Electronic device and control method therefor

Abstract

Disclosed is an electronic device. The electronic device comprises: an antenna module including at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one common antenna, and for transmitting and receiving data by using the antennas; a memory for storing antenna combination information for performing a multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) operation or a multi-link operation; and at least one processor for controlling the antenna module to communicate with an external device on the basis of one combination of the antenna combination information. The at least one processor may: on the basis of a reception state of each of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one common antenna, identify whether the antenna fails; when an antenna in a failure state is identified, identify, on the basis of the antenna combination information, an available antenna combination excluding an antenna combination including the antenna in the failure state; and control the antenna module to communicate with an external device on the basis of the available antenna combination.

Description

Electronic device and method of controlling the same

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an electronic device and a method for controlling the same, and more particularly, to an electronic device that communicates with an external device through a plurality of antennas and a method for controlling the same.

[0002] With the recent advancement of wireless communication technologies such as Wi-Fi, the number of cases where data is transmitted through wireless communication between multiple electronic devices is increasing.

[0003] Recent electronic devices are increasing data transmission rates through data transmission technologies based on multiple input / multiple output (MIMO) operation and multi-link operation modes. To perform multiple input / multiple output or multi-link operation, an electronic device must include multiple antennas.

[0004] An electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure comprises an antenna module configured to transmit and receive data using the antennas, including at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one common antenna, a memory configured to store antenna combination information for performing a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) operation or a multi-link operation, and at least one processor configured to control the antenna module to perform communication with an external device using an antenna combination based on the antenna combination information, wherein the at least one processor identifies whether an antenna is faulty based on a reception state of each of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one common antenna, and when a faulty antenna is identified, identifies an available antenna combination excluding an antenna combination including the faulty antenna based on the antenna combination information, and controls the antenna module to communicate with the external device based on the available antenna combination, wherein the at least one first antenna and the at least one second antenna are configured to operate in a first frequency band and a second frequency band, respectively, and the at least one common antenna is configured to selectively operate in the first frequency band and the second frequency band. Can be configured.

[0005] The antenna combination information includes first priority information generated based on a performance difference between antennas in the first frequency band and second priority information generated based on a performance difference between antennas in the second frequency band, and the at least one processor can identify the available antenna combination based on the first priority information and the second priority information when the antenna in the faulty state is identified.

[0006] The at least one processor, when the antenna in the fault state is identified as an antenna used for communication with the external device in the first frequency band, can identify the available antenna combination by checking the availability of antennas in order from the highest-ranking antenna to the lowest-ranking antenna based on the first priority information, and when the antenna in the fault state is identified as an antenna used for communication with the external device in the second frequency band, can identify the available antenna combination by checking the availability of antennas in order from the highest-ranking antenna to the lowest-ranking antenna based on the second priority information.

[0007] The antenna combination information includes first multi-input / output ranking information and second multi-input / output ranking information, and the at least one processor, when the antenna in the fault state is identified as an antenna used for a multi-input / output operation in the first frequency band, identifies an antenna combination for a multi-input / output operation in the first frequency band based on the first multi-input / output ranking information, and when the antenna in the fault state is identified as an antenna used for a multi-input / output operation in the second frequency band, identifies an antenna combination for a multi-input / output operation in the second frequency band based on the second multi-input / output ranking information, and the first multi-input / output ranking information may be ranking information generated based on a performance difference between a plurality of antenna combinations for a multi-input / output operation in the first frequency band, and the second multi-input / output ranking information may be ranking information generated based on a performance difference between a plurality of antenna combinations for a multi-input / output operation in the second frequency band.

[0008] The antenna combination information includes multi-link ranking information generated based on a performance difference between a plurality of antenna combinations forming a first communication link with the external device in the first frequency band and a second communication link with the external device in the second frequency band, and the at least one processor, when the antenna in the faulty state is identified as an antenna used to form the first communication link or the second communication link, determines whether an antenna combination of the multi-link is possible in order from the highest-ranking antenna combination to the lowest-ranking antenna combination based on the multi-link ranking information, thereby identifying an available antenna combination.

[0009] The antenna module includes at least one third antenna operating in a third frequency band, and the at least one processor can identify whether an antenna is faulty based on a reception status of each of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, the at least one third antenna, and the at least one common antenna.

[0010] The available antenna combinations include a first combination for performing a multiple input / output operation in the first frequency band, a second combination for performing a multiple input / output operation in the second frequency band, and a third combination for performing the multi-link operation, and the at least one processor can identify one of the first combination, the second combination, and the third combination based on interference information of a communication environment and required bandwidth information for transmitting and receiving data with the external device, and control the antenna module to communicate with the external device based on the identified one combination.

[0011] The at least one processor can identify an antenna that maintains a reception signal strength value in a preset range for a preset period of time among the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one common antenna, and identify the identified antenna as the antenna in the faulty state.

[0012] The at least one processor may compare the reception signal strength values ​​of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one common antenna with each other, and identify a difference between the reception signal strength values ​​of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one third antenna included in the electronic device for each antenna, and the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one third antenna, and identify an antenna in which a representative value of the difference is negative and the representative value is less than a preset value as the antenna in the faulty state.

[0013] The electronic device further includes a sensor, and the at least one processor can identify whether an antenna is faulty based on a reception status of each of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one public antenna when it is determined that an external force greater than a threshold value is applied to the electronic device based on a sensing value of the sensor.

[0014] A method for controlling an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure may include the steps of communicating with an external device through a multi-input / output operation or a multi-link operation using an antenna module including at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one common antenna, identifying whether an antenna is faulty based on a reception state of each of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one common antenna, identifying an available antenna combination excluding an antenna combination including the faulty antenna based on antenna combination information when a faulty antenna is identified, and communicating with the external device based on the available antenna combination, wherein the at least one first antenna and the at least one second antenna operate in a first frequency band and a second frequency band, respectively, and the at least one common antenna may selectively operate in the first frequency band and the second frequency band.

[0015] The antenna combination information may include first priority information generated based on a performance difference between antennas in the first frequency band and second priority information generated based on a performance difference between antennas in the second frequency band, and the step of identifying the available antenna combination may include a step of identifying the available antenna combination based on the first priority information and the second priority information when the antenna in the faulty state is identified.

[0016] The step of identifying the available antenna combination may include: if the antenna in the fault state is identified as an antenna used for communication with the external device in the first frequency band, a step of identifying the available antenna combination by checking the availability of antennas in order from the highest-ranking antenna to the lowest-ranking antenna based on the first priority information; and if the antenna in the fault state is identified as an antenna used for communication with the external device in the second frequency band, a step of identifying the available antenna combination by checking the availability of antennas in order from the highest-ranking antenna to the lowest-ranking antenna based on the second priority information.

[0017] The antenna combination information includes first multi-input / output ranking information and second multi-input / output ranking information, and the first multi-input / output ranking information is ranking information generated based on a performance difference between a plurality of antenna combinations for a multi-input / output operation in the first frequency band, and the second multi-input / output ranking information is ranking information generated based on a performance difference between a plurality of antenna combinations for a multi-input / output operation in the second frequency band, and the step of identifying an available antenna combination may include, when the antenna in the fault state is identified as an antenna used for a multi-input / output operation in the first frequency band, identifying an antenna combination for a multi-input / output operation in the first frequency band based on the first multi-input / output ranking information, and when the antenna in the fault state is identified as an antenna used for a multi-input / output operation in the second frequency band, identifying an antenna combination for a multi-input / output operation in the second frequency band based on the second multi-input / output ranking information.

[0018] The antenna combination information includes multi-link ranking information generated based on a performance difference between a plurality of antenna combinations forming a first communication link with the external device in the first frequency band and a second communication link with the external device in the second frequency band, and the step of identifying an available antenna combination may include a step of identifying one antenna combination by checking whether an antenna combination of the multi-link is possible in order from a highest-ranking antenna combination to a lowest-ranking antenna combination based on the multi-link ranking information, when the antenna in the faulty state is identified as an antenna used to form the first communication link or the second communication link.

[0019] The available antenna combinations include a first combination for performing a multi-input / output operation in the first frequency band, a second combination for performing a multi-input / output operation in the second frequency band, and a third combination for performing a multi-link operation, and the step of communicating with the external device based on the available antenna combinations may include a step of identifying one of the first combination, the second combination, and the third combination based on interference information of a communication environment and required bandwidth information for transmitting and receiving data with the external device, and a step of communicating with the external device based on the identified one combination.

[0020] The step of identifying whether the antenna is faulty may include the step of identifying an antenna that maintains a reception signal strength value in a preset range for a preset time among the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one common antenna, and the step of identifying the identified antenna as the antenna in the faulty state.

[0021] The step of identifying whether the antenna is faulty may include the step of comparing the reception signal strength values ​​of each of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one common antenna with each other, and identifying the difference between the reception signal strength values ​​of each of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one third antenna included in the electronic device for each antenna, and the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one third antenna, and the step of identifying an antenna in which a representative value of the difference is negative and the representative value is less than a preset value as the faulty antenna.

[0022] The step of identifying whether the antenna is faulty may include a step of identifying whether the antenna is faulty based on the reception status of each of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one public antenna, when it is identified that an external force greater than a threshold value has been applied to the electronic device based on a sensing value of the sensor.

[0023] A computer-readable recording medium including a program for executing an operation of an electronic device according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein the operation of the electronic device includes the steps of: communicating with an external device through a multi-input / output operation or a multi-link operation using an antenna module including at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one common antenna; identifying whether an antenna is faulty based on a reception state of each of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one common antenna; identifying an available antenna combination excluding an antenna combination including the faulty antenna based on antenna combination information when a faulty antenna is identified; and communicating with the external device based on the available antenna combination, wherein the at least one first antenna and the at least one second antenna operate in a first frequency band and a second frequency band, respectively, and the at least one common antenna can selectively operate in the first frequency band and the second frequency band.

[0024] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the operation of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0026] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a multi-input / output operation of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0027] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a multi-link operation of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a method for identifying whether an antenna of an electronic device is faulty according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0029] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a method for identifying an available antenna combination of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0030] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a method for identifying an available antenna combination of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0031] FIG. 8 is a drawing for explaining a method for identifying an available antenna combination of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0032] FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a method for controlling an antenna module of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0033] FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of communicating with an external device of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0034] FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for identifying whether an antenna of an electronic device is faulty according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0035] The present embodiments may be modified and have various embodiments. Specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the scope to specific embodiments, but should be understood to encompass various modifications, equivalents, and / or alternatives of the embodiments of the present disclosure. In connection with the description of the drawings, similar reference numerals may be used for similar components.

[0036] In describing the present disclosure, if it is determined that a specific description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present disclosure, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0037] Additionally, the following embodiments may be modified in various other forms, and the scope of the technical concepts of the present disclosure is not limited to the following embodiments. Rather, these embodiments are provided to further faithfully and completely convey the technical concepts of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art.

[0038] The terminology used in this disclosure is for the purpose of describing specific embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the rights. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0039] In this disclosure, expressions such as “has,” “can have,” “includes,” or “may include” indicate the presence of a corresponding feature (e.g., a component such as a number, function, operation, or part), and do not exclude the presence of additional features.

[0040] In this disclosure, expressions such as “A or B,” “at least one of A and / or B,” or “one or more of A or / and B” can include all possible combinations of the listed items. For example, “A or B,” “at least one of A and B,” or “at least one of A or B” can all refer to (1) including at least one A, (2) including at least one B, or (3) including both at least one A and at least one B.

[0041] The expressions “first,” “second,” “first,” or “second,” etc., used in this disclosure can describe various components, regardless of order and / or importance, and are only used to distinguish one component from another, but do not limit the components.

[0042] When it is said that a component (e.g., a first component) is “(operatively or communicatively) coupled with / to” or “connected to” another component (e.g., a second component), it should be understood that said component may be directly coupled to said other component, or may be coupled via another component (e.g., a third component).

[0043] On the other hand, when it is said that a component (e.g., a first component) is "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another component (e.g., a second component), it can be understood that no other component (e.g., a third component) exists between said component and said other component.

[0044] The expression "configured to" as used in the present disclosure may be used interchangeably with, for example, "suitable for," "having the capacity to," "designed to," "adapted to," "made to," or "capable of." The term "configured to" may not necessarily mean only "specifically designed to" in terms of hardware.

[0045] Instead, in some contexts, the phrase "a device configured to" may mean that the device, in conjunction with other devices or components, is "capable of" performing A, B, and C. For example, the phrase "a processor configured (or set) to perform A, B, and C" may refer to a dedicated processor (e.g., an embedded processor) for performing those operations, or a general-purpose processor (e.g., a CPU or application processor) that can perform those operations by executing one or more software programs stored in a memory device.

[0046] In the embodiments, a 'module' or 'part' performs at least one function or operation, and may be implemented as hardware or software, or as a combination of hardware and software. Furthermore, a plurality of 'modules' or 'parts' may be integrated into at least one module and implemented as at least one processor, except for a 'module' or 'part' that needs to be implemented as a specific hardware.

[0047] Meanwhile, the various elements and areas in the drawings are schematically drawn. Therefore, the technical concept of the present invention is not limited by the relative sizes or spacing depicted in the attached drawings.

[0048] Hereinafter, with reference to the attached drawings, embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described in detail so that a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present disclosure pertains can easily carry out the present disclosure.

[0049] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the operation of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0050] According to FIG. 1, an electronic device (100) can form a wireless communication network with an external device (200).

[0051] According to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the electronic device (100) is implemented as a set-top box that transmits image data to an external device (200), and the external device (200) is implemented as a TV that receives content from the electronic device (100).

[0052] The electronic device (100) is configured to transmit data to and receive data from an external device (200) based on a wireless communication network. For example, the electronic device (100) may transmit image data corresponding to an image that the external device (200) wishes to display via a wireless communication network.

[0053] For example, if the wireless communication network between the electronic device (100) and the external device (200) is a Wi-Fi network, the electronic device (100) can transmit and receive data based on the antenna module included in the electronic device. If the volume of data to be transmitted by the electronic device (100) to the external device (200) is large, the data transmission rate required for the Wi-Fi network may be very high (for example, a data transmission rate of 300 Mbps). In this case, the electronic device (100) may form a Wi-Fi network with the external device (200) not by using only a single antenna, but by combining multiple antennas included in the antenna module. At this time, if there is an antenna that is in a faulty state among the multiple antennas included in the antenna module, the electronic device (100) cannot secure the data transmission rate required for data transmission by using an antenna combination that includes the faulty antenna.

[0054] An electronic device (100) is configured to identify a faulty antenna among a plurality of antennas included in an antenna module, and to form a wireless communication network with an external device (200) based on a combination of available antennas excluding the faulty antenna. Accordingly, the electronic device (100) can identify an optimal antenna combination for forming a wireless communication network with the external device (200) even if a faulty antenna exists among the plurality of antennas, thereby achieving the effect of maintaining stable wireless communication with the external device (200).

[0055] In the present disclosure, the term "antenna failure state" may refer to a state in which the antenna cannot reliably transmit and receive data. For example, the term "antenna failure state" may include a case in which the electronic device (100) is dropped from a high place, resulting in physical damage to the antenna built into the electronic device (100), or a case in which the wireless communication circuit connecting the processor built into the electronic device and the antenna is short-circuited, resulting in the antenna not being able to reliably transmit and receive data.

[0056] Additionally, the term "antenna failure" may be replaced with various expressions representing the same or similar concepts. For example, it may be replaced with various expressions such as "antenna malfunction," "antenna damage," "antenna transmission / reception signal failure," "antenna failure," "antenna problem," and "antenna problem state." However, in the present disclosure, the term "antenna failure" will be used interchangeably.

[0057] In the present disclosure, the term "available antenna combination" may refer to an antenna combination capable of forming a wireless communication network with an external device based on antennas excluding a malfunctioning antenna among a plurality of antennas. For example, if one of four antennas included in an antenna module is malfunctioning, the "available antenna combination" may include a plurality of antenna combinations capable of forming a wireless communication network with an external device based on the remaining antennas excluding the malfunctioning one antenna.

[0058] Additionally, the term "available antenna combination" may be replaced with various expressions representing the same or similar concepts. For example, it may be replaced with various expressions such as "remaining antenna combination," "communication-capable antenna combination," "network-capable antenna combination," and "available antenna configuration." However, in the present disclosure, the term "available antenna combination" will be used interchangeably.

[0059] Although the above description only describes the case where the wireless communication network between the electronic device (100) and the external device (200) is a Wi-Fi network, this is only one example, and the wireless communication network between the electronic device (100) and the external device (200) can be implemented as a wireless communication network based on various wireless communication standards such as zigbee, 3G (3rd Generation), 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-A (LTE Advanced), 4G (4th Generation), 5G (5th Generation), etc.

[0060] In FIG. 1, the electronic device (100) is illustrated as a set-top box, but this is only one example, and the electronic device (100) can be implemented as various devices capable of performing wireless communication with an external device (200) using an antenna module, such as an AP (Access Point), a smartphone, a TV, a laptop PC, a desktop PC, a tablet PC, a robot vacuum cleaner, a washing machine, a refrigerator, etc.

[0061] For example, if the electronic device (100) is an AP, the electronic device (100) can be connected to the Internet. The electronic device (100) can form a wireless communication network with an external device (200) using an antenna module included in the electronic device (100) while connected to the Internet, thereby providing the external device (200) with an environment in which data communication with the Internet can be performed.

[0062] As described above, the electronic device (100) can form a wireless communication network with an external device (200) based on a combination of multiple antennas. In the description of FIG. 2, a method for forming a wireless communication network of the electronic device (100) is described along with a description of the configuration of the electronic device (100).

[0063] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0064] According to FIG. 2, the electronic device (100) may include an antenna module (110), a memory (120), and at least one processor (130).

[0065] The antenna module (110) is configured to transmit and receive wireless signals through a wireless communication network. That is, the antenna module (110) may include a plurality of antennas and communication circuits.

[0066] The antenna module (110) includes three types of antennas. The antenna module (110) includes at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one common antenna. The first antenna is an antenna for operating in a first frequency band, the second antenna is an antenna for operating in a second frequency band, and the common antenna may be an antenna that selectively operates in the first frequency band and the second frequency band. That is, the common antenna may be used to transmit and / or receive signals in the first frequency band, or may be used to transmit and / or receive signals in the second frequency band.

[0067] According to one or more embodiments, the first frequency band may be a 5 GHz frequency band, and the second frequency band may be a 6 GHz frequency band. In this case, the first antenna is an antenna used for wireless communication in the 5 GHz frequency band, the second antenna is an antenna used for wireless communication in the 6 GHz frequency band, and the common antenna is an antenna for selectively performing wireless communication in the 5 GHz frequency band and the 6 GHz frequency band.

[0068] According to one or more embodiments, the first antenna, the second antenna, and the common antenna may include a radiator formed of a conductor or conductive pattern formed on a substrate (e.g., a PCB).

[0069] According to one or more embodiments, the antenna module (110) may include four types of antennas. In this case, the antenna module (110) may include at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, at least one third antenna, and at least one common antenna. The third antenna may be an antenna for operating in a third frequency band. In this case, the third frequency band may be a 2.4 GHz frequency band. In this case, the common antenna may be an antenna that selectively operates in the first frequency band and the second frequency band, or an antenna that selectively operates in the first frequency band and the third frequency band.

[0070] The antenna module (110) may include a communication circuit including a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), a switch, a filter, etc.

[0071] According to one or more embodiments, the RFIC may receive a signal generated by at least one processor (130) and convert it into a wireless signal of a first frequency band, a second frequency band, and / or a third frequency band. The wireless signal whose frequency has been converted by the RFIC may be transmitted toward the first antenna, the second antenna, the third antenna, and / or the common antenna.

[0072] According to one or more embodiments, a wireless signal transmitted from the RFIC to the antenna may travel along a path of a communication circuit. The path of the communication circuit may be changed by a switch. The switch of the communication circuit may be implemented as a single-pole, double-transition (SPDT) switch, a double-pole, double-transition (DPDT) switch, or the like.

[0073] According to one or more embodiments, a communication circuit may use a filter to separate a wireless signal traveling along a path into signals of multiple frequency bands. For example, a filter connected to a first antenna may pass only signals of the first frequency band, thereby transmitting only signals of the first frequency band to the first antenna. The filter of the communication circuit may be implemented as a duplexer, a diplexer, or the like.

[0074] According to one or more embodiments, the communication circuit may further include a plurality of power amplifier modules. The plurality of power amplifier modules may be configured to amplify the strength of wireless signals in the first frequency band, the second frequency band, and the third frequency band, respectively.

[0075] The specific operation of the multiple antennas and communication circuits included in the antenna module (110) will be described in detail in the description section for FIG. 9.

[0076] Although the above description only describes antennas for wireless communication in the first frequency band, the second frequency band, and the third frequency band, it is to be understood that the antenna module (110) may include multiple antennas for performing wireless communication in four or more frequency bands.

[0077] The memory (120) can store data necessary for implementing various embodiments of the electronic device (100) according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. The memory (120) can store antenna combination information for performing multiple input / output operations or multiple link operations.

[0078] The memory (120) may be implemented in the form of memory embedded in the electronic device (100) or in the form of memory that can be attached or detached from the electronic device (100), depending on the purpose of data storage. For example, data for driving the electronic device (100) may be stored in a memory embedded in the electronic device (100), and data for expanding the functions of the electronic device (100) may be stored in a memory that can be attached or detached from the electronic device (100).

[0079] Meanwhile, in the case of memory embedded in the electronic device (100), it may be implemented as at least one of volatile memory (e.g., dynamic RAM (DRAM), static RAM (SRAM), or synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM)), non-volatile memory (e.g., one time programmable ROM (OTPROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable and programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable and programmable ROM (EEPROM), mask ROM, flash ROM, flash memory (e.g., NAND flash or NOR flash), hard drive, or solid state drive (SSD)).

[0080] In addition, in the case of a memory that can be attached or detached to an electronic device (100), it can be implemented in the form of a memory card (e.g., CF (compact flash), SD (secure digital), Micro-SD (micro secure digital), Mini-SD (mini secure digital), xD (extreme digital), MMC (multi-media card), etc.), an external memory that can be connected to a USB port (e.g., USB memory), etc.

[0081] The memory (120) includes various instructions necessary for the operation of at least one processor (130). Here, the instructions may include instructions for performing communication based on antenna combinations, instructions for performing multiple input / output operations, instructions for performing multiple link operations, instructions for identifying whether an antenna is faulty, instructions for identifying available antenna combinations, etc.

[0082] In the present disclosure, “antenna combination information” may mean information about an antenna combination for performing a multiple-input multiple-output operation or a multiple-link operation. For example, “antenna combination information” may include information about a combination of two antennas operable in a 5 GHz frequency band for performing a 5 GHz 2 x 2 multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) operation, and information about a combination of one antenna operating in a 5 GHz frequency band and one antenna operating in a 6 GHz frequency band for performing a 5 GHz + 6 GHz multi-link (MLO) operation.

[0083] Specifically, in an embodiment where the antenna module (110) has two antennas that operate only in the 5 GHz frequency band (e.g., antenna A, antenna B), one antenna that operates only in the 6 GHz frequency band (e.g., antenna C), and one common antenna that selectively operates in the 5 GHz frequency band and the 6 GHz frequency band (e.g., antenna D), the “antenna combination information” may appear as in Table 1 below.

[0084] 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5GHz 2x2 MIMO Antenna A + Antenna B Antenna A + Antenna D Antenna B + Antenna D 6GHz 2x2 MIMO Antenna C + Antenna D 5GHz + 6GHz MLO Antenna A + Antenna C Antenna B + Antenna C Antenna A + Antenna Dor Antenna C + Antenna D Antenna B + Antenna D

[0085] According to the above Table 1, the "antenna combination information" stored in the memory (120) includes ranking information of antenna combinations for each of a plurality of operation modes. However, Table 1 is only one example that can be implemented as the "antenna combination information," and the "antenna combination information" can be implemented in various forms. Various embodiments of the electronic device (100) based on the "antenna combination information" will be described in detail in the description of FIGS. 6 to 8. Here, the "antenna combination information" can be replaced with various expressions representing the same / similar concepts. For example, it can be replaced with various terms such as "antenna group information," "antenna combination setting information," "antenna setting information," and "antenna configuration information." In the present disclosure, the term "antenna combination information" is used. In the above description, the antenna combination information is described only by exemplifying antenna combinations for 5GHz 2x2 multiple input / output operation, 6GHz 2x2 multiple input / output operation, and 5GHz + 6GHz multiple link operation, but this is only one example, and depending on the number of antennas included in the electronic device (100), the frequency band in which the antennas can operate, etc., the antenna combination information may further include information on antenna combinations for 2.4GHz 2x2 multiple input / output operation and 2.4GHz + 5GHz + 6GHz multiple link operation.

[0086] Since the antenna combination information including the ranking information as shown in Table 1 is stored in the memory (120), the electronic device (100) can immediately identify a high-ranking antenna combination and perform uninterrupted data transmission to the external device (200) even if a faulty antenna is identified.

[0087] At least one processor (130) controls the overall operation of the electronic device (100). Specifically, at least one processor (130) is connected to the antenna module (110) and the memory (120), and can control the overall operation of the electronic device (100) by executing at least one instruction stored in the memory (120).

[0088] At least one processor (130) may be implemented as a digital signal processor (DSP) that processes digital signals, a microprocessor, but is not limited thereto, and may include one or more of a central processing unit (CPU), a micro controller unit (MCU), a micro processing unit (MPU), a controller, an application processor (AP), a communication processor (CP), an ARM processor, and an artificial intelligence (AI) processor, or may be defined by the relevant terms. In addition, the processor (130) may be implemented as a system on chip (SoC) having a built-in processing algorithm, a large scale integration (LSI), or may be implemented in the form of a field programmable gate array (FPGA). At least one processor (130) may perform various functions by executing computer executable instructions stored in the memory (120).

[0089] When a method according to various embodiments of the present disclosure includes multiple operations, the multiple operations may be performed by one processor or by multiple processors. At least one processor (130) may be implemented as a single core processor including one core, or may be implemented as one or more multicore processors including multiple cores (e.g., homogeneous multicores or heterogeneous multicores). Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, at least one processor (130) will be referred to as a processor (130).

[0090] The processor (130) can control the antenna module (110) to perform communication with an external device (200) using one of the antenna combination information based on the combination of the antenna combination information.

[0091] According to one or more embodiments, the processor (130) may perform wireless communication with an external device (200) by identifying a first-priority antenna combination for 6 GHz 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation among antenna combination information. According to another embodiment, the processor (130) may also perform wireless communication with an external device (200) by identifying a first-priority antenna combination for 5 GHz + 6 GHz multiple input / output operation among antenna combination information.

[0092] The electronic device (100) according to the present disclosure may further include various configurations in addition to the configuration illustrated in FIG. 2. For example, the electronic device (100) may further include a sensor.

[0093] As described above, the processor (130) can perform a multi-input / output operation or a multi-link operation by combining multiple antennas. The multi-input / output operation will be described in detail in the description of FIG. 3, and the multi-link operation will be described in detail in the description of FIG. 4.

[0094] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a multi-input / output operation of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0095] According to FIG. 3, the electronic device (100) can perform a 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation in the second frequency band with an external device (200) using two transmitting antennas (131, 132) capable of operating in the second frequency band.

[0096] Here, “multiple input / output operation (MIMO)” may mean an operation in which an electronic device (100) transmits multiple data to an external device (200) using multiple antennas in one frequency band.

[0097] In order for the electronic device (100) to transmit multiple data to an external device (200) and receive multiple data from the external device (200) through a multiple input / output operation, the external device (200) must also include two antennas (231, 232) that can operate in the same second frequency band.

[0098] The electronic device (100) can transmit multiple data to an external device based on multiple antennas by utilizing spatial multiplexing technology. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the electronic device (100) can transmit first data (301) to a first receiving antenna (231) of an external device (200) based on a first transmitting antenna (131), and can transmit second data (302) to a first receiving antenna (231) of the external device (200) based on a second transmitting antenna (132). At this time, although the first data (301) and the second data (302) are data transmitted in the same frequency band, they do not interfere with each other because they are based on mutually orthogonal signals, and thus the first receiving antenna (231) can independently receive the first data (301) and the second data (302).

[0099] As described above, the electronic device (100) can transmit multiple data to an external device (200) based on a multiple input / output operation using multiple antennas operating in the same second frequency band. Therefore, the electronic device (100) can provide a high data transmission rate through the multiple input / output operation.

[0100] According to the embodiment of FIG. 3, the multi-input / output operation is performed in the second frequency band, and according to another embodiment, the electronic device (100) can perform the multi-input / output operation in various frequency bands, such as the first frequency band, the third frequency band, etc.

[0101] FIG. 3 illustrates only a 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation as an example, and according to another embodiment, the electronic device (100) can perform various types of multiple input / output operations, such as performing a 16 x 16 multiple input / output operation, depending on the number of antennas included in the antenna module (110).

[0102] The electronic device (100) can perform not only multi-input / output operations but also multi-link operations, which will be described in detail in the description of FIG. 4.

[0103] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a multi-link operation of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0104] According to FIG. 4, the electronic device (100) forms a first communication link (401) with an external device (200) based on a first link antenna (141), and forms a second communication link (402) with the external device (200) based on a second link antenna (142).

[0105] Here, "multi-link operation" may refer to an operation of transmitting or receiving data via multiple communication links. The electronic device (100) may form a communication link with an external device (200) for each of multiple frequency bands via the multi-link operation, and may transmit or receive data via the formed communication links.

[0106] In the multi-input / output operation of the electronic device (100), the electronic device (100) can only transmit or receive data simultaneously based on multiple antennas, but cannot transmit data based on only some of the multiple antennas and receive data based on only some of the remaining antennas. On the other hand, in the multi-link operation of the electronic device (100), the electronic device (100) can transmit data based on some of the multiple communication links and receive data based on some of the remaining ones.

[0107] The first link antenna (141) and the first external antenna (241) are antennas for operation in a first frequency band, and the second link antenna (142) and the second external antenna (242) are antennas for operation in a second frequency band. In this case, the first communication link (401) formed based on the first link antenna (141) and the first external antenna (241) is a communication link corresponding to the first frequency band. In addition, the second communication link (402) formed based on the second link antenna (142) and the second external antenna (242) is a communication link corresponding to the second frequency band.

[0108] At this time, a signal of the first frequency band can be transmitted from the first link antenna (141) to the first external antenna (241) via the first communication link (401), and can also be transmitted from the first external antenna (241) to the first link antenna (141).

[0109] Since the first communication link (401) and the second communication link (402) are independent communication links, the electronic device (100) can receive data based on the first communication link (401) while also transmitting data based on the second communication link (402).

[0110] The electronic device (100) can form multiple communication links based on multiple frequency bands with an external device (200), thereby providing a high data transmission rate.

[0111] The multi-input / output operation and multi-link operation described in FIGS. 3 and 4 are possible only when there are available antenna combinations in the electronic device (100). Therefore, it is essential for the electronic device (100) to independently identify whether an antenna is faulty and identify an antenna combination based only on the remaining antennas excluding the faulty antennas for stable data transmission and reception with the external device (200).

[0112] The electronic device (100) can identify whether an antenna is faulty based on the reception signal strength value of each of the plurality of antennas included in the antenna module (110).

[0113] According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the electronic device (100) identifies whether an antenna is faulty based on the reception status of each of at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one public antenna.

[0114] Here, the "reception status of the antenna" may refer to the reception status of the signal being received by the antenna. For example, the "reception status of the antenna" may include information such as the signal strength value (RSSI) of the signal being received by the antenna, the packet loss rate of the data packets received by the antenna, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the signal received by the antenna.

[0115] Additionally, the term "antenna reception status" may be replaced with various expressions representing the same or similar concepts. For example, it may be replaced with various expressions such as "antenna signal reception status," "whether the antenna reception status is good," "whether the antenna reception signal is bad," "whether the antenna reception signal is faulty," "antenna signal status," etc. However, in the present disclosure, the term "antenna reception status" will be used interchangeably.

[0116] FIG. 5 is a drawing illustrating an example of RSSI curves of a first antenna, a second antenna, and a third antenna used to identify whether an antenna of an electronic device is faulty.

[0117] The first RSSI curve (510) illustrated in FIG. 5 may be an RSSI curve of the first antenna included in the antenna module (110), the second RSSI curve (520) may be an RSSI curve of the second antenna, and the third RSSI curve (530) may be an RSSI curve of the common antenna.

[0118] The electronic device (100) can identify an antenna that maintains a received signal strength (RSSI) value in a preset range for a preset period of time among at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one common antenna, and can identify the identified antenna as a faulty antenna.

[0119] Specifically, the preset time is 4 seconds, and the reception signal strength value within the preset range may be -95 dbm or less and -105 dbm or more. In this case, the electronic device (100) may identify an antenna whose reception signal strength value is -95 dbm or less and -105 dbm or more for 4 seconds as a faulty antenna.

[0120] Referring to the multiple RSSI curves (510, 520, 530) illustrated in FIG. 5, the electronic device (100) can identify the common antenna corresponding to the third RSSI curve (530) as a faulty antenna since the third RSSI curve (530) exists within a range of -95 dbm or less and -105 dbm or more for 4 seconds or more.

[0121] According to one or more embodiments, the electronic device (100) may identify an antenna among at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one common antenna, which maintains a signal-to-noise ratio value within a preset range for a preset period of time, and may identify the identified antenna as a faulty antenna. For example, the signal-to-noise ratio value within the preset range may be set to a value that is much smaller than a range of signal-to-noise ratio values ​​of an antenna that is available but not faulty.

[0122] According to one or more embodiments, the electronic device (100) may identify an antenna that maintains a packet loss rate value within a preset range for a preset period of time among at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one public antenna, and may identify the identified antenna as a faulty antenna. For example, the packet loss rate within the preset range may be set to a value that is significantly higher than the range of packet loss rates of antennas that are available and not faulty.

[0123] Here, the preset time and preset range can be set to arbitrary values. For example, the preset time and preset range may be values ​​set by the user or manufacturer based on experimental data.

[0124] According to one or more embodiments, the electronic device (100) may compare the received signal strength values ​​of at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one common antenna, to identify the difference in the received signal strength values ​​for different antennas included in the electronic device (100) for each antenna, and may identify an antenna in a faulty state in which a representative value of the difference in the identified received signal strength values ​​is negative and the representative value is smaller than a preset value.

[0125] For example, if the preset value is -50 dbm, the reception signal strength value of the first antenna is -42 dbm, the reception signal strength value of the second antenna is -47 dbm, and the reception signal strength value of the common antenna is -97 dbm, the difference in the reception signal strength values ​​of each antenna may be expressed as shown in Table 2 below.

[0126] Difference from the first antenna Difference from the second antenna Difference from the common antenna Representative values ​​of the difference First antenna 0+5+55+30 Second antenna -50+50+22.5 Common antenna -55-500-52.5

[0127] Table 2 includes the differences calculated by comparing the received signal strength values ​​of the first antenna, the second antenna, and the common antenna with the received signal strength values ​​of other antennas for the first antenna, the second antenna, and the common antenna, and the representative value of the calculated differences. Here, the representative value can be set as the average value of the differences calculated for each antenna, or can be set as the median value of the differences. According to another embodiment, the representative value may be set based on various statistical values ​​of the difference calculated by comparing the received signal strength values ​​of other antennas for each antenna, such as the most frequent value of the difference. In an embodiment in which the representative value of the difference is calculated as shown in Table 2, the electronic device (100) may identify a common antenna whose representative value is negative and less than the preset value of -50 dbm as a faulty antenna. In addition, the electronic device (100) may perform the method for identifying whether the antenna is faulty as described above at preset time intervals, and may identify an antenna whose representative value is negative and less than the preset value for n consecutive times (where n is a natural number greater than or equal to 2) as a faulty antenna.

[0128] According to another embodiment, the electronic device (100) may compare the signal-to-noise ratios of at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one common antenna with each other, identify the difference in the signal-to-noise ratio for each antenna included in the electronic device (100), and identify an antenna in which a representative value of the difference in ratio is negative and smaller than a preset value as a faulty antenna.

[0129] According to another embodiment, the electronic device (100) may compare packet loss rates of at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one public antenna with each other to identify a difference in packet loss rates for each antenna included in the electronic device (100), and may identify an antenna in which the difference in loss rates is positive and greater than a preset value as a faulty antenna.

[0130] In the described examples, the antenna module (110) is described as including a first antenna, a second antenna, and a common antenna. However, even if the antenna module (110) includes more types and numbers of antennas, such as when the antenna module (110) further includes at least one third antenna, it is possible to identify whether the antenna is faulty based on the same method.

[0131] Although various methods for identifying whether an electronic device (100) is faulty have been described, it is of course possible for the electronic device (100) to identify a faulty antenna by any combination of the multiple methods.

[0132] For example, the electronic device (100) may identify an antenna in a faulty state as an antenna in which a representative value of the difference in the received signal strength values ​​is negative and smaller than the preset value while maintaining the received signal strength value within a preset range for a preset period of time.

[0133] According to one or more embodiments, the electronic device (100) may perform the above-described antenna failure identification operation at preset unit time intervals. For example, if the preset unit time interval is 0.5 seconds, the electronic device (100) may identify the reception status of each of the plurality of antennas at 0.5 second intervals and identify whether there is a failure based on the reception status of each of the plurality of antennas.

[0134] According to another embodiment, when it is determined that an external force greater than a threshold value is applied to the electronic device (100) based on a sensing value of a sensor, the electronic device (100) can identify whether an antenna is faulty based on the reception status of each of at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one public antenna.

[0135] In the above embodiment, the electronic device (100) may further include a sensor. As an example, the sensor may be a gyro sensor. The electronic device (100) may detect a change in the rotational speed of the electronic device (100) based on a sensing value of the gyro sensor, and if it is determined that the amount of change in the rotational speed exceeds a threshold value, it may be determined that an external force greater than the threshold value is applied to the electronic device (100).

[0136] As another example, the sensor may be an acceleration sensor. The electronic device (100) may detect changes in acceleration of the electronic device (100) based on the sensing value of the acceleration sensor, and if the change in acceleration is determined to exceed a threshold value, the electronic device (100) may be determined to have been subjected to an external force exceeding the threshold value.

[0137] As an example, it has been described that the sensor may be a gyro sensor, a pressure sensor, or an acceleration sensor, but in other embodiments, the sensor included in the electronic device (100) may be implemented as various types of sensors capable of detecting an impact applied to the electronic device (100).

[0138] As described above, the electronic device (100) can detect whether the antenna is faulty based on the reception status of the antenna, so according to the electronic device (100) according to the present disclosure, the user does not need to directly check whether the antenna module (110) is faulty.

[0139] The electronic device (100) can detect a faulty antenna by the method described above and identify an available antenna combination based on the remaining antennas excluding the faulty antenna. The method for identifying an available antenna combination will be described in detail in the description of FIGS. 6 to 8 described below.

[0140] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a method for identifying an available antenna combination of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0141] According to FIG. 6, the electronic device (100) can identify an available antenna combination (620) based on antenna combination information (610) including first priority information generated based on performance differences between antennas in a first frequency band (e.g., 5 GHz band) and second priority information generated based on performance differences between antennas in a second frequency band (e.g., 6 GHz band).

[0142] In the present disclosure, "ranking information generated based on performance differences between antennas" may refer to ranking information generated by assigning a high rank to an antenna with relatively good radiation characteristics and a low rank to an antenna with relatively bad radiation characteristics. For example, "ranking information generated based on performance differences between antennas" may include ranking information generated by the electronic device (100) comparing the antenna gains of each of a plurality of antennas, assigning a high rank to an antenna with a relatively large antenna gain, and assigning a low rank to an antenna with a relatively small antenna gain.

[0143] The performance difference of each of the multiple antennas described above can be calculated for each frequency band.

[0144] According to one embodiment disclosed in FIG. 6, the antenna module (110) includes antenna 1, antenna 2, antenna 3, antenna 4, antenna 5, antenna A, antenna B, and antenna C. As an example, the antenna gain of antenna 1 in the 5 GHz band (5.180 GHz to 5.850 GHz) is 20 dB, the antenna gain of antenna 2 in the 5 GHz band is 10 dB, the antenna gain of antenna 3 in the 5 GHz band is 5 dB, the antenna gain of antenna 4 in the 5 GHz band is 3 dB, and the antenna gain of antenna 5 in the 5 GHz band is 2 dB. In this embodiment, antenna 1 having the largest antenna gain in the 5 GHz band is determined as the first priority, antenna 2 having the next largest antenna gain is determined as the second priority, antenna 3 is determined as the third priority, antenna 4 is determined as the fourth priority, and antenna 5 is determined as the fifth priority. That is, the electronic device (100) can generate the first priority information in the first frequency band (5 GHz band) as “1st priority: antenna 1, 2nd priority: antenna 2, 3rd priority: antenna 3, 4th priority: antenna 4, 5th priority: antenna 5.”

[0145] In the same manner, the electronic device (100) may compare the antenna gains of each of the plurality of antennas in the 6 GHz band (5.925 GHz to 7.125 GHz), and determine that antenna A, which has the largest antenna gain in the 6 GHz band, is ranked first, antenna B, which has the next largest antenna gain, is ranked second, antenna C is ranked third, antenna 3 is ranked fourth, and antenna 4 is ranked fifth. In this case, the electronic device (100) may generate second-rank information in the second frequency band (6 GHz band) as "first rank: antenna A, second rank: antenna B, third rank: antenna C, fourth rank: antenna 3, fifth rank: antenna 4."

[0146] According to one or more embodiments, the electronic device (100) may generate first priority information in the first frequency band by comparing antenna gains of each of a plurality of antennas in a first frequency band and assigning a high priority to an antenna having a relatively large antenna gain and a low priority to an antenna having a relatively small antenna gain. The electronic device (100) may also generate second priority information in the second frequency band by comparing antenna gains of each of a plurality of antennas in a second frequency band and assigning a high priority to an antenna having a relatively large antenna gain and a low priority to an antenna having a relatively small antenna gain.

[0147] According to another embodiment, the “ranking information generated based on the performance difference by antenna” may include ranking information generated by the electronic device (100) comparing the S11 value among the S-parameters of each of the plurality of antennas and assigning a high rank to an antenna having a relatively small S11 value and a low rank to an antenna having a relatively large S11 value.

[0148] For example, if the average value of S11 in the 5 GHz band (5.180 GHz to 5.850 GHz) of antenna 1 is -20 dB, the average value of S11 in the 5 GHz band of antenna 2 is -15 dB, the average value of S11 in the 5 GHz band of antenna 3 is -10 dB, the average value of S11 in the 5 GHz band of antenna 4 is -5 dB, and the average value of S11 in the 5 GHz band of antenna 5 is -2 dB, then antenna 1, which has the smallest S11 value in the 5 GHz band, can be determined as the first priority, antenna 2, which has the next smallest S11 value, can be determined as the second priority, antenna 3 can be determined as the third priority, antenna 4 can be determined as the fourth priority, and antenna 5 can be determined as the fifth priority. That is, the electronic device (100) can generate the first priority information in the first frequency band (5 GHz band) as “1st priority: antenna 1, 2nd priority: antenna 2, 3rd priority: antenna 3, 4th priority: antenna 4, 5th priority: antenna 5.”

[0149] According to the same example, the electronic device (100) may compare the average value of S11 in the 6 GHz band (5.925 GHz to 7.125 GHz) of each of the plurality of antennas, and determine that antenna A, which has the smallest S11 value in the 6 GHz band, is ranked first, antenna B, which has the next smallest S11 value, is ranked second, antenna C is ranked third, antenna 3 is ranked fourth, and antenna 4 is ranked fifth. In this embodiment, the electronic device (100) may generate second-rank information in the second frequency band (6 GHz band) as "first rank: antenna A, second rank: antenna B, third rank: antenna C, fourth rank: antenna 3, fifth rank: antenna 4."

[0150] Although the above embodiment only described that the electronic device (100) can generate antenna combination information including ranking information by comparing the S11 values ​​of each of a plurality of antennas, according to another embodiment, the performance difference of the antennas can be identified based on other S-parameters such as S21, S12, and S22, and the ranking information can be generated based on the performance difference of the identified antennas.

[0151] The electronic device (100) may also identify differences in performance of antennas based on the reception status of the antennas. According to one or more embodiments, the electronic device (100) may generate first priority information in the first frequency band by comparing the reception status of each of a plurality of antennas in a first frequency band and assigning a high priority to an antenna with a relatively good reception status and a low priority to an antenna with a relatively poor reception status. The electronic device (100) may also generate second priority information in the second frequency band by comparing the reception status of each of a plurality of antennas in a second frequency band and assigning a high priority to an antenna with a relatively good reception status and a low priority to an antenna with a relatively poor reception status.

[0152] For example, the electronic device (100) can generate ranking information in each frequency band by comparing the reception signal intensity values ​​in each frequency band for each of a plurality of antennas, assigning a high ranking to an antenna with a relatively large reception signal intensity value, and assigning a low ranking to an antenna with a relatively small reception signal intensity value.

[0153] As another example, the electronic device (100) may generate ranking information in each frequency band by comparing packet loss rates in each frequency band for each of a plurality of antennas, assigning a high ranking to an antenna with a relatively small packet loss rate, and assigning a low ranking to an antenna with a relatively large packet loss rate.

[0154] As another example, the electronic device (100) may generate ranking information in each frequency band by comparing the signal-to-noise ratio in each frequency band for each of a plurality of antennas, assigning a high ranking to an antenna having a relatively large signal-to-noise ratio, and assigning a low ranking to an antenna having a relatively small signal-to-noise ratio.

[0155] In the above description, an embodiment in which the electronic device (100) generates rank information of the antenna based on one of the S-parameters of the antenna, the antenna and the reception status of the antenna have been described, but it is of course possible for the electronic device (100) to generate rank information in each frequency band of a plurality of antennas based on any combination of the S-parameters of the antenna, the antenna gain and the reception status of the antenna.

[0156] The electronic device (100) can store antenna combination information (610) including the first priority information and the second priority information generated by the above-described method in the memory (120). When a faulty antenna is identified, the electronic device (100) can identify available antenna combinations (620) excluding antenna combinations including the faulty antenna based on the antenna combination information (610).

[0157] According to one or more embodiments, when a solid-state antenna is identified, the electronic device (100) can identify an available antenna combination (620) based on the first priority information and the second priority information.

[0158] For example, if the electronic device (100) identifies that antenna 1 is in a faulty state, it can identify an available antenna combination (620) based on antennas having relatively high ranks among the antennas excluding antenna 1 based on the first rank information.

[0159] As illustrated in FIG. 6, since two antennas for communication in the 5 GHz band are required for 5 GHz 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation, the electronic device (100) can identify a combination of second-order antenna 2 and third-order antenna 3 as an antenna combination to be used for 5 GHz 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation based on the first-order information.

[0160] Since two antennas for communication in the 6 GHz band are required for 6 GHz 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation, the electronic device (100) can identify a combination of first-order antenna A and second-order antenna B as an antenna combination to be used for 6 GHz 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation based on the second-order information.

[0161] Since 5GHz + 6GHz multi-link operation requires one antenna for communication in the 5GHz band and one antenna for communication in the 6GHz band, the electronic device (100) can identify the combination of antenna 2 and antenna A as the antenna combination to be used for 5GHz + 6GHz multi-link operation based on the first priority information and the second priority information.

[0162] According to one or more embodiments, when the electronic device (100) identifies an antenna in a solid state as an antenna used for communication in a first frequency band with an external device (200), the electronic device (100) can identify an available antenna combination by checking the availability of antennas in order from the highest-ranking antenna to the lowest-ranking antenna based on the first-ranking information.

[0163] For example, there may be a case where an electronic device (100) is performing communication with an external device (200) based on a 5 GHz + 6 GHz multi-link operation, and is using antenna 1 to form a communication link in the 5 GHz band and antenna A to form a communication link in the 6 GHz band. If the electronic device (100) identifies that antenna 1 used for communication in the 5 GHz band is in a faulty state, the electronic device (100) may check the availability of antennas of the first to fifth priorities based on the first priority information. In this embodiment, since antenna 1, which is the first priority antenna, is in a faulty state, the electronic device (100) may identify antenna 2, which is the second priority antenna, as the antenna to be used for communication in the 5 GHz band, and may perform communication with the external device (200) based on a 5 GHz + 6 GHz multi-link operation using a combination of antenna 2 and antenna A.

[0164] According to one or more embodiments, when the electronic device (100) identifies an antenna in a solid state as an antenna used for communication in a second frequency band with an external device (200), the electronic device (100) can identify an available antenna combination by checking the availability of antennas in order from the highest-ranking antenna to the lowest-ranking antenna based on the second-ranking information.

[0165] For example, let's assume a situation where an electronic device (100) is performing communication with an external device (200) based on a 6 GHz 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation and is using antennas A and B for the 6 GHz 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation. If the electronic device (100) identifies that antenna A used for communication in the 6 GHz band is in a fault state, there may be a case where the availability of antennas from the first to fifth priorities can be checked based on second priority information. In this embodiment, since antenna A, which is the first priority antenna, is in a fault state, the electronic device (100) can identify antenna B, which is the second priority antenna, as the antenna to be used for communication in the 6 GHz band, and can perform communication based on a 5 GHz + 6 GHz multi-link operation with the external device (200) using a combination of antennas 1 and antenna B.

[0166] As described above, the electronic device (100) can control the antenna module (110) to immediately identify an available antenna combination and communicate with the external device (200) based on the available antenna combination, even if a faulty antenna is identified, through the first priority information and the second priority information generated based on the performance difference of the antennas for each frequency. Accordingly, the electronic device can maintain stable communication with the external device (200).

[0167] In the description of FIG. 6 described above, antenna 1 and antenna 2 may correspond to a first antenna operating in a first frequency band, antenna A, antenna B and antenna C may correspond to a second antenna operating in a second frequency band, and antenna 3 and antenna 4 may correspond to a common antenna selectively operating in the first frequency band and the second frequency band.

[0168] The electronic device (100) according to the present disclosure can also generate ranking information of antenna combinations for each operation mode, which will be described in detail in the description of FIGS. 7 and 8 below.

[0169] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a method for identifying an available antenna combination of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0170] According to FIG. 7, the electronic device (100) can identify an available antenna combination (730) based on first multiple input / output ranking information (710) generated based on performance differences among multiple antenna combinations for multiple input / output operations (e.g., 5 GHz 2 x 2 MIMO) in a first frequency band and second multiple input / output ranking information (720) generated based on performance differences among multiple antenna combinations for multiple input / output operations (e.g., 6 GHz 2 x 2 MIMO) in a second frequency band.

[0171] Here, “multiple input / output ranking information generated based on performance differences by antenna combination” may mean ranking information generated by the electronic device (100) by giving a high ranking to an antenna combination with relatively good radiation characteristics in a multiple input / output operation mode and giving a low ranking to an antenna combination with relatively bad radiation characteristics in a multiple input / output operation mode.

[0172] According to FIGS. 7 and 8, the antenna module (110) includes antenna 1, antenna 2, antenna 3, antenna 4, and antenna 5.

[0173] According to one or more embodiments, the electronic device (100) may identify an antenna combination for a multiple input / output operation in the first frequency band based on the first multiple input / output rank information (710) when the solid-state antenna is identified as an antenna used for a multiple input / output operation in the first frequency band.

[0174] Specifically, the electronic device (100) can identify the antenna combination with the highest rank among the antenna combinations excluding the combination including the antenna in a faulty state based on the first multiple input / output rank information (710).

[0175] For example, there may be a situation where the electronic device (100) is using a combination of antennas 1 and 2 to perform communication based on 5GHz 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation with an external device (200). In this embodiment, if the electronic device (100) identifies that antenna 1 is in a faulty state, it may identify a third-rank combination (antenna 2 + antenna 3), which is the highest-ranking combination, based on the first multiple input / output ranking information, excluding the antenna combination including antenna 1. The electronic device (100) may perform communication based on 5GHz 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation with the external device (200) based on the third-ranking combination.

[0176] According to another embodiment, the electronic device (100) may identify an antenna combination for a multiple input / output operation in a second frequency band based on second multiple input / output rank information (720) when the solid-state antenna is identified as an antenna used for a multiple input / output operation in a second frequency band.

[0177] Specifically, the electronic device (100) can identify the antenna combination with the highest rank among the antenna combinations excluding the combination including the antenna in a faulty state based on the second multiple input / output rank information (720).

[0178] For example, there may be a situation where the electronic device (100) is using a combination of antennas 4 and 5 to perform communication based on 6 GHz 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation with an external device (200). In this embodiment, if the electronic device (100) identifies that antenna 4 is in a faulty state, it may identify a third-rank combination (antenna 3 + antenna 5), ​​which is the highest-ranking combination, based on the second multiple input / output ranking information, excluding the antenna combination including antenna 4. The electronic device (100) may perform communication based on 6 GHz 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation with the external device (200) based on the third-ranking combination.

[0179] As described above, the electronic device (100) stores information on the order of antenna combinations for each of multiple input / output operation modes, so that even if a faulty antenna is an antenna used for communication based on multiple input / output operation, it can quickly identify an alternative antenna combination and maintain stable communication with an external device.

[0180] The electronic device (100) according to the present disclosure can also generate rank information of antenna combinations for performing a multi-link operation mode, which will be described in detail in the description of FIG. 8 below.

[0181] FIG. 8 is a drawing for explaining a method for identifying an available antenna combination of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0182] According to FIG. 8, the electronic device (100) can identify an available antenna combination (820) based on multi-link ranking information (810) generated based on performance differences between multiple antenna combinations for forming a first communication link in a first frequency band and a second communication link in a second frequency band.

[0183] Here, “multi-link ranking information generated based on performance differences by antenna combination” may mean ranking information generated by the electronic device (100) by giving a high ranking to an antenna combination having relatively good radiation characteristics in a multi-link operation mode and giving a low ranking to an antenna combination having relatively bad radiation characteristics in a multi-link operation mode.

[0184] According to one or more embodiments, the electronic device (100) may identify an antenna combination for forming a multi-link based on multi-link ranking information (810) when the solid-state antenna is identified as an antenna used for forming a first communication link or a second communication link.

[0185] Specifically, the electronic device (100) can identify antenna combinations by checking whether multi-link formation is possible in order from the highest-ranking antenna combination to the lowest-ranking antenna combination based on multi-link ranking information (810).

[0186] For example, there may be a situation where the electronic device (100) is using a combination of antenna 1 and antenna 4 to perform communication based on 5 GHz + 6 GHz multi-link operation with an external device (200). In this embodiment, if the electronic device (100) identifies that antenna 4-1 is in a faulty state, the electronic device (100) may identify a second-rank combination (antenna 2 + antenna 4), which is the highest-rank combination, excluding the antenna combination including antenna 1 based on the multi-link rank information (810). The electronic device (100) may perform communication based on 5 GHz + 6 GHz multi-link operation with the external device (200) based on the second-rank combination.

[0187] As illustrated in FIG. 8, there may be multiple antenna combinations of the same rank. If multiple antenna combinations of the same rank are all available antenna combinations, the electronic device (100) may arbitrarily select one combination and perform multi-link operation-based communication with the external device (200) based on the selected combination.

[0188] As described above, the electronic device (100) stores information on the order of antenna combinations for each multi-link operation mode, so that even if a faulty antenna is an antenna used for communication based on multi-link operation, a replaceable antenna combination can be quickly identified to maintain stable communication with an external device.

[0189] As in the embodiments described in FIGS. 7 and 8, antennas 1 and 2 may correspond to a first antenna operating in a first frequency band (5 GHz band), antennas 4 and 5 may correspond to a second antenna operating in a second frequency band (6 GHz band), and antenna 3 may correspond to a common antenna selectively operating in the first frequency band (5 GHz band) and the second frequency band (6 GHz band).

[0190] As in the embodiments described in FIGS. 6 to 8, the electronic device (100) can perform communication with the external device (200) based only on the 5GHz 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation, the 6GHz 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation, and the 5GHz + 6GHz multiple link operation, and according to another embodiment, the electronic device (100) can perform communication with the external device (200) based on various operation modes such as the 2.4GHz 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation, the 2.4GHz + 5GHz + 6GHz multiple link operation, and the 5GHz 8 x 8 multiple input / output operation depending on the number and performance of antennas included in the antenna module (110), and can also identify available antenna combinations for each of the various operation modes.

[0191] As in the embodiments described in FIGS. 6 to 8, when one antenna in a faulty state is identified, the electronic device (100) can identify an available antenna combination based on antenna combination information, and according to another embodiment, even when two or more antennas in a faulty state are identified, the electronic device (100) can identify an available antenna combination based on the same method described in the description of FIGS. 6 to 8 described above.

[0192] For example, if the electronic device (100) identifies that antenna 1 and antenna 4 are in a faulty state, the highest-ranking antenna combination among a plurality of antenna combinations excluding antenna 1 and antenna 4 can be identified based on the antenna combination information.

[0193] In the description of FIG. 6 described above, a method for identifying an available antenna combination based on rank information generated based on performance differences for each antenna was described, and in the description of FIG. 7, a method for identifying an available antenna combination based on multi-input / output rank information generated based on performance differences for each antenna combination was described, and in the description of FIG. 8, a method for identifying an available antenna combination based on multi-link rank information generated based on performance differences for each antenna combination was described as separate methods, but this is only for convenience of description, and according to another embodiment, the electronic device (100) may identify an available antenna combination by combining each of the methods.

[0194] Based on the above-described methods, the electronic device (100) can identify available antenna combinations. The electronic device (100) can select one antenna combination from among the available antenna combinations and control the antenna module (110) to perform communication with the external device (200) using the selected antenna combination. The method by which the electronic device (100) controls the antenna module (110) to perform communication with the external device (200) using the selected antenna combination will be described in detail in the description of FIG. 9 below.

[0195] FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a method for controlling an antenna module of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0196] According to FIG. 9, the electronic device (100) can identify one antenna combination among available antenna combinations and control the antenna module (110) to communicate with an external device (200) based on the identified one antenna combination.

[0197] As illustrated in FIG. 6, the available antenna combinations (620) may include a first combination for performing a multiple input / output operation in a first frequency band (e.g., a 5 GHz band), a second combination for performing a multiple input / output operation in a second frequency band (e.g., a 6 GHz band), and a third combination for performing a multiple link operation (e.g., a 5 GHz + 6 GHz multiple link operation).

[0198] The electronic device (100) can identify one of the first combination, the second combination, and the third combination based on interference information of the communication environment and required bandwidth information for data transmission and reception with the external device (200).

[0199] An electronic device (100) can monitor the frequency spectrum in the communication environment surrounding the electronic device (100) through spectrum analysis. Based on the monitoring results, the electronic device (100) can identify a frequency band with severe frequency interference.

[0200] According to one or more embodiments, when the electronic device (100) identifies that the degree of frequency interference in the 5 GHz band in the surrounding communication environment exceeds a threshold, the antenna module (110) may be controlled to perform communication with an external device (200) based on a second combination for performing a multiple input / output operation in the 6 GHz band.

[0201] According to another embodiment, when the electronic device (100) identifies that the degree of frequency interference in the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands in the surrounding communication environment exceeds a threshold, the antenna module (110) may be controlled to perform communication with the external device (200) based on a third combination for performing 5 GHz + 6 GHz multi-link operation.

[0202] When the required bandwidth for transmitting and receiving data with an external device (200) is 320 MHz, the frequency band that can provide a bandwidth of 320 MHz is the 6 GHz frequency band. Therefore, the electronic device (100) can control the antenna module (110) to perform communication with the external device (200) based on the second combination for performing a multi-input / output operation in the 6 GHz band, or control the antenna module (110) to perform communication with the external device (200) based on the third combination for performing a 5 GHz + 6 GHz multi-link operation.

[0203] As described above, the electronic device (100) can identify one antenna combination among at least one antenna combination included in the available antenna combination based on interference information of the communication environment and required bandwidth information for data transmission and reception with the external device (200).

[0204] As illustrated in FIG. 9, the antenna module (110) may include an RFIC (910), a first switch (920-1), a second switch (920-2), a first filter (930-1), a second filter (930-2), a third filter (930-3), a first antenna (940-1), a common antenna (940-2), and a second antenna (940-3).

[0205] As described in the description section for FIG. 2, the RFIC (910) can receive a signal generated by the processor (130) and convert it into a signal of the first frequency band and / or the second frequency band.

[0206] The first switch (920-1) and the second switch (920-2) can change the path of the signal transmitted from the RFIC (910) to the antenna side. The first switch (920-1) and the second switch (920-2) can be implemented as SPDT, DPDT, etc.

[0207] The first filter (930-1), the second filter (930-2), and the third filter (930-3) can distinguish signals that have traveled along a path by frequency band. At this time, the first filter (930-1), the second filter (930-2), and the third filter (930-3) can be implemented as a duplexer, a diplexer, or the like.

[0208] The electronic device (100) can control the antenna module (110) to communicate with the external device (200) based on one antenna combination identified from the available antenna combinations. Specifically, the electronic device (100) can change the path of a signal by controlling the first switch (920-1) and the second switch (920-2) according to the identified antenna combination.

[0209] According to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 9, the electronic device (100) performs communication based on a multi-link operation that forms a plurality of communication links in a first frequency band and a second frequency band using a first antenna (940-1) and a second antenna (940-3). When a failure state of the first antenna (940-1) is identified, the electronic device (100) can identify available antenna combinations, including a combination of a common antenna (940-2) and a second antenna (940-3) for performing the multi-link operation and a combination of a common antenna (940-2) and a second antenna (940-3) for performing a 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation in the second frequency band.

[0210] When the electronic device (100) selects a combination of a common antenna (940-2) and a second antenna (940-3) for performing a multi-link operation, the electronic device (100) can change the path of the signal so that a signal of the first frequency band is transmitted toward the common antenna (940-2) and a signal of the second frequency band is transmitted toward the second antenna (940-3). At this time, the electronic device (100) can change the path of the signal by controlling the first switch (920-1) and the second switch (920-2).

[0211] When the electronic device (100) selects a combination of a common antenna (940-2) and a second antenna (940-3) for performing a 2 x 2 multiple input / output operation in a second frequency band, the electronic device (100) can change the path of the signal so that an independent signal of the second frequency band is transmitted toward the common antenna (940-2) and the second antenna (940-3). At this time, the electronic device (100) can change the path of the signal by controlling the first switch (920-1) and the second switch (920-2).

[0212] FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment in which the electronic device (100) controls the first switch (920-1) and the second switch (920-2) to change the path of a signal so as to enable the use of a selected antenna combination, and according to another embodiment, the electronic device (100) may control the RFIC (910) to not transmit a signal converted to a first frequency band but only transmit a signal converted to a second frequency band, or control the plurality of filters (930-1, 930-2, 930-3) to not pass a signal of the first frequency band but only pass a signal of the second frequency band, thereby changing the frequency band of a signal reaching the antenna side by controlling the RFIC (910) and the plurality of filters (930-1, 930-2, 930-3) in various ways.

[0213] The configuration of the antenna module (110) illustrated in FIG. 9 is merely exemplary, and the antenna module (110) may include various configurations such as a power amplifier module and a power supply unit.

[0214] According to the description of FIGS. 1 to 9 described above, even when a malfunctioning antenna is identified while the electronic device (100) is performing wireless communication with an external device (200), the electronic device (100) can quickly identify an alternative antenna combination that can maintain stable communication with the external device (200) based on antenna combination information pre-stored in the electronic device (100), and can perform communication with the external device based on the alternative antenna combination only with simple control of the antenna module (110). Therefore, the electronic device (100) according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure can perform uninterrupted data transmission and reception with the external device (200).

[0215] FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of communicating with an external device of an electronic device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0216] According to FIG. 10, an electronic device (100) communicates with an external device through a multi-input / output operation or a multi-link operation using an antenna module including at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one public antenna (S1010).

[0217] Next, the electronic device (100) identifies whether an antenna is faulty based on the reception status of each of at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one public antenna (S1020).

[0218] Next, when a faulty antenna is identified, the electronic device (100) identifies available antenna combinations excluding antenna combinations including the faulty antenna based on antenna combination information (S1030).

[0219] According to one or more embodiments, the antenna combination information may include first priority information generated based on a performance difference between antennas in a first frequency band and second priority information generated based on a performance difference between antennas in a second frequency band.

[0220] In this case, the electronic device (100) can identify available antenna combinations based on the first priority information and the second priority information.

[0221] Specifically, if the electronic device (100) identifies an antenna in a solid state as an antenna used for communication with an external device in a first frequency band, the electronic device can identify an available antenna combination by checking the availability of antennas in order from the highest-ranking antenna to the lowest-ranking antenna based on the first-ranking information. If the electronic device identifies an antenna in a faulty state as an antenna used for communication with an external device in a second frequency band, the electronic device can identify an available antenna combination by checking the availability of antennas in order from the highest-ranking antenna to the lowest-ranking antenna based on the second-ranking information.

[0222] According to another embodiment, the antenna combination information may include first multi-input / output ranking information and second multi-input / output ranking information. The first multi-input / output ranking information may be ranking information generated based on performance differences among multiple antenna combinations for multiple input / output operations in the first frequency band, and the second multi-input / output ranking information may be ranking information generated based on performance differences among multiple antenna combinations for multiple input / output operations in the second frequency band.

[0223] In this embodiment, if the electronic device (100) identifies the antenna in a faulty state as an antenna used for a multi-input / output operation in a first frequency band, the electronic device (100) can identify an antenna combination for a multi-input / output operation in a first frequency band based on the first multi-input / output ranking information. If the electronic device (100) identifies the antenna in a faulty state as an antenna used for a multi-input / output operation in a second frequency band, the electronic device (100) can identify an antenna combination for a multi-input / output operation in a second frequency band based on the second multi-input / output ranking information.

[0224] According to another embodiment, the antenna combination information may include multi-link ranking information generated based on performance differences among multiple antenna combinations forming a first communication link with an external device in a first frequency band and a second communication link with an external device in a second frequency band.

[0225] In this case, if the electronic device (100) identifies that the antenna in a faulty state is an antenna used to form a first communication link or a second communication link, it can identify one antenna combination by checking whether multi-link formation is possible in order from the highest-ranking antenna combination to the lowest-ranking antenna combination based on the multi-link ranking information.

[0226] Next, the electronic device (100) communicates with an external device based on the available antenna combination (S1040).

[0227] According to one or more embodiments, the available antenna combinations may include a first combination for performing a multiple input / output operation in a first frequency band, a second combination for performing a multiple input / output operation in a second frequency band, and a third combination for performing a multi-link operation.

[0228] In this case, the electronic device (100) can identify one of the first combination, the second combination, and the third combination based on interference information of the communication environment and required bandwidth information for data transmission and reception with the external device, and communicate with the external device based on the identified one combination.

[0229] By performing the above-described operations, the electronic device (100) can perform stable wireless communication with an external device even if a faulty antenna is identified. The method for identifying a faulty antenna is described in detail in the description of the flowchart in FIG. 11.

[0230] FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method for identifying whether an antenna of an electronic device is faulty according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0231] According to FIG. 11, the electronic device (100) can compare the received signal strength values ​​of at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one common antenna with each other (S1110).

[0232] For example, if the electronic device (100) identifies that an external force greater than a threshold value has been applied to the electronic device (100) based on the sensing value of the sensor, the electronic device (100) can identify whether an antenna is broken based on the reception status (e.g., reception signal strength value) of each of at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one public antenna.

[0233] Next, the electronic device (100) can identify the difference in the received signal strength value for each antenna (S1120).

[0234] Next, the electronic device (100) can identify a representative value of the difference and determine whether the representative value of the difference is negative (S1130). Here, the representative value can be set as an average value, a median value, or a mode value of multiple differences.

[0235] Next, if the representative value of the difference is negative (S1130:Y), the electronic device (100) can identify whether the representative value of the difference is less than a preset value (S1140).

[0236] Next, if the representative value of the difference is less than the preset value (S1140:Y), the electronic device (100) can identify the antenna in which the representative value of the difference is negative and the representative value of the difference is less than the preset value as a faulty antenna (S1150).

[0237] According to another embodiment, the electronic device (100) can identify an antenna that maintains a reception signal strength value in a preset range for a preset period of time among at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one common antenna, and can identify the identified antenna as a faulty antenna.

[0238] As described above, the electronic device (100) can identify an antenna in a faulty state based on the reception status of each of the plurality of antennas without the user having to directly check for abnormalities in the antenna or communication circuit.

[0239] The various methods described in FIGS. 10 and 11 can be performed by an electronic device having the configuration shown in FIG. 2, but are not necessarily limited thereto, and can be performed by electronic devices having various configurations.

[0240] Meanwhile, in FIGS. 10 and 11, the order of all steps is mapped for convenience of explanation, but it is of course not necessarily limited to the order of steps that are not related to the order or can be performed in parallel.

[0241] Meanwhile, the methods according to at least some of the various embodiments of the present disclosure described above may be implemented in the form of an application that can be installed on an existing electronic device.

[0242] Additionally, the methods according to at least some of the various embodiments of the present disclosure described above can be implemented with only a software upgrade or a hardware upgrade for an existing electronic device.

[0243] Additionally, the methods according to at least some of the various embodiments of the present disclosure described above may also be performed through an embedded server provided in an electronic device, or an external server of at least one of the electronic devices.

[0244] Meanwhile, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the various embodiments described above can be implemented as software including instructions stored in a machine-readable storage medium that can be read by a machine (e.g., a computer). The machine is a device that can call instructions stored from the storage medium and operate according to the called instructions, and may include an electronic device (e.g., electronic device (A)) according to the disclosed embodiments. When an instruction is executed by a processor, the processor can perform a function corresponding to the instruction directly or by using other components under the control of the processor. The instruction may include code generated or executed by a compiler or an interpreter. The machine-readable storage medium may be provided in the form of a non-transitory storage medium. Here, the 'non-transitory storage medium' only means that it is a tangible device and does not include a signal (e.g., an electromagnetic wave), and this term does not distinguish between cases where data is stored semi-permanently and cases where it is temporarily stored in the storage medium. No. For example, a 'non-transitory storage medium' may include a buffer in which data is temporarily stored. According to one embodiment, the method according to various embodiments disclosed in the present document may be provided as a computer program product. The computer program product may be traded between sellers and buyers as a commodity. The computer program product may be distributed in the form of a machine-readable storage medium (e.g., compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM)), or may be distributed online (e.g., downloaded or uploaded) via an application store (e.g., Play Store™) or directly between two user devices (e.g., smartphones).In the case of online distribution, at least a portion of the computer program product (e.g., a downloadable app) may be temporarily stored or temporarily created in a device-readable storage medium, such as the memory of a manufacturer's server, an application store's server, or an intermediary server.

[0245] Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented as software including instructions stored in a machine-readable storage medium that can be read by a machine (e.g., a computer). The device may include an electronic device (e.g., an electronic device (100)) according to the disclosed embodiments, which is a device capable of calling instructions stored in the storage medium and operating according to the called instructions.

[0246] When the above-described instruction is executed by the processor, the processor may perform the function corresponding to the instruction directly or by utilizing other components under the control of the processor. The instruction may include code generated or executed by a compiler or interpreter.

[0247] Although the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been illustrated and described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and various modifications may be made by a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains without departing from the gist of the present disclosure as claimed in the claims, and such modifications should not be understood individually from the technical idea or prospect of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. In electronic devices, An antenna module comprising at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one public antenna, and transmitting and receiving data using the antennas; A memory that stores antenna combination information for performing multiple input / output (MIMO) operation or multiple link (MULTI-LINK) operation; At least one processor controlling the antenna module to perform communication with an external device using an antenna combination based on the antenna combination information; At least one processor, Identifying whether an antenna is faulty based on the reception status of each of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one public antenna, When a faulty antenna is identified, available antenna combinations are identified based on the antenna combination information, excluding the antenna combinations that include the faulty antenna. Controlling the antenna module to communicate with the external device based on the available antenna combination; The at least one first antenna and the at least one second antenna operate in a first frequency band and a second frequency band, respectively, An electronic device wherein said at least one public antenna selectively operates in said first frequency band and said second frequency band.

2. In paragraph 1, The above antenna combination information is, Includes first priority information generated based on the performance difference between antennas in the first frequency band and second priority information generated based on the performance difference between antennas in the second frequency band, At least one processor, An electronic device that identifies the available antenna combination based on the first priority information and the second priority information when the antenna in the above faulty state is identified.

3. In paragraph 2, At least one processor, If the antenna in the above-mentioned faulty state is identified as an antenna used for communication in the first frequency band with the external device, the availability of antennas is checked in order from the highest-ranking antenna to the lowest-ranking antenna based on the first-ranking information, and the available antenna combination is identified. An electronic device that identifies the available antenna combination by checking the availability of antennas in order from the highest-ranking antenna to the lowest-ranking antenna based on the second priority information when the antenna in the above-mentioned faulty state is identified as an antenna used for communication in the second frequency band with the external device.

4. In paragraph 1, The above antenna combination information includes first multi-input / output ranking information and second multi-input / output ranking information, At least one processor, If the antenna in the above-mentioned faulty state is identified as an antenna used for multiple input / output operation in the first frequency band, an antenna combination for multiple input / output operation in the first frequency band is identified based on the first multiple input / output rank information, If the antenna in the above-mentioned faulty state is identified as an antenna used for multiple input / output operation in the second frequency band, an antenna combination for multiple input / output operation in the second frequency band is identified based on the second multiple input / output ranking information. The above first multiple input / output ranking information is ranking information generated based on the performance difference for each combination of multiple antennas for multiple input / output operation in the first frequency band, An electronic device wherein the second multiple input / output ranking information is ranking information generated based on performance differences for each combination of multiple antennas for multiple input / output operations in the second frequency band.

5. In paragraph 1, The antenna combination information includes multi-link ranking information generated based on a performance difference for each combination of multiple antennas forming a first communication link with the external device in the first frequency band and a second communication link with the external device in the second frequency band, At least one processor, An electronic device that, when the antenna in the above-mentioned faulty state is identified as an antenna used for forming the first communication link or the second communication link, determines whether an antenna combination of the multi-link is possible in order from the highest-ranking antenna combination to the lowest-ranking antenna combination based on the multi-link ranking information, thereby identifying one available antenna combination.

6. In paragraph 1, The antenna module comprises at least one third antenna operating in a third frequency band, At least one processor, An electronic device that identifies whether an antenna is faulty based on the reception status of each of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, the at least one third antenna, and the at least one public antenna.

7. In paragraph 1, The available antenna combinations include a first combination for performing a multiple input / output operation in the first frequency band, a second combination for performing a multiple input / output operation in the second frequency band, and a third combination for performing the multiple link operation. At least one processor, Identifying one combination among the first combination, the second combination, and the third combination based on interference information of the communication environment and required bandwidth information for data transmission and reception with the external device, An electronic device that controls the antenna module to communicate with the external device based on the identified combination.

8. In paragraph 1, At least one processor, Identifying an antenna that maintains a reception signal strength value in a preset range for a preset period of time among the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one common antenna; An electronic device that identifies the identified antenna as an antenna in a faulty state.

9. In paragraph 1, At least one processor, By comparing the reception signal strength values ​​of each of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna and the at least one common antenna with each other, the difference between the reception signal strength values ​​of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna and the at least one third antenna included in the electronic device and the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna and the at least one third antenna is identified, An electronic device that identifies an antenna in a faulty state, wherein the representative value of the above difference is negative and the representative value is less than a preset value.

10. In paragraph 1, including sensors; At least one processor, An electronic device that identifies whether an antenna is faulty based on the reception status of each of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one public antenna when it is identified that an external force greater than a threshold value is applied to the electronic device based on the sensing value of the sensor.

11. In a method for controlling an electronic device, A step of communicating with an external device through a multi-input / output operation or a multi-link operation using an antenna module including at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one public antenna; A step of identifying whether an antenna is faulty based on the reception status of each of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one public antenna; When a faulty antenna is identified, a step of identifying available antenna combinations excluding antenna combinations including the faulty antenna based on antenna combination information; and A step of communicating with the external device based on the available antenna combination; The at least one first antenna and the at least one second antenna operate in a first frequency band and a second frequency band, respectively, A control method wherein said at least one public antenna selectively operates in said first frequency band and said second frequency band.

12. In paragraph 11, The above antenna combination information is, Includes first priority information generated based on the performance difference between antennas in the first frequency band and second priority information generated based on the performance difference between antennas in the second frequency band, The step of identifying the above available antenna combinations comprises: A control method comprising: a step of identifying the available antenna combination based on the first priority information and the second priority information when the antenna in the above-mentioned fault state is identified; 13. In paragraph 12, The step of identifying the above available antenna combinations comprises: If the antenna in the above-mentioned faulty state is identified as an antenna used for communication in the first frequency band with the external device, a step of identifying the available antenna combination by checking the availability of antennas in order from the highest-ranking antenna to the lowest-ranking antenna based on the first-ranking information; and A control method comprising: a step of identifying the available antenna combination by checking the availability of antennas in order from the highest-ranking antenna to the lowest-ranking antenna based on the second rank information, when the antenna in the above-mentioned faulty state is identified as an antenna used for communication with the external device in the second frequency band; 14. In paragraph 11, The above antenna combination information includes first multi-input / output ranking information and second multi-input / output ranking information, The above first multiple input / output ranking information is ranking information generated based on the performance difference for each combination of multiple antennas for multiple input / output operation in the first frequency band, The above second multiple input / output ranking information is ranking information generated based on the performance difference for each combination of multiple antennas for multiple input / output operation in the second frequency band. The step of identifying the above available antenna combinations comprises: If the antenna in the above-mentioned faulty state is identified as an antenna used for a multiple input / output operation in the first frequency band, a step of identifying an antenna combination for a multiple input / output operation in the first frequency band based on the first multiple input / output rank information; and A control method comprising: a step of identifying an antenna combination for a multiple input / output operation in the second frequency band based on the second multiple input / output ranking information, when the antenna in the above-mentioned faulty state is identified as an antenna used for a multiple input / output operation in the second frequency band; 15. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing computer instructions that, when executed by a processor of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform an operation, the operation comprising: A step of communicating with an external device through a multi-input / output operation or a multi-link operation using an antenna module including at least one first antenna, at least one second antenna, and at least one public antenna; A step of identifying whether an antenna is faulty based on the reception status of each of the at least one first antenna, the at least one second antenna, and the at least one public antenna; When a faulty antenna is identified, a step of identifying available antenna combinations excluding antenna combinations including the faulty antenna based on antenna combination information; and A step of communicating with the external device based on the available antenna combination; The at least one first antenna and the at least one second antenna operate in a first frequency band and a second frequency band, respectively, A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium, wherein said at least one public antenna selectively operates in said first frequency band and said second frequency band.

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