Hybrid Beamforming for High-Frequency NR Coverage
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The New Radio (NR) communication system operating in high frequency bands faces reduced cell coverage due to higher propagation loss, necessitating effective beamforming techniques to enhance transmission capacity and coverage.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of hybrid beamforming in communication systems, where terminals transmit capability information to access nodes, receive configuration information, and perform cooperative communication, optimizing beam management through sounding reference signals (SRS) and channel state information-reference signals (CSI-RS), to configure network and user clusters and reduce signaling load.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If high frequency band is used to increase transmission capacity, then transmission capacity is improved, but propagation loss increases and cell coverage is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the coverage area into multiple beams, where each beam is transmitted through a specific antenna port. This allows the high frequency signal to be focused into directional beams, increasing transmission capacity in each direction while compensating for propagation loss through spatial diversity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces spatial dimension by using multiple antenna ports and beams. Instead of relying solely on frequency band for capacity, the system exploits the spatial dimension to create multiple parallel transmission paths, thereby increasing overall transmission capacity while maintaining coverage through directional beamforming.
2Device complexity
If analog beamforming is used to reduce complexity, then device complexity is reduced, but beam resolution is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The beamforming function is segmented into two parts: analog beamforming for coarse beam direction control (low complexity) and digital beamforming for fine resolution adjustment (high precision). This segmentation allows the system to achieve high beam resolution while keeping overall complexity manageable through the use of hybrid architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges analog and digital beamforming techniques into a hybrid beamforming system. The analog part handles the initial beam steering with phase shifters, while the digital part provides precise amplitude and phase control through signal processing, combining the advantages of both approaches to achieve high resolution with acceptable complexity.
3Measurement precision
If digital beamforming is used to achieve high resolution, then beam resolution is improved, but cost and complexity increase due to antenna-specific RF chains
Solution Approach 1:
The beamforming functionality is segmented between analog and digital domains. The analog domain handles the bulk of the beam steering function with simple phase shifters, while the digital domain provides fine-tuned resolution enhancement. This segmentation reduces the need for fully digital RF chains, thereby lowering complexity and cost while maintaining high resolution.
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the beamforming system are assigned different quality levels based on their functional requirements. The analog phase shifters provide coarse control with lower complexity, while the digital signal processing provides local refinement with higher precision where needed. This local quality approach optimizes the balance between resolution and complexity.
4Productivity
If ultra-dense network is deployed to accommodate mobile traffic, then network capacity is improved, but signaling load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges beam management and channel state information reporting into a unified framework. By using the same SRS resources for both beam identification and channel quality measurement, the system reduces redundant signaling between access nodes and terminals, thereby lowering signaling load while maintaining the network capacity benefits of ultra-dense deployment.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are methods for transmitting and receiving beamforming-based signals in a communication system. An operation method of a terminal may comprise transmitting capability information of the terminal to an AN; receiving first configuration information of a network cluster configured based on the capability information from the AN; transmitting an SRS in a beamforming scheme through resources indicated by the first configuration information; receiving second configuration information of a user cluster configured based on a measurement result of the SRS from the AN; and performing cooperative communication with ANs belonging to the user cluster, which are indicated by the second configuration information. Accordingly, the performance of the communication system can be improved.