Low-complexity beam steering in array apertures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020358182-A1
Application number	US-201916677520-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 7, 2019
Priority date	May 10, 2019
Publication date	Nov 12, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

A transceiver for low-complexity beam steering. The transceiver has a first antenna array including a first sub-aperture with a first native beam steering angle and a second antenna array including a second sub-aperture with a second native beam steering angle different than the first native beam steering angle. The first antenna array and the second antenna array are arranged in the transceiver such that the first sub-aperture is combinable with the second sub-aperture to form a combined aperture when the first antenna array and the second antenna array are excited.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A transceiver comprising:
a first antenna array including a first sub-aperture with a first native beam steering angle; a second antenna array including a second sub-aperture with a second native beam steering angle different than the first native beam steering angle; wherein the first antenna array and the second antenna array are arranged in the transceiver such that the first sub-aperture is combinable with the second sub-aperture to form a combined aperture when the first antenna array and the second antenna array are excited.

2 . The transceiver of claim 1 , wherein the first antenna array and the second antenna array are N×M arrays with N strings of M antenna elements, and wherein N and M are non-zero integers.

3 . The transceiver of claim 2 , wherein adjacent antenna elements on a same string of the first antenna array are separated by a first distance, and wherein adjacent antenna elements on adjacent strings of the first antenna array are separated by a second distance, and wherein the first sub-aperture is separated from the second sub-aperture by an offset that is ½ the first distance, ½ the second distance, or both.

4 . The transceiver of claim 2 , wherein adjacent antenna elements on a same string of the first antenna array are separated by a first distance, and wherein adjacent antenna elements on adjacent strings of the first antenna array are separated by a second distance, and wherein the first sub-aperture is separated from the second sub-aperture by an offset that is at least ½ the first distance, at least ½ the second distance, or both.

5 . The transceiver of claim 4 , wherein antenna elements of the first antenna array are arranged to define a first plane, wherein antenna elements of the second antenna array are arranged to define a second plane parallel to and separated from the first plane by a third distance, and wherein the offset includes the third distance.

6 . The transceiver of claim 2 , wherein strings of the first antenna array are interleaved with strings of the second antenna array to form a composite 2N×M array.

7 . The transceiver of claim 2 , wherein the first antenna array is positioned adjacent to the second antenna array to form a composite N×2M array.

8 . The transceiver of claim 2 , wherein strings of the first antenna array are configured to receive first driving signals at an antenna element located at an edge of the first antenna array, and
wherein strings of the second antenna array are configured to receive second driving signals at an antenna element located at an edge of the second antenna array.

9 . The transceiver of claim 2 , wherein strings of the first antenna array are configured to receive first driving signals between antenna elements located within an interior of the first antenna array, and
wherein strings of the second antenna array are configured to receive second driving signals between antenna elements located within an interior of the second antenna array.

10 . The transceiver of claim 1 , wherein a combined beam transmitted from the transceiver is steerable between the first native beam steering angle and the second native beam steering angle by controlling a relative amplitude and phase of the first sub-aperture and the second sub-aperture.

11 . A method for beam steering in a transceiver, the method comprising:
sending first driving signals to a first antenna array including a first sub-aperture with a first native beam steering angle; sending second driving signals to a second antenna array including a second sub-aperture with a second native beam steering angle; wherein the first antenna array and the second antenna array are arranged in the transceiver such that the first sub-aperture is combinable with the second sub-aperture to form a combined aperture when the first driving signals and the second driving signals excite the first and second antenna arrays, respectively.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the first antenna array and the second antenna array are N×M arrays with N strings of M elements, and wherein N and M are non-zero integers.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein adjacent antenna elements on a same string of the first antenna array are separated by a first distance, and wherein adjacent antenna elements on adjacent strings of the first antenna array are separated by a second distance, and wherein the first sub-aperture is separated from the second sub-aperture by an offset that is ½ the first distance, ½ the second distance, or both.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein adjacent antenna elements on a same string of the first antenna array are separated by a first distance, and wherein adjacent antenna elements on adjacent strings of the first antenna array are separated by a second distance, and wherein the first sub-aperture is separated from the second sub-aperture by an offset that is at least ½ the first distance, at least ½ the second distance, or both.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein antenna elements of the first antenna array are arranged to define a first plane, wherein antenna elements of the second antenna array are arranged to define a second plane parallel to and separated from the first plane by a third distance, and wherein the offset includes the third distance.

16 . The method of claim 12 , wherein strings of the first antenna array are interleaved with strings of the second antenna array to form a composite 2N×M array.

17 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the first antenna array is positioned adjacent to the second antenna array to form a composite N×2M array.

18 . The method of claim 12 , wherein sending the first driving signals to the first antenna array further comprises sending the first driving signals to strings of the first antenna array for receipt at an antenna element located at an edge of the first antenna array, and
wherein sending the second driving signals to the second antenna array further comprises sending the second driving signals to strings of the second antenna array for receipt at an antenna element located at an edge of the second antenna array.

19 . The method of claim 12 , wherein sending the first driving signals to the first antenna array further comprises sending the first driving signals to strings of the first antenna array for receipt between antenna elements located within an interior of the first antenna array, and
wherein sending the second driving signals to the second antenna array further comprises sending the second driving signals to strings of the second antenna array for receipt between antenna elements located within an interior of the second antenna array.

20 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
steering a combined beam transmitted from the transceiver between the first native beam steering angle and the second native beam steering angle by controlling a relative amplitude and phase of the first sub-aperture and the second sub-aperture.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Klemmer Nikolaus

Classifications

• H01Q21/22

  Antenna units of the array energised non-uniformly in amplitude or phase, e.g. tapered array or binomial array · CPC title

• H01Q21/061

  Two dimensional planar arrays · CPC title

• H04B7/086

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

• H04B7/0617 Primary

  for beam forming · CPC title

• G01S7/02

  of systems according to group G01S13/00 · CPC title