Over-the-air based estimation of phase accuracy of a radio transceiver device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12334990-B2
Application number	US-202018023013-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 25, 2020
Priority date	Aug 25, 2020
Publication date	Jun 17, 2025
Grant date	Jun 17, 2025

Abstract

There is provided mechanisms for OTA based estimation of phase accuracy of a first radio transceiver device. A method is performed by a controller. The method comprises obtaining, per each position in a sequence of positions of a second radio transceiver device relative the first radio transceiver device, a phase relation estimate between transceiver branches of the first radio transceiver device. Each phase relation estimate is obtained from measurements on a signal wirelessly transmitted between the first radio transceiver device and the second radio transceiver device. The method comprises estimating an average phase relation for at least one pair of the transceiver branches of the first radio transceiver device by averaging the obtained phase relation estimates over all the positions in the sequence of positions. The phase accuracy of the first radio transceiver device is represented by the average phase relation for the at least one pair of the transceiver branches.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for over-the-air, OTA, based estimation of phase accuracy of a first radio transceiver device for mitigating the impact of reflections for the first radio transceiver device in its specific environment, the method being performed by a controller, the method comprising:
obtaining, per each position in a sequence of positions of a second radio transceiver device relative the first radio transceiver device, a phase relation estimate between transceiver branches of the first radio transceiver device, wherein each phase relation estimate is obtained from measurements on a signal wirelessly transmitted between the first radio transceiver device and the second radio transceiver device; and
estimating an average phase relation for at least one pair of the transceiver branches of the first radio transceiver device by averaging the obtained phase relation estimates over all the positions in the sequence of positions, wherein the phase accuracy of the first radio transceiver device is represented by the average phase relation for the at least one pair of the transceiver branches.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein one average phase relation is estimated per each pair of the transceiver branches by averaging the obtained phase relation estimates over all the positions in the sequence of positions for each pair of the transceiver branches, and wherein the phase accuracy of the first radio transceiver device is represented by the average phase relations per each pair of the transceiver branch.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
estimating a beam quality value of the first radio transceiver device based on the average phase relation for the at least one pair of the transceiver branches.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the beam quality value pertains to phase accuracy per transceiver branch of the first radio transceiver device for at least one of wireless signal transmission and wireless signal reception at the first radio transceiver device.

5. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the beam quality value is estimated as measured average phase relation for the at least one pair of the transceiver branches compared to expected phase relation for said at least one pair of the transceiver branches.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein an amplitude relation estimate between the transceiver branches per each position of the second radio transceiver device relative the first radio transceiver device is obtained for the sequence of positions, wherein an average amplitude relation for the at least one pair of the transceiver branches is estimated by averaging the amplitude relation estimates over all the positions in the sequence of positions, and wherein amplitude accuracy of the first radio transceiver device is represented by the average amplitude relation for the at least one pair of the transceiver branches.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
performing plane wave compensation either of the phase relation estimates before estimating the average phase relation or of the average phase relation.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the signal is wirelessly transmitted from the first radio transceiver device.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the signal is wirelessly transmitted from the second radio transceiver device.

10. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
comparing a value of the average phase relation for the at least one pair of the transceiver branches to an expected phase relation value for the at least one pair of the transceiver branches; and
providing a correction signal to a calibration module of the first radio transceiver device when the value of the average phase relation deviates more than a threshold value from the expected phase relation value.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the correction signal is either a warning signal or the value of the average phase relation itself.

12. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the correction signal is provided for initiating calibration of the transceiver branches at the first radio transceiver device.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the signal is a dedicated test signal.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first radio transceiver device has a boresight direction, wherein the sequence of positions forms a path, and wherein the path extends in a direction perpendicular to the boresight direction.

15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is part of the first radio transceiver device, the second radio transceiver device, or a network controller.

16. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first radio transceiver device is part of an access node.

17. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second radio transceiver device is part of a user equipment.

18. A controller for over-the-air, OTA, based estimation of phase accuracy of a first radio transceiver device for mitigating the impact of reflections for the first radio transceiver device in its specific environment, the controller comprising processing circuitry, the processing circuitry being configured to cause the controller to:
obtain, per each position in a sequence of positions of a second radio transceiver device relative the first radio transceiver device, a phase relation estimate between transceiver branches of the first radio transceiver device, wherein each phase relation estimate is obtained from measurements on a signal wirelessly transmitted between the first radio transceiver device and the second radio transceiver device; and
estimate an average phase relation for at least one pair of the transceiver branches of the first radio transceiver device by averaging the obtained phase relation estimates over all the positions in the sequence of positions, wherein the phase accuracy of the first radio transceiver device is represented by the average phase relation for the at least one pair of the transceiver branches.

19. A computer program for over-the-air, OTA, based estimation of phase accuracy of a first radio transceiver device, the computer program comprising computer code which, when run on processing circuitry of a controller, causes the controller to:
obtain, per each position in a sequence of positions of a second radio transceiver device relative the first radio transceiver device, a phase relation estimate between transceiver branches of the first radio transceiver device, wherein each phase relation estimate is obtained from measurements on a signal wirelessly transmitted between the first radio transceiver device and the second radio transceiver device; and
estimate an average phase relation for at least one pair of the transceiver branches of the first radio transceiver device by averaging the obtained phase relation estimates over all the positions in the sequence of positions, wherein the phase accuracy of the first radio transceiver device is represented by the average phase relation for the at least one pair of the transceiver branches.

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Persson Lars
• Elfström Torbjörn
• Engdahl Christer

Classifications

• H04B17/12 Primary

  of transmit antennas, e.g. of the amplitude or phase · CPC title

• H04B17/191 Primary

  Over-the-air testing · CPC title

• H04B17/26

  using historical data, averaging values or statistics · CPC title