Methods and apparatuses for configuring number of antennas for massive MIMO communication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9781668-B2
Application number	US-201514707801-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 8, 2015
Priority date	May 8, 2015
Publication date	Oct 3, 2017
Grant date	Oct 3, 2017

Abstract

A central node of a Massive Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) system includes a processor and a transceiver. The processor is configured to determine a number of active antennas to be used to serve users in at least one cell of the Massive MIMO system based on wireless network parameters for the Massive MIMO system. The transceiver is configured to transmit the determined number of active antennas to a Massive MIMO base station in the at least one cell.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method for configuring a number of active antennas of at least one Massive Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) base station to be used to serve users in at least one cell of a Massive MIMO system including a plurality of cells and a plurality of corresponding Massive MIMO base stations, the method comprising:
determining, at a central node connected to and located remotely from the at least one Massive MIMO base station, the number of active antennas of the at least one Massive MIMO base station to be used to serve the users in the at least one cell of the Massive MIMO system based on wireless network parameters for the Massive MIMO system;
transmitting, by the central node, the number of active antennas to the at least one Massive MIMO base station in the at least one cell; and
wherein the determining includes
calculating an estimated number of active antennas to serve users in each of the plurality of cells based on the wireless network parameters for the Massive MIMO system; and
computing the number of active antennas to be used for serving users in the at least one cell of the Massive MIMO system based on the estimated numbers of active antennas.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless network parameters include at least one of fading characteristics for the at least one Massive MIMO base station and traffic loading information for the Massive MIMO system.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the fading characteristics include slow fading coefficients associated with the at least one Massive MIMO base station.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the traffic loading information includes traffic loading demand for the plurality of corresponding Massive MIMO base stations in the Massive MIMO system.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein
the calculating includes separately calculating the estimated number of active antennas for serving users in each of the plurality of cells based on the wireless network parameters for the Massive MIMO system.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computing step comprises:
calculating an average of the estimated numbers of active antennas to compute the number of active antennas to be used to serve users in the at least one cell of the Massive MIMO system.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the transmitting step transmits the calculated average to each of the plurality of cells in the Massive MIMO system.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
dynamically adjusting the number of active antennas to be used to serve users in the at least one cell by performing the determining step and the transmitting step periodically.

9. A central node of a Massive Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) system including a plurality of cells and a plurality of corresponding Massive MIMO base stations, the central node comprising:
a processor configured to
calculate an estimated number of active antennas for serving users in each of the plurality of cells based on wireless network parameters for the Massive MIMO system, and
compute a number of active antennas of at least one Massive MIMO base station to be used to serve users in at least one cell of the Massive MIMO system based on the estimated numbers of active antennas, the central node connected to and located remotely from the at least one Massive MIMO base station; and

a transceiver configured to transmit the number of active antennas to the at least one Massive MIMO base station in the at least one cell.

10. The central node of claim 9 , wherein the wireless network parameters include at least one of fading characteristics for the at least one Massive MIMO base station and traffic loading information for the Massive MIMO system.

11. The central node of claim 10 , wherein the fading characteristics include slow fading coefficients associated with the at least one Massive MIMO base station.

12. The central node of claim 10 , wherein the traffic loading information includes traffic loading demand for the plurality of corresponding Massive MIMO base stations in the Massive MIMO system.

13. The central node of claim 9 , wherein
the processor is further configured to
separately calculate the estimated number of active antennas for serving users in each of the plurality of cells based on the wireless network parameters for the Massive MIMO system.

14. The central node of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to compute the number of active antennas to be used to serve users in the at least one cell of the Massive MIMO system by calculating an average of the estimated numbers of active antennas.

15. The central node of claim 14 , wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit the calculated average to each of the plurality of cells in the Massive MIMO system.

16. The central node of claim 9 , wherein the central node is configured to dynamically adjust the number of active antennas to be used to serve users in the at least one cell by performing the determining step and the transmitting step periodically.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computer device, cause the computer device to perform a method for configuring a number of active antennas of at least one Massive Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) base station to be used to serve users in at least one cell of a Massive MIMO system including a plurality of cells and a plurality of corresponding Massive MIMO base stations, the method comprising:
determining, at a central node connected to and located remotely from the at least one Massive MIMO base station, the number of active antennas of the at least one Massive MIMO base station to be used to serve the users in the at least one cell of the Massive MIMO system based on wireless network parameters for the Massive MIMO system;
transmitting, by the central node, the number of active antennas to the at least one Massive MIMO base station in the at least one cell; and
wherein the determining includes
calculating an estimated number of active antennas for serving users in each of the plurality of cells based on the wireless network parameters for the Massive MIMO system, and
computing the number of active antennas to be used to serve users in the at least one cell of the Massive MIMO system based on the estimated numbers of active antennas.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein
the calculating includes separately calculating the estimated number of active antennas for serving users in each of the plurality of cells based on the wireless network parameters for the Massive MIMO system.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the computing step comprises:
calculating an average of the estimated numbers of active antennas to compute the number of active antennas to be used to serve users in the at least one cell of the Massive MIMO system.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the method further comprises:
dynamically adjusting the number of active antennas to be used to serve users in the at least one cell by performing the determining step and the transmitting step periodically.

21. A base station configured to serve users in at least one cell of a Massive Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) system including a plurality of cells and a plurality of corresponding Massive MIMO base stations, the base station comprising:
a plurality of Massive MIMO antennas;
a backhaul data and sig

Assignees

• Yang Hong
• Marzetta Thomas
• Alcatel Lucent Usa Inc

Inventors

• Yang Hong
• Marzetta Thomas

Classifications

• Y02B60/50

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• H04W52/0206 Primary

  in access points, e.g. base stations · CPC title

• H04B7/0426

  Power distribution · CPC title

• H04B7/0691

  using subgroups of transmit antennas · CPC title

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication networks · CPC title