Base Transceiver Station Beam Steering for Edge Coverage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile communications networks face challenges in maintaining signal quality due to frequency scarcity and interference, particularly when using adaptive antenna systems that struggle to track subscriber devices at the edge of coverage areas, leading to reduced signal quality and potential call drops.
Innovation Solution
A base transceiver station with an active antenna array equipped with a tilt adaption arrangement and beam control device that dynamically adjusts the vertical tilt of the antenna beam based on distance and location data from subscriber devices, allowing for real-time adjustment of coverage area size and reducing interference by calculating beam tilting control data and power modification factors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If steered adaptive antenna systems track individual subscriber devices to concentrate power, then signal quality for tracked devices is improved, but coverage area edge devices are ignored leading to call drops and reduced reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic beam tilting that adapts the coverage area size based on the distance to the nearest subscriber device. The beam tilt angle is adjusted in real-time to match the coverage radius, ensuring that the beam covers the entire service area rather than focusing only on distant tracked devices. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by making the system versatile enough to cover edge devices while maintaining reliability through continuous tilting adjustment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the beam tilt angle parameter based on the distance to subscriber devices. By calculating the required tilt angle from the distance parameter, the system dynamically adjusts the beam orientation to ensure coverage of edge devices while maintaining signal quality for tracked devices, thus resolving the contradiction between reliability and adaptability.
2Productivity
If frequency is re-used in neighboring cells to meet increased demand, then network capacity is improved, but interference between radio signals increases decreasing signal quality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making each base station's beam tilting independent and adaptive to its local subscriber distribution. Each base station adjusts its beam tilt locally based on its own nearest subscriber distance, creating localized optimization that reduces inter-cell interference while maintaining high network capacity. This local adaptation allows frequency reuse without the harmful interference that would result from uniform beam patterns.
3Reliability
If adaptive antenna systems concentrate power on tracked subscriber devices, then signal quality is improved, but hardware and software resources are significantly increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex adaptive antenna problem into a simpler solution by using only vertical beam tilting adjustment rather than full two-dimensional beam steering. This segmentation reduces the hardware and software complexity significantly while maintaining the essential function of adapting to subscriber location. The system achieves signal quality improvement through this simplified single-parameter adjustment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical beam steering systems with electronic beam tilting control. By using electronic phase shifters and signal processing rather than mechanical movement, the system achieves beam adaptation with reduced hardware complexity while maintaining signal quality for tracked devices.
Data Source
AI summary
A base transceiver station for a mobile communications network for communicating with a plurality of subscriber devices within a coverage area comprises an active antenna array with a tilt adaption arrangement to adjust a vertical tilt angle of an antenna beam in dependence of beam tilting control data, and thereby dynamically change the coverage area served by the base transceiver station. The base transceiver station further comprises a beam control device for evaluating the distance of the subscriber devices in the coverage area to the active antenna array and calculating from the distances the beam tilting control data. As the distance of a subscriber device to the antenna is a parameter that may be extracted directly from data that is available anyhow for at least some subscriber devices, this data can be acquired at no extra expense.