Digital Unit Controlling Radio Units for Overlapping Coverage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current base station structures with a digital unit and radio units in one physical system face limitations in optimizing cell design, leading to suboptimal radio network capacity and coverage holes, especially when radio units are spatially separated.
Innovation Solution
Implementing radio units with at least two antennas each, controlled by a digital unit to transmit signals using different transmission patterns, with the ability to determine user equipment location in overlapping service areas and adjust transmission based on signal strength and traffic load, allowing for coordinated signal transmission using the same channel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If radio units are spatially separated from digital units, then coverage holes are reduced, but radio network capacity cannot be maximized
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the base station into spatially separated digital units and radio units, allowing independent optimization of coverage and capacity functions
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple radio units are coordinated to transmit identical signals to user equipment in overlapping service areas, combining their capacities to maximize throughput while maintaining coverage continuity
2Reliability
If all antennas in overlapping service areas transmit signals, then signal diversity is improved, but interference increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different transmission strategies to different spatial locations: in overlapping service areas, only specific antennas transmit to reduce interference, while in non-overlapping areas, all antennas can transmit to maximize signal diversity
Solution Approach 2:
The digital unit determines user equipment location in overlapping service areas based on signal strength values and coordinates, then dynamically controls which antennas transmit to balance signal quality and interference reduction
Data Source
AI summary
Described embodiments provide a digital unit for controlling a plurality of radio units to transmit a signal to user equipment. The digital unit may determine whether user equipment is located at an overlapping service area of a first radio unit and a second radio unit and control the first radio unit to transmit a signal to the user equipment using the first antenna and control the second radio unit to transmit the same signal to the user equipment using the second antenna when the user equipment is located in the overlapping service area. A transmission pattern of the first antenna of the first radio unit may be different from a transmission pattern of the second antenna of the second radio unit.