Adaptive Antenna Grouping for MIMO Spectral Efficiency

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing multi-antenna systems in digital communications face inefficiencies due to the discretization of available modulation and coding schemes, leading to spectral efficiency losses and suboptimal capacity utilization, particularly in MIMO systems where active antenna selection does not account for the full range of discrete efficiencies.

Innovation Solution

A method that dynamically groups transmit antennas and assigns specific efficiencies to each group based on channel information, allowing for adaptive power allocation and active antenna selection to optimize throughput and robustness, while minimizing quantization noise and maintaining system capacity.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of manufacture

If discrete modulation and coding schemes are used for transmission, then implementation simplicity is improved, but spectral efficiency is reduced due to quantization losses

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveimplementation simplicityVSAvoidspectral efficiency loss
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent changes the parameter of efficiency allocation from individual antenna level to group level. By grouping antennas and allocating efficiencies at the group level rather than individual antenna level, the system reduces the quantization granularity while maintaining implementation feasibility with discrete MCS tables. This resolves the contradiction by allowing coarser efficiency steps that match available MCS tables, thereby reducing spectral efficiency loss without complicating the implementation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Productivity

If all transmit antennas are activated independently, then system capacity is improved, but interference cancellation complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesystem capacityVSAvoidinterference cancellation complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the set of transmit antennas into multiple groups, where each group is associated with a specific efficiency level and processed together. This segmentation reduces the complexity of interference cancellation by treating antennas in the same group as having equivalent characteristics, thereby reducing the number of independent interference cancellation operations needed while maintaining most of the system capacity through parallel group processing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent merges antennas into groups based on their channel characteristics and efficiency levels. By combining multiple antennas into single groups with shared efficiency parameters, the system reduces the overall complexity of the interference cancellation process while preserving the capacity benefits of multiple transmit antennas through the grouped structure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

3Loss of energy

If antenna efficiency is adapted per antenna, then spectral efficiency is improved, but feedback overhead increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvespectral efficiencyVSAvoidfeedback overhead
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of energyVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the feedback requirements by allocating efficiencies at the group level rather than individual antenna level. This reduces the amount of feedback information needed to be transmitted from receiver to transmitter, as fewer efficiency parameters need to be reported. The spectral efficiency is maintained through adaptive grouping and efficiency allocation, while the feedback overhead is reduced by the coarser granularity of group-based efficiency reporting.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

4Device complexity

If discrete efficiency levels are assigned to antennas, then implementation complexity is reduced, but capacity utilization becomes suboptimal

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveimplementation complexityVSAvoidcapacity utilization
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent changes the efficiency allocation parameter from individual antenna level to group level, allowing the system to use discrete efficiency levels (matching available MCS tables) while achieving better capacity utilization through optimized grouping strategies. The grouping allows more flexible adaptation to channel conditions while maintaining compatibility with discrete MCS implementations, thereby improving capacity utilization without increasing implementation complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP2062377B1Adaptive method of transmitting and receiving a signal in a multi-antenna system, corresponding transmission and reception devices, computer program products and signal
Publication Date: 2014.04.09 ORANGE SA
  • EP2062377B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP2062377B1 patent drawingFigure 3~5
  • EP2062377B1 patent drawingFigure 6~8

AI summary

The invention relates to a method of receiving a signal received (11), corresponding to a data signal transmitted by a transmitter to a receiver via a transmission channel. According to the invention, such a method comprises the following steps: - analyzing (12) said signal received, delivering an information item (14) representative of said transmission channel; determining, periodically and/or as a function of a variation of said transmission channel, at least one distribution of said transmission antennas into at least one group of at least one antenna, as a function of said information item representative of the transmission channel, at least one group comprising at least two transmission antennas for at least one of said determinations; specific efficiencies assigned respectively to each of said groups of antennas, for each distribution as a function of said information item representative of the transmission channel -, transmitting to said transmitter a parameterization signal (15) defining the distribution or distributions and the specific efficiencies.