Sounding reference signal (SRS) transmit antenna selection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10715233-B2
Application number	US-201816110610-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 23, 2018
Priority date	Aug 31, 2017
Publication date	Jul 14, 2020
Grant date	Jul 14, 2020

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses relate to sounding reference signal (SRS) transmit antenna selection in wireless communication systems. For example, a user equipment (UE) may select, from a set of antennas, a subset of antennas for SRS transmission based on at least one antenna selection parameter. The UE may further transmit, on an uplink communication channel, the SRS using the subset of antennas to a network entity. In some aspects, the at least one antenna selection parameter may include a reference signal receive power (RSRP) value, a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) value, a spectrum efficiency value, and/or an SNR value and a channel correlation value.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
selecting, from a set of antennas, a subset of antennas for sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission based on at least one antenna selection parameter such that the subset of antennas delivers a highest corresponding downlink throughput, wherein the at least one antenna selection parameter corresponds to a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) value and a channel correlation value indicating a degree of spatial diversity for the set of antennas, and wherein selecting the subset of antennas for SRS transmission includes:
determining SNR value for each antenna from the set of antennas;
determining the channel correlation value for each pair of antennas from the set of antennas as indicated in a corresponding channel correlation matrix; and
selecting at least two antennas based on the SNR value for each antenna from the set of antennas and the channel correlation value for each pair of antennas from the set of antennas, herein selecting the at least two antennas based on the SNR value for each antenna from the set of antennas and the channel correlation value for each pair of antennas from the set of antennas includes:
selecting a first antenna having a highest SNR value; and
selecting a second antenna having a lowest correlation value with the first antenna to form the subset of antennas; and

transmitting, on an uplink communication channel, the SRS using the subset of antennas to a network entity.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one antenna selection parameter further corresponds to a reference signal received power (RSRP) value.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein selecting the subset of antennas for SRS transmission includes:
determining the RSRP value for each antenna from the set of antennas; and
selecting at least two antennas having highest RSRP values to form the subset of antennas.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the subset of antennas for SRS transmission includes:
determining the SNR value for each antenna from the set of antennas; and
selecting at least two antennas having highest SNR values to form the subset of antennas.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one antenna selection parameter further corresponds to a spectrum efficiency value.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein selecting the subset of antennas for SRS transmission includes:
determining an aggregated spectrum efficiency value for each pair of antennas from the set of antennas;
selecting at least two antennas having highest aggregated spectrum efficiency values to form the subset of antennas.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, on a downlink communication channel, data on at least the subset of antennas from the network entity.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the SRS is transmitted on the uplink communication channel according to a time division duplex (TDD) mode.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of antennas includes at least four antennas and the subset of antennas includes at least two antennas.

10. An apparatus, comprising:
a memory; and
a processor in communication with the memory, wherein the processor is configured to:
select, from a set of antennas, a subset of antennas for sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission based on at least one antenna selection parameter such that the subset of antennas delivers a highest corresponding downlink throughput, wherein the at least one antenna selection parameter corresponds to a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) value and a channel correlation value indicating a degree of spatial diversity for the set of antennas, and wherein to select the subset of antennas for SRS transmission, the processor is further configured to:
determine the SNR value for each antenna from the set of antennas;
determine the channel correlation value for each pair of antennas from the set of antennas as indicated in a corresponding channel correlation matrix; and
select at least two antennas based on the SNR value for each antenna from the set of antennas and the channel correlation value for each pair of antennas from the set of antennas, wherein to select the at least two antennas based on the SNR value for each antenna from the set of antennas and the channel correlation value for each pair of antennas from the set of antennas, the processor is further configured to:
select a first antenna having a highest SNR value; and
select a second antenna having a lowest correlation value with the first antenna to form the subset of antennas; and

transmit, on an uplink communication channel, the SRS using the subset of antennas to a network entity.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the at least one antenna selection parameter further corresponds to a reference signal received power (RSRP) value.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein to select the subset of antennas for SRS transmission, the processor is further configured to:
determine the RSRP value for each antenna from the set of antennas; and
select at least two antennas having highest RSRP values to form the subset of antennas.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein to select the subset of antennas for SRS transmission, the processor is further configured to:
determine the SNR value for each antenna from the set of antennas; and
select at least two antennas having highest SNR values to form the subset of antennas.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the at least one antenna selection parameter further corresponds to a spectrum efficiency value.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein to select the subset of antennas for SRS transmission, the processor is further configured to:
determine an aggregated spectrum efficiency value for each pair of antennas from the set of antennas;
select at least two antennas having highest aggregated spectrum efficiency values to form the subset of antennas.

16. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive, on a downlink communication channel, data on at least the subset of antennas from the network entity.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the SRS is transmitted on the uplink communication channel according to a time division duplex (TDD) mode.

18. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the set of antennas includes at least four antennas and the subset of antennas includes at least two antennas.

19. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:
means for selecting, from a set of antennas, a subset of antennas for sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission based on at least one antenna selection parameter such that the selecting delivers a highest corresponding downlink throughput, wherein the at least one antenna selection parameter corresponds to a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) value and a channel correlation value indicating a degree of spatial diversity for the set of antennas, and wherein the means for selecting the subset of antennas for SRS transmission includes:
means for determining SNR value for each antenna from the set of antennas;
means for determining the channel correlation value for each pair of antennas from the set of antennas as indicated in a corresponding channel correlation matrix; and
means for selecting at least two antennas based on the SNR value for each antenna from the set of antennas and the channel correlation value for each pair of antennas from the set of antennas, wherein the means for selecting the at least two antennas based on the SNR value for each antenna from the set of antenn

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Yan Hongbo
• Bhattacharjee Supratik
• Foerster Gregory
• Sripathi Prashant Udupa

Classifications

• H04B7/0874

  using subgroups of receive antennas · CPC title

• H04L25/0226

  sounding signals per se · CPC title

• H04B7/0691

  using subgroups of transmit antennas · CPC title

• H04B7/0404

  the mobile station comprising multiple antennas, e.g. to provide uplink diversity · CPC title

• H04L5/006

  Quality of the received signal, e.g. BER, SNR, water filling · CPC title