Antenna Mapping and Diversity via Beam Combination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional MIMO LTE systems face limitations in efficiently utilizing a limited number of antennas and beams, leading to suboptimal coverage and diversity in wireless communication systems, particularly due to zoning restrictions and hardware limitations.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a phased array antenna system that uses linear combinations of transmit and receive signal streams to optimize beam formation, allowing multiple streams to be mapped onto a single beam, and employing phase and magnitude adjustments in linear combination matrices to create diverse beam patterns, such as 0°/90° polarization and RHCP/LHCP waves, to enhance coverage and diversity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple transmit signal streams are directly routed to separate base station antennas with overlapping beams, then the system structure is simple, but coverage and diversity are suboptimal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the beam formation process by introducing separate wide beam and narrow beam components. Each beam type serves a specific function: wide beams provide overall coverage while narrow beams provide focused diversity. This segmentation allows the system to achieve both broad coverage and enhanced diversity without requiring complete redesign of the entire beam system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a spatial dimension to beam formation by creating narrow beams with specific directional characteristics complementary to the wide beams. This dimensional addition allows the system to provide diversity in both azimuth and elevation, transforming a two-dimensional coverage problem into a three-dimensional beam space that offers superior diversity without proportionally increasing complexity.
2Device complexity
If a limited number of antennas are used due to zoning restrictions and hardware limitations, then device complexity is reduced, but efficient utilization of antennas and beams deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the operational parameters of the limited antennas by introducing dynamic beamforming that creates both wide and narrow beams from the same antenna resources. Instead of being constrained by the fixed number of physical antennas, the system varies beam parameters (width, direction, polarization) to effectively multiply the utility of each antenna, thereby improving productivity without increasing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the antenna system universal by enabling each antenna to serve multiple functions: transmitting both wide coverage beams and narrow diversity beams, and supporting multiple signal streams simultaneously. This multi-functionality allows the limited number of antennas to be efficiently utilized across different spatial domains and service requirements, maximizing productivity from the constrained hardware.
3Ease of operation
If fixed wide-angle overlapping beams are used for transmit and receive functions, then ease of operation is maintained, but adaptability to environmental changes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamics into the beam system by making beam parameters adjustable based on environmental conditions. The system can dynamically switch between wide and narrow beams, adjust beam directions and polarizations, and adapt beamforming weights according to channel conditions. This dynamic capability maintains ease of operation through automated adaptation while significantly improving environmental versatility.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method involving an antenna array for wirelessly transmitting information carried by a source signal stream that includes a plurality of individual transmit signal streams, the method involving: mapping the plurality of transmit signal streams to a plurality of individual beam signal streams, wherein at least one of the beam signal streams of the plurality of beam signal streams is a combination of multiple transmit signal streams of the plurality of transmit signal streams; using the antenna array to generate a plurality of transmit beams; and sending each beam signal stream of the plurality of beam signal streams over a different transmit beam of the plurality of transmit beams.