments, figure IB illustrates some method steps according to some embodiments, figure 1C illustrates a transceiver node (TNode) according to some embodiments, and figure ID illustrates TNodes according to some embodiments. The WD 302 depicted in figure 1A comprises one or more antennas / antenna units 1700, 1701, ..., 1715. Furthermore, the WD 302 comprises a processor or processing unit 930. Moreover, the WD 302 comprises, in some embodiments, one or two or more transceivers 1500, 1501, ..., 1515. Each transceiver 1500, 1501, ..., 1515 is connected / connectable to a respective antenna unit 1700, 1701, ..., 1715. Furthermore, each transceiver 1500, 1501, ..., 1515 is directly or indirectly (via a digital interface) connected / connectable to the processing unit 930. In some embodiments (when / if the one or two or more transceivers 1500, 1501, ..., 1515 is indirectly connected / connectable to the processing unit 930), the WD 302 comprises one or more digital interfaces 1400, ..., 1415. The one or more digital interfaces 1400, ..., 1415 is connected / connectable to the processing unit 930. Furthermore, each digital interface 1400, ..., 1415 is connected / connectable to a respective transceiver 1500, 1501, ..., 1515. Moreover, each digital interface 1400, ..., 1415 comprises one or more analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and / or one or more digital-to-analog converters (DACs). In some embodiments, each digital interface 1400, ..., 1415 comprises a BB processor and / or a Serializer / Deserializer (SerDes). Moreover, in some embodiments, the WD 302 comprises a memory (unit) 932. The memory 932 is connected / connectable to and / or associated with the processor 930. In some embodiments, the memory is (or comprises) one or more lock-up tables (LUTs). The method 100 illustrated in figure IB is for selecting a (proper) subset of antenna units 700, 705, 710 from a set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 (shown in figure 1C and ID). The subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 comprises one or (two or three or four or) more antenna units. Furthermore, the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 comprises two or more antenna units. In some embodiments, the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 comprises (e.g., 2, 5, or 10 times) more antennas than the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. In some embodiments, the number of antenna units of the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 is smaller or equal to a maximum value, such as 256, 512 or 1024. Thus, the maximum time-frequency resource space the WD 302 needs to scan (for antenna selection) is limited. One or two or more transceiver nodes (TNodes) 397, 398, 399 (shown in figure ID) comprises the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715. The one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 belongs to a set 395 of TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399 (shown in figure 3). Furthermore, the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 is (after being selected) utilized for communication (i.e., transmission and / or reception) between the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 and the WD 302 (illustrated in figure 1A). Moreover, in some embodiments, the antenna units 701, 703, ..., 715 (of the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715) not belonging to the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 are not utilized for communication (i.e., transmission and / or reception) between the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 and the WD 302 after the subset has been selected (until a new subset is to be selected or until next time selecting 130, described below, is performed). Thus, the antenna units 701, 703, ..., 715 can be utilized for communication between the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 and another WD 303 (shown in figure 3). In some embodiments, the method 100 comprises time-frequency synchronizing 105 or derivation of time-frequency synchronization (e.g., by the WD 302 or by one or two or more TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399). The synchronizing / derivation is based on a signal which is transmitted periodically, e.g., every 10ms, every 100ms, every 1000ms, or every 10000ms. As an example, the synchronizing / derivation is based on a primary synchronization signal (PSS; e.g., in 4G and / or 5G). Alternatively, the synchronizing / derivation is based on a Primary Synchronization Code (or a Primary Synchronisation Channel, P-SCH; e.g., in 3G). Le., the time-frequency synchronization is obtained / calculated from the PSS and / or the P-SCH signal. As another example, the time-frequency synchronization is known to the WD 302. Thus, no time-frequency synchronization / synchronizing needs to be performed. The method 100 comprises receiving 110, by the WD 302 and / or the processor 930 (via the one or two or more antennas 1700, 1701, ..., 1715 and / or the one or more transceivers 1500, 1501, ..., 1515), a set of time-frequency resources, e.g., as part of one or more radio signals. The set of time-frequency resources comprises one or more time-frequency resources. In some embodiments, the one or more time-frequency resources is or comprises one or more resource blocks (RBs). The set of time-frequency resources (or the one or more timefrequency resources / RBs) comprises a pilot signal and / or a pattern for each antenna unit of the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715. The pilot signals and / or patterns are indicative of a phase (value) associated with the respective antenna unit 700, 701, ..., 715 (or a phase value associated with the one or more radio signals comprising the set of time-frequency resources received by the antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715). The one or more radio signals and / or the set of time-frequency resources are transmitted via one or more of the antenna units of the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715. Furthermore, the method 100 comprises determining 120, by the processor 930, a phase (value) for each of the antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 of the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 from the received pilot signals and / or patterns. As an example, the phase value / delay (of each antenna unit 700, 701, ..., 715) is estimated as the radio channel phase by calculating the channel estimate as received signal divided by the (known / expected) pilot signal and / or pattern (i.e., the received signal Y equals the channel estimate H times the pilot signal S plus an error signal E; Y=HS+E) and then calculating the radio channel phase from the channel estimate. In some embodiments, the phase values / delays are given / expressed relative the phase value associated with one of the antennas 1700, 1701, ... 1715 or relative a reference (phase) value, e.g., 0. Preferably the phase values / delays are given relative the phase value of the antenna unit 1700. In some embodiments, the distance between the antenna units 1700, 1701, ... 1715 are known. Thus, the phase values / delays relative any of the other antenna units 1701, ..., 1715 can be calculated (from the phase values relative the antenna unit 1700 and the distances between the antenna units 1700, 1701, ... 1715). Furthermore, in some embodiments, a mean value for the phase values (associated with each / the different antenna units) is calculated. The mean (value) is calculated as an arithmetic or a geometric mean of the phases for each of the antenna units. The mean is then utilized as the reference value. Alternatively, a percentile value is derived / calculated (and utilized as the reference value). As another alternative, a median value is derived / calculated (and utilized as the reference value). Moreover, the method 100 comprises selecting 130, by the processor 930, the subset of antenna units 700, 705, 710 in dependence of the determined phases / phase values. In some embodiments, the method 100 comprises determining 125, by the processor 930, a received signal strength (RSS; value) or a signal to noise ratio (SNR; value) for each of the antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 (or each of the signals received by the antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715) of the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 from the received pilot signals and / or patterns. In these embodiments, selecting 130 the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 is performed in dependence of the determined RSSs / SNR values. As an example, the determined RSS of each antenna unit 700, 701, ..., 715 is compared to an RSS threshold (RSSmin), and (only) if the determined RSS of an antenna unit is larger than the RSS threshold, the antenna unit is selectable to be part of the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. If the determined RSS of an antenna unit is smaller or equal to the RSS threshold, the antenna unit is not selectable to be part of the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. However, in some embodiments, selecting 130 the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 is not performed in dependence of the determined RSSs. In some embodiments, selecting 130 the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 comprises grouping 132 the antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 into one or more groups in dependence of the phase (values). In some embodiments, the grouping 132 is performed by comparing 131, by the processor 930, each of the phase values with the phase values associated with the other antenna units. If the phase value (or the absolute value of the phase value) associated with a first / one antenna unit (e.g., 700) differs with a phase threshold value or less from the phase value associated with a second / another antenna unit (e.g., 701), the first and second (the one and the another) antenna units (e.g., 700, 701) are placed in the same group (the comparing 131 and placing is performed for all antenna units of the set). Thus, each antenna unit grouped into a group has a phase value (or an absolute value of the phase value) which differs with a phase threshold value or less from each of the phase values of the (other) antenna units of the group. Information about each group (or about which group each antenna unit belongs to) is stored, by the processor 930, in the memory 932. The information stored in the memory is utilized to select the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. One (or more) of the groups (stored in the memory) is utilized as the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. The one or more groups to be utilized as the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 is selected based on a criterion. Alternatively, one of the groups is randomly selected to be the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. As another alternative, if there is only one group, then that group is utilized as the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. The criterion is, in some embodiments, that the group comprising the most antenna units is utilized / selected as the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 (i.e., selecting 130 the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 comprises including / adding 133, e.g., only, all antenna units of the group, of the one or more groups, comprising the most antenna units, into / to the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710). As an alternative, the criterion is that the group of the groups comprising (at least) a predetermined number, such as 4, 8, 10, 12, or 20, of antenna units and having the smallest phase variance (or phase variation) between the predetermined number of antenna unit in the group of antenna units is utilized / selected (i.e., selecting 130 the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 comprises including / adding 134, e.g., only, all antenna units of the group comprising a predetermined number of antenna units and having the smallest phase variance between the antenna units, into / to the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710).
[0074] As another alternative, the criterion is that the group of the groups comprising a predetermined number, such as 4, 8, 10, 12, or 20, of antenna units and having the smallest maximum phase difference between the antenna units is utilized / selected (i.e., selecting 130 the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 comprises including / adding 134, e.g., only, all antenna units of the group comprising a predetermined number of antenna units and having the smallest maximum phase difference between the antenna units, into / to the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710). As yet another alternative, the criterion is that the group having the smallest difference in received signal strength (RSS) or signal to noise ratio (SNR) between the antenna unit having the largest RSS / SNR and the antenna unit having the smallest RSS / SNR is utilized / selected (i.e., selecting 130 the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 comprises including / adding 135, e.g., only, all antenna units of the group, of the one or more groups, having the smallest difference in RSS / SNR between the antenna unit having the largest RSS / SNR and the antenna unit having the smallest RSS / SNR, into / to the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710).
[0075] In some embodiments, two or more subsets of antenna units are pre-configured. E.g., a first pre-configured subset comprising the antenna units 700, ..., 704, a second preconfigured subset comprising the antenna units 705, ..., 709, and a third pre-configured subset comprising the antenna units 710, ..., 715. Each pre-configured subset has a first index value. E.g., the first pre-configured subset has the first index value 1, the second pre-configured subset has the first index value 2, and the third pre-configured subset has the first index value 3. In these embodiments, selecting 130 a subset comprises selecting a pre-configured subset (and utilizing the selected pre-configured subset as the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 or as an intermediate subset). Selecting a pre-configured subset is based on a first metric / measurement, which is dependent of or involves the determined phases / phase values. In some embodiments, the first metric is / comprises the (smallest) phase variance (between the antenna units). Le., the pre-configured subset with the smallest phase variance between the antenna units is utilized / selected as the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 (or as an intermediate subset). Alternatively, or additionally, the first metric is / comprises the (smallest) maximum phase difference (between the antenna units). Le., the pre-configured subset having the smallest maximum phase difference between the antenna units is utilized / selected as the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 (or as an intermediate subset). By selecting a subset from pre-configured subsets, efficiency is improved / increased and / or complexity in signalling is reduced.
[0076] In some embodiments, selecting 130 comprises selecting a pre-defined subset of a preconfigured subset. Once a pre-configured subset has been selected (as an intermediate subset), a pre-defined subset of the selected pre-configured subset can be selected (from the intermediate subset) and utilized as the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710). E.g., the first pre-configured subset comprises a first pre-defined subset comprising the antenna units 700, ..., 703, a second pre-defined subset comprising the antenna units 701, ..., 703, and a third pre-defined subset comprising the antenna units 702, ..., 704. Each pre-defined subset has a second index value (whereas the pre-configured subset has the first index value). E.g., the first pre-defined subset has the second index value 1, the second pre-defined subset has the second index value 2, and the third pre-defined subset has the second index value 3. Selecting a pre-defined subset of a pre-configured subset is based on a second metric. In some embodiments, the second metric is / comprises the (smallest) phase variance (between the antenna units). Le., the pre-defined subset (of the pre-configured subset) with the smallest phase variance between the antenna units is utilized / selected as the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. Alternatively, or additionally, the second metric is / comprises the (smallest) maximum phase difference (between the antenna units). Le., the pre-defined subset (of the pre-configured subset) having the smallest maximum phase difference between the antenna units is utilized / selected as the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. Furthermore, the method 100 comprises transmitting 140, by the WD 302 (e.g., by the transceivers and antenna units), a feedback signal to one or two or more TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399 of the set 395 of TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399. In some embodiments (e.g., embodiments with pre-configured subsets described above), the feedback signal comprises (or consists of) the first (and optionally the second) index value(s) of the selected preconfigured (and optionally pre-defined) subset. Thus, complexity in signalling is reduced (e.g., the size of the feedback signal is reduced, therefore the signalling is reduced, and as a consequence the power consumption is reduced). Furthermore, the feedback signal, i.e., the index value(s), is transmitted at one or more time-frequency resources e.g., associated with the pre-configured (and optionally the pre-defined) subset. Thus, the one or two or more TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399 can easily retrieve information about which antennas to utilize from a code book, an LUT, a memory (comprising the index values and the antennas / antenna numbers of the / each pre-configured and optionally the / each pre-defined subset). Furthermore, in some embodiments, the feedback signal is transmitted to the fourth TNode 396, which TNode 396 then forwards the feedback signal directly, automatically and without delay to the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 (e.g., via a central computing device / backhaul). Alternatively, or additionally, the feedback signal is transmitted to one or more or all of the first, second, and third TNodes 397, 398, 399. The feedback signal is indicative of the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. As an example, the feedback signal comprises a number indicating each of the antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 of the subset. Alternatively, each antenna unit 700, 701, ..., 715 has an antenna unit ID, and the feedback signal comprises the antenna unit ID of each of the antennas of the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. As another alternative, each antenna unit has a number / post / address in an antenna unit index, and the feedback signal comprises (or consists of) the number / post / address in the antenna unit index of each antenna of the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. In some embodiments, the feedback signal is transmitted on a set of time-frequency resources. Each time-frequency resource of the set is indicative of one or more antenna units of the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. As an example, if the subset of antenna units comprises (or consists of) antenna units 702, 703, the feedback signal is transmitted at one or more time-frequency resources associated with antenna units 702, 703. Alternatively, the feedback signal comprises a signal sequence. The signal sequence is a specific sequence for the antenna units comprised in / by the subset of antenna units. As an example, if the subset of antenna units comprises (or consists of) antenna units 702, 703, a value indicative of antenna units 702, 703 (e.g., 702703) is input to a look-up table (LUT), which LUT has the sequence specific for antenna units 702, 703 as an output when the value indicative of antenna units 702, 703 (e.g., 702703) is inputted. The signal sequence is transmitted at one or more time-frequency resources associated with the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 (or at one or more time-frequency resources associated with the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715). Thus, the one or more time-frequency resources utilized may be the same time-frequency resource(s) for all different / possible subsets of antenna units. Thereby, scanning over a large set of time-frequency resources to retrieve the information about the selected subset of antennas is avoided. Alternatively, the signal sequence is transmitted at one or more time-frequency resources associated with one or more antennas 702, 703 of the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. Thus, the time-frequency resource utilized indicates the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 (and therefore the signal sequence can be or is amazingly simple and may be the same for all subsets, hence complexity is reduced). In some embodiments, the signal sequence is an M-sequence (e.g., a Binary Phase Shift Keying, BPSK), Hadamard sequence / code or a Zadoff-Chu sequence. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the feedback signal comprises the determined phase (value) for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. Alternatively, each determined phase (value) is indexed. Assuming each determined phase may have a value in the range from 0 to (179 or) 359 degrees (full range), the (full) range is divided / split into different sectors of (9, 18 or) 36 degrees (first sector 0-35 degrees, second sector 36-71 degrees, ..., tenth sector 324-359 degrees), each sector is given an index value, each determined phase (value) is given the index value corresponding to the sector (1, 2, ..., 10) the determined phase (value) is in and the feedback signal comprises the index values (value; 1, 2, ..., 10) given to each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. In some embodiments, the feedback signal is transmitted (by the WD 302) to one or two or more TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399 via a feedback channel. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the feedback channel is a random access channel (RACH), such as a physical random access channel (PRACH). To avoid collisions (when utilizing a RACH as a feedback channel) the WD 302 will randomly select a set of RACH occasions (ROs). Alternatively, the RO is determined based on information on a broadcast channel (BCH), such as a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). As another alternative, the RO is determined / derived from a hard-coded seed associated with the WD 302, such as UMTS subscriber identity module (USIM), Mobile subscriber identification number (MSIN), International Mobile Subscriber Identity (I MSI), or Temporary mobile subscriber identification (TMSI). As yet another alternative, the RO is determined / derived from a hard-coded seed associated with the WD 302, such as a USIM, TMSI, I MSI, or MSIN, and based on information on a broadcast channel. By selecting the ROs the risk of collision may be reduced and / or spectral efficiency is improved / increased. Alternatively (to RACH), the feedback channel is a dedicated physical control channel, such as a dedicated control channel (DCCH). As another alternative, the feedback channel is a shared physical control channel, such as a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). Furthermore, in some embodiments, the feedback signal is one or more spreading codes / sequences, such as orthogonal codes and / or pseudorandom / pseudo-noise codes. The spreading code is, in some embodiments, generated based on antenna port index and / or transmitted as a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) signal (e.g., utilizing a Hadamard sequence / code).
[0077] In some embodiments, the method 100 comprises repeating 150 one or more of the steps of receiving 110, determining 120, selecting 130, and transmitting 140 (and optionally one or more of the steps synchronizing 105, comparing 131, grouping 132, and including 133, 134, 135) every time period. The time period is, in some embodiments, 5 milliseconds (ms), 10ms, 20ms, 40ms, or 80ms. Alternatively, the method 100 comprises repeating 150 one or more of the steps of receiving 110, determining 120, selecting 130, and transmitting 140 (and optionally one or more of the steps synchronizing 105, comparing 131, grouping 132, and including 133, 134, 135) based on an event. An example of such an event is that / when / if the signal quality (e.g., SNR) is / goes below a signal quality threshold. Another example of such an event is that / when / if an estimated signal quality variation is / goes lower than two standard deviations below the mean value. Yet another example of such an event is that / when / if the signal quality is / goes below a signal quality threshold and an estimated signal quality variation is / goes below two standard deviations below the mean value. Yet a further example of such an event is that / when / if the signal quality is / goes below a signal quality threshold or an estimated signal quality variation is / goes lower than two standard deviations below the mean value. The signal quality is measured as a Block Error Ratio (BLER), a Signal-to-Noise ratio (SNR), a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), or a Bit Error Ratio (BER) of the channel / link for the communication between the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 and the WD 302. The signal quality, the mean value thereof and / or the variation of the mean value is monitored by one or more of the WD 302 and / or one or more of the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398,
[0078] 399.
[0079] In some embodiments, the method 100 comprises (once selecting 130 and transmitting 140 has been performed) performing initial access (e.g., utilizing the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710). Performing initial access comprises transmitting from one or more, preferably one (e.g., an anchor node), of the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 to the WD 302 minimum system information, such as a Master information block (MIB), the first system information block (SIB), and / or information on where to / how / when next message from the WD 302 to the TNode(s) 397, 398, 399 should be sent. The minimum system information is, in some embodiments, sent on a specific frequency known to the WD 302. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the WD 302 responds to the reception of minimum system information by sending specific information, such as WD ID and / or WD capabilities, to the TNode(s) 397, 398, 399 (e.g., as specified by the received information). Thereafter, the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 transmits remaining system information (e.g., one or more SIBs, such as second SIB, third SIB, and fourth SIB) for further communication and optionally a list of antenna units to use to the WD 302. Then, the WD 302 is connected and communication between the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 and the WD 302 utilizing the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 is started. In some embodiments, the minimum system information is transmitted before / prior to selecting 130 and selecting 130 is performed before the remaining system information is transmitted. Thus, the reliability of the remaining system information is improved / increased and / or the spectral efficiency is improved / increased, e.g., since / if / when the remaining system information is transmitted with the selected (correct / best) antenna units. Alternatively, the minimum system information and the remaining system information is transmitted before / prior to selecting 130. By transmitting the minimum system information before / prior to selecting 130, complexity of the WD 302 is reduced. As an example, in some embodiments, the minimum system information (or a MIB) contains information about a subset of all possible time-frequency resources comprising one or more pilot signals in a specific area (e.g., in one or more bits of the MIB) or in a specific time-frequency slot. Thus, the number of antenna units the WD 302 needs to analyse is reduced (since only the subset of all possible time-frequency resources needs to be searched), and therefore the complexity of the WD 302 is reduced. As another alternative, selecting 130 is performed before / prior to the transmission of the minimum system information and before / prior to the transmission of the remaining system information. Thus, the reliability of the minimum system information is improved / increased and / or the spectral efficiency is improved / increased, e.g., since / if / when the minimum system information is transmitted with the selected (correct / best) antenna units.
[0080] Figure 1C illustrates a TNode according to some embodiments, and figure ID illustrates a plurality of TNodes according to some embodiments. The TNode 397 depicted in figure 1C comprises one or more antennas / antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715. Furthermore, the TNode 397 comprises a processor or processing unit 650. Moreover, the TNode 397 comprises, in some embodiments, one or more transceivers 500, 501, ..., 515. Each transceiver 500, 501, ..., 515 is connected / connectable to a respective antenna unit 700, 701, ..., 715. Furthermore, each transceiver 500, 501, ..., 515 is directly or indirectly (via an interface) connected / connectable to the processing unit 650. In some embodiments (when / if the one or more transceivers 500,
[0081] 501. ..., 515 is indirectly connected / connectable to the processing unit 930), the TNode 397 comprises one or more interfaces 400, ..., 415. The one or more interfaces 400, ..., 415 is connected / connectable to the processing unit 650. Furthermore, each interface 400, ..., 415 is connected / connectable to a respective transceiver 500, 501, ..., 515. Moreover, each interface
[0082] 400. ..., 415 comprises one or more analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and / or one or more digital-to-analog converters (DACs). In some embodiments, each digital interface 400, ..., 415 comprises a BB processor and / or a Serializer / Deserializer (SerDes). Furthermore, in some embodiments, the interface is digital, i.e., a digital interface. In some embodiments, the TNode 397 comprises a memory connected / connectable to the processing unit 650. Moreover, in some embodiments, any, or all of the TNodes 396, 398, 399 comprises the same kind of units as the TNode 397 depicted in figure 1C (i.e., figure 1C depicts any one of the TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399).
[0083] In some embodiments, each of the TNodes 397, 398, 399 comprises one or two or more antennas / antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 (i.e., the TNodes 397, 398, 399 together comprises the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715). In some of these embodiments, each Tnode 397, 398, 399 is connected to a central computing device (CCD) 670 via a backhaul, such as a fibre-based backhaul, a wireless point-to-point backhaul, a copper-based wireline, satellite communications and / or point-to-multipoint wireless technologies. The CCD 670 keeps track of the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715. In these embodiments, one or two or more (preferably all) of the Tnodes 397, 398, 399 receive information about the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 (such as which antenna units belong to the set) from the CCD 670. As an example, shown in figure ID (and also indicated above under "Basic concept"), the first TNode
[0084] 397 comprises one or more antennas / antenna units 700, ..., 704, the second TNode 398 comprises one or more antennas / antenna units 705, ..., 709, and the third TNode 399 comprises one or more antennas / antenna units 710, ..., 715. Furthermore, each TNode 397, 398, 399 comprises a processor or processing unit 650, 655, 660. Moreover, each TNode 397, 398, 399 comprises, in some embodiments, one or more transceivers 500, 501, ..., 515, e.g., the first TNode 397 comprises one or more transceivers 500, ..., 504, the second TNode 398 comprises one or more transceivers 505, ..., 509, and the third TNode 399 comprises one or more transceivers 510, ..., 515. Each transceiver 500, 501, ..., 515 is connected / connectable to a respective antenna unit 700, 701, ..., 715. Furthermore, each transceiver 500, 501, ..., 515 is directly or indirectly (via an interface) connected / connectable to a corresponding processing unit 650, 655, 660. In some embodiments (when / if the one or more transceivers 500, 501, ..., 515 is indirectly connected / connectable to the processing unit 930), each of the TNode 397, 398, 399 comprises one or more interfaces 400, ..., 415, e.g., the first TNode 397 comprises one or more interfaces 400, ..., 404, the second TNode 398 comprises one or more interfaces 405, ..., 409, and the third TNode 399 comprises one or more interfaces 410, ..., 415. The one or more interfaces 400, ..., 415 is connected / connectable to the respective processing unit 650, 655, 660. Furthermore, each interface 400, ..., 415 is connected / connectable to a respective transceiver 500, 501, ..., 515. Moreover, each digital interface 400, ..., 415 comprises one or more analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and / or one or more digita l-to- analog converters (DACs). In some embodiments, each digital interface 400, ..., 415 comprises a BB processor and / or a Serializer / Deserializer (SerDes). Furthermore, in some embodiments, the interface is digital. Furthermore, in some embodiments, each TNode 397, 398, 399 comprises a memory connected / connectable to a respective processing unit 650, 655, 660. In other words, the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 comprises a first (proper) set / subset of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 704 residing / located at (and / or controlled by) a first TNode 397, a second (proper) set / subset of antenna units 705, 706, ..., 709 residing / located at (and / or controlled by) a second TNode 398, and optionally a third (proper) set / subset of antenna units 710, 711, ..., 715 residing / located at (and / or controlled by) a third TNode 399 (as indicated by figure ID). In some embodiments, the (fourth) subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 comprises one or two or more antenna units of the first set / subset, one or two or more antenna units of the second set / subset, and optionally one or two or more antenna units of the third set / subset. Furthermore, in some embodiments, each of the TNodes 397, 398, 399 receives a feedback signal from a WD 302 indicative of the (fourth) subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. From this information / feedback signal, each TNode 397, 398, 399 (or the processing unit 650, 655, 660 thereof) determines / calculates / concludes which of the antenna units belonging to the TNode are part of the (fourth) subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. Thereafter, each TNode 397, 398, 399 starts communicating (260) with the WD (302) utilizing only the antenna units belonging to the / that TNode 397, 398, 399 of the (fourth) subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
[0085] Figure 2 illustrates some method steps of a method 200 performed at / by one or two or more TNodes (or at / by a group of TNodes) according to some embodiments. The method 200 is a method performed at / by one or two or more (or by a group of or a system comprising) transceiver nodes (TNodes) 397, 398, 399 (shown in figure 3). Each of the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 belong to a set of TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399. The TNodes 397, 398, 399 are able to communicate with the WD 302 (shown in figure IB) utilizing only a subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 of an available set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 (and the available set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 may be part of a larger set of antennas). The subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 is selected by the WD 302 in dependence on a determined phase (value) of each of the antennas of the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715. The method 200 comprises configuring 210 each antenna unit 700, 701, ..., 715 to utilize one or more time-frequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for the antenna unit 700, 701, ..., 715. Furthermore, the method 200 comprises receiving 220, by one or two or more TNodes of the set of TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399, a feedback signal from the WD 302, wherein the feedback signal is indicative of the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. Moreover, the method 200 comprises determining 230 the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 from the feedback signal. The method 200 comprises communicating 260 with (e.g., transmitting to and / or receiving from) the WD 302 utilizing only the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. In some embodiments, the feedback signal comprises the determined phase (value) for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. In these embodiments, the method 200 comprises obtaining 240 the determined phase for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 from the feedback signal. Furthermore, in these embodiments, the method 200 comprises pre-coding data 250 to communicate to the WD 302 in accordance with the determined phase for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units 700, 705, 710. In some embodiments, the method 200 comprises repeating 270 one or more of the steps of configuring 210, receiving 220, determining 230, and communicating 260 (and optionally one or more of the steps obtaining 240 and pre-coding 250) every time period. The time period is, in some embodiments, 5 milliseconds (ms), 10ms, 20ms, 40ms, or 80ms. Alternatively, the method 200 comprises repeating 270 one or more of the steps of configuring 210, receiving 220, determining 230, and communicating 260 (and optionally one or more of the steps obtaining 240 and precoding 250) based on an event (as described above). In some embodiments, no pre-coding is performed at the transmitter side (e.g., at any of the TNodes). Thus, less signalling, and hence increased spectral capacity is achieved.
[0086] Figure 3 illustrates a system 999. The system 999 may be a wireless / cellular communication system, a cellular network, a mobile network, a telecommunications network, a cellular radio system, a digital cellular network, a mobile phone network, a mobile phone cellular network, such as 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, or an ad hoc / mesh NW, such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Furthermore, the system 999 comprises one or more wireless devices (WD) 302, 303, ..., 308. Moreover, the system 999 comprises one or two or more transceiver nodes (TNodes) 396, 397, 398, 399, i.e., the system 999 comprises a set 395 of one or two or more TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399. In some embodiments, the number of TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399 is lower / smaller than (or equal to) a predefined value, such as 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, or 1024. The one or two or more TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399 may be base stations (gNBs, eNBs, RBS), remote radio units (RRUs), NTN units or remote wireless nodes. The WD 302 (as well as the WDs 303, ..., 308) is, in some embodiments, configured to communicate with (e.g., send / transmit and / or receive signals, such as radio signals, e.g., comprising baseband / information signals, to / from) one or two or more of the remote TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399. In some embodiments, some, or all of the communication between the WD 302 (as well as the WDs 303, ..., 308) and the remote TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399 is performed with radio signals in the mmW frequency range. Alternatively, or additionally, the communication between the WD 302 (as well as the WDs 303, ..., 308) and the remote TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399 is performed with radio signals in the emW frequency range. As another alternative, or additionally (to mmW and emW), (some of) the communication between the WD 302 (as well as the WDs 303, ..., 308) and the remote TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399 is performed with radio signals in the FR1 frequency range. Each Tnode 396, 397, 398, 399 is, in some embodiments, connected to a central computing device (CCD) 670 (shown in figure ID) via a backhaul, such as a fibre-based backhaul, a wireless point-to-point backhaul, a copper-based wireline, satellite communications and / or point-to-multipoint wireless technologies. In some embodiments, the CCD 670 keeps track of the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715. In these embodiments, one or more (preferably all) of the Tnode 396, 397, 398, 399 receives information (such as which antenna units belong to the set) about the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 from CCD 670.
[0087] In some embodiments, the system 999 comprises a wireless device (WD) 302 (or one or more WDs 302, 303, ..., 308). The WD 302 comprises one or more antennas 1700, 1701, ..., 1715 and a processor 930. In these embodiments, the system 999 comprises a set 395 of transceiver nodes (TNodes). The set 395 comprises two or more TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399. Each of the TNodes 397, 398, 399 is able to communicate with the WD 302. Furthermore, the set 395 of TNodes comprises a set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715. Moreover, each of the two or more TNodes, 397, 398, 399 (or a respective processing unit 650, 655, 660 thereof) is configured to cause configuration 510 of each antenna unit 700, 701, ..., 715 comprised by (or belonging to) the / that (same) TNode 397, 398, 399 to utilize one or more time-frequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for the antenna unit 700, 701, ..., 715 (and transmission thereof). Furthermore, the WD 302 (or a processor thereof) is configured to cause reception 410 of the set of time-frequency resources comprising the pilot signal and / or the pattern for each antenna unit of the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 of the two or more TNodes, 397, 398, 399. Moreover, the WD 302 (or a processor thereof) is configured to cause determination 420 of a phase for each of the antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 of the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 from the received pilot signals and / or patterns. The WD 302 (or a processor thereof) is configured to cause selection 430 of a (proper) subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 of the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 in dependence on the determined phases. Moreover, the WD 302 (or a processor thereof) is configured to cause transmission 440 of a feedback signal to one or two or more TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399 of the set 395 of TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399. The feedback signal is indicative of the selected subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. Moreover, each of the two or more TNodes, 397, 398, 399 (or a respective processing unit 650, 655, 660 thereof) is (further) configured to cause reception 520 of the feedback signal directly from the WD 302 or from the WD 302 via another TNode 397, 398, 399. Furthermore, each of the two or more TNodes, 397, 398, 399 (or a respective processing unit 650, 655, 660 thereof) is (further) configured to cause determination 530 of the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 comprised by (or belonging to) the TNode 397, 398, 399 from the feedback signal. Moreover, each of the two or more TNodes, 397, 398, 399 (or a respective processing unit 650, 655, 660 thereof) is (further) configured to cause communication 560 with the WD 302 utilizing only the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 comprised by (or belonging to) the TNode 397, 398, 399.
[0088] Figure 4 illustrates actions / method steps implemented in the WD 302 (described above) and / or in a processor 930 (described above) thereof according to some embodiments. The processor 930 is comprised or comprisable in the WD 302. In some embodiments, the WD 302 (or controlling circuitry thereof) and / or the processor 930 is configured to cause timefrequency synchronization 405. To this end, the WD 302 or the processor 930 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a first synchronizing unit (e.g., first synchronizing circuitry, or a first synchronizer). The WD 302 (or controlling circuitry thereof) and / or the processor 930 is configured to cause reception 410 of a set of timefrequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for each antenna unit of a set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 of one or two or more transceiver nodes, TNodes, 397, 398, 399, the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 belonging to a set 395 of TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399. To this end, the WD 302 or the processor 930 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a first receiving unit (e.g., first receiving circuitry, a first receiver, transceivers 1500, 1501, ..., 1515, and / or antennas 1700, 1701, ..., 1715). Furthermore, the WD 302 (or controlling circuitry thereof) and / or the processor 930 is configured to cause determination 420 of a phase for each of the antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 of the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 from the received pilot signals and / or patterns. To this end, the WD 302 or the processor 930 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a first determining unit (e.g., first determining circuitry, a first determiner, or a first processor, such as a BB processor). Moreover, the WD 302 (or controlling circuitry thereof) and / or the processor 930 is configured to cause selection 430 of a subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 of the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 in dependence on the determined phases. To this end, the WD 302 or the processor 930 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a first selecting unit (e.g., first selecting circuitry, a first selector, a second processor and / or the memory 932). The WD 302 (or controlling circuitry thereof) and / or the processor 930 is configured to cause transmission 440 of a feedback signal to the one or two or more TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399 of the set 395 of TNodes 396, 397, 398, 399. The feedback signal is indicative of the selected subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. To this end, the WD 302 or the processor 930 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a first transmitting unit (e.g., first transmitting circuitry, a first transmitter, transceivers 1500, 1501, ..., 1515, and / or antennas 1700, 1701, ..., 1715). In some embodiments, the WD 302 (or controlling circuitry thereof) and / or the processor 930 is configured to cause determination 425 of a received signal strength (RSS; value) for each of the antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 (or each of the signals received by the antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715) of the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 from the received pilot signals and / or patterns. To this end, the WD 302 or the processor 930 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a second determining unit (e.g., second determining circuitry, a second determiner, or a third processor, such as a BB processor). Furthermore, in some embodiments, the WD 302 (or controlling circuitry thereof) and / or the processor 930 is configured to cause comparison 431 of each of the phase values with the phase values associated with the other antenna units (and if the phase value, or an absolute value thereof, associated with a first antenna unit 700 differs with a phase threshold value or less from the phase value associated with a second antenna unit 701, the WD 302 (or controlling circuitry thereof) and / or the processor 930 is configured to cause placement 4311 of the first and second antenna units 700, 701 into the same group). To this end, the WD 302 or the processor 930 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a comparing unit (e.g., comparing circuitry, a comparer, a comparator, a fourth processor, and / or the memory 932). Moreover, in some embodiments, the WD 302 (or controlling circuitry thereof) and / or the processor 930 is configured to cause grouping 432 of the antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715 into one or more groups in dependence of the phase (values). To this end, the WD 302 or the processor 930 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a grouping unit (e.g., grouping circuitry, a grouper, a fifth processor, and / or the memory 932). In some embodiments, the WD 302 (or controlling circuitry thereof) and / or the processor 930 is configured to cause inclusion 433 of all antenna units of the group, of the one or more groups, comprising the most antenna units, into the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. To this end, the WD 302 or the processor 930 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a first including unit (e.g., first including circuitry, a first includer, a fifth processor, and / or the memory 932). Furthermore, in some embodiments, the WD 302 (or controlling circuitry thereof) and / or the processor 930 is configured to cause inclusion 434 of all antenna units of the group comprising a predetermined number of antenna units and having the smallest variance (or phase variation) between the antenna units, into the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. To this end, the WD 302 or the processor 930 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a second including unit (e.g., second including circuitry, a second includer, a sixth processor, and / or the memory 932). Moreover, in some embodiments, the WD 302 (or controlling circuitry thereof) and / or the processor 930 is configured to cause inclusion 435 of all antenna units of the group, of the one or more groups, having the smallest difference in received signal strength (RSS) between the antenna unit having the largest RSS and the antenna unit having the smallest RSS, into the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710). To this end, the WD 302 or the processor 930 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a third including unit (e.g., third including circuitry, a third includer, a seventh processor, and / or the memory 932). In some embodiments, the WD 302 (or controlling circuitry thereof) and / or the processor 930 is configured to cause repetition 450 of one or more of the actions / steps of reception 410, determination 420, selection 430, and transmission 440 (and optionally one or more of the actions / steps synchronization 405, determination 425, comparison 431, grouping 432, inclusion 433, inclusion 434, inclusion 435 and repetition 450) every time period (or based on an event as described above in connection with figures 1 and 2). To this end, the WD 302 or the processor 930 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a first repetition unit (e.g., first repetition circuitry or a first repeater). The time period is, in some embodiments, 5ms, 10ms, 20ms, 40ms, or 80ms. In some embodiments, the processors (first, second, ...) mentioned in connection with figure 4 are one and the same processor. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the determining / including units (first, second, ...) mentioned in connection with figure 4 are one and the same determining / including unit. In some embodiments, an NTN unit comprises a TNode 396, 397, 398, 399, a WD 302, 303, ..., 308, a processing unit (for a WD) 930, and / or a processing unit 650, 655, 660 (for a TNode).
[0089] Figure 5 illustrates actions / method steps implemented in a TNode group of one or two or more Tnodes 397, 398, 399 and / or in one or more processors (of the one or two or more Tnodes) 650, 655, 660 according to some embodiments. Each TNode 397, 398, 399 is able to communicate with the WD 302 (described above) and / or with any of the other WDs 303, 308. The one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 (together) comprises a set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715, i.e., a TNode group comprising / consisting of the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 comprises the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715. The TNode group, the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 and / or one or more of the processors 650, 655, 660 thereof is configured to cause configuration 510 of each antenna unit 700, 701, ..., 715 to utilize one or more time-frequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for the antenna unit 700, 701, ..., 715. To this end, the TNode group, the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 and / or one or more of the processors 650, 655, 660 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a first configuring unit (e.g., first configuring circuitry, a first configurer, or an eighth processor). Furthermore, the TNode group, the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 and / or one or more of the processors 650, 655, 660 thereof is configured to cause reception 520 of a feedback signal from the WD 302, wherein the feedback signal is indicative of a subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 of the set of antenna units 700, 701, ..., 715. To this end, the TNode group, the one or two or more TNodes
[0090] 397, 398, 399 and / or one or more of the processors 650, 655, 660 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a second receiving unit (e.g., second receiving circuitry, a second receiver, transceivers 500, 501, ..., 515, and / or antennas 700, 701, ..., 715). Moreover, the TNode group, the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 and / or one or more of the processors 650, 655, 660 thereof is configured to cause determination 530 of the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 from the feedback signal. To this end, the TNode group, the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 and / or one or two or more of the processors 650, 655, 660 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a third determining unit (e.g., third determining circuitry, a third determiner, or a ninth processor). The TNode group, the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 and / or one or more of the processors 650, 655, 660 thereof is configured to cause communication 560 with the WD 302 utilizing the (first) subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 without utilizing the (second) subset of antenna units 701, 703, ..., 715, i.e., utilizing only the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. To this end, the TNode group, the one or two or more TNodes 397,
[0091] 398, 399 and / or one or more of the processors 650, 655, 660 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a first communicating unit (e.g., first communicating circuitry, a first communicator, transceivers 500, ..., 505, 510, and / or antennas 700, 705, 710). In some embodiments, the TNode group, the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 and / or one or more of the processors 650, 655, 660 thereof is configured to cause obtainment 540 of the determined phase for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710 from the feedback signal. To this end, the TNode group, the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 and / or one or more of the processors 650, 655, 660 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) an obtaining unit (e.g., obtaining circuitry, an obtainer, or a tenth processor).
[0092] Furthermore, in some embodiments, the TNode group, the one or two or more TNodes
[0093] 397, 398, 399 and / or one or more of the processors 650, 655, 660 thereof is configured to cause pre-coding 550 of data to communicate to the WD 302 in accordance with the determined phase for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710. To this end, the TNode group, the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 and / or one or more of the processors 650, 655, 660 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a pre-coding unit (e.g., pre-coding circuitry, a pre-coder, and / or an eleventh processor). In some embodiments, the TNode group, the one or two or more TNodes 397,
[0094] 398, 399 and / or one or more of the processors 650, 655, 660 is configured to cause repetition 570 of one or more of the actions / steps of configuration 510, reception 520, determination 530, and communication 560 (and optionally one or more of the actions / steps obtainment 540, and pre-coding 550) every time period (or based on an event as described above in connection with figures 1 and 2). The time period is, in some embodiments, 5ms, 10ms, 20ms, 40ms, or 80ms. To this end, the TNode group, the one or two or more TNodes 397, 398, 399 and / or one or more of the processors 650, 655, 660 may be associated with (e.g., operatively connectable, or connected, to) a second repetition unit (e.g., second repetition circuitry or a second repeater). In some embodiments, the processors (eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh) mentioned in connection with figure 5 are (one and) the same processor.
[0095] According to some embodiments, a computer program product comprising a non- transitory computer readable medium 600, such as a punch card, a compact disc (CD) ROM, a read only memory (ROM), a digital versatile disc (DVD), an embedded drive, a plug-in card, or a universal serial bus (USB) memory, is provided. Figure 6 illustrates an example computer readable medium in the form of a compact disc (CD) ROM 600. The computer readable medium has stored thereon, a computer program comprising program instructions. The computer program is loadable into a data processor (PROC) 620, which may, for example, be comprised in a computer or a computing device 610, any of the WDs 302, 303, ..., 308, or any of the processors 650, 655, 660, 930 described herein in connection with figures 1A-1D. When loaded into the data processor 620, the computer program may be stored in a memory (MEM) 630 associated with or comprised in the data processor 620. According to some embodiments, the computer program may, when loaded into and run by the data processor 620, cause execution of method steps according to, for example, the method illustrated in figure IB or figure 2, which is described herein. Furthermore, in some embodiments, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor of a processing device, cause the processing device to carry out the method illustrated in figure IB or figure 2. Moreover, in some embodiments, there is provided a non- transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured to be executed by one or more processors of a processing device, the one or more programs comprising instructions which, when executed by the processing device, causes the processing device to carry out the method illustrated in figure IB and / or figure 2. In some embodiments (e.g., the embodiments comprising one or more of the steps including 133, including 134, and including 135), the method 100 comprises the step of emptying the subset of antenna units
[0096] 700. ..., 705, 710 before the step of selecting 130 the subset of antenna units 700, ..., 705, 710.
[0097] List of examples:
[0098] Example 1. A method (100) for selecting from a set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) of one or more transceiver nodes, TNodes, (397, 398, 399), the one or more TNodes (397, 398, 399) belonging to a set (395) of TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399), a subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) to utilize for communication between the one or more TNodes (397, 398, 399) and a wireless device, WD, (302), the WD (302) comprising one or more antennas (1700,
[0099] 1701. ..., 1715) and a processor (930), the method (100) comprising: receiving (110), by the processor (930) a set of time-frequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for each antenna unit of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715); determining (120), by the processor (930), a phase for each of the antenna units (700,
[0100] 701, ..., 715) of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) from the received pilot signals and / or patterns; selecting (130), by the processor (930), the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) in dependence of the determined phases; and transmitting (140), by the WD (302), a feedback signal to one or more TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399) of the set (395) of TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399), wherein the feedback signal is indicative of the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
[0101] Example 2. The method of example 1, further comprising: determining (125), by the processor (930), a received signal strength, RSS, for each of the antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) from the received pilot signals and / or patterns; and wherein selecting (130) the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) is performed in dependence of the determined RSSs.
[0102] Example 3. The method of example 2, wherein selecting (130) the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) comprises: grouping (132) the antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) into one or more groups in dependence of the phase, wherein each antenna unit grouped into a group has a phase which differs with a phase threshold value or less from each of the phases of the antenna units of the group and wherein each antenna unit grouped into the group has a received signal strength, RSS, larger than an RSS threshold.
[0103] Example 4. The method of example 3, wherein selecting (130) the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) comprises including (133) all antenna units of the group, of the one or more groups, comprising the most antenna units, into the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
[0104] Example 5. The method of example 3, wherein selecting (130) the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) comprises: including (134) all antenna units of the group comprising a predetermined number of antenna units and having the smallest variance or the smallest maximum phase difference between the antenna units, into the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710). Example 6. The method of example 3, wherein selecting (130) the subset of antenna units (700, 705, 710) comprises: including (135) all antenna units of the group, of the one or more groups, having the smallest difference in received signal strength, RSS, between the antenna unit having the largest RSS and the antenna unit having the smallest RSS, into the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
[0105] Example 7. The method of any one of examples 1-6, further comprising: repeating (150) one or more of the steps of receiving (110), determining (120), selecting (130), and transmitting (140) every time period.
[0106] Example 8. The method of any one of examples 1-7, wherein the feedback signal comprises a set of time-frequency resources, wherein each time-frequency resource of the set is indicative of one or more antenna units of the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
[0107] Example 9. The method of any one of examples 1-7, wherein the feedback signal comprises a signal sequence and wherein the signal sequence is transmitted at one or more time-frequency resources associated with the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
[0108] Example 10. The method of any one of examples 8-9, wherein the feedback signal comprises the determined phase for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
[0109] Example 11. A method (200) of one or more transceiver nodes, TNodes, (397, 398, 399), the one or more TNodes (397, 398, 399) belonging to a set of TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399), for communicating with a wireless device, WD, (302) utilizing only a subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) of an available set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715), wherein the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) is selected by the WD (302) in dependence on a determined phase of each of the antennas of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715), the method (200) comprising: configuring (210) each antenna unit (700, 701, ..., 715) to utilize one or more timefrequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for the antenna unit (700, 701, ..., 715); receiving (220), by one or more TNodes of the set of TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399), a feedback signal from the WD (302), wherein the feedback signal is indicative of the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710); determining (230) the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) from the feedback signal; and communicating (260) with the WD (302) utilizing only the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
[0110] Example 12. The method of example 11, wherein the feedback signal comprises the determined phase for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710), and wherein the method (200) further comprises: obtaining (240) the determined phase for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) from the feedback signal; and pre-coding (250) data to communicate to the WD (302) in accordance with the determined phase for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
[0111] Example 13. A computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor of a processing device, cause the processing device to carry out the method according to any one of examples 1 to 12.
[0112] Example 14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured to be executed by one or more processors of a processing device, the one or more programs comprising instructions which, when executed by the processing device, causes the processing device to carry out the method according to any one of examples 1-12.
[0113] Example 15. A wireless device, WD, (302), the WD (302) comprising one or more antennas (1700, 1701, ..., 1715) and a processor (930), configured to cause: reception (410) of a set of time-frequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for each antenna unit of a set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) of one or more transceiver nodes, TNodes, (397, 398, 399), the one or more TNodes (397, 398, 399) belonging to a set (395) of TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399); determination (420) of a phase for each of the antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) from the received pilot signals and / or patterns; selection (430) of a subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) in dependence on the determined phases; and transmission (440) of a feedback signal to the one or more TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399) of the set (395) of TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399), wherein the feedback signal is indicative of the selected subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
[0114] Example 16. One or more transceiver nodes, TNodes, (397, 398, 399), each TNode (397, 398, 399) able to communicate with a wireless device, WD, (302), the one or more TNodes (397, 398, 399) comprising a set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) and configured to cause: configuration (510) of each antenna unit (700, 701, ..., 715) to utilize one or more timefrequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for the antenna unit (700, 701, ..., 715); reception (520) of a feedback signal from the WD (302), wherein the feedback signal is indicative of a subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715); determination (530) of the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) from the feedback signal; and communication (560) with the WD (302) utilizing only the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
[0115] Example 17. A processor (930) comprisable in a wireless device, WD, (302), the processor (930) configured to cause: reception (410) of a set of time-frequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for each antenna unit of a set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) of one or more transceiver nodes, TNodes, (397, 398, 399), the one or more TNodes (397, 398, 399) belonging to a set (395) of TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399); determination (420) of a phase for each of the antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) from the received pilot signals and / or patterns; selection (430) of a subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) in dependence on the determined phases; and transmission (440) of a feedback signal to one or more TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399) of the set (395) of TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399), wherein the feedback signal is indicative of the selected subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
[0116] Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and / or is implied from the context in which it is used. Reference has been made herein to various embodiments. However, a person skilled in the art would recognize numerous variations to the described embodiments that would still fall within the scope of the claims. For example, the method embodiments described herein discloses example methods through steps being performed in a certain order. However, it is recognized that these sequences of events may take place in another order without departing from the scope of the claims. Furthermore, some actions / method steps may be performed in parallel even though they have been described as being performed in sequence. Thus, the steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and / or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. In the same manner, it should be noted that in the description of embodiments, the partition of functional blocks into particular units is by no means intended as limiting. Contrarily, these partitions are merely examples. Functional blocks described herein as one unit may be split into two or more units. Furthermore, functional blocks described herein as being implemented as two or more units may be merged into fewer e.g., a single) unit. Any feature of any of the embodiments / aspects disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment / aspect, wherever suitable. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Hence, it should be understood that the details of the described embodiments are merely examples brought forward for illustrative purposes, and that all variations that fall within the scope of the claims are intended to be embraced therein. List of some acronyms and abbreviations that may appear in the description
[0117] 3GPP - 3rd Generation Partnership Project
[0118] 5G - fifth generation
[0119] 5G - NR (5G - New Radio) is a new RAT developed by 3GPP for the 5G mobile network
[0120] ADC - analog-to-digital converter
[0121] AGC - automatic gain controller
[0122] BB - baseband
[0123] BCH - broadcast channel
[0124] BER - Bit Error Ratio
[0125] BF - beamforming
[0126] BLER - Block Error Ratio
[0127] BPSK - Binary Phase Shift Keying
[0128] BW - bandwidth
[0129] BWP - bandwidth part
[0130] CDMA - Code Division Multiple Access
[0131] CSI - channel state information
[0132] CSI-RS - channel state information reference signal
[0133] CQI - Channel Quality Indicator
[0134] CU - control unit
[0135] DAC - digital-to-analog converter
[0136] DCCH - dedicated control channel
[0137] DCI - downlink control information
[0138] DIC - Digital Interface Chip DL-PRS - downlink positioning reference signal
[0139] DM-RS - demodulation reference signal
[0140] DS - down-sampling
[0141] FR1 - Frequency Range 1
[0142] FR1.5 - Frequency Range 1.5
[0143] FR2 - Frequency Range 2
[0144] Fe - Front end
[0145] FWA - Fixed Wireless Access
[0146] GNSS - Global navigation satellite system
[0147] GPS - Global Positioning System
[0148] IF - intermediate frequency
[0149] I MSI - International Mobile Subscriber Identity
[0150] I / O - input / output
[0151] LI - Layer 1
[0152] LNA - Low Noise Amplifier
[0153] LO - Local Oscillator
[0154] LoS - Line of Sight
[0155] LTE - Long-Term Evolution
[0156] MAC - Medium Access Control
[0157] MATARA - multi-antenna transmitter and receiver arrangement
[0158] MIMO - multiple input, multiple output mmW - millimetre wave MSIN - Mobile subscriber identification number
[0159] NAS - Non-access Stratum nLoS - non-Line of Sight
[0160] OFDM - orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing
[0161] PA - power amplifier
[0162] PBCH - Physical Broadcast Channel
[0163] PCB - printed circuit board
[0164] PCell - primary cell
[0165] PDCCH - physical downlink control channel
[0166] PDP - Power delay profile
[0167] PDSCH - physical downlink shared channel
[0168] PHY - Physical Layer
[0169] PLL - phase locked loop
[0170] PRACH - physical random access channel
[0171] PSCell - primary secondary cell
[0172] PSS - primary synchronization signal
[0173] PT-RS - Phase Tracking Reference signal
[0174] PUCCH - physical uplink control channel
[0175] PUSCH - physical uplink shared channel
[0176] QCL - quasi co-located
[0177] QoS - quality of service
[0178] RAT - radio access technology
[0179] RRC - radio resource control RSRP - Reference Signal Received Power
[0180] RSRQ - Reference Signal Received Quality
[0181] RSS - Received Signal Strength
[0182] RSSI - Received Signal Strength Indicator
[0183] SCell - Secondary Cell
[0184] SNR - Signal-to-noise ratio
[0185] SS - Snapshot
[0186] SSB - Synchronization Signal Block
[0187] SRS - sounding reference signal
[0188] SSS - secondary synchronization signal
[0189] STEF - spatio-temporal filter
[0190] STF - spatial transmission filter
[0191] TCI - Transmission Configuration Indicator
[0192] TMSI - Temporary mobile subscriber identification
[0193] TNode - transceiver node
[0194] UE - user equipment
[0195] USIM - UMTS subscriber identity module
[0196] VGA - variable gain amplifier
[0197] WD - wireless device
Claims
CLAIMS1. A method (100) for selecting from a set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) comprised by two or more transceiver nodes, TNodes, (397, 398, 399), the two or more TNodes (397, 398, 399) belonging to a set (395) of TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399), a subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) to utilize for communication between the two or more TNodes (397, 398, 399) and a wireless device, WD, (302), the WD (302) comprising one or more antennas (1700, 1701, ..., 1715) and a processor (930), the method (100) comprising: receiving (110), by the processor (930), a set of time-frequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for each antenna unit of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715); determining (120), by the processor (930), a phase for each of the antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) from the received pilot signals and / or patterns; selecting (130), by the processor (930), the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) in dependence of the determined phases; and transmitting (140), by the WD (302), a feedback signal to one or more TNodes (397, 398, 399) of the set (395) of TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399), wherein the feedback signal is indicative of the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining (125), by the processor (930), a received signal strength, RSS, for each of the antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) from the received pilot signals and / or patterns; and wherein selecting (130) the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) is performed in dependence of the determined RSSs.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein selecting (130) the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) comprises: grouping (132) the antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) into one or more groups in dependence of the phase, wherein each antenna unit grouped into a group has a phase which differs with a phase threshold value or less from each of the phases of the antenna units of the group and wherein each antenna unit grouped into the group has a received signal strength, RSS, larger than an RSS threshold.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein selecting (130) the subset of antenna units (700, 705, 710) comprises including (133) all antenna units of the group, of the one or more groups, comprising the most antenna units, into the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
5. The method of claim 3, wherein selecting (130) the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) comprises: including (134) all antenna units of the group comprising a predetermined number of antenna units and having the smallest variance or the smallest maximum phase difference between the antenna units, into the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
6. The method of claim 3, wherein selecting (130) the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) comprises: including (135) all antenna units of the group, of the one or more groups, having the smallest difference in received signal strength, RSS, between the antenna unit having the largest RSS and the antenna unit having the smallest RSS, into the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
7. The method of any one of claims 1-6, further comprising: repeating (150) one or more of the steps of receiving (110), determining (120), selecting (130), and transmitting (140) every time period.
8. The method of any one of claims 1-7, wherein the feedback signal comprises a set of time-frequency resources, wherein each time-frequency resource of the set is indicative of one or more antenna units of the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
9. The method of any one of claims 1-7, wherein the feedback signal comprises a signal sequence and wherein the signal sequence is transmitted at one or more time-frequency resources associated with the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
10. The method of any one of claims 8-9, wherein the feedback signal comprises the determined phase for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
11. A method (200) of a set of transceiver nodes, TNodes, (396, 397, 398, 399) comprising two or more TNodes, (397, 398, 399), for communicating with a wireless device, WD, (302) utilizing only a subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) of an available set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) of the two or more TNodes (397, 398, 399), wherein the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) is selected by the WD (302) in dependence on a determined phase of each of the antennas of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715), the method (200) comprising:configuring (210) each antenna unit (700, 701, ..., 715) to utilize one or more timefrequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for the antenna unit (700, 701,..., 715); receiving (220), by one or more TNodes of the set of TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399), a feedback signal from the WD (302), wherein the feedback signal is indicative of the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710); determining (230) the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) from the feedback signal; and communicating (260) with the WD (302) utilizing only the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
12. The method of claim 11, wherein the feedback signal comprises the determined phase for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710), and wherein the method (200) further comprises: obtaining (240) the determined phase for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) from the feedback signal; and pre-coding (250) data to communicate to the WD (302) in accordance with the determined phase for each antenna unit of the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
13. A computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor of a processing device, cause the processing device to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 12.
14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured to be executed by one or more processors of a processing device, the one or more programs comprising instructions which, when executed by the processing device, causes the processing device to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1-12.
15. A wireless device, WD, (302), the WD (302) comprising one or more antennas (1700, 1701, ..., 1715) and a processor (930), configured to cause: reception (410) of a set of time-frequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for each antenna unit of a set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) of two or more transceiver nodes, TNodes, (397, 398, 399), the two or more TNodes (397, 398, 399) belonging to a set (395) of TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399); determination (420) of a phase for each of the antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) from the received pilot signals and / or patterns;selection (430) of a subset of antenna units (700, 705, 710) of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) in dependence on the determined phases; and transmission (440) of a feedback signal to one or more of the TNodes (397, 398, 399) of the set (395) of TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399), wherein the feedback signal is indicative of the selected subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
16. A group of transceiver nodes, TNodes, comprising two or more TNodes (397, 398, 399), wherein each TNode (397, 398, 399) is able to communicate with a wireless device, WD, (302), wherein the group of TNodes (397, 398, 399) comprises a set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715), wherein the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) is distributed between the two or more TNodes (397, 398, 399) and wherein each TNode (397, 398, 399) is configured to cause: configuration (510) of each antenna unit (700, 701, ..., 715) comprised by the TNode (397, 398, 399) to utilize one or more time-frequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for the antenna unit (700, 701, ..., 715); reception (520) of a feedback signal directly from the WD (302) or from the WD (302) via another TNode (397, 398, 399), wherein the feedback signal is indicative of a subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715); determination (530) of the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) comprised by the TNode (397, 398, 399) from the feedback signal; and communication (560) with the WD (302) utilizing only the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) comprised by the TNode (397, 398, 399).
17. A processor (930) comprisable in a wireless device, WD, (302), the processor (930) configured to cause: reception (410) of a set of time-frequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for each antenna unit of a set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715), the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) being distributed between two or more transceiver nodes, TNodes, (397, 398, 399), the two or more TNodes (397, 398, 399) belonging to a set (395) of TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399); determination (420) of a phase for each of the antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) from the received pilot signals and / or patterns; selection (430) of a subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) in dependence on the determined phases; andtransmission (440) of a feedback signal to one or more of the TNodes (397, 398, 399) of the set (395) of TNodes (396, 397, 398, 399), wherein the feedback signal is indicative of the selected subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710).
18. A system (999) comprising: a wireless device, WD, (302), the WD (302) comprising one or more antennas (1700, 1701, ..., 1715) and a processor (930), and a group of transceiver nodes, TNodes, comprising two or more transceiver nodes, TNodes, (397, 398, 399), each TNode (397, 398, 399) able to communicate with the WD (302), the set (395) of TNodes comprising a set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715), wherein each of the two or more TNodes, (397, 398, 399) is configured to cause: configuration (510) of each antenna unit (700, 701, ..., 715) comprised by the TNode (397, 398, 399) to utilize one or more time-frequency resources comprising a pilot signal and / or a pattern for the antenna unit (700, 701, ..., 715); wherein the WD (302) is configured to cause: reception (410) of the set of time-frequency resources comprising the pilot signal and / or the pattern for each antenna unit of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) of the two or more TNodes, (397, 398, 399); determination (420) of a phase for each of the antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) from the received pilot signals and / or patterns; selection (430) of a subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) of the set of antenna units (700, 701, ..., 715) in dependence on the determined phases; and transmission (440) of a feedback signal to one or more TNodes (397, 398, 399) of the set (395) of TNodes (397, 398, 399), wherein the feedback signal is indicative of the selected subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710); and wherein each of the two or more TNodes, (397, 398, 399) is configured to cause: reception (520) of the feedback signal directly from the WD (302) or from the WD (302) via another TNode (397, 398, 399); determination (530) of the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) comprised by the TNode (397, 398, 399) from the feedback signal; and communication (560) with the WD (302) utilizing only the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) comprised by the TNode (397, 398, 399).
19. The system of claim 18, wherein the subset of antenna units (700, ..., 705, 710) is a proper subset.
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