Collective Beam Training for Asymmetric Uplink-Downlink Arrays
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Solution Overview
Problem
In wireless communications systems operating in mmW frequencies, beam training for uplink and downlink communications is inefficient due to the need for separate procedures, doubling the signaling overhead and complicating beam correspondence, especially in frequency range 4 (FR4) with higher antenna element counts.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a collective antenna array that includes separate sets of antenna elements for uplink and downlink communications, allowing simultaneous beam training and coordination through beam weights, enabling efficient full-duplex assessment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate beam training procedures are used for uplink and downlink communications, then beam training can be performed independently for each direction, but the signaling overhead doubles and the procedure becomes inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines separate uplink and downlink beam training procedures into a single unified beam training process. The base station performs beam training for both uplink and downlink simultaneously by transmitting reference signals and receiving feedback from the UE, thereby reducing signaling overhead while maintaining effective beam establishment for both communication directions.
2Reliability
If separate antenna elements are used for uplink and downlink communications, then the antenna array can be optimized for each direction, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a collective antenna array where the same physical antenna elements serve both uplink and downlink functions. The base station uses the same antenna array for transmitting downlink reference signals and receiving uplink signals, eliminating the need for separate antenna sets while maintaining optimized performance for both directions through unified beamforming weight calculation.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A first wireless device may identify a collective antenna array that includes both a downlink antenna array and an uplink antenna array for communications with a second wireless device. Accordingly, the first wireless device and the second wireless device may perform a beam training procedure on the collective antenna array, and the first wireless device may then use beam weights identified for the collective antenna array as the beam weights for the specific downlink antenna array and the uplink antenna array. For example, the first wireless device and the second wireless device may perform downlink beam training to obtain a best downlink receive beam to use and then determine an uplink transmit beam to use based on the downlink receive beam.