Uplink Antenna Switching Across Time Windows for Channel Fading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Channel fading in communication systems leads to interrupted communication and low network efficiency due to the lack of spatial diversity gain when terminal devices use a single antenna for signal transmission, despite having multiple antennas configured for multi-antenna receiving.
Innovation Solution
A communication method involving terminal and network devices that schedule uplink transmission with N time windows for antenna switching, enabling spatial diversity gain by determining N first time windows based on scheduling information, and optionally incorporating joint channel estimation and frequency hopping to balance coding, channel estimation, and spatial diversity gains.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the terminal device uses a single antenna for signal transmission, then the device complexity and power consumption are reduced, but spatial diversity gain is lost causing interrupted communication and low network efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies antenna switching to dynamically change the transmission antenna from a single fixed antenna to multiple antennas over time. The terminal device switches between different antenna ports (e.g., antenna 1, antenna 2, antenna 3) across different time windows, enabling the system to adapt to channel fading conditions and achieve spatial diversity gain without requiring all antennas to be active simultaneously, thus balancing device complexity with communication reliability.
2Reliability
If multiple antennas are configured for multi-antenna receiving, then spatial diversity gain is achieved, but the terminal device cannot transmit signals using multiple antennas simultaneously due to device limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the transmission process into multiple time windows, where each time window corresponds to transmission using a specific antenna port. The uplink transmission is divided into N time windows (e.g., time window 1, time window 2, time window 3), with each window dedicated to a particular antenna. This temporal segmentation allows the terminal device to utilize multiple antennas for transmission while maintaining manageable device complexity, as only one antenna is active at any given moment but the system benefits from the collective diversity of all antennas across the segmented time periods.
3Reliability
If antenna switching is implemented for spatial diversity, then communication quality is improved, but the scheduling complexity and time window management increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates feedback mechanisms where the network device provides scheduling information to the terminal device, and the terminal device reports antenna switching status and communication quality metrics back to the network. This feedback loop enables the system to optimize the antenna switching schedule dynamically, adjusting the time window allocation and antenna selection based on real-time channel conditions, thereby improving communication quality while managing scheduling complexity through adaptive control.
Data Source
AI summary
A communication method and a communication apparatus. In the method, a terminal device determines N time windows based on uplink scheduling information delivered by a network device, where the N time windows are used for uplink transmission. The terminal device performs N times of antenna switching when the N time windows are used for the uplink transmission. According to the method, balance between a coding gain, a channel estimation gain, and a spatial diversity gain can be achieved, and proper communication quality of uplink transmission can be obtained.