Directional Repeater Digital Buffering for Coverage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current directional repeaters in wireless communication systems lack the capability to efficiently process and buffer digital samples, leading to limitations in coverage, resource utilization, and multiplexing gains, especially in high-frequency millimeter wave systems where blockage and simultaneous serving of multiple UEs are challenges.
Innovation Solution
Enhancing directional repeaters with limited digital baseband processing capabilities to digitize, store, and re-create analog RF signals, allowing for improved processing and transmission of digital samples, enabling better coverage and resource management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If directional repeaters use analog signal processing only, then device complexity is reduced, but coverage and resource utilization are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the repeater's signal processing capability from purely analog to a hybrid analog-digital system by introducing digital baseband processing. This parameter change enables the repeater to digitize received RF signals, process them digitally with full-duplex capability, and reconstruct analog signals for transmission, thereby expanding coverage area while maintaining manageable device complexity through selective digital processing rather than complete system digitization.
2Device complexity
If directional repeaters lack digital buffering capability, then device complexity is lower, but simultaneous serving of multiple UEs is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements digital buffering capability that allows the repeater to store digitized RF signal samples in a buffer memory before retransmission. This preliminary action of storing signal samples enables the repeater to serve multiple UEs simultaneously by buffering incoming signals and scheduling their retransmission according to different time-frequency resources, thereby achieving multiplexing gains without excessive device complexity.
3Loss of time
If directional repeaters process signals in real-time only, then loss of time is reduced, but resource utilization efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic signal processing where the repeater can adaptively choose between real-time processing and buffered processing based on traffic conditions and resource availability. The digital buffer allows flexible scheduling of signal retransmission, enabling the system to optimize the trade-off between processing delay and resource utilization efficiency by dynamically adjusting when to transmit buffered signals versus immediate retransmission.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer readable mediums to enhance the functionality of directional repeaters (wireless devices that relay directional wireless signals). For example, by adding even limited capability to buffer digital samples, repeater functionality may be enhanced to provide better coverage and make more efficient use of time, frequency, and spatial resources. An example method generally includes receiving, from a base station, a configuration indicating how the wireless device is to process stored digital samples of a first radio frequency (RF) signal, receiving the first RF signal, wherein the receiving comprises generating the digital samples of the first RF signal, storing the digital samples, and processing the stored digital samples according to the configuration.