Electronic device and method for determining RF module for beamforming thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12470310-B2
Application number	US-202318347191-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 5, 2023
Priority date	Nov 11, 2021
Publication date	Nov 11, 2025
Grant date	Nov 11, 2025

Abstract

An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a wireless communication circuit including a plurality of radio frequency (RF) modules, a memory configured to store a plurality of reference values for classifying a plurality of areas within a cell to which the electronic device belongs, and a processor, and the processor may be configured to determine, based on at least one of a first broadcasting signal received from a base station in the cell and the plurality of reference values stored in the memory, at least one RF module among the plurality of RF modules to monitor a second broadcasting signal transmitted from the base station and a period of the monitoring, and perform the monitoring by using the determined at least one RF module according to the determined period.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An electronic device comprising:
a wireless communication circuit including a plurality of radio frequency (RF) modules; a memory configured to store a plurality of reference values for classifying a plurality of areas within a cell to which the electronic device belongs; and at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
determine, based on at least one of a first broadcasting signal received from a base station in the cell and the plurality of reference values stored in the memory, at least one RF module among the plurality of RF modules to monitor a second broadcasting signal transmitted from the base station and a period of the monitoring, and
perform the monitoring by using the determined at least one RF module according to the determined period.

2 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine an area within the cell where the electronic device is located by comparing a reference signal received power (RSRP) of the first broadcasting signal received from the base station in the cell with at least one of the plurality of reference values stored in the memory.

3 . The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine that the electronic device is located in a first area adjacent to the base station in case that the RSRP of the first broadcasting signal received from the base station is greater than or equal to a first reference value among the plurality of reference values.

4 . The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to reduce the monitoring period in case that it is determined that the electronic device is located in the first area.

5 . The electronic device of claim 3 ,
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform the monitoring by using a serving module that forms a reception beam for a serving cell to which the base station belongs among the plurality of RF modules in case that the RSRP of the signal received from the base station is less than a first reference value and is greater than or equal to a second reference value among the plurality of reference values, and wherein the monitoring is performed in case that the electronic device is located in a second area other than the first area.

6 . The electronic device of claim 5 ,
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform the monitoring by using a non-serving module that does not form a reception beam for the serving module and the serving cell among the plurality of RF modules in case that the RSRP of the first broadcasting signal received from the base station is less than the second reference value, and wherein the monitoring is performed in case that the electronic device is located in a third area other than the first area and the second area.

7 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
determine a moving speed of the electronic device; and adjust at least some of the plurality of reference values stored in the memory based on the determined moving speed.

8 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform the monitoring by using at least some of the RF modules excluding the blocked RF module in case that at least some of the plurality of RF modules are blocked.

9 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine activation time and deactivation time of monitoring the second broadcasting signal by using the RF module according to the determined period during a connected mode discontinuous reception (CDRX) operation.

10 . The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is configured to support a fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) network.

11 . A method of selecting a radio frequency (RF) module for beamforming of an electronic device, the electronic device comprising: a plurality of RF modules, and a memory configured to store a plurality of reference values for classifying a plurality of areas within a cell to which the electronic device belongs, the method comprising:
determining, based on at least one of a first broadcasting signal received from a base station in the cell and a plurality of reference values stored in the memory, at least one RF module among the plurality of RF modules to monitor a second broadcasting signal transmitted from the base station and a period of the monitoring, and performing the monitoring by using the determined at least one RF module according to the determined period.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the determining of the at least one RF module and the period of the monitoring comprises:
determining an area within the cell where the electronic device is located by comparing a reference signal received power (RSRP) of the first broadcasting signal received from the base station in the cell with at least one of the plurality of reference values stored in the memory.

13 . The method of claim 12 ,
wherein the determining of the area within the cell where the electronic device is located comprises determining that the electronic device is located in a first area adjacent to the base station in case that the RSRP of the first broadcasting signal received from the base station is greater than or equal to a first reference value among the plurality of reference values, and wherein the determining of the at least one RF module and the period of the monitoring comprises reducing the monitoring period in case that it is determined that the electronic device is located in the first area.

14 . The method of claim 13 ,
wherein the determining of the area within the cell where the electronic device is located comprises performing the monitoring by using a serving module that forms a reception beam for a serving cell to which the base station belongs among the plurality of RF modules in case that the RSRP of the signal received from the base station is less than a first reference value and is greater than or equal to a second reference value among the plurality of reference values, and wherein the performing of the monitoring comprises performing the monitoring in case that the electronic device is located in a second area other than the first area.

15 . The method of claim 14 ,
wherein the determining of the area within the cell where the electronic device is located comprises performing the monitoring by using a non-serving module that does not form a reception beam for the serving module and the serving cell among the plurality of RF modules in case that the RSRP of the first broadcasting signal received from the base station is less than the second reference value, and wherein the performing of the monitoring comprises performing the monitoring in case that the electronic device is located in a third area other than the first area and the second area.

16 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining a moving speed of the electronic device; and adjusting at least some of the plurality of reference values stored in the memory based on the determined moving speed.

17 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
performing the monitoring by using at least some of the RF modules excluding the blocked RF module in case that at least some of the plurality of RF modules are blocked.

18 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining activat

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Junsuk
• Yang Minho
• Woo Junyoung
• Lee Hyoungjoo
• Han Yonggue
• Kim Taeyoon
• Jung Euichang
• Lim Chaeman

Classifications

• H04W76/28

  Discontinuous transmission [DTX]; Discontinuous reception [DRX] · CPC title

• H04B17/328

  Reference signal received power [RSRP]; Reference signal received quality [RSRQ] · CPC title

• H04B7/0834

  based on external parameters, e.g. subscriber speed or location · CPC title

• H04B7/086 Primary

  using weights depending on external parameters, e.g. direction of arrival [DOA], predetermined weights or beamforming · CPC title

• H04B7/0897

  using beamforming per multi-path, e.g. to cope with different directions of arrival [DOA] at different multi-paths · CPC title