Beamforming Signal Alignment in Base Stations
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current communication systems face challenges in increasing data rates due to limitations in securing wide frequency bands below 10 GHz, leading to reduced service coverage and inefficient beamforming processes that result in unnecessary power consumption and interference.
Innovation Solution
The method and apparatus for efficiently performing beamforming by determining and communicating the best transmit and receive beam directions between a base station and a terminal, ensuring optimal signal alignment and reducing interference through the exchange of beam information during random access procedures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If higher transmission frequency is used to increase data rate, then spectral efficiency is improved, but propagation range is reduced causing service coverage loss
Solution Approach 1:
The service coverage area is segmented into multiple directional beams, where each beam serves a specific spatial sector. This allows the system to maintain focused high-data-rate communication in each beam direction while collectively covering a broader service area through multiple beams working in parallel.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from omnidirectional or broad coverage in the frequency domain to directional coverage in the spatial domain. By introducing spatial dimension through beamforming, the system achieves both high data rates and extended service coverage simultaneously by distributing signals across multiple directional spatial channels.
2Use of energy by stationary object
If beamforming is performed without determining best beams in advance, then system complexity is reduced, but power consumption increases due to unnecessary beam transmissions
Solution Approach 1:
The base station performs preliminary beam determination during the random access procedure by evaluating reference signals from multiple terminals. This advance identification of best beams for each terminal allows subsequent data transmissions to use only the optimal beams, avoiding unnecessary power consumption from transmitting on suboptimal beams while the complexity is amortized over the initial access phase.
Solution Approach 2:
Terminals assist the base station in determining the best beams by transmitting reference signals that enable the base station to evaluate beam quality. This self-service mechanism allows the system to perform beam determination with minimal additional complexity while achieving significant power savings in subsequent transmissions.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If multiple terminals are served using the same time-frequency resources without beam separation, then resource utilization is simplified, but interference between terminals increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different beam directions to different terminals even when they share the same time-frequency resources. Each terminal receives a customized beam direction optimized for its spatial location, which eliminates interference between terminals while maintaining efficient resource utilization across the network.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of performing beamforming in a base station is provided. The method includes receiving random access channel signals transmitted in one or more transmit beams from a terminal, using one or more receive beams, determining at least one best transmit beam from the one or more transmit beams and at least one best receive beam from the one or more receive beams, and transmitting information about the best transmit beam and the best receive beam to the terminal.