MIMO Receiver RF Combining for Throughput and Complexity
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Solution Overview
Problem
MIMO systems with more receiving antennas than transmitted spatial streams face increased hardware complexity due to the need for additional receivers and complex baseband algorithms, which complicates the recovery of information flows and reduces efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A method that combines RF signals from a set of receive antennas using relative phase shift weights to generate the required number of RF signals for demodulation, reducing the number of RF receivers needed and simplifying the hardware complexity while maintaining performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the number of receiving antennas is increased beyond the number of transmitted spatial streams, then the throughput and signal-to-noise ratio are improved, but the hardware complexity and baseband processing complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the receiving antennas into two functional groups: a first number of antennas connected to RF receivers for direct signal processing, and a second number of antennas connected to combiners for signal combining. This segmentation allows the system to exploit more antennas for performance improvement while avoiding the need to process signals from all antennas through complex baseband algorithms, thus reducing hardware and processing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges signals from multiple antennas through RF combiners before processing by a reduced number of RF receivers. This combining operation at the RF level allows the system to benefit from multiple antennas for signal diversity and throughput while reducing the number of parallel processing chains required, thereby decreasing hardware complexity and power consumption.
2Reliability
If the number of receiving antennas is increased beyond the number of transmitted spatial streams, then the signal-to-noise ratio is improved, but the baseband processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the receiving antennas into two functional groups: a first number of antennas connected to RF receivers for direct signal processing, and a second number of antennas connected to combiners for signal combining. This segmentation allows the system to exploit more antennas for performance improvement while avoiding the need to process signals from all antennas through complex baseband algorithms, thus reducing hardware and processing complexity.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional MIMO receivers with omni-directional antennas are used, then the system is simpler to implement, but the throughput and performance are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges signals from multiple antennas through RF combiners before processing by a reduced number of RF receivers. This combining operation at the RF level allows the system to benefit from multiple antennas for signal diversity and throughput while reducing the number of parallel processing chains required, thereby decreasing hardware complexity and power consumption.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for higher performance than conventional MIMO receivers with omni-directional antennas, achieving improved throughput and signal-to-noise ratio while limiting extra complexity to the additional number of antennas and RF combining units, suitable for wireless systems like WLAN and HSDPA.
Implementation Method 1
combines RF signals from a set of receive antennas using relative phase shift weights to generate the required number of RF signals for demodulation
Data Source
AI summary
In a communication system, such as a Multiple Input Multiple Output system operating in a spatial multiplexing mode, for use, e.g., in a WLAN or HSPDA device, a plurality of information flows are received via a set of receive antennas by deriving from at least some, and possibly all, of the receive antennas, respective RF signals, and producing from the RF signals thus derived, a plurality of receive signals, each receive signal to be demodulated to recover one of the information flows transmitted. The receive signals are produced as combinations of the RF signals having applied thereto relative RF phase shift weights.