Base Station Antenna Beamforming for Uplink Coverage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional cell splitting methods in wireless networks simultaneously split uplink and downlink signals, leading to increased differences in coverage between uplink and downlink, which fails to adequately address the requirement for increased uplink coverage while managing downlink capacity, resulting in poor network performance and user experience.
Innovation Solution
A signal processing method where a base station splits an array antenna to form separate downlink transmit beams for each cell and uses a common receive beam for uplink signal transmission, staggering time-frequency resources to reduce interference and enhance uplink coverage without splitting uplink signals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional cell splitting simultaneously splits uplink and downlink signals, then downlink capacity is increased, but the difference between uplink coverage and downlink coverage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the downlink signal processing by splitting the array antenna into multiple downlink transmit beams, while keeping the uplink signal processing unified through a common receive beam. This selective segmentation of only the downlink path allows capacity expansion without creating separate uplink processing chains that would worsen coverage differences.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies asymmetric treatment to uplink and downlink signal processing: downlink uses multiple separate transmit beams for different cells, while uplink uses a single common receive beam. This asymmetric approach increases downlink capacity through beam splitting while maintaining uplink coverage through unified processing, directly resolving the contradiction between the two directions.
2Productivity
If downlink capacity is increased through traditional methods, then network throughput improves, but terminal power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The base station performs all complex signal processing operations independently: downlink beamforming, uplink receive beamforming, and interference coordination. The terminal only needs to receive downlink signals and transmit uplink signals without complex processing, making the system self-serving and reducing terminal power consumption while maintaining high network throughput.
3Productivity
If cell splitting is performed to expand capacity, then spectrum resource utilization improves, but site acquisition difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes a single physical site perform multiple functions by using one array antenna to serve multiple cells through beamforming technology. The same hardware infrastructure supports multiple downlink cells and multiple uplink cells simultaneously, eliminating the need for separate physical sites for each cell while achieving spectrum resource optimization through virtual cell splitting.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach increases uplink coverage, reduces interference between cells, and improves user service experience by maintaining downlink capacity while minimizing terminal power consumption.
Implementation Method 1
splitting, by a base station, an array antenna to form a first transmit beam and a second transmit beam in a downlink direction
Implementation Method 2
performing, by the base station, weighting on the array antenna in an uplink direction to form a receive beam
Data Source
AI summary
The embodiments of the present invention relates to a signal processing method and a base station. The method includes: splitting, by a base station, an array antenna to form a first transmit beam and a second transmit beam in a downlink direction, where the first transmit beam covers a first cell and the second transmit beam covers a second cell; performing, by the base station, weighting on the array antenna in an uplink direction to form a receive beam; and transmitting, by the base station, a downlink signal to first user equipment UE by using the first transmit beam, and performing uplink signal transmission with the first UE by using the receive beam, where the first UE is located in the first cell.