Beam alignment method and apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016302202-A1
Application number	US-201615185162-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 17, 2016
Priority date	Dec 19, 2013
Publication date	Oct 13, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a beam alignment method and apparatus. The method includes: communicating with a second device according to a first timeslot structure by sequentially using beams in N directions in a first traversal structure, and obtaining first receive powers when signals transmitted by the second device are received; determining an optimal beam of a first device according to the first receive powers; transmitting signals to the second device according to the first timeslot structure by sequentially using the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure, and receiving, by using the optimal beam, the signals transmitted by the second device; and when it is determined that the second device determines an optimal beam of the second device, communicating with the second device by using the optimal beam of the first device and by using a second timeslot structure.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A beam alignment method, comprising:
communicating, by a first device, with a second device according to a first timeslot structure by sequentially using beams in N directions in a first traversal structure, and when receiving signals transmitted by the second device, obtaining first receive powers corresponding to beams in each direction of the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure, wherein the first timeslot structure comprises at least two transmit timeslots and at least two receive timeslots; the first traversal structure is a combination structure of the beams in the N directions of the first device; and N is an integer greater than zero; determining, by the first device, an optimal beam of the first device from the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure according to the first receive powers corresponding to the beams in each direction of the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure; transmitting, by the first device, signals to the second device according to the first timeslot structure by sequentially using the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure, and receiving, by using the optimal beam of the first device, the signals transmitted by the second device; and when the first device determines that the second device determines an optimal beam of the second device, communicating, by the first device, with the second device by using the optimal beam of the first device and by using a second timeslot structure, wherein the second timeslot structure comprises at least one transmit timeslot and at least one receive timeslot.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the communicating, by a first device, with a second device according to a first timeslot structure by sequentially using beams in N directions in a first traversal structure, and when receiving signals transmitted by the second device, obtaining first receive powers corresponding to beams in each direction of the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure comprises:
transmitting, by the first device, signals to beams in N directions of the second device in the transmit timeslots of the first timeslot structure by sequentially using the beams in each direction of the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure, receiving, in the receive timeslots of the first timeslot structure, signals that are transmitted by the second device by using beams in N directions in a second traversal structure, and obtaining the first receive powers, wherein at least one receive timeslot in the first timeslot structure is corresponding to a transmit timeslot in a third timeslot structure of the second device; at least one transmit timeslot in the first timeslot structure is corresponding to a receive timeslot in the third timeslot structure of the second device; and beam directions of the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure match beam directions of the beams in each direction in the second traversal structure of the second device at least once.

3 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the determining, by the first device, an optimal beam of the first device from the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure according to the first receive powers corresponding to the beams in each direction of the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure comprises:
obtaining, by the first device according to the first receive powers obtained when the signals that are transmitted by the second device by using the beams in the N directions in the second traversal structure are received on the beams in each direction of the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure, first average receive powers corresponding to the beams in each direction of the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure; and determining, by the first device from the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure and according to the first average receive powers corresponding to the beams in each direction of the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure, a beam corresponding to a maximum first average receive power as the optimal beam of the first device.

4 . The method according to claim 2 , wherein the determining, by the first device, an optimal beam of the first device from the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure according to the first receive powers corresponding to the beams in each direction of the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure comprises:
obtaining, by the first device, first power sums corresponding to the beams in each direction of the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure, wherein the first power sums refer to sum values of the first receive powers that are obtained when the signals that are transmitted by the second device by using the beams in the N directions in the second traversal structure are received on the beams in each direction of the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure; and determining, by the first device from the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure and according to the first power sums corresponding to the beams in each direction of the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure, a beam corresponding to a maximum first power sum as the optimal beam of the first device.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein before the communicating, by the first device, with the second device by using the optimal beam of the first device and by using a second timeslot structure, the method further comprises:
obtaining second receive powers when the signals transmitted by the second device are received by using the optimal beam of the first device, wherein the second receive powers are receive powers obtained when the signals transmitted by the second device are received by using the optimal beam of the first device in a case in which signals are transmitted to the second device by using the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure; and determining, by the first device according to the second receive powers, whether the second device determines the optimal beam of the second device.

6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the transmitting, by the first device, signals to the second device according to the first timeslot structure by sequentially using the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure, and receiving, by using the optimal beam of the first device, the signals transmitted by the second device; and obtaining second receive powers when the signals transmitted by the second device are received by using the optimal beam of the first device comprises:
when the second device does not determine the optimal beam of the second device, transmitting, by the first device, signals to the beams in the N directions of the second device in the transmit timeslots of the first timeslot structure by sequentially using the beams in each direction of the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure, and receiving, in the receive timeslots of the first timeslot structure by using the optimal beam of the first device, the signals that are transmitted by the second device by using the beams in the N directions in the second traversal structure, and obtaining the second receive powers; or when the second device determines the optimal beam of the second device, transmitting, by the first device, signals to the beams in the N directions of the second device in the transmit timeslots of the first timeslot structure by sequentially using the beams in each direction of the beams in the N directions in the first traversal structure, and receiving, in the receive time

Assignees

• Huawei Tech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Lyu Rui

Classifications

• H04B7/0617

  for beam forming · CPC title

• H04W72/0446 Primary

  Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames · CPC title

• H04W52/42 Primary

  in systems with time, space, frequency or polarisation diversity · CPC title

• H04B7/06952

  Selecting one or more beams from a plurality of beams, e.g. beam training, management or sweeping · CPC title