Adaptive Beam Sweep Periodicity for Millimeter Wave Reliability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Millimeter wavelength wireless communication systems face challenges with extremely high path loss and short range, requiring effective beamforming techniques to ensure seamless and continuous coverage, especially in changing wireless environments.
Innovation Solution
A method where a base station adjusts the periodicity of beam sweeps with user equipment (UE) based on channel quality and variability, commanding base stations to increase or decrease beam sweep frequency to maintain optimal communication, facilitating handoffs between base stations to ensure continuous coverage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If beamforming is used to compensate for high path loss and short range, then communication reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic beam sweep periodicity adjustment where the base station adapts the frequency of beam sweeps based on real-time channel quality feedback from user equipment. When channel quality degrades, beam sweeps are performed more frequently to maintain reliable connectivity, while normal periodicity is used when conditions are good, thus managing complexity dynamically rather than statically
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the time parameter (periodicity) of beam sweeps based on channel conditions. By adjusting this parameter dynamically according to quality metrics, the system maintains reliability without requiring permanently high-complexity configurations, optimizing the balance between performance and complexity
2Reliability
If frequent beam sweeps are performed to maintain coverage in changing environments, then coverage reliability is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The base station dynamically adjusts beam sweep frequency based on channel quality assessments. When the UE reports degraded channel quality or handoff conditions are detected, the system increases beam sweep frequency to maintain coverage. When conditions are stable, it reduces frequency to conserve power, creating an adaptive energy management strategy
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses periodic beam sweeps at variable intervals rather than continuous operation. The periodicity is adjusted based on channel conditions, allowing the system to maintain coverage reliability when needed while entering lower-power states during stable conditions, effectively managing the trade-off between reliability and power consumption
3Reliability
If beam sweep periodicity is increased to facilitate handoffs, then handoff reliability is improved, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs beam sweeps more frequently in advance of anticipated handoff events by detecting channel quality degradation trends. This preliminary action ensures that alternative beams and base stations are already identified and ready, enabling faster actual handoff execution while maintaining high reliability through proactive preparation
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A base station (anchor node) determines that a channel quality for a UE is less than a threshold quality, and commands one or more base stations to adjust a periodicity of performing a beam sweep with the UE based on whether said channel quality is determined to be less than the threshold quality. A base station (mmW base station) adjusts a periodicity for performing a beam sweep with a UE based on a channel quality associated with the UE, and performs the beam sweep at the adjusted periodicity. The beam sweep is a plurality of transmissions of a beam in a plurality of different transmit spatial directions by one of the base station or the UE and a plurality of scans of the beam in a plurality of different scan spatial directions by an other of the one of the base station or the UE.