Beam management with matching networks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11799530-B2
Application number	US-201917613846-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 28, 2019
Priority date	May 28, 2019
Publication date	Oct 24, 2023
Grant date	Oct 24, 2023

Abstract

A method is provided. The method includes determining a set of beam indexes including a first beam index and a second beam index; and determining a set of candidate matching networks. The method further includes performing an assigning step, where the assigning step includes: (a1) assigning a first matching network from the set of candidate matching networks to a first beam index; and (a2) assigning a second matching network from the set of candidate matching networks to a second beam index. The first matching network is different from the second matching network.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
determining a set of beam indexes including a first beam index and a second beam index;
determining a set of candidate matching networks; and
performing an assigning step, where the assigning step comprises:
(a1) assigning a first matching network from the set of candidate matching networks to a first beam index; and
(a2) assigning a second matching network from the set of candidate matching networks to a second beam index, wherein

the first matching network is different from the second matching network.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing a gain-determining step, wherein the gain-determining step comprises:
(g1) determining a first gain value corresponding to the first beam index and the first matching network, wherein assigning the first matching network to the first beam index is based at least in part on the first gain value; and
(g2) determining a second gain value corresponding to the second beam index and the second matching network, wherein assigning the second matching network to the second beam index is based at least in part on the second gain value.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing a gain-determining step, wherein the gain-determining step comprises determining a corresponding gain value for each combination of beam index and candidate matching network in the set-product of the set of beam indexes and the set of candidate matching networks, wherein
the assigning step further comprises: assigning, for each beam index in the set of beam indexes that is not assigned a matching network, a corresponding matching network based on the corresponding gain values,
assigning the first matching network from the set of candidate matching networks to the first beam index is based on the corresponding gain value, and
assigning the second matching network from the set of candidate matching networks to the second beam index is based on the corresponding gain value.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the assigning step results in each beam index being assigned a matching network that has the maximum gain value for the given beam index.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the assigning step results in a total of n unique matching networks being assigned to each of the beam indexes, n being less than the size of the set of beam indexes, and wherein the assigning step further results in a criteria related to the determined gain values being satisfied.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein n is less than five.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the criteria related to the determined gain values comprises a total gain value being maximized, wherein the total gain value is the sum for each beam index of the set of beam indexes of the corresponding gain value for that beam index and the corresponding matching network that is assigned to that beam index.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the criteria related to the determined gain values comprises a partial gain value being maximized, wherein the partial gain value is the sum for each beam index of a subset of the set of beam indexes of the corresponding gain value for that beam index and the corresponding matching network that is assigned to that beam index.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the criteria related to the determined gain values comprises a minimum gain value being maximized, wherein the minimum gain value is the minimum for each beam index of the set of beam indexes of the corresponding gain value for that beam index and the corresponding matching network that is assigned to that beam index.

10. The method of claim 5 , wherein the criteria related to the determined gain values comprises a total difference value being minimized, wherein the total difference value is the sum for each beam index of the set of beam indexes of the difference between the corresponding gain value for that beam index and the corresponding matching network that is assigned to that beam index and the average of each of the corresponding gain values.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing a side-lobe-determining step, wherein the side-lobe-determining step comprises determining a corresponding side-lobe value for each combination of beam index and candidate matching network in the set-product of the set of beam indexes and the set of candidate matching networks, wherein
the assigning step further comprises: assigning, for each beam index in the set of beam indexes that is not assigned a matching network, a corresponding matching network based on the corresponding side-lobe values,
assigning the first matching network from the set of candidate matching networks to the first beam index is based on the corresponding side-lobe value, and
assigning the second matching network from the set of candidate matching networks to the second beam index is based on the corresponding side-lobe value.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first matching network is represented by a first pair (element1, excitation1) and the second matching network is represented by a second pair (element2,excitation2).

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
associating a first set of channel state information (CSI) reference signals (RSs) (CSI-RSs) with the first matching network and a second set of CSI-RSs with the second matching network;
receiving a CSI-RS information; and
determining which matching network to use based on the received CSI-RS information, wherein determining which matching network to use based on the received CSI-RS information comprises selecting the first matching network if the received CSI-RS information belongs to the first set of CSI-RSs, and selecting the second matching network if the received CSI-RS information belongs to the second set of CSI-RSs.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising associating a third set of CSI-RSs with a third matching network, and wherein determining which matching network to use further comprises selecting the third matching network if the received CSI-RS information belongs to the third set of CSI-RSs.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program comprising instructions which when executed by processing circuitry of a node causes the node to perform the method of claim 1 .

16. A node comprising:
a data storage system; and
a data processing apparatus comprising a processor, wherein the data processing apparatus is coupled to the data storage system, and the node is configured to:
determine a set of beam indexes including a first beam index and a second beam index;
determine a set of candidate matching networks; and
perform an assigning step, where the assigning step comprises:
(a1) assigning a first matching network from the set of candidate matching networks to a first beam index; and
(a2) assigning a second matching network from the set of candidate matching networks to a second beam index, wherein

the first matching network is different from the second matching network.

17. The node of claim 16 , wherein the node is further configured to:
perform a gain-determining step, wherein the gain-determining step comprises determining a corresponding gain value for each combination of beam index and candidate matching network in the set-product of the set of beam indexes and the set of candidate matching networks, wherein
the assigning step further comprises: assigning, for each beam index in the set of beam indexes that is not assigned a matching network, a corresponding matching network based on the corresponding gain values,
assigning th

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Chen Tsao-Tsen
• Larsson Erik
• Stjernman Anders

Classifications

• H04B7/0696

  Determining beam pairs · CPC title

• H04B7/0617 Primary

  for beam forming · CPC title

• H04B7/0695

  using beam selection · CPC title

• H04B7/088

  using beam selection · CPC title

• H01Q3/36

  with variable phase-shifters · CPC title