Uplink Power Selection for Low-Resolution Massive MIMO Receivers

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

The power consumption and complexity of analog-to-digital/digital-to-analog converters (ADC/DAC) in massive MIMO systems scale linearly and exponentially with sampling rate and quantization bits, limiting the efficiency of beyond-5G systems operating in sub-THz bands, especially for low-resolution ADCs/DACs.

Innovation Solution

A client device and network node device implement a mechanism to adjust uplink transmission power levels using signal sequences, allowing efficient transmission with low-resolution ADCs/DACs by optimizing signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) through proactive power ramping and phase/amplitude estimation, without requiring hardware modifications.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Use of energy by moving object

If low-resolution ADCs/DACs are adopted to reduce power consumption and complexity, then hardware power consumption and complexity are reduced, but signal-to-noise ratio and transmission quality deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvepower consumptionVSAvoidsignal-to-noise ratio
Core Design Contradiction:
Use of energy by moving objectVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary power ramping by transmitting multiple signal sequences with progressively increasing power levels before actual data transmission. This allows the receiver to identify the optimal power level in advance, ensuring that the selected power level provides sufficient signal-to-noise ratio for reliable reception while avoiding excessive power consumption that would worsen the contradiction.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback mechanisms where the receiver measures the quality of received signal sequences at different power levels and provides feedback to the transmitter. Based on this feedback, the transmitter selects the appropriate power level that achieves the required signal-to-noise ratio with minimum power, thus resolving the contradiction between power consumption and transmission quality.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Device complexity

If low-resolution ADCs/DACs are adopted to reduce hardware complexity, then device complexity is reduced, but transmission reliability and quality of service deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvehardware complexityVSAvoidtransmission quality
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary measurements and optimizations before actual transmission by testing multiple signal sequences with different power levels. This preliminary action allows the system to establish optimal transmission parameters that compensate for the limitations of low-resolution ADCs/DACs, ensuring transmission reliability is maintained despite reduced hardware complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system dynamically adjusts transmission parameters including power level, signal sequence selection, and modulation schemes based on channel conditions and receiver feedback. These parameter changes enable the system to optimize transmission quality for each specific scenario, compensating for the fixed limitations of low-resolution converters and maintaining reliability without increasing hardware complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

3Reliability

If signal sequences are transmitted with different power levels to optimize SNR, then transmission quality is improved, but transmission time and overhead increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetransmission qualityVSAvoidtransmission time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system transmits a limited set of predefined signal sequences with different power levels rather than exhaustively testing all possible power levels. This partial action approach finds a satisfactory solution within a reasonable time frame, balancing transmission quality optimization with time constraints, avoiding excessive transmission time while still achieving adequate signal-to-noise ratio.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentEP4354979B1Client device and network node device
Publication Date: 2026.03.18 NOKIA TECHNOLOGIES OY
  • EP4354979B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP4354979B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4
  • EP4354979B1 patent drawingFigure 5~6

AI summary

According to an example embodiment, a client device is configured to: obtain a signal sequence configuration defining a plurality of signal sequences, wherein each signal sequence in the plurality of signal sequences corresponds to an uplink transmission power level in a plurality of uplink transmission power levels; transmit the plurality of signal sequences according to the signal sequence configuration to a network node device; receive, from the network node device, an indication about an uplink transmission power level out of the plurality of uplink transmission power levels to be used for uplink transmission; and perform an uplink transmission using the indicated uplink transmission power level to the network node device.