Intra-subframe Dynamic Reception Diversity for Mobile Power Savings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile devices face challenges in reducing power consumption, particularly in wireless communication networks like LTE, where existing methods for dynamic reception diversity only turn off inactive receive paths at subframe borders, limiting further power savings.
Innovation Solution
Implementing intra-subframe dynamic reception diversity, where mobile devices can turn off receive paths within a subframe when they become inactive, using power management circuitry to determine channel conditions and disable unnecessary receive paths during data transmission, especially when channel quality is high or data packet size is small.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If receive paths are kept active throughout the entire subframe to ensure reliable data reception, then communication reliability is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the receive path configuration changeable within the subframe based on actual data reception needs. The system dynamically activates or deactivates receive paths at mini-slot boundaries according to whether data is being transmitted, transforming a static configuration into an adaptive one that balances reliability and power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the subframe into multiple mini-slots and applies different receive path configurations to each segment. This allows the system to divide the reception period into active segments (when data is transmitted) and inactive segments (when no data is received), enabling granular power management while maintaining reliability during data transmission.
2Use of energy by moving object
If receive paths are turned off at subframe borders to save power, then power consumption is reduced, but further power savings within the subframe are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent further segments the subframe into mini-slots, allowing the system to turn off receive paths not only at subframe borders but also at mini-slot boundaries. This finer segmentation enables the system to capture additional power savings opportunities within the subframe by deactivating receive paths during idle mini-slots while maintaining quick reactivation capability for subsequent data transmissions.
3Productivity
If multiple receive paths are activated for MIMO reception to improve data reception capability, then communication performance is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by configuring the number of active receive paths according to the transmission mode and data reception requirements. The system activates multiple receive paths only when needed for MIMO reception and reduces to fewer paths during idle periods or single-antenna transmission modes, making the device complexity adaptive rather than fixed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different operational states to different receive paths based on local conditions. Each receive path can be independently activated or deactivated depending on the specific transmission mode and channel conditions, allowing the system to optimize performance for each path rather than treating all paths uniformly.
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus of user equipment (UE), comprises physical layer (PHY) circuitry, wherein the PHY circuitry includes a radio frequency (RF) transceiver comprising: a first receive path configured to receive RF signals from an enhanced node B (eNB) of a cellular network and down convert the received RF signals using a local oscillator (LO) receive frequency; and a second receive path configured to down-convert received RF signals from the eNB and to operate simultaneously with the first communication path; and processing circuitry configured to: determine that a configured transmission mode of the UE supports receiving data using a single receive channel and includes receive antenna diversity; determine channel conditions using at least one channel quality metric; and; disable one of the first and second receive paths during a portion of a subframe transmitted during a downlink (DL) communication according to the determined transmission mode and the determined channel conditions.