Electronic device for operating antenna module and method for controlling same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12562791-B2
Application number	US-202318120072-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 10, 2023
Priority date	Sep 11, 2020
Publication date	Feb 24, 2026
Grant date	Feb 24, 2026

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a device for activating a radio frequency (RF) module which is to be used efficiently in an electronic device that operates a plurality of RF modules (or antenna modules) in a wireless communication system, and to a method for controlling same. To this end, the electronic device checks the temperatures of the plurality of antenna modules using a first frequency band, and identifies candidate antenna modules in consideration of the temperatures of the plurality of antenna modules. The electronic device selects a serving antenna module from among the candidate antenna modules so that an available temperature state, in which the temperatures of the candidate antenna modules are lower than a threshold temperature, is maintained, and transmits and receives a signal using the first frequency band in the serving antenna module. The candidate antenna modules may include antenna modules which support communication performance of a threshold level or higher.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method performed by an electronic device, the method comprising:
monitoring temperatures of a plurality of antenna modules supporting a first frequency band; in case that a temperature of a first antenna module performing a communication among the plurality of antenna modules exceeds a specific temperature during monitoring the temperatures, identifying at least one antenna module having a temperature equal to or less than the specific temperature among the plurality of antenna modules; identifying whether a difference between a reference signal received power (RSRP) value of the first antenna module and an RSRP value of the at least one antenna module exceeds a threshold; in case that the difference exceeds the threshold:
transmitting uplink signals using an antenna supporting a second frequency band lower than the first frequency band; and
receiving downlink signals using the first antenna module supporting the first frequency band.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein, in case that an uplink traffic is larger than a downlink traffic, the uplink signals are transmitted through the antenna supporting the second frequency band.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
in case that the at least one antenna module is not identified from the plurality of antenna modules:
terminating a communication using the plurality of antenna modules supporting the first frequency band, and
transmitting and receiving a signal of the second frequency band using the antenna.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
in case that the at least one antenna module is not identified from the plurality of antenna modules, transmitting, to a base station, a request message for terminating transmission and reception of a signal of the first frequency band.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the request message includes first information indicating a bandwidth of the first frequency band and second information indicating a bandwidth of the second frequency band,
wherein a communication of the first frequency band is terminated based on the first information, and wherein a communication of the second frequency band is performed based on the second information.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first frequency band is in a range of 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz, and the second frequency band is in a range of one of 410 MHz to 6 GHz or 410 MHz to 7.125 GHz, and
wherein the second frequency band includes a long-term evolution (LTE) frequency band allocated for an LTE network and a new radio (NR) frequency band allocated for an NR network.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the threshold is determined based on the RSRP value of the first antenna module and a data throughput.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying that each of a second antenna module and a third antenna module has a temperature equal to or less than the specific temperature; in case that the electronic device supports a transmission of the uplink signals and a reception of the downlink signals by using different antenna modules:
transmitting the uplink signals by using the second antenna module, and
receiving the downlink signals by using the third antenna module.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
in case that the electronic device does not support the transmission of the uplink signals and the reception of the downlink signals by using different antenna modules:
transmitting the uplink signals and receiving the downlink signals by using the second antenna module or the third antenna module.

10 . An electronic device comprising:
a plurality of antenna modules supporting a first frequency band; an antenna supporting a second frequency band lower than the first frequency band; at least one processor comprising processor circuitry; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to: monitor temperatures of the plurality of antenna modules; in case that a temperature of a first antenna module performing a communication among the plurality of antenna modules exceeds a specific temperature during monitoring the temperatures, identify at least one antenna module having a temperature equal to or less than the specific temperature among the plurality of antenna modules; identify whether a difference between a reference signal received power (RSRP) value of the first antenna module and an RSRP value of the at least one antenna module exceeds a threshold; in case that the difference exceeds the threshold:
transmit uplink signals using the antenna supporting the second frequency band lower than the first frequency band; and
receive downlink signals using the first antenna module supporting the first frequency band.

11 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein, in case that an uplink traffic is larger than a downlink traffic, the uplink signals are transmitted through the antenna supporting the second frequency band.

12 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the instructions cause the electronic device to:
in case that the at least one antenna module is not identified from the plurality of antenna modules:
terminate a communication using the plurality of antenna modules supporting the first frequency band, and
transmit and receive a signal in the second frequency band using the antenna.

13 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the instructions cause the electronic device to:
in case that the at least one antenna module is not identified from the plurality of antenna modules, transmit, to a base station, a request message for terminating transmitting and receiving a signal of the first frequency band.

14 . The electronic device of claim 13 , wherein the request message includes first information indicating a bandwidth of the first frequency band and second information indicating a bandwidth of the second frequency band,
wherein a communication of the first frequency band is terminated based on the first information, and wherein a communication of the second frequency band is performed based on the second information.

15 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the first frequency band includes 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz, and the second frequency band includes at least one of 410 MHz to 6 GHz or 410 MHz to 7.125 GHZ, and
wherein the second frequency band includes a long-term evolution (LTE) frequency band allocated for an LTE network and a new radio (NR) frequency band allocated for an NR network.

16 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the threshold is determined based on the RSRP value of the first antenna module and a data throughput.

17 . The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the instructions cause the electronic device to:
identify that each of a second antenna module and a third antenna module has a temperature equal to or less than the specific temperature; in case that the electronic device supports a transmission of the uplink signals and a reception of the downlink signals by using different antenna modules:
transmit the uplink signals by using the second antenna module, and
receive the downlink signals by using the third antenna module.

18 . The electronic device of claim 17 , wherein the instructions cause the electronic device to:
in case that the electronic device does not support the transmission of the uplink signals and the reception of the downlink signals by using different antenna modules:
transmit the uplink signals

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

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

Classifications

• H04B17/328

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

• H04B1/38

  Transceivers, i.e. devices in which transmitter and receiver form a structural unit and in which at least one part is used for functions of transmitting and receiving · CPC title

• H04B1/0064

  with separate antennas for the more than one band (H04B1/0053 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04B17/18 Primary

  Monitoring during normal operation · CPC title

• H04B7/0608

  Antenna selection according to transmission parameters · CPC title