US-12621025-B2 - Beamforming method and device in wireless communication system

US12621025B2US 12621025 B2US12621025 B2US 12621025B2US-12621025-B2

Abstract

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a beamforming method performed by a wireless device having an array antenna in a wireless communication system comprises the steps of: calculating a phase related to a target beamforming direction; determining antenna patterns related to the target beamforming direction from among antenna patterns preconfigured in relation to beamforming; and applying, to the array antenna, an antenna pattern based on the phase from among the antenna patterns related to the target beamforming direction. Each antenna included in the array antenna includes multiple feeding points and a variable reactance element connected to at least one feeding point among the multiple feeding points. The antenna pattern is related to at least one of i) a selection of at least one feeding point among the multiple feeding points and ii) a reactance value of the variable reactance element.

Inventors

Sangmi NOH
Jaehoon Chung
Sangrim LEE
Seongjae KIM
Dangoh Kim
Seungwon Keum
Juyong Lee
Dongho Cho

Assignees

LG ELECTRONICS INC.
KOREA ADVANCED INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20200709

Claims (8)

1 . A beamforming method performed by a wireless device including an array antenna in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: calculating a phase for each antenna included in the array antenna related to a target beamforming direction; determining, from a plurality of preconfigured antenna patterns, one or more antenna patterns related to the target beamforming direction, wherein each of the one or more determined antenna patterns has a peak gain direction within a specific range of the target beamforming direction; and applying, to each antenna in the array antenna, an antenna pattern from the one or more determined antenna patterns, wherein the antenna pattern has a radiation phase that most closely matches the calculated phase for each antenna, wherein each antenna included in the array antenna includes a plurality of feeding points including at least one first feeding point for impedance-matched signal injection and at least one second feeding point connected to a variable reactance element, and wherein applying the antenna pattern includes setting a selection of the plurality of feeding points and setting a reactance value of the variable reactance element corresponding to the antenna pattern.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the antenna pattern includes information related to at least one of the selection of at least one feeding point, the reactance value, a peak gain direction, or a polarization phase.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein information related to the polarization phase includes a 3 D matrix based on the antenna pattern, and wherein the 3D matrix includes an elevation angle, an azimuth angle, and a polarization phase based on the elevation angle and the azimuth angle.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein applying the antenna pattern based on the phase comprises selecting, from the antenna patterns related to the target beamforming direction, an antenna pattern that minimizes an absolute difference between i) the polarization phase determined from the 3 D matrix for the target beamforming direction, and ii) the calculated phase related to the target beamforming direction.
5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the phase is calculated for each antenna included in the array antenna, wherein the information related to the selection of at least one feeding point is based on a bitmap representing on or off of each antenna, and wherein the information related to the reactance value includes a reactance value of each antenna.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the application of the antenna pattern based on the phase is based on the bitmap and the reactance value of each antenna.
7 . A wireless device performing beamforming in a wireless communication system, the wireless device comprising: an array antenna; one or more transceivers transmitting and receiving radio signals through the array antenna; one or more processors controlling the array antenna and the one or more transceivers; and one or more memories operatively connectable to the one or more processors, and storing instructions of performing operations when the beamforming is executed by the one or more processors, wherein the operations include calculating a phase for each antenna included in the array antenna related to a target beamforming direction; determining, from a plurality of preconfigured antenna patterns, one or more antenna patterns related to the target beamforming direction, wherein each of the one or more determined antenna patterns has a peak gain direction within a specific range of the target beamforming direction; and applying, to each antenna in the array antenna, an antenna pattern from the one or more determined antenna patterns, wherein the antenna pattern has a radiation phase that most closely matches the calculated phase for each antenna, wherein each antenna included in the array antenna includes a plurality of feeding points including at least one first feeding point for impedance-matched signal injection and at least one second feeding point connected to a variable reactance element, and wherein applying the antenna pattern includes setting a selection of the plurality of feeding points and setting a reactance value of the variable reactance element corresponding to the antenna pattern.
8 . The wireless device of claim 7 , wherein the antenna pattern includes information related to at least one of the selection of at least one feeding point, the reactance value, a peak gain direction, or a polarization phase.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is the National Stage filing under 35 U.S.C. 371 of International Application No. PCT/KR2020/009057, filed on Jul. 9, 2020, the contents of which are all hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a beamforming method and a device thereof in a wireless communication system. BACKGROUND A mobile communication system was developed to provide a voice service while ensuring the activity of a user. However, the area of the mobile communication system has extended up to data services in addition to voice. Due to a current explosive increase in traffic, there is a shortage of resources. Accordingly, there is a need for a more advanced mobile communication system because users demand higher speed services. Requirements for a next-generation mobile communication system need to able to support the accommodation of explosive data traffic, a dramatic increase in the data rate per user, the accommodation of a significant increase in the number of connected devices, very low end-to-end latency, and high-energy efficiency. To this end, various technologies, such as dual connectivity, massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO), in-band full duplex, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), the support of a super wideband, and device networking, are researched. SUMMARY The present disclosure provides a beamforming method and a device thereof. Beamforming in the prior art is performed based on a phase shifter connected to an antenna. In the case of the THz band, a small-sized antenna is configured as a massive array antenna to obtain a large beam gain. In this case, as a phase modulation is connected to each antenna, power consumption becomes very large, a heating problem occurs, and power loss occurs due to insertion loss of the phase shifter. In the THz band, it is difficult to constitute a beamforming system using the phase shifter. Meanwhile, a technique for performing beamforming without using the phase shifter has been proposed. A pattern reconfigurable antenna is an antenna whose radiation pattern can be adjusted in various ways. There are several ways to obtain pattern reconfigurability, and representatively, there is a method of selecting a parasitic element through a switch, and a method of controlling the radiation pattern by connecting a reactively loaded element to a parasitic element called Electronically Steerable Parasitic Array Radiator (ESPAR). However, both the method using the parasitic element switching and the method using the ESPAR require a plurality of parasitic antennas to be disposed around the main antenna. Accordingly, since the volume of the unit antenna increases, it is impossible to expand the array. In addition, in the case of existing pattern reconfigurable antennas, there is a limitation that the number of radiation directions that can be changed according to the number of parasitic elements is limited. Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a beamforming method and a device thereof capable of solving the above-described problems of the prior art. The technical objects of the present disclosure are not limited to the aforementioned technical objects, and other technical objects, which are not mentioned above, will be apparently appreciated by a person having ordinary skill in the art from the following description. Technical Solution According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, an antenna includes: a radiating element; a plurality of feeding points to which a feeding line for applying a signal to the radiating element is connected; a switch turning on or off the signal applied to each feeding point among the plurality of feeding points; and a variable reactance element connected to at least one feeding point among the plurality of feeding points. The plurality of feeding points includes at least one first feeding point disposed at a first location, and at least one second feeding point disposed at a second location different from the first location. The second feeding point is connected to the variable reactance element. The first location may be positioned within a region formed based on a specific length from an edge of the radiating element, and the second location may be positioned outside the region. The specific length may be based on ⅓ (one third) of a length from the edge up to an opposite edge. The variable reactance element may be based on a chip inductor, a chip capacitor, or a varactor diode. According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a beamforming method performed by a wireless device including an array antenna in a wireless communication system includes: calculating a phase related to a target beamforming direction; determining antenna patterns related to the target beamforming direction among antenna patterns preconfigured in relation to beamforming; and applying, to the array antenna, an antenna pattern based on the phase a