Uplink Beamforming Weight Compression for Diversity Variants
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for improvements in 5G New Radio (NR) technology to enhance uplink beamforming, particularly in reducing the size of control plane messages carrying beamforming weights and optimizing the transmission of zero beamforming weights in scenarios where diversity variants are used.
Innovation Solution
Introduce new parameters in the control plane message to indicate diversity and the number of scheduled layers, reducing the transmission of zero beamforming weights by enabling the O-RU to compute non-zero weights for applicable TRXs based on the diversity parameter and numLayers indication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If beamforming weights are transmitted for all TRXs in diversity variant scenarios, then complete beamforming information is provided, but control plane message size increases unnecessarily
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and transmits only the non-zero beamforming weights from the complete set of weights. By identifying and removing the zero weights (which are unnecessary for reconstruction), the message size is reduced while preserving all essential beamforming information. The O-RU can reconstruct the complete weight set by inserting zeros in the appropriate positions based on the numLayers indication.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the beamforming weight transmission into two parts: (1) an indication of the number of non-zero weights (numLayers parameter), and (2) the actual non-zero weight values. This segmentation allows the receiver to efficiently reconstruct the complete weight set without transmitting redundant zero values, resolving the contradiction between information completeness and message size.
2Reliability
If all beamforming weights are transmitted explicitly, then accurate beamforming is achieved, but transmission efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a conceptual copying approach where the O-RU reconstructs the complete beamforming weight set by copying the transmitted non-zero weights into their correct positions and filling remaining positions with zeros. This reconstruction copying ensures accurate beamforming while avoiding the inefficiency of transmitting all weights explicitly, including the redundant zero values.
3Quantity of substance
If diversity variant with reduced weights is used, then message size is reduced, but complexity of determining applicable TRXs increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having the O-DU calculate and determine the applicable TRXs and the number of non-zero weights (numLayers) in advance, before transmission. This pre-computation allows the O-RU to simply receive the compact weight set and reconstruct it without needing to perform complex analysis, thereby reducing the receiving end's complexity while maintaining message size reduction benefits.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus, methods, and computer program products for wireless communication are provided. An example method may include transmitting, to a second network entity, a first indication of a diversity and a second indication of a first quantity of scheduled layers associated with the first network entity. The example method may further include transmitting, to the second network entity, a set of beamforming weights based on the indication of the diversity and the first quantity of scheduled layers.