5G Millimeter Wave Coverage via Beam-Forming and Surface Scattering

The patent introduces relay devices as intermediary elements between base stations and user equipment. These relay devices receive millimeter wave signals from base stations and retransmit them to extend coverage areas, effectively acting as mediators that overcome the limited propagation distance of millimeter waves while maintaining high communication speeds.

The patent utilizes reflected waves and scattered waves from buildings, roads, and other environmental surfaces to propagate millimeter wave signals around obstacles and into shadowed areas. This approach transitions from direct line-of-sight propagation to indirect multi-path propagation, expanding coverage without sacrificing communication performance.

Relay devices serve as cost-effective intermediaries that extend base station coverage without requiring additional base stations. A single base station can control multiple relay devices distributed across the coverage area, significantly reducing the number of expensive base station installations needed while achieving the desired coverage expansion.

The patent segments the coverage area into multiple zones served by different relay devices, each handling local user equipment. This segmentation allows the network to achieve extensive coverage through distributed, low-cost relay nodes rather than deploying a dense grid of full-featured base stations, thereby reducing overall infrastructure costs.

Instead of equipping mobile terminals with complex steerable antennas, the patent inverts the approach by placing steerable, high-gain antennas in fixed relay devices and base stations. Mobile terminals use simpler, omnidirectional or fixed antennas, while the beam steering and signal focusing functions are performed by the infrastructure elements, achieving link stability without terminal device complexity.

Relay devices act as intermediaries that perform beam steering and signal processing functions. The relay devices with steerable antennas establish stable wireless links with both base stations and user equipment, relieving mobile terminals of the need for complex antenna systems while maintaining link stability through the relay's intelligent signal management.