Control device, program, and control method

Abstract

Provided is a control device comprising: an information acquisition unit that acquires calibration-related information including base station location information of a wireless base station having a phased array antenna to be calibrated, base station environment information indicating an environment of an area in which the wireless base station is located, terminal location information of a wireless communication terminal serving as a communication counterpart of the wireless base station, and terminal environment information indicating an environment of an area in which the wireless communication terminal is located; a priority determination unit that determines a priority of calibration of each of a plurality of antenna elements included in the phased array antenna; and a calibration execution unit that calibrates each of the plurality of antenna elements on the basis of the calibration-related information in descending order of the priority determined by the priority determination unit while communication between the wireless base station and the wireless communication terminal is in progress.

Description

Control Device, Program, and Control Method

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

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a REV method (Rotating element Electric-field Vector method), which is a method for estimating and correcting the excitation phase amplitude error of each element of an array antenna. [Prior Art Documents] [Patent Documents] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2023-139809

[0003] Since the REV method takes a very long time for calibration, for example, it is difficult to apply the REV method when attempting to calibrate a phased array antenna for a wireless communication terminal in real time.

[0004] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a control device having a technology that contributes to solving such problems is provided. The control device may include an information acquisition unit that acquires calibration-related information including base station-related information including base station position information of a wireless base station having a phased array antenna to be calibrated, and terminal-related information including terminal position information of a wireless communication terminal that is a communication partner of the wireless base station. The control device may include a priority determination unit that determines the priority of calibration for each of a plurality of antenna elements included in the phased array antenna. The control device may include a control unit that controls each of the plurality of antenna elements to be calibrated based on the calibration-related information in descending order of the priority determined by the priority determination unit while communication between the wireless base station and the wireless communication terminal is being executed.

[0005] In the control device, the priority determination unit may increase the priority of an antenna element closer to the center of the plurality of antenna elements among the plurality of antenna elements.

[0006] In any of the control devices described above, the priority determination unit may give a higher priority to antenna elements among the plurality of antenna elements that have a larger phase error value, which is identified based on the history of phase errors, which is the difference between a set phase and the phase of a radio wave transmitted according to the set phase and received by a wireless communication terminal.

[0007] In any of the control devices described above, the priority determination unit may give a higher priority to antenna elements among the plurality of antenna elements that have a larger amplitude error value, which is identified based on the history of amplitude errors, which is the difference between a set amplitude and the amplitude of radio waves transmitted according to the set amplitude and received by a wireless communication terminal.

[0008] Any of the above-mentioned control devices may include: a storage unit that stores learning data including multiple datasets, each containing at least one of the phase error and amplitude error of each of the multiple antenna elements, when a wireless communication terminal sequentially receives radio waves transmitted sequentially by a wireless base station having a phased array antenna using each of the multiple antenna elements of the phased array antenna, as well as base station-related information of the wireless base station and terminal-related information of the wireless communication terminal; and a learning model generation unit that performs machine learning using the learning data to generate a learning model that takes base station-related information of a wireless base station having a phased array antenna and terminal-related information of a wireless communication terminal as inputs and outputs at least one of the phase error and amplitude error of each of the multiple antenna elements of the phased array antenna of the wireless base station. The control unit may control each of the multiple antenna elements to input the base station-related information and terminal-related information included in the calibration-related information into the learning model and perform calibration to reduce at least one of the phase error and amplitude error output from the learning model. The base station-related information may include the hardware temperature of the phased array antenna. The base station-related information may include ambient humidity around the phased array antenna. The base station-related information may include weather information for the area where the radio base station and the radio communication terminal are located. The terminal-related information may include the speed of movement of the radio communication terminal. The terminal-related information may include the direction of movement of the radio communication terminal. The dataset may further include three-dimensional map data including at least the area between the radio base station and the radio communication terminal, and the calibration-related information may further include three-dimensional map data including at least the area between the radio base station and the radio communication terminal to be calibrated.

[0009] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a program is provided for causing a computer to function as the control device.

[0010] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a control method performed by a computer is provided. The control method may include an information acquisition step of acquiring calibration-related information including base station location information of a radio base station having a phased array antenna to be calibrated, base station environment information indicating the environment of the area where the radio base station is located, terminal location information of a wireless communication terminal that is a communication partner of the radio base station, and terminal environment information indicating the environment of the area where the wireless communication terminal is located. The control method may include a priority determination step of determining the calibration priority of each of the plurality of antenna elements of the phased array antenna. The control method may include a calibration execution step of calibrating each of the plurality of antenna elements in order of the highest priority determined in the priority determination step, based on the calibration-related information, while communication between the radio base station and the wireless communication terminal is being performed.

[0011] Any of the above-mentioned control devices may include a RAN (Radio Access Network) control unit and an AI (Artificial Intelligence) processing unit that performs AI (Artificial Intelligence) processing. The AI ​​processing unit may include the learning data generation unit.

[0012] AI processing can be categorized into two types: AI processing related to RAN control (sometimes referred to as RAN-controlled AI processing) and AI processing not related to RAN control (sometimes referred to as non-RAN-controlled AI processing).

[0013] 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.

[0014] 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.

[0015] 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.

[0016] A schematic diagram of an example of the control device 100 is shown. This is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a method for determining the calibration priority of multiple antenna elements 212 by the control device 100. This is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a method for determining the calibration priority of multiple antenna elements 212 by the control device 100. A schematic diagram of an example of the functional configuration of the control device 100 is shown. A schematic diagram illustrating an example of the processing flow by the control device 100 is shown. A schematic diagram illustrating an example of an environment in which the control device 100 is applied is shown. A schematic diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of the control device 100 is shown. A schematic diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of a computer 1200 that functions as the control device 100 is shown.

[0017] 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.

[0018] Figure 1 schematically shows an example of the control device 100. The control device 100 controls the calibration of multiple antenna elements 212 of the phased array antenna 210 provided by the wireless base station 200.

[0019] The wireless base station 200 provides wireless communication services to multiple wireless communication terminals 300 within the coverage area 220 by performing beamforming using the phased array antenna 210.

[0020] The wireless base station 200 transmits radio waves to the wireless communication terminal 300 using the phased array antenna 210 so that they reach the target phase and amplitude. However, errors occur in the radio waves that reach the wireless communication terminal 300 due to various factors. These factors include variations in phase and amplitude due to multipath, changes in the antenna characteristics of the phased array antenna 210 due to temperature, deterioration of the phased array antenna 210 over time, and instability in the power supply to the phased array antenna 210.

[0021] In order to reduce such errors, the control device 100 according to this embodiment controls the wireless base station 200 to perform real-time calibration of the phased array antenna 210.

[0022] Traditionally, the REV method has been known as a calibration method for phased array antennas. In the REV method, the relative amplitude and relative phase of the transmitting antenna element electric field can be determined by measuring only the amplitude of the combined array power of the receiving antenna, making calibration possible. In the REV method, the excitation phase of multiple antenna elements is changed 360 degrees for each element, and the change in the combined electric field of the receiving terminal that receives the radio waves changes along the cosine, and the relative amplitude and relative phase of the element electric field are measured (the relative amplitude and phase difference between antennas is made a relative fixed value). If there are n antenna elements, n trials are performed. The relative fixed values ​​are converted into correction vectors between antennas. The calibration is performed in this manner and is very time-consuming, so it is considered unsuitable for real-time calibration.

[0023] The control device 100 according to this embodiment controls the calibration of the phased array antenna 210 using AI. The error in the radio waves transmitted by the phased array antenna 210 to the radio base station 200 depends on the location of the radio base station 200, the location of the wireless communication terminal 300, the hardware temperature of the phased array antenna 210, the ambient humidity of the phased array antenna 210, the weather in the area where the radio base station 200 and the wireless communication terminal 300 are located, the speed of movement of the wireless communication terminal 300, and the direction of movement of the wireless communication terminal 300.

[0024] The control device 100 generates a dataset that includes, for example, the error of each of the multiple antenna elements 212 when the radio waves transmitted sequentially by the radio base station 200 using each of the multiple antenna elements 212 are sequentially received by the wireless communication terminal 300, base station-related information which includes at least the location information of the radio base station 200 (sometimes referred to as base station location information), and terminal-related information which includes at least the location information of the wireless communication terminal 300 (sometimes referred to as terminal location information).

[0025] The error in the antenna element 212 may include a phase error. The phase error may be the difference between the phase set for the phased array antenna 210 to arrive at the target phase and the phase in the radio waves received by the wireless communication terminal 300.

[0026] The error in the antenna element 212 may include amplitude error. The amplitude error may be the difference between the amplitude set for the phased array antenna 210 to reach the target amplitude and the amplitude of the radio wave received by the wireless communication terminal 300.

[0027] The base station-related information may further include, in addition to the base station location information, at least one of the following: the hardware temperature of the phased array antenna 210, the ambient humidity around the phased array antenna 210, and weather information for the area where the wireless base station 200 and wireless communication terminal 300 are located. The weather information may include the type of weather, such as sunny, cloudy, or rainy. The weather information may also include temperature. The weather information may also include humidity.

[0028] In addition to terminal location information, terminal-related information may further include at least one of the following: the speed at which the wireless communication terminal 300 moves, the direction in which the wireless communication terminal 300 moves, and the temperature of the hardware of the wireless communication terminal 300.

[0029] The dataset may further include three-dimensional map data that includes at least the area between the wireless base station 200 and the wireless communication terminal 300. The three-dimensional map data includes terrain, buildings and other structures, trees and other natural objects, etc.

[0030] Dataset generation may be performed experimentally. In this case, the wireless communication terminal 300 may be an experimental radio wave receiving device, or it may be a general terminal such as a smartphone. The phase error of each of the multiple antenna elements 212 may be measured by any measurement method. One specific example is to generate stable light of a single wavelength using a coherent light source (fiber laser, semiconductor laser, etc.), send the generated light to the antenna elements 212 using an optical fiber, collect the reflected and transmitted light from the antenna elements 212, synthesize the optical signal obtained from the object to be measured with a reference optical signal using an interferometer to form an interference pattern, visualize the phase difference as a change in light intensity (interference fringes), analyze the change in brightness of the interference fringes and the position of the pattern, and calculate the phase error of the object to be measured from the phase shift of the interference fringes, but this is not limited to this method, and any measurement method may be used. Dataset generation may also be performed by simulation.

[0031] The control device 100 may perform machine learning using training data that includes multiple datasets to generate a learning model that takes base station-related information of the wireless base station 200 and terminal-related information of the wireless communication terminal 300 as inputs and outputs the errors of each of the multiple antenna elements 212 of the phased array antenna 210 of the wireless base station 200. The errors may include phase errors, may include amplitude errors, or may include both phase errors and amplitude errors.

[0032] The control device 100 may input calibration-related information, including base station-related information of the wireless base station 200 to be calibrated and terminal-related information of the wireless communication terminal 300, into the learning model and control the wireless base station 200 to perform calibration in order to reduce the phase error of each of the multiple antenna elements 212 output from the learning model. This makes it possible to perform calibration in a very short time compared to the REV method and to achieve real-time calibration.

[0033] The control device 100 further determines the calibration priority of the multiple antenna elements 212 and controls the multiple antenna elements 212 to be calibrated using calibration-related information in order of priority.

[0034] Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a method for determining the calibration priority of multiple antenna elements 212 by the control device 100. Figure 2 shows an example where there are 16 antenna elements 212, but the number of antenna elements 212 is not limited to this. For example, examples of the number of antenna elements 212 in a phased array antenna 210 include, but are not limited to, 32, 64, 128, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, and 8192.

[0035] In the example shown in Figure 2, the control device 100 prioritizes the antenna element 212 that is closer to the center 214 among the multiple antenna elements 212. In other words, the control device 100 gives a higher priority to the antenna element 212 that is closer to the center 214. In Figure 2, the numbers within the antenna elements 212 indicate priority, with "1" being the highest priority and the priority decreasing as you move from "2" to "3".

[0036] The control device 100 may determine the priority of multiple antenna elements 212 that can be considered to be at the same distance from the center 214 in an order from left to right and from top to bottom, or it may determine the priority randomly. Being considered to be at the same distance from the center 214 includes not only being at the same distance from the center 214, but also being at the same distance from the center 214. In the example shown in Figure 2, the control device 100 assigns the priorities "1", "2", "3", and "4" to four antenna elements 212 that can be considered to be at the same distance from the center 214 in an order from left to right and from top to bottom. The control device 100 also assigns the priorities "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "10", "11", and "12" to eight antenna elements 212 that can be considered to be at the same distance from the center 214 in an order from left to right and from top to bottom. Furthermore, the control device 100 assigns the numbers "13", "14", "15", and "16" to the four antenna elements 212 that can be considered to be at the same distance from the center 214, in the order from left to right and from top to bottom.

[0037] Among the multiple antenna elements 212, the closer an antenna element 212 is to the center 214, the greater its influence on the beamforming of the phased array antenna 210. Therefore, by giving higher priority to the antenna elements 212 closer to the center 214, the control device 100 can perform calibration in order from the antenna elements 212 that have a greater influence on beamforming, enabling faster and error-reducing real-time calibration.

[0038] Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a method for determining the calibration priority of multiple antenna elements 212 by the control device 100. Here, we will explain several differences from Figure 2.

[0039] In the example shown in Figure 3, the control device 100 prioritizes the antenna element 212 that is closer to the center 214 of the multiple antenna elements 212, and also prioritizes the antenna element 212 with a larger error value 216 based on the error history.

[0040] The error value 216 based on the error history may be any value that increases as the errors in past multiple trials are larger. For example, the error value 216 based on the error history may be the average value of the errors in past multiple trials. For example, the error value 216 based on the error history may be the median value of the errors in past multiple trials. The error value 216 based on the error history may also be any other statistical value. The error of each of the multiple antenna elements 212 may be determined by conducting experiments periodically.

[0041] The error history may be a history of phase errors, and the error value 216 based on the error history may be a phase error value. For example, the phase error value may be the average of multiple past phase errors. For example, the phase error value may be the median of multiple past phase errors. The phase error value may also be a statistical value other than those mentioned above.

[0042] The error history may be a history of amplitude errors, and the error value 216 based on the error history may be an amplitude error value. For example, the amplitude error value may be the average of multiple past amplitude errors. For example, the amplitude error value may be the median of multiple past amplitude errors. The amplitude error value may also be a statistical value other than those mentioned above.

[0043] The error history may include both the phase error history and the amplitude error history. The error value 216 based on the error history may be determined from the phase error history and the amplitude error history. For example, the error value may be the average of the phase error value, which increases as the past phase errors increase, and the amplitude error value, which increases as the past amplitude errors increase. The error value may also be the average obtained by applying different weights to the phase error value, which increases as the past phase errors increase, and the amplitude error value, which increases as the past amplitude errors increase, and averaging them.

[0044] As a specific example, the control device 100 prioritizes antenna elements 212 with larger error values among a plurality of antenna elements 212 that can be regarded as having the same distance from the center 214. In the example shown in FIG. 3, among the four antenna elements 212 having the shortest distance from the center 214, the control device 100 sets the priority of the antenna element 212 with the largest error value to "1", and sets "2", "3", and "4" in descending order of the error value 216. Further, among the eight antenna elements 212 having the next shortest distance from the center 214, the control device 100 sets the priority of the antenna element 212 with the largest error value 216 to 5, and sets "6", "7", "8", "9", "10", and "11" in descending order of the error value 216. Further, among the four antenna elements 212 having the next shortest distance from the center 214, the control device 100 sets the priority of the antenna element 212 with the largest error value 216 to "12", and sets "13", "14", "15", and "16" in descending order of the error value 216. Note that when there are a plurality of antenna elements 212 having the same error value 216 among the plurality of antenna elements 212 that can be regarded as having the same distance from the center 214, the control device 100 may determine the priority in the order from left to right and from top to bottom, or may determine the priority randomly.

[0045] The error value 216 based on the error history takes a larger value as the error in the past plurality of times is larger. Therefore, a large error value 216 indicates that there is a high possibility that the current error is also large. Thus, by determining the priorities of the plurality of antenna elements 212 as shown in FIG. 3, the control device 100 can perform calibration in order from the antenna elements 212 having a greater influence on beamforming, and among them, can perform calibration in order from the antenna elements 212 having a high possibility of a large current error. When performing real-time calibration, it becomes possible to reduce the error more quickly.

[0046] Note that, in FIG. 3, an example is shown in which priorities are determined by error values 216 for a plurality of antenna elements 212 that can be regarded as having the same distance from the center 214, but the present invention is not limited to this. The control device 100 determines, for each of the plurality of antenna elements 212, a first value that is higher as the distance from the center 214 is closer, and a second value that is higher as the error value 216 is larger, and may determine the priority using the first value and the second value. For example, the control device 100 determines a higher priority as the value obtained by multiplying the first value and the second value is higher. For example, the control device 100 determines a higher priority as the value obtained by multiplying the first value and the second value after applying different weights to them is higher. For example, the control device 100 determines a higher priority as the value obtained by adding the first value and the second value is higher. For example, the control device 100 determines a higher priority as the value obtained by adding the first value and the second value after applying different weights to them is higher.

[0047] FIG. 4 schematically shows an example of the functional configuration of the control device 100. The control device 100 includes a storage unit 102, a learning data acquisition unit 104, a learning model generation unit 106, an information acquisition unit 108, a priority determination unit 110, and a control unit 112.

[0048] The storage unit 102 stores various types of information. For example, the storage unit 102 stores the position information of each of the plurality of radio base stations 200. The position information of each of the plurality of radio base stations 200 may be registered in the control device 100 in advance. For example, the storage unit 102 stores three-dimensional map data including at least the area where the plurality of radio base stations 200 are arranged. The storage unit 102 may store three-dimensional map data of the whole country, or may store three-dimensional map data of the area where the plurality of radio base stations 200 are arranged.

[0049] The learning data acquisition unit 104 acquires learning data. The learning data acquisition unit 104 stores the acquired learning data in the storage unit 102. The learning data includes multiple datasets. The dataset may include, when a wireless base station 200 having a phased array antenna 210 sequentially transmits radio waves using each of the multiple antenna elements 212 of the phased array antenna 210, and a wireless communication terminal 300 sequentially receives these radio waves, at least one of the phase error and amplitude error of each of the multiple antenna elements 212, as well as base station-related information including at least the base station location information of the wireless base station 200, and terminal-related information including at least the terminal location information of the wireless communication terminal 300. The dataset may further include three-dimensional map data including at least the area between the wireless base station 200 and the wireless communication terminal 300.

[0050] Base station-related information may include the hardware temperature of the phased array antenna 210 when the radio waves transmitted sequentially by the radio base station 200 using each of the antenna elements 212 are sequentially received by the radio communication terminal 300. Base station-related information may include the ambient humidity of the phased array antenna 210 when the radio waves transmitted sequentially by the radio base station 200 using each of the antenna elements 212 are sequentially received by the radio communication terminal 300. Base station-related information may include weather information for the area where the radio base station 200 and the radio communication terminal 300 are located when the radio waves transmitted sequentially by the radio base station 200 using each of the antenna elements 212 are sequentially received by the radio communication terminal 300.

[0051] Terminal-related information may include the speed at which the wireless communication terminal 300 moves when it sequentially receives radio waves transmitted sequentially by the wireless base station 200 using each of the antenna elements 212. Terminal-related information may also include the direction of movement of the wireless communication terminal 300 when it sequentially receives radio waves transmitted sequentially by the wireless base station 200 using each of the antenna elements 212.

[0052] The learning model generation unit 106 performs machine learning using the learning data stored in the storage unit 102, taking base station-related information of a wireless base station 200 having a phased array antenna 210 and terminal-related information of a wireless communication terminal 300 as input, and generates a learning model that outputs at least one of the phase error and amplitude error of each of the multiple antenna elements 212 of the phased array antenna 210 of the wireless base station 200. The learning model generation unit 106 stores the generated learning model in the storage unit 102.

[0053] The information acquisition unit 108 acquires calibration-related information, including information on the wireless base station 200 and wireless communication terminal 300 (sometimes referred to as the target base station and target terminal) to be calibrated. The calibration-related information may include base station-related information, including the base station location information of the target base station. The calibration-related information may also include terminal-related information, including the terminal location information of the target terminal.

[0054] The information acquisition unit 108 may acquire location information of the target base station from the storage unit 102. The information acquisition unit 108 may acquire location information of the target terminal managed on the core network side of the mobile communication network. On the core network side, when the target terminal is communicating with multiple radio base stations 200, the relative position of the wireless communication terminal 300 is estimated by triangulation or the like using the location information of those radio base stations 200, and the information acquisition unit 108 may acquire the location information of the wireless communication terminal 300 estimated in this way. The information acquisition unit 108 may also acquire location information of the target terminal from the target terminal. The information acquisition unit 108 may acquire location information of the target terminal from the target terminal, for example, if the target terminal has acquired the location information of the target terminal using at least one of the following: GPS (Global Positioning System) positioning, GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) positioning, Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) positioning, and cell positioning. Examples of GPS positioning include RTK-GPS (Real-Time Kinetic GPS), PPP-GPS (Precise Point Positioning GPS), and differential GPS (DGPS), but any of these may be used, or other types may be used.

[0055] Calibration-related information may further include three-dimensional map data that includes at least the region between the target base station and the target terminal. The information acquisition unit 108 may acquire three-dimensional map data that includes at least the region between the target base station and the target terminal from the storage unit 102.

[0056] The priority determination unit 110 determines the calibration priority of the multiple antenna elements 212 of the target base station.

[0057] The priority determination unit 110 determines the priority of the multiple antenna elements 212 based on the distance between each of the multiple antenna elements 212 and the center 214 of the multiple antenna elements 212. The priority determination unit 110 gives a higher priority to the antenna elements that are closer to the center 214 of the multiple antenna elements 212. If there are multiple antenna elements 212 that can be considered to be at the same distance from the center 214, the priority determination unit 110 may determine the priority of those multiple antenna elements 212 in an order from left to right and top to bottom, or it may determine the priority randomly.

[0058] The priority determination unit 110 determines the priority of the multiple antenna elements 212 based on, for example, the error value based on the error history of each of the multiple antenna elements 212.

[0059] The priority determination unit 110 determines the priority of the multiple antenna elements 212 based on the phase error values ​​of each of the multiple antenna elements 212. For example, the priority determination unit 110 assigns a higher priority to antenna elements 212 with larger phase error values.

[0060] The priority determination unit 110 determines the priority of the multiple antenna elements 212 based on, for example, the amplitude error value of each of the multiple antenna elements 212. The priority determination unit 110, for example, gives a higher priority to the antenna elements 212 with larger amplitude error values.

[0061] The priority determination unit 110 may determine the priority of each of the multiple antenna elements 212 using both the phase error value and the amplitude error value. For example, the priority determination unit 110 may give a higher priority to antenna elements 212 whose average value of the phase error value and the amplitude error value is larger. For example, the priority determination unit 110 may give a higher priority to antenna elements 212 whose average value obtained by applying different weights to the phase error value and the amplitude error value and averaging them is larger. For example, the priority determination unit 110 may give a higher priority to antenna elements 212 whose product of the phase error value and the amplitude error value is larger. For example, the priority determination unit 110 may give a higher priority to antenna elements 212 whose product of the phase error value and the amplitude error value is larger. For example, the priority determination unit 110 may give a higher priority to antenna elements 212 whose sum of the phase error value and the amplitude error value is larger. For example, the priority determination unit 110 assigns a higher priority to antenna elements 212 whose sum is obtained by applying different weights to the phase error value and amplitude error value, respectively.

[0062] The priority determination unit 110 may determine the priority of the multiple antenna elements 212 based on the distance between each of the multiple antenna elements 212 and the center 214 of the multiple antenna elements 212, and the error value based on the error history of each of the multiple antenna elements 212. For example, the priority determination unit 110 may give a higher priority to the antenna element 212 that is closer to the center 214, and also give a higher priority to the antenna element 212 with a larger error value among multiple antenna elements 212 that can be considered to be at the same distance from the center 214. For example, the priority determination unit 110 may give a higher priority to the antenna element 212 with a larger error value, and also give a higher priority to the antenna element 212 that is closer to the center 214 among multiple antenna elements 212 that can be considered to have the same error value. Being considered to have the same error value may include having the same error value, or it may include having the error value within a predetermined difference.

[0063] The priority determination unit 110 may determine a priority for each of the multiple antenna elements 212, assigning a first value that is higher the closer the distance from the center 214, and a second value that is higher the larger the error value, and then using the first and second values ​​to determine the priority. For example, the priority determination unit 110 may determine a higher priority the higher the product of the first and second values. For example, the priority determination unit 110 may determine a higher priority the higher the product of the first and second values. For example, the priority determination unit 110 may determine a higher priority the higher the product of the first and second values ​​after applying different weights to them. For example, the priority determination unit 110 may determine a higher priority the higher the sum of the first and second values. For example, the priority determination unit 110 may determine a higher priority the higher the sum of the first and second values ​​after applying different weights to them.

[0064] The control unit 112 controls the calibration of multiple antenna elements 212 of the phased array antenna 210 by the wireless base station 200. While communication is being performed between the wireless base station 200 and the wireless communication terminal 300, the control unit 112 controls the calibration of the multiple antenna elements 212 in order of priority determined by the priority determination unit 110, based on the calibration-related information acquired by the information acquisition unit 108.

[0065] The control unit 112 may control each of the multiple antenna elements 212 to input the base station-related information and terminal-related information included in the calibration-related information into the learning model generated by the learning model generation unit 106, and perform calibration to reduce at least one of the phase error and amplitude error output from the learning model.

[0066] The calibration control by the control device 100 may be performed continuously while the radio base station 200 and the wireless communication terminal 300 are communicating. For example, the calibration control by the control device 100 may be performed periodically while the radio base station 200 and the wireless communication terminal 300 are communicating. For example, periodically, the information acquisition unit 108 acquires calibration-related information, the priority determination unit 110 determines the calibration priority of the multiple antenna elements 212, and the control unit 112 controls the multiple antenna elements 212 to be calibrated in order of the priority determined by the priority determination unit 110, based on the calibration-related information acquired by the information acquisition unit 108. The control device 100 may control each of the multiple wireless communication terminals 300 communicating with the radio base station 200 to perform calibration between the radio base station 200 and the wireless communication terminal 300.

[0067] Figure 5 schematically shows an example of the processing flow by the control device 100. Here, we will explain the processing flow when controlling the calibration of a phased array antenna 210, targeting a wireless base station 200 and one wireless communication terminal 300.

[0068] In step 102 (sometimes abbreviated as S), the information acquisition unit 108 acquires calibration-related information for the target base station and the target terminal. The calibration-related information may include base station-related information for the target base station and terminal-related information for the target terminal. The calibration-related information may further include 3D map data that includes at least the region between the target base station and the target terminal.

[0069] In S104, the priority determination unit 110 determines the calibration priority of the multiple antenna elements 212 of the target terminal.

[0070] In S106, the control unit 112 controls the wireless base station 200 to calibrate the antenna elements 212 of the target base station in the order of priority determined by the priority determination unit 110 in S104, based on the calibration-related information acquired by the information acquisition unit 108 in S102.

[0071] If calibration is to be completed (YES in S108), the process is terminated; otherwise, the process returns to S102. The control device 100 may perform the process shown in Figure 5 for each of the multiple wireless communication terminals 300.

[0072] Figure 6 schematically shows an example of an environment to which the control device 100 is applied. The environment shown in Figure 6 comprises a management infrastructure 400, a plurality of distributed infrastructures 500, and a plurality of wireless base stations 200. In this environment, the management infrastructure 400 and the plurality of distributed infrastructures 500 may cooperate to control the RAN 250 and perform AI processing.

[0073] RAN250 may be a virtualized vRAN (Virtual RAN). RAN250 may also be a physical RAN.

[0074] The AI ​​processing performed by the management infrastructure 400 and the multiple distributed infrastructures 500 may include RAN control AI processing. The AI ​​processing performed by the management infrastructure 400 and the multiple distributed infrastructures 500 may include non-RAN control AI processing.

[0075] The distributed infrastructure 500 may be data centers located in various locations. The distributed infrastructure 500 may be composed of multiple devices. The distributed infrastructure 500 may be implemented on a virtualization infrastructure consisting of multiple devices. The distributed infrastructure 500 may be implemented by a single device. That is, the distributed infrastructure 500 may be a distributed device. The distributed infrastructure 500 may function as a BBU (BaseBand Unit), and the wireless base station 200 may function as an RRU (Remote Radio Unit). The distributed infrastructure 500 may implement a CU. The distributed infrastructure 500 may implement a DU. The distributed infrastructure 500 may implement a UPF (User Plane Function).

[0076] The management infrastructure 400 may be a data center that manages multiple distributed infrastructures 500. The management infrastructure 400 may be composed of multiple devices. The management infrastructure 400 may be implemented on a virtualization infrastructure consisting of multiple devices. The management infrastructure 400 may be implemented by a single device. In other words, the management infrastructure 400 may be a management device.

[0077] The management infrastructure 400 may be called the Core Brain, and the distributed infrastructure 500 may be called the Regional Brain. Note that Figure 6 illustrates a case where a single-layer distributed infrastructure 500 is located below the management infrastructure 400, but it is not limited to this. The distributed infrastructure 500 may have multiple layers. For example, if two layers of distributed infrastructure 500 are located below the management infrastructure 400, the management infrastructure 400 may be called the Core Brain, the distributed infrastructure 500 in the layer below it may be called the Regional Brain, and the distributed infrastructure 500 in the layer below that may be called the Sub-Regional Brain.

[0078] The distributed infrastructure 500 may have one or more CPUs (Central Processing Units). The distributed infrastructure 500 may have one or more GPUs (Graphics Processing Units). The distributed infrastructure 500 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 500 may have CPU resources and GPU resources as computing resources.

[0079] The control device 100 may be located on a distributed infrastructure 500. The control device 100 located on the distributed infrastructure 500 may perform RAN control and AI processing.

[0080] Figure 7 schematically shows an example of the functional configuration of the control device 100 when it is deployed on a distributed infrastructure 500. Here, we will mainly explain the differences from Figure 4. The control device 100 comprises a RAN control unit 120 that performs RAN control and an AI processing unit 130 that performs AI processing. The AI ​​processing unit 130 has a learning data acquisition unit 104 and a learning model generation unit 106.

[0081] Figure 8 schematically shows an example of the hardware configuration of a computer 1200 that functions as a control device 100. 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.

[0082] 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.

[0083] 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.

[0084] 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.

[0085] 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.

[0086] 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.

[0087] 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.

[0088] 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.

[0089] 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.

[0090] 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.

[0091] 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.

[0092] 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.

[0093] 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.

[0094] 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.

[0095] 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.

[0096] By using the invention according to this embodiment, it is possible to perform real-time calibration of the phased array antenna of a wireless base station, and 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."

[0097] 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.

[0098] 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.

[0099] 100 Control device, 102 Storage unit, 104 Learning data acquisition unit, 106 Learning model generation unit, 108 Information acquisition unit, 110 Priority determination unit, 112 Control unit, 120 RAN control unit, 130 AI processing unit, 200 Wireless base station, 210 Phased array antenna, 212 Antenna element, 214 Center, 216 Error value, 220 Coverage area, 250 RAN, 300 Wireless communication terminal, 400 Management infrastructure, 500 Distributed infrastructure, 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: an information acquisition unit that acquires base station-related information including base station location information of a radio base station having a phased array antenna to be calibrated, and calibration-related information including terminal location information of a wireless communication terminal that is a communication partner of the radio base station; a priority determination unit that determines the calibration priority of each of the plurality of antenna elements of the phased array antenna; and a control unit that controls each of the plurality of antenna elements to be calibrated based on the calibration-related information in order of the highest priority determined by the priority determination unit while communication between the radio base station and the wireless communication terminal is being performed.

2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the priority determination unit gives a higher priority to the antenna element that is closer to the center of the plurality of antenna elements.

3. The control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the priority determination unit gives higher priority to antenna elements among the plurality of antenna elements that have a larger phase error value, which is identified based on the history of phase errors, which is the difference between a set phase and the phase of a radio wave transmitted according to the set phase and received by a wireless communication terminal.

4. The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the priority determination unit gives higher priority to antenna elements among the plurality of antenna elements that have a larger amplitude error value, which is identified based on the history of amplitude error, which is the difference between a set amplitude and the amplitude of a radio wave transmitted according to the set amplitude and received by a wireless communication terminal.

5. A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising: a storage unit that stores learning data including a plurality of datasets, each including at least one of the phase error and amplitude error of each of the plurality of antenna elements, when a wireless communication terminal sequentially receives radio waves transmitted sequentially by a wireless base station having a phased array antenna using each of the plurality of antenna elements of the phased array antenna, base station-related information of the wireless base station, and terminal-related information of the wireless communication terminal; and a learning model generation unit that performs machine learning using the learning data to generate a learning model that takes base station-related information of a wireless base station having a phased array antenna and terminal-related information of a wireless communication terminal as inputs and outputs at least one of the phase error and amplitude error of each of the plurality of antenna elements of the phased array antenna of the wireless base station, wherein the control unit controls each of the plurality of antenna elements to input the base station-related information and terminal-related information included in the calibration-related information into the learning model, and to perform calibration to reduce at least one of the phase error and amplitude error output from the learning model.

6. The control device according to claim 5, wherein the base station-related information includes the temperature of the hardware of the phased array antenna.

7. The control device according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the base station-related information includes the ambient humidity of the phased array antenna.

8. The control device according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the base station-related information includes weather information for the area where the wireless base station and the wireless communication terminal are located.

9. The control device according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein the terminal-related information includes the mobile speed of the wireless communication terminal.

10. The control device according to any one of claims 5 to 9, wherein the terminal-related information includes the direction of movement of the wireless communication terminal.

11. The control device according to any one of claims 5 to 10, wherein the dataset further includes three-dimensional map data including at least the area between the wireless base station and the wireless communication terminal, and the calibration-related information further includes three-dimensional map data including at least the area between the wireless base station and the wireless communication terminal to be calibrated.

12. A program for causing a computer to function as a control device according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. A control method performed by a computer, comprising: an information acquisition step of acquiring calibration-related information including base station location information of a radio base station having a phased array antenna to be calibrated, base station environment information indicating the environment of the area where the radio base station is located, terminal location information of a wireless communication terminal that is a communication partner of the radio base station, and terminal environment information indicating the environment of the area where the wireless communication terminal is located; a priority determination step of determining the calibration priority of each of the plurality of antenna elements of the phased array antenna; and a calibration execution step of calibrating each of the plurality of antenna elements in order of the highest priority determined in the priority determination step, based on the calibration-related information, while communication between the radio base station and the wireless communication terminal is being performed.

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