Control apparatus, control method, and program

Abstract

Provided is a control apparatus comprising: a storage unit for storing sub-area information that indicates the respective ranges of a plurality of sub-areas into which a coverage area to be covered by an array antenna having a plurality of antenna elements is divided on the basis of an interference relationship between a plurality of beams that are generated by the array antenna; a positional information acquisition unit for acquiring positional information regarding a plurality of user terminals that are positioned within the coverage area; a terminal selection unit for using the positional information regarding the plurality of user terminals and the sub-area information to select a plurality of user terminals to be provided with MU-MIMO such that no more than one user terminal is selected for each of the plurality of sub-areas; and a control unit for performing control so as to provide MU-MIMO to the plurality of user terminals selected by the terminal selection unit.

Description

Control device, control method, and program

[0001] The present invention relates to a control device, a control method, and a program.

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes SU-MIMO (Single-User Multi-Input and Multi-Output) technology and MU-MIMO (Multi-User MIMO) technology. [Prior Art Documents] [Patent Documents] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2022 / 215487

[0003] Traditionally, when implementing MU-MIMO, the scheduler determines the priority of UEs (User Equipment) based on the scheduling policy, creates a sort list, compares its own scheduling performance with the sort list, checks the capabilities of each UE (supported bandwidth, supported modulation schemes, etc.), checks the buffer status, checks the CQI (Channel Quality Indicator), confirms whether the data is the first transmission or a retransmission, and sequentially checks the correlation between UEs to determine the MU-MIMO pairing. This correlation check involves comparing each UE in the sort list, which can result in an enormous amount of computation. Therefore, it can be a bottleneck in increasing the number of layers in MU-MIMO.

[0004] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a control device having a technology that contributes to solving the above problems is provided. The control device may include a storage unit that stores sub-area information indicating the range of each of a plurality of sub-areas obtained by dividing a coverage area covered by an array antenna having a plurality of antenna elements based on an interference relationship between a plurality of beams generated by the array antenna. The control device may include a position information acquisition unit that acquires position information of a plurality of user terminals located within the coverage area. The control device may include a terminal selection unit that selects, for each of the plurality of sub-areas, a plurality of user terminals to be targets of MU-MIMO so as not to select a plurality of user terminals, using the position information of the plurality of user terminals and the sub-area information. The control device may include a control unit that controls to provide MU-MIMO to the plurality of user terminals selected by the terminal selection unit.

[0005] The control device may include a sub-area information generation unit that generates the sub-area information so as to satisfy interference conditions between the plurality of beams based on the coverable range of each of the plurality of beams generated by the array antenna.

[0006] The sub-area information generation unit may generate the sub-area information so that interference does not occur between the plurality of beams based on the coverable range of each of the plurality of beams generated by the array antenna.

[0007] The sub-area information generation unit may determine the number of the sub-areas based on the number of the plurality of antenna elements included in the array antenna.

[0008] The sub-area information generation unit may specify the coverable range of each of the plurality of beams based on the frequency used by the array antenna.

[0009] The plurality of sub-areas may be areas obtained by dividing the coverage area by a mesh.

[0010] The aforementioned sub-areas may be areas obtained by dividing the coverage area into the coverage ranges of each of the aforementioned beams.

[0011] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a control device is provided that has technology contributing to solving the above problems. The control device may include a location information acquisition unit that acquires location information of a plurality of user terminals located within a coverage area covered by an array antenna having a plurality of antenna elements. The control device may include a terminal selection unit that, when sequentially selecting user terminals to be targeted for MU-MIMO from the plurality of user terminals, excludes other user terminals located within a sub-area covered by the beam coverage range provided to user terminals already selected. The control device may include a control unit that controls the provision of MU-MIMO to the plurality of user terminals selected by the terminal selection unit.

[0012] The terminal selection unit may determine the coverage range of the beam provided to a user terminal that has already been selected, based on the operating frequency used by the array antenna and the number of antenna elements in the array antenna.

[0013] The control device may include a RAN (Radio Access Network) control unit that performs RAN control and an AI processing unit that performs AI processing.

[0014] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a program is provided for causing a computer to function as the control device.

[0015] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a control method performed by a computer is provided. The control method may include a storage step of storing sub-area information indicating the range of each of a plurality of sub-areas obtained by dividing a coverage area covered by an array antenna having a plurality of antenna elements based on interference relationships between a plurality of beams generated by the array antenna. The control method may include a location information acquisition step of acquiring location information of a plurality of user terminals located within the coverage area. The control method may include a terminal selection step of using the location information of the plurality of user terminals and the sub-area information to select a plurality of user terminals to be targeted for MU-MIMO for each of the plurality of sub-areas, such that multiple user terminals are not selected. The control method may include a control step of controlling to provide MU-MIMO to the plurality of user terminals selected in the terminal selection step.

[0016] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a control method performed by a computer is provided. The control method may include a location information acquisition step of acquiring location information of a plurality of user terminals located within a coverage area covered by an array antenna having a plurality of antenna elements. When the control method sequentially selects user terminals to be targeted for MU-MIMO from the plurality of user terminals, it may include a terminal selection step of excluding other user terminals located within a sub-area covered by the beam coverage range provided to user terminals already selected. The control method may include a control step of controlling the provision of MU-MIMO to the plurality of user terminals selected in the terminal selection step.

[0017] The types of AI processing performed by the AI ​​processing unit include AI processing related to RAN control (sometimes referred to as RAN control AI processing) and AI processing not related to RAN control (sometimes referred to as non-RAN control AI processing).

[0018] An example of AI-based RAN control processing is the RIC (RAN Intelligent Controller). The RIC is a technology that uses AI to optimize RAN wireless resources and automate RAN operations. The RIC includes Non-RT RIC and Near-RT RIC (Near-Real Time RIC). The Non-RT RIC is sometimes called Centralized RIC. The Non-RT RIC is located within the SMO (Service Management and Orchestration), which manages and orchestrates the RAN. The Non-RT RIC generates and notifies policies related to RAN control and transmits information to the Near-RT RIC. For example, a Non-RT RIC generates a learning model for RAN control by performing machine learning using data collected from the RAN, and sends it to a Near-RT RIC. A Near-RT RIC is sometimes called a Distributed RIC. Compared to a Non-RT RIC, a Near-RT RIC is located closer to the RAN nodes (RU (Radio Unit), DU (Distributed Unit), CU (Central Unit)) and performs control of the RAN nodes and resources. Compared to a Non-RT RIC, a Near-RT RIC performs processing with higher real-time capabilities. For example, a Near-RT RIC performs inference processing related to RAN control using the learning model obtained from a Non-RT RIC. RAN control AI processing is not limited to RICs.

[0019] Non-RAN-controlled AI processing may correspond to so-called MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing) applications. Examples of non-RAN-controlled AI processing include, but are not limited to, monitoring AI execution processing that determines the situation within the imaging range of an input image, and response AI execution processing that outputs a response to an inquiry made by a user.

[0020] It should be noted that the above summary of the invention does not enumerate all the necessary features of the present invention. Furthermore, subcombinations of these features may also constitute an invention.

[0021] This is an explanatory diagram for a general overview of the prior art. This is an explanatory diagram for a general overview of an example of the processing content by the control device 300. This is an explanatory diagram for a general overview of an example of the processing content by the control device 300. This is an example of the functional configuration of the control device 300. This shows a general overview of an example of the processing flow by the control device 300. This is an explanatory diagram for a general overview of an example of the processing content by the control device 300. This is an explanatory diagram for a general overview of an example of the processing content by the control device 300. This shows a general overview of an example of the functional configuration of the control device 300. This shows a general overview of an example of the processing flow by the control device 300. This shows a general overview of an example of the placement environment of the control device 300. This shows a general overview of an example of the hardware configuration of the computer 1200 that functions as the control device 300.

[0022] The present invention will be described below through embodiments, but these embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. Furthermore, not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

[0023] Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram for a schematic explanation of the prior art. In this example, a BaseBand Unit (BBU) 100 controls a Radio Unit (RU) 200. The BBU 100 mainly performs digital signal processing and may have the function of connecting the higher-level core network to the RU 200. The BBU 100 may be separated into a Distributed Unit (DU) and a Central Unit (CU). The RU 200 includes an array antenna 210 having a plurality of antenna elements 212.

[0024] BBU100 and RU200 provide wireless communication services to multiple UE400 units. Coverage area 220 indicates the area covered by RU200.

[0025] UE400 may be a smartphone. UE400 may be a tablet device. UE400 may be a PC (Personal Computer). UE400 may be a wearable device. UE400 may be an IoT (Internet of Things) device. UE400 may include any device that falls under the IoE (Internet of Everything) category.

[0026] Conventional BBU100 and RU200 can provide various communication methods to UE400, such as MU-MIMO, SU-MIMO, and single-stream communication. However, when executing MU-MIMO, the correlation between multiple UE400s in the sort list is checked to determine which UE400s to target for MU-MIMO. While this may not be a problem when the number of UE400s or layers is small, the computational load can become enormous as the number of UE400s or layers increases.

[0027] Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram for schematically illustrating an example of the processing content by the control device 300 according to this embodiment. The control device 300 may control the BBU 100. The control device 300 may control the RU 200. The control device 300 may be separate from the BBU 100. The control device 300 may be integrated with the BBU 100.

[0028] In the example shown in Figure 2, the control device 300 stores sub-area information indicating the extent of each of the multiple sub-areas 310 obtained by dividing the coverage area 220 covered by the array antenna 210 based on the interference relationships between the multiple beams generated by the array antenna 210.

[0029] Figure 2 illustrates a case where there are 16 beams. The number of sub-areas 310 is determined based on the coverage range of each beam. The number of sub-areas 310 may be determined so that beam interference between the sub-areas 310 is permissible. That is, the number of sub-areas 310 is determined so that beam interference occurs when two UE400 located in the same sub-area 310 are irradiated with a beam, but does not occur when two UE400 located in adjacent sub-areas 310 are irradiated with a beam. No beam interference may mean that no beam interference occurs at all. No beam interference may mean that interference occurs between beams, but at an acceptable level. No beam interference may mean that interference occurs between beams, but the amount of interference is lower than a predetermined threshold. In the example shown in Figure 2, the number of sub-areas 310 are areas obtained by dividing the coverage area 220 with a mesh 302.

[0030] The control device 300 acquires the location information of multiple UE400s located in the RU200 and, using the location information and sub-area information of the multiple UE400s, selects multiple UE400s to be targeted for MU-MIMO for each of the multiple sub-areas 310, such that multiple UE400s are not selected. In other words, the control device 300 selects multiple UE400s to be targeted for MU-MIMO for each of the multiple sub-areas 310, either by selecting only one UE400 or by selecting none. In the example shown in Figure 2, the UE400s circled are those selected for MU-MIMO, and the UE400s with diagonal lines are those excluded from MU-MIMO. By adopting this selection method, it is possible to select multiple UE400s that do not cause inter-beam interference while significantly reducing the amount of computation compared to the conventional method of calculating the correlation between each of the multiple UE400s. This will contribute to improving overall communication quality and also to increasing the number of layers in MU-MIMO.

[0031] Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of the processing content by the control device 300 according to this embodiment. Here, we will mainly explain the differences from Figure 2.

[0032] In the example shown in Figure 3, the multiple sub-areas 310 are areas obtained by dividing the coverage area 220 by the respective coverage ranges 214 of the multiple beams from the array antenna 210. Figure 3 is merely a schematic diagram, and the actual coverage ranges 214 will differ from those shown in Figure 3.

[0033] As shown in Figure 2, by dividing the coverage area 220 by a mesh 302 into multiple sub-areas 310, the computational cost required to identify the UE 400 included within the range of each sub-area 310 can be reduced compared to the case where the coverage area 220 is divided by multiple coverage ranges 214 into multiple sub-areas 310, as shown in Figure 3.

[0034] As shown in Figure 3, by dividing the coverage area 220 into multiple sub-areas 310 by multiple coverage ranges 214, interference can be reduced with greater precision compared to the case where the coverage area 220 is divided into multiple sub-areas 310 by a mesh 302, as shown in Figure 2.

[0035] Figure 4 schematically shows an example of the functional configuration of the control device 300. The control device 300 comprises a storage unit 320, a communication management unit 322, a sub-area information generation unit 324, a location information acquisition unit 326, a terminal selection unit 328, and a control unit 330. However, it is not necessarily required that the control device 300 comprises all of these components.

[0036] The communication management unit 322 manages wireless communication with multiple UE400s using the RU200. The communication management unit 322 may perform scheduling using existing scheduling methods such as the PF (Proportional Fairness) method and the Maximum CIR (Carrier-to-Interference Ratio) method.

[0037] The sub-area information generation unit 324 generates sub-area information indicating the range of each of the multiple sub-areas 310 obtained by dividing the coverage area 220 covered by the array antenna 210 of the target RU 200 based on the interference relationship between multiple beams generated by the array antenna 210. The storage unit 320 stores the sub-area information generated by the sub-area information generation unit 324. Note that the control device 300 does not necessarily have to include the sub-area information generation unit 324. In this case, the control device 300 may receive sub-area information generated by another device from that device and store it in the storage unit 320.

[0038] The sub-area information generation unit 324 may, in response to the identification of the RU 200 for which sub-area information is to be generated, acquire the number of antenna elements of the array antenna 210 of the RU 200 and the operating frequency used by the array antenna 210.

[0039] The sub-area information generation unit 324 may determine the number of sub-areas 310 and the coverage range of each of the multiple beams based on the acquired number of antenna elements and the operating frequency. For example, the sub-area information generation unit 324 may determine the number of beams that can be generated by the array antenna 210 from the number of antenna elements of the array antenna 210, and set this number as the number of sub-areas 310. For example, the sub-area information generation unit 324 may determine the number of beams generated by the array antenna 210 and the coverage range of each beam from the number of antenna elements and the operating frequency.

[0040] The sub-area information generation unit 324 may generate sub-area information based on the coverage range of each of the multiple beams generated by the array antenna 210, in order to satisfy the interference conditions between the multiple beams.

[0041] The interference condition may be a condition satisfied when inter-beam interference does not occur between a plurality of beams. For example, the interference condition may be a condition satisfied when no inter-beam interference occurs between a plurality of beams. For example, the interference condition may be a condition satisfied when inter-beam interference occurs between a plurality of beams but at an acceptable level. For example, the interference condition may be a condition satisfied when inter-beam interference occurs between a plurality of beams but the amount of interference is lower than a predetermined threshold value.

[0042] The sub-area information generation unit 324 may generate sub-area information so that inter-beam interference does not occur between a plurality of beams based on the coverable range of each of the plurality of beams generated by the array antenna 210.

[0043] For example, the sub-area information generation unit 324 uses the coverable range of each of the plurality of beams generated by the array antenna 210 to generate sub-area information indicating the range of each of the plurality of sub-areas 310 such that no interference occurs between the plurality of beams when each of the plurality of beams irradiates each of the plurality of sub-areas 310.

[0044] For example, the sub-area information generation unit 324 may generate sub-area information indicating the range of each of the plurality of sub-areas 310 such that the amount of interference between the plurality of beams is lower than the threshold value when each of the plurality of beams generated by the array antenna 210 irradiates each of the plurality of sub-areas 310.

[0045] The sub-area information generation unit 324 may, for example, determine the size and the number of divisions of the mesh 302 using the number of specified beams and the coverable range of each beam, and generate sub-area information indicating the range of each of the plurality of sub-areas 310 obtained by dividing the coverage area 220 by the mesh 302.

[0046] The sub - area information generation unit 324 may generate sub - area information indicating the range of each of a plurality of sub - areas 310 obtained by dividing the coverage area 220 into a plurality of coverage ranges 214, for example, using the number of identified beams and the coverable range of each beam.

[0047] The location information acquisition unit 326 acquires the location information of each of the plurality of UEs 400 present in the RU 200. The location information acquisition unit 326 may receive location information from each of the plurality of UEs 400. The UE 400 may provide its own location information obtained by GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) positioning such as GPS (Global Positioning System) positioning, base station positioning (cell positioning), and Wi - Fi (registered trademark) positioning, etc., to the control device 300. The location information acquisition unit 326 may receive the location information of the plurality of UEs 400 managed on the core side of the mobile communication network from the core side. The location information acquisition unit 326 may acquire the location information of the plurality of UEs 400 by other methods.

[0048] The terminal selection unit 328 selects a plurality of UEs 400 to be targeted for MU - MIMO such that for each of the plurality of sub - areas 310, the plurality of UEs 400 are not selected, using the location information of the plurality of UEs 400 acquired by the location information acquisition unit 326 and the sub - area information stored in the storage unit 320. That is, the terminal selection unit 328 selects a plurality of UEs 400 to be targeted for MU - MIMO such that either one UE 400 is selected from each of the plurality of sub - areas 310 or no UE 400 is selected.

[0049] The terminal selection unit 328 determines whether or not to include multiple UE400s in MU-MIMO, starting with the UE400 with the highest priority, according to the priority order of scheduling of multiple UE400s managed by the communication management unit 322. If the terminal selection unit 328 selects the UE400 with the highest priority for MU-MIMO, it excludes all other UE400s located within the sub-area 310 where that UE400 is located from being included in MU-MIMO. By performing such determinations in order of priority, the terminal selection unit 328 can avoid selecting multiple UE400s in each of the multiple sub-areas 310. As a result, in each of the multiple sub-areas 310, a maximum of one UE400 will be included in MU-MIMO, making it possible to determine multiple UE400s that do not cause inter-beam interference with a low computational cost.

[0050] The control unit 330 controls the communication management unit 322 to provide MU-MIMO to the multiple UE400s selected by the terminal selection unit 328. The communication management unit 322, in accordance with the control of the control unit 330, provides communication using MU-MIMO only to the multiple UE400s selected by the terminal selection unit 328, and provides communication using other methods such as SU-MIMO or single-stream communication to the other UE400s. Note that the control device 300 does not have a communication management unit 322; another device such as the BBU 100 may have a communication management unit 322. In this case, the control unit 330 may control the communication management unit 322 provided by the other device.

[0051] Since the multiple sub-areas 310 are determined so that no inter-beam interference occurs when a beam is irradiated into each of the multiple sub-areas 310, by making such a selection, multiple UE400s that satisfy the conditions of no interference at all or with a problem-free level of interference can be targeted for MU-MIMO with a very low computational cost.

[0052] Figure 5 schematically shows an example of the processing flow by the control device 300. Here, the starting state is defined as the state in which the RU 200 to which sub-area information is to be generated has been identified, and scheduling by the communication management unit 322 is performed in parallel.

[0053] In step 102 (sometimes abbreviated as S), the sub-area information generation unit 324 acquires the number of antenna elements and the operating frequency of the array antenna 210 of the target RU 200. In step S104, the sub-area information generation unit 324 generates sub-area information using the number of antenna elements and the operating frequency acquired in step S102. The sub-area information generation unit 324 stores the generated sub-area information in the storage unit 320.

[0054] In S106, the communication management unit 322 starts providing communication to multiple UE400s. In S108, the terminal selection unit 328 acquires the location information of multiple UE400s located in the RU200 and the sub-area information stored in the storage unit 320, and uses these to select multiple UE400s that will be targeted for MU-MIMO.

[0055] In S110, the control unit 330 causes the communication management unit 322 to provide communication to the multiple UE400s. The control unit 330 controls the communication management unit 322 to provide MU-MIMO to the multiple UE400s selected by the terminal selection unit 328 in S108, and to provide communication to the other UE400s using a different method.

[0056] If you want to terminate the provision of communication (YES in S112), the process ends; otherwise, it returns to S108.

[0057] Figures 6, 7, and 8 are explanatory diagrams that schematically illustrate an example of the processing performed by the control device 300. Here, we will mainly explain the differences from Figure 2.

[0058] In this example, the control device 300 determines whether or not to include each of the multiple UE400s located in the RU200 in the MU-MIMO system, according to the order of scheduling priority.

[0059] For example, the control device 300 determines whether or not to include UE402, which has the highest priority, in the MU-MIMO process. In this example, the control device 300 determines that UE402 should be included in the MU-MIMO process. The control device 300 uses the number of antenna elements and the operating frequency of the array antenna 210 to identify the beam coverage area 222 provided to UE402, and excludes other UE400s included in the sub-area 310 covered by the coverage area 222 from the MU-MIMO process. In the example shown in Figure 6, the control device 300 excludes UE404.

[0060] The control device 300 determines whether or not to include UE406, which has the next highest priority, in the MU-MIMO program. In this example, the control device 300 determines that UE406 should be included in the MU-MIMO program. The control device 300 uses the number of antenna elements and the operating frequency of the array antenna 210 to identify the beam coverage area 224 provided to UE406, and excludes other UE400 included in the sub-area 310 covered by the coverage area 224 from the MU-MIMO program. In the example shown in Figure 7, the control device 300 excludes UE408.

[0061] The control device 300 determines whether or not to include the next highest priority UE410 in the MU-MIMO program. In this example, the control device 300 determines that UE410 should be included in the MU-MIMO program. The control device 300 uses the number of antenna elements and the operating frequency of the array antenna 210 to identify the beam coverage area 226 provided to UE410, and excludes other UE400 included in the sub-area 310 covered by the coverage area 226 from the MU-MIMO program. In the example shown in Figure 8, the control device 300 excludes UE412.

[0062] By sequentially executing such processes, the control device 300 can select multiple UE400s that do not interfere with each other, or have minimal interference with each other, as targets for MU-MIMO with very little computation, without having to calculate the correlation between each of the multiple UE400s.

[0063] Figure 9 schematically shows an example of the functional configuration of the control device 300. Here, we will mainly explain the differences from Figure 4. The control device 300 illustrated in Figure 9 comprises a storage unit 320, a communication management unit 322, a location information acquisition unit 326, a terminal selection unit 328, and a control unit 330.

[0064] The terminal selection unit 328 may, upon identifying the target RU 200, acquire the number of antenna elements of the array antenna 210 and the operating frequency used by the array antenna 210. The terminal selection unit 328 may use the number of antenna elements and the operating frequency to determine the coverage range of the multiple beams irradiated by the array antenna 210.

[0065] When the terminal selection unit 328 sequentially selects UE400s to be targeted for MU-MIMO from a plurality of UE400s, it excludes other UE400s located within the sub-area 310 covered by the beam coverage range provided to the already selected UE400s.

[0066] For example, the terminal selection unit 328 sequentially selects UE400s to be targeted for MU-MIMO according to the priority order of scheduling of multiple UE400s managed by the communication management unit 322. The terminal selection unit 328 uses the location information of multiple UE400s acquired by the location information acquisition unit 326 to identify the sub-area 310 where the UE400s selected as targets for MU-MIMO are located, and identifies other UE400s located within that sub-area 310 and excludes them from being targeted for MU-MIMO. This makes it possible to exclude UE400s whose beams interfere with the beams provided to the UE400s selected as targets for MU-MIMO. As a result, multiple UE400s that do not interfere with each other, or whose interference is minimal, can be selected as targets for MU-MIMO with very little computation.

[0067] Figure 10 schematically shows an example of the processing flow by the control device 300. Here, the starting state is defined as the state in which the RU 200 to which sub-area information is to be generated has been identified, and scheduling by the communication management unit 322 is performed in parallel.

[0068] In S202, the terminal selection unit 328 acquires the number of antenna elements and the operating frequency of the array antenna 210 of the target RU200. In S204, the communication management unit 322 starts providing communication to multiple UE400s.

[0069] In S206, the terminal selection unit 328 sequentially selects the UE400s to be targeted for MU-MIMO from among the multiple UE400s according to the priority order of the schedules of the multiple UE400s. The terminal selection unit 328 excludes other UE400s located within the same sub-area 310 as the UE400s that have already been selected.

[0070] In S208, the control unit 330 instructs the communication management unit 322 to provide communication to the multiple UE400s. The control unit 330 controls the communication management unit 322 to provide MU-MIMO to the multiple UE400s selected by the terminal selection unit 328 in S206, and to provide communication to the other UE400s using a different method.

[0071] If you want to terminate the communication service (YES in S210), the process ends; otherwise, return to S206.

[0072] Figure 11 schematically shows an example of the deployment environment for the control device 300. The control device 300 may be deployed in the communication system 10 shown in Figure 11. The communication system 10 comprises a management infrastructure 500, a plurality of distributed infrastructures 600, and a plurality of wireless base stations 700. The communication system 10 may function as a so-called AI-RAN, and the management infrastructure 500 and the plurality of distributed infrastructures 600 may cooperate to control the RAN 710 and perform AI processing.

[0073] The distributed infrastructure 600 may be data centers located in various locations. The distributed infrastructure 600 may be composed of multiple devices. The distributed infrastructure 600 may be implemented on a virtualization infrastructure consisting of multiple devices. The distributed infrastructure 600 may be implemented by a single device. The distributed infrastructure 600 may have a BBU 100. The distributed infrastructure 600 may have a DU. The distributed infrastructure 600 may have a CU. The distributed infrastructure 600 may have a UPF (User Plane Function).

[0074] The management infrastructure 500 may be a data center that manages multiple distributed infrastructures 600. The management infrastructure 500 may be composed of multiple devices. The management infrastructure 500 may be implemented on a virtualization infrastructure consisting of multiple devices. The management infrastructure 500 may be implemented by a single device.

[0075] The management infrastructure 500 may be called the Core Brain, and the distributed infrastructure 600 may be called the Regional Brain. Note that Figure 11 illustrates a case where a single-layer distributed infrastructure 600 is located below the management infrastructure 500, but it is not limited to this. The distributed infrastructure 600 may have multiple layers. For example, if two layers of distributed infrastructure 600 are located below the management infrastructure 500, the management infrastructure 500 may be called the Core Brain, the lower-layer distributed infrastructure 600 may be called the Regional Brain, and the further lower-layer distributed infrastructure 600 may be called the Sub-Regional Brain.

[0076] The distributed infrastructure 600 may have one or more CPUs (Central Processing Units). The distributed infrastructure 600 may have one or more GPUs (Graphics Processing Units). The distributed infrastructure 600 may have multiple superchips, each connected to a CPU and a GPU by an interconnect. This interconnect may be memory consistent and capable of achieving high bandwidth and low latency. Thus, the distributed infrastructure 600 may have CPU resources and GPU resources as computing resources.

[0077] The wireless base station 700 may be equipped with an RU200. The wireless base station 700 may also be equipped with a BBU100.

[0078] The control device 300 may be located on a distributed infrastructure 600. The control device 300 may control MU-MIMO by a plurality of lower-level wireless base stations 700. In this case, the control device 300 may further include a RAN control unit that controls the RAN 710 and an AI processing unit that performs AI processing.

[0079] Figure 12 schematically shows an example of the hardware configuration of a computer 1200 that functions as a control device 300. A program installed on the computer 1200 can cause the computer 1200 to function as one or more "parts" of the apparatus according to this embodiment, or to cause the computer 1200 to execute operations associated with the apparatus according to this embodiment or such one or more "parts", and / or to cause the computer 1200 to execute a process or a stage of such process according to this embodiment. Such a program may be executed by the CPU 1212 to cause the computer 1200 to execute specific operations associated with some or all of the blocks in the flowcharts and block diagrams described herein.

[0080] The computer 1200 according to this embodiment includes a CPU 1212, a GPU 1213, a RAM 1214, and a graphics controller 1216, which are interconnected by a host controller 1210. The computer 1200 also includes input / output units such as a communication interface 1222, a storage device 1224, a DVD drive 1226, and an IC card drive, which are connected to the host controller 1210 via an input / output controller 1220. The DVD drive 1226 may be a DVD-ROM drive and a DVD-RAM drive, etc. The storage device 1224 may be a hard disk drive and a solid-state drive, etc. The computer 1200 also includes legacy input / output units such as a ROM 1230 and a keyboard, which are connected to the input / output controller 1220 via an input / output chip 1240.

[0081] The CPU 1212 operates according to the programs stored in the ROM 1230 and RAM 1214, thereby controlling each unit. The graphics controller 1216 acquires the image data generated by the CPU 1212 and stores it in the frame buffer provided in the RAM 1214 or within itself, so that the image data is displayed on the display device 1218.

[0082] The communication interface 1222 communicates with other electronic devices via a network. The storage device 1224 stores programs and data used by the CPU 1212 in the computer 1200. The DVD drive 1226 reads programs or data from the DVD-ROM 1227, etc., and provides them to the storage device 1224. The IC card drive reads programs and data from the IC card and / or writes programs and data to the IC card.

[0083] The ROM 1230 stores boot programs and / or hardware-dependent programs of the computer 1200, which are executed by the computer 1200 when activated. The input / output chip 1240 may also connect various input / output units to the input / output controller 1220 via USB ports, parallel ports, serial ports, keyboard ports, mouse ports, etc.

[0084] The program is provided on a computer-readable storage medium such as a DVD-ROM 1227 or an IC card. The program is read from the computer-readable storage medium and installed on a storage device 1224, RAM 1214, or ROM 1230, which are examples of computer-readable storage media, and executed by the CPU 1212. The information processing described within these programs is read by the computer 1200, resulting in coordination between the program and the various types of hardware resources described above. The apparatus or method may be configured to realize the operation or processing of information in accordance with the use of the computer 1200.

[0085] For example, when communication is performed between a computer 1200 and an external device, the CPU 1212 may execute a communication program loaded into the RAM 1214 and, based on the processing described in the communication program, instruct the communication interface 1222 to perform communication processing. Under the control of the CPU 1212, the communication interface 1222 reads transmission data stored in a transmission buffer area provided in a recording medium such as the RAM 1214, storage device 1224, DVD-ROM 1227, or IC card, transmits the read transmission data to the network, or writes received data received from the network to a reception buffer area or the like provided on the recording medium.

[0086] Furthermore, the CPU 1212 may read all or necessary parts of a file or database stored on an external recording medium such as a storage device 1224, a DVD drive 1226 (DVD-ROM 1227), or an IC card into the RAM 1214, and perform various types of processing on the data in the RAM 1214. The CPU 1212 may then write the processed data back to the external recording medium.

[0087] Various types of information, such as various types of programs, data, tables, and databases, may be stored on the recording medium and subjected to information processing. The CPU 1212 may perform various types of processing on the data read from the RAM 1214, including various types of operations, information processing, conditional judgments, conditional branching, unconditional branching, information retrieval / replacement, etc., as described throughout this disclosure and specified by the program instruction sequence, and write the results back to the RAM 1214. The CPU 1212 may also retrieve information in files, databases, etc., within the recording medium. For example, if a plurality of entries are stored in the recording medium, each having an attribute value of a first attribute associated with an attribute value of a second attribute, the CPU 1212 may search among the plurality of entries for an entry that matches the specified condition for the attribute value of the first attribute, read the attribute value of the second attribute stored in that entry, and thereby obtain the attribute value of the second attribute associated with the first attribute that satisfies a predetermined condition.

[0088] The program or software module described above may be stored on or near the computer 1200 in a computer-readable storage medium. Alternatively, a recording medium such as a hard disk or RAM provided within a server system connected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet can be used as a computer-readable storage medium, thereby providing the program to the computer 1200 via the network.

[0089] In this embodiment, blocks in the flowchart and block diagram may represent a stage in a process in which an operation is performed or a "part" of a device that has the role of performing an operation. A particular stage and "part" may be implemented by a dedicated circuit, a programmable circuit supplied with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium, and / or a processor supplied with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium. The dedicated circuit may include digital and / or analog hardware circuits, and may include integrated circuits (ICs) and / or discrete circuits. The programmable circuit may include reconfigurable hardware circuits, such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and programmable logic arrays (PLAs), which include logical AND, logical OR, exclusive OR, negated AND, negated OR, and other logical operations, flip-flops, registers, and memory elements.

[0090] A computer-readable storage medium may include any tangible device capable of storing instructions to be executed by a suitable device, and as a result, a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein will comprise a product that includes instructions that can be executed to create means for performing operations specified in a flowchart or block diagram. Examples of computer-readable storage media may include electronic storage media, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, electromagnetic storage media, semiconductor storage media, etc. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media may include floppy disks, diskettes, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), static random access memory (SRAM), compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital multipurpose disk (DVD), Blu-ray® disk, memory stick, integrated circuit card, etc.

[0091] Computer-readable instructions may include assembler instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state setting data, or source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Smalltalk®, Java®, C++, and conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as the C programming language or similar programming languages.

[0092] Computer-readable instructions may be provided locally or via a wide area network (WAN) such as a local area network (LAN) or the internet to a processor or programmable circuit of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or another programmable data processing device, so that the processor or programmable circuit of the programmable data processing device, such as a computer, may execute the computer-readable instructions to generate means for performing operations specified in a flowchart or block diagram. Here, the computer may be a PC (personal computer), a tablet computer, a smartphone, a workstation, a server computer, a general-purpose computer, or a special-purpose computer, and may also be a computer system in which multiple computers are connected. Such a computer system in which multiple computers are connected is also called a distributed computing system and is a computer in a broad sense. In a distributed computing system, multiple computers execute a program collectively by each computer executing a part of the program and passing data during program execution between computers as needed.

[0093] Examples of processors include computer processors, central processing units (CPUs), processing units, microprocessors, digital signal processors, controllers, and microcontrollers. A computer may have one or more processors. In a multiprocessor system with multiple processors, each processor executes a portion of the program, and the processors collectively execute the program by passing program execution data between them as needed. For example, in the execution of multitasks, each of the multiple processors may execute a portion of each task in small chunks by switching tasks at each time slice. In this case, which part of a program each processor executes changes dynamically. Which part of a program each of the multiple processors executes may also be statically determined by multiprocessor-aware programming.

[0094] By using the invention according to this embodiment, the burden of selecting target UEs for MU-MIMO can be significantly reduced, and it is possible to contribute to achieving at least one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Goal 9, "Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation," and Goal 11, "Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable."

[0095] Although the present invention has been described above using embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be made to the above embodiments. It will be clear from the claims that such modified or improved forms may also be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0096] It should be noted that the execution order of operations, procedures, steps, and stages in the devices, systems, programs, and methods shown in the claims, specifications, and drawings is not explicitly stated as "before" or "prior to," and that these can be performed in any order unless the output of a previous operation is used in a later operation. Even if the operation flow in the claims, specifications, and drawings is described using phrases such as "first," and "next," for convenience, this does not mean that it is mandatory to perform the operations in that order.

[0097] 100 BBU, 200 RU, 210 Array antenna, 212 Antenna element, 214 Coverage range, 220 Coverage area, 222, 224, 226 Coverage range, 300 Control device, 302 Mesh, 310 Sub-area, 320 Memory unit, 322 Communication management unit, 324 Sub-area information generation unit, 326 Location information acquisition unit, 328 Terminal selection unit, 330 Control unit, 400, 402, 404, 406, 408, 410, 412 UE, 500 Management infrastructure, 600 Distributed infrastructure, 700 Wireless base station, 710 RAN, 1200 Computer, 1210 Host controller, 1212 CPU, 1213 GPU, 1214 RAM, 1216 Graphics controller, 1218 Display device, 1220 Input / output controller, 1222 Communication interface, 1224 Storage device, 1226 DVD drive, 1227 DVD-ROM, 1230 ROM, 1240 Input / output chip

Claims

1. A control device comprising: a storage unit that stores sub-area information indicating the range of each of a plurality of sub-areas obtained by dividing a coverage area covered by an array antenna having a plurality of antenna elements based on the interference relationship between a plurality of beams generated by the array antenna; a location information acquisition unit that acquires location information of a plurality of user terminals located within the coverage area; a terminal selection unit that uses the location information of the plurality of user terminals and the sub-area information to select a plurality of user terminals to be targeted for MU-MIMO for each of the plurality of sub-areas, such that no plurality of user terminals are selected for each of the plurality of sub-areas; and a control unit that controls the provision of MU-MIMO to the plurality of user terminals selected by the terminal selection unit.

2. The control device according to claim 1, further comprising a sub-area information generation unit that generates sub-area information to satisfy interference conditions between the plurality of beams based on the coverage range of each of the plurality of beams generated by the array antenna.

3. The control device according to claim 2, wherein the sub-area information generation unit generates the sub-area information based on the coverage range of each of the plurality of beams generated by the array antenna, so as to prevent inter-beam interference between the plurality of beams.

4. The control device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the sub-area information generation unit determines the number of the plurality of sub-areas based on the number of the plurality of antenna elements of the array antenna.

5. The control device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the sub-area information generation unit identifies the coverage range of each of the plurality of beams based on the operating frequencies used by the array antenna.

6. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the plurality of sub-areas are areas obtained by dividing the cover area by a mesh.

7. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the plurality of sub-areas are areas obtained by dividing the cover area into the respective cover ranges of the plurality of beams.

8. A control device comprising: a location information acquisition unit that acquires location information of multiple user terminals located within a coverage area covered by an array antenna having multiple antenna elements; a terminal selection unit that, when sequentially selecting user terminals to be targeted for MU-MIMO from the multiple user terminals, excludes other user terminals located within a sub-area covered by the beam coverage range provided to user terminals already selected; and a control unit that controls the provision of MU-MIMO to the multiple user terminals selected by the terminal selection unit.

9. The control device according to claim 8, wherein the terminal selection unit identifies the coverage range of the beam to be provided to a user terminal that has already been selected, based on the operating frequency used by the array antenna and the number of the plurality of antenna elements that the array antenna has.

10. A program for causing a computer to function as a control device according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

11. A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising a RAN control unit that performs RAN control and an AI processing unit that performs AI processing.

12. A control method performed by a computer, comprising: a storage step of storing sub-area information indicating the range of each of a plurality of sub-areas obtained by dividing a coverage area covered by an array antenna having a plurality of antenna elements based on interference relationships between a plurality of beams generated by the array antenna; a location information acquisition step of acquiring location information of a plurality of user terminals located within the coverage area; a terminal selection step of using the location information of the plurality of user terminals and the sub-area information to select a plurality of user terminals to be targeted for MU-MIMO for each of the plurality of sub-areas, such that no plurality of user terminals are selected for each of the plurality of sub-areas; and a control step of controlling to provide MU-MIMO to the plurality of user terminals selected in the terminal selection step.

13. A control method performed by a computer, comprising: a location information acquisition step of acquiring location information of a plurality of user terminals located within a coverage area covered by an array antenna having a plurality of antenna elements; a terminal selection step of sequentially selecting user terminals to be targeted for MU-MIMO from the plurality of user terminals, excluding other user terminals located within a sub-area covered by the beam coverage range provided to user terminals already selected; and a control step of controlling the provision of MU-MIMO to the plurality of user terminals selected in the terminal selection step.

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