KR101861270B1 - Method for controlling of beamforming and apparatus thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a beamforming control method and, more specifically, to a beamforming control method and a device therefor capable of providing a higher quality communication service to a terminal by determining a network construction environment by a base station of a second network and controlling the phase or amplitude of an antenna in an environment in which a first network which does not support beamforming technology and the second network which supports beamforming technology are mixed. The beamforming control method according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a step of collecting signal reception level information generated by the terminal and determining the network construction environment by the base station of the second network supporting beamforming technology; and a step of adjusting the phase of all antenna arrays and transmitting a sharp beam to increase the capacity in a service area when it is determined that the first network and the second network are affiliation networks.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a beamforming control method, and more particularly,

The present invention relates to a beamforming control method and, more particularly, to a beamforming control method in which, in an environment in which a first network that does not support beamforming technology and a second network that supports beamforming technology are mixed, And control the phase or amplitude of the antenna to provide a higher quality communication service to the terminal, and to an apparatus therefor.

The contents described in this section merely provide background information on the present embodiment and do not constitute the prior art.

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a mobile communication system aims to provide stable voice and data by establishing a network that provides fixed service coverage around a base station and providing a good radio wave environment to a user terminal of a mobile station in the coverage. Such a mobile communication system has evolved continuously over time, and various networks have been built up to 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G mobile communication systems.

The 4G mobile communication system represented by the LTE mobile communication system is mainly designed to transmit at a bandwidth of up to 20 MHz in the vicinity of the 2 GHz band. Recently, in order to meet the demand of wireless data traffic, a broadband A mobile communication system has attracted attention.

A broadband mobile communication system in a very high frequency band is called a post LTE system or a 5G communication system and means a communication system using a very high frequency broadband which has strong directivity and high frequency reuse ratio. The ultra-high frequency broadband mobile communication system, i.e., 5G mobile communication system, uses 10 GHz, 28 GHz, and 60 GHz bands of 5 GHz or more and aims at high-speed transmission of 1 Gbps or more for high-speed Internet access.

In addition, the 5G mobile communication system uses beamforming, massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO), and full-dimensional multiple input / output (I / O) in order to mitigate path loss and propagation distance of radio waves in a very high frequency band. full-size MIMO (FD-MIMO), and array antennas. In particular, beamforming technology is one of the core technologies of 5G mobile communication system. In order to efficiently utilize radio frequency resources, beamforming technology concentrates the arrival region of radio wave in a specific direction according to the position of the terminal, which means increasing the directivity. The transmission distance is increased by regulating the direction of the radio wave depending on the position of the mobile terminal continuously moving, and since signals are hardly transmitted in directions other than the direction in which the signals are directed, interference due to other signals can be greatly reduced Therefore, it is possible to provide a more efficient and high-quality service to the terminal.

As such, communication technologies are constantly evolving according to the times, and various network environments are mixed accordingly. However, there is a difference in communication technologies supported between generations, and a frequency characteristic difference is generated for each service, which causes an inconsistency in coverage of the network.

Therefore, introduction of technologies to solve various network coverage mismatch problems that may occur in the early stage of introduction of 5G mobile communication system, which is a next generation mobile communication supporting various communication technologies that are not supported by previous generation mobile communication systems such as beam forming technology Is required.

Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2012-0072938, Jul. 04, 2012 (name: beam-forming array antenna control system and beam forming method using the same)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a 5G mobile communication system in which a 4G mobile communication system that does not support beamforming technology and a 5G mobile communication system that supports beamforming technology are mixed, The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a beamforming control method capable of determining a network construction environment and controlling the phase or amplitude of an antenna to provide a higher quality communication service to a terminal.

In particular, the present invention performs beamforming to control the phase or amplitude of an antenna more efficiently in accordance with a traffic load of a terminal, thereby inducing redirection or handover of a terminal to a base station capable of providing a high- And to provide a beamforming control method capable of efficiently controlling traffic load and providing a high-quality communication service to a terminal, and an apparatus therefor.

In addition, the present invention provides a beamforming control method capable of managing a traffic load more freely than an issue of a plurality of cell overlapping and inter-cell interference without needing to construct an additional network for traffic management such as a separate small cell And a device for the same.

However, the object of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects not mentioned can be clearly understood from the following description.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling beamforming in an environment in which a first network that does not support beamforming technology and a second network that supports beamforming technology are mixed, The base station of the second network supporting beamforming technology collects the signal reception level information generated by the terminal to determine a network establishment environment; And controlling a phase of all the antenna arrays to transmit a sharp beam so that capacity of the service area is increased if it is determined that the first network and the second network are cooperative network environments have.

In particular, the method may further include setting a condition for determining a network construction environment before the determining step, wherein the determining step compares the collected signal reception level information with the condition, It can be judged whether or not it is an environment-aware cooperation network environment.

If it is determined that the first network and the second network are independent network environments, the step of determining an antenna array to control the amplitude includes: And controlling the amplitude of the determined antenna array to increase the transmission radiated power of the corresponding beam so as to expand the service area.

The step of determining the network construction environment may include collecting signal reception level information from a plurality of terminals located within the coverage, or collecting signal reception level information from a base station of the first network, which is a neighbor cell, to determine a network establishment environment.

Further, the present invention can provide a computer-readable recording medium on which a program for executing the above-described method is recorded.

In order to achieve the above object, in an environment in which a first network that does not support the beamforming technique and a second network that supports the beamforming technique are mixed, according to an embodiment of the present invention, 2. A base station of a network, comprising: an antenna unit including a plurality of phase adjusters, each of which can generate an independent beam and change its phase or amplitude; And a control unit for controlling the antenna unit to determine a network establishment environment according to the signal reception level information of the terminal collected through the antenna unit. If it is determined that the first network and the second network are cooperative network environments, And a digital signal processor for controlling the phase of all the antenna arrays to transmit a sharp beam by the phase adjuster of the antenna unit to increase the capacity.

At this time, the digital signal processor sets a condition for determining a network construction environment, and compares the collected signal reception level information with the condition to determine whether the network construction state is an independent network environment or a cooperative network environment.

In addition, if it is determined that the first network and the second network are independent network environments, the digital signal processor determines an antenna array to control the amplitude, and controls amplitude of the determined antenna array, It is possible to control the phase adjuster of the antenna unit so that the service area is expanded by increasing the size of the power.

According to the beamforming control method and apparatus of the present invention, in an environment where a first network that does not support beamforming technology and a second network that supports beamforming technology are mixed, And controls the phase or amplitude of the antenna, thereby providing a higher quality communication service to the terminal.

Particularly, according to the present invention, beamforming for controlling the phase or amplitude of an antenna is performed more efficiently according to a traffic load of a terminal, and accordingly redirection or handover of a terminal to a base station capable of providing a high- The traffic load can be efficiently controlled and at the same time a high quality communication service can be provided to the terminal.

In addition, the present invention can manage the traffic load more freely than other small cell and other issues, such as cell overlapping and inter-cell interference, without needing to construct an additional network.

In addition, various effects other than the above-described effects can be directly or implicitly disclosed in the detailed description according to the embodiment of the present invention to be described later.

1 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a network environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a beamforming control method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.
3 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a beamforming control method according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating, from a logical viewpoint, a main configuration of a base station performing a beamforming control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention in terms of hardware.
FIGS. 6 and 7 are exemplary diagrams for explaining the process of adjusting the beam by the antenna phase adjuster of the present invention.
8 is a flowchart for explaining a beamforming control method in the base station of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention. This is to omit the unnecessary description so as to convey the key of the present invention more clearly without fading. While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. However, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments thereof, It is to be understood that the invention is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

In addition, when referring to an element as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it means that it can be connected or connected logically or physically. In other words, it is to be understood that although an element may be directly connected or connected to another element, there may be other elements in between, or indirectly connected or connected.

Also, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It is also to be understood that the terms such as " comprising "or" having ", as used herein, are intended to specify the presence of stated features, integers, It should be understood that the foregoing does not preclude the presence or addition of other features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, parts, or combinations thereof.

In this specification, the beamforming control method in the base station will be mainly described.

Herein, the BS refers to a terminal node of a network that directly communicates with the MS. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a beamforming control process will be mainly described with respect to a base station. However, an operation of the present invention can be performed by an upper node of a base station according to an implementation scheme.

In addition, the base station (BS) of the present invention can be replaced by terminology such as a fixed station, a Node B, an eNode B (eNode B), an access point (AP) May be replaced with terms such as User Equipment (UE), Mobile Station (MS), Mobile Subscriber Station (MSS), Subscriber Station (SS), etc. In other words, And the use of such specific terminology may be changed into other forms without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention.

Now, a beamforming control method and an apparatus therefor according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, the same reference numerals are used for similar functions and functions throughout the drawings, and a duplicate description thereof will be omitted. Furthermore, in order to avoid obscuring the concept of the present invention, well-known structures and devices may be omitted, or may be shown in block diagram form centering on the core functions of each structure and device.

Hereinafter, a structure of a network according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described first.

1 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a network environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a beamforming control method according to an embodiment of the present invention is to perform traffic load more efficiently in an environment where heterogeneous networks of different characteristics are mixed, An environment in which heterogeneous networks are mixed means an environment in which a first network that does not support beamforming technology and a second network that supports beamforming technology are mixed.

First, a first network that does not support the beamforming technique is a 4G mobile communication system 100 that can be represented by LTE. In the 4G mobile communication system 100, static coverage can be configured for each cell within a specific area through low-level MIMO such as 2x2 and 4x4 to provide services to connected terminals in the coverage. The 4G mobile communication system 100 represented by LTE is a universal mobile communication technology, and its coverage is configured in most service areas, so that the service can be easily accessed.

On the other hand, the second network supporting the beamforming technique is an example of a 5G mobile communication system 200 of a very high frequency broadband which is currently being introduced. The 5G mobile communication system 200 uses a 60 GHz band and is a mobile communication system aimed at high-speed transmission of 1 Gbps or more for high-speed Internet access such as high-speed streaming download, and is used in a 4G mobile communication system 100 This is the initial stage of commercialization. Although the 5G mobile communication system 200 is currently in the introduction stage, the 5G mobile communication system 200 is constructed mainly in a specific area for traffic concentration or special service purpose and is adaptive to various situations such as sudden concentration of traffic in a specific area There is a problem that control is difficult.

In such an environment in which the 4G mobile communication system 100 as a nationwide network unit and the 5G mobile communication system 200 as an introduction stage are mixed, redirection to an intergenerational network at the time of initial connection, We compare the condition of traffic load of each generation network rather than handover, and compare the reception power of each network to determine the coverage condition and control it according to each condition.

To this end, the present invention intends to utilize the beam-forming technique supported by the 5G mobile communication system 200.

A beamforming technique, which is a typical technology of the 5G mobile communication system 200, adjusts the input phase of each of a plurality of beams output through a plurality of antennas of a parallel feed structure using a phase adjuster to adjust a beam direction It means technology to control. Alternatively, the hybrid coupler and phase delay may be used to adjust the output beam direction according to the input port or only the phase delay to control the output beam direction.

This is to adjust the propagation characteristics depending on the beam width. Generally, channel propagation can be performed along a narrow beam and a broad beam width. For example, as shown in the figure, the beam of the 5G mobile communication system 200 exhibits an isotrophic pattern uniformly radiated in all directions. It is emitted in the form of a wide beam width. Such a wide beam propagates a signal through a wide channel, thereby increasing the probability of occurrence of independent signal paths between the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna. On the other hand, in the case of a thin beam, the signal radiated from the antenna represents a spatially narrow channel. In this case, since the effect of spatially concentrating the energy of the radiated signal is large, the antenna gain can be relatively large.

In the past, it was difficult to intelligently control after setting the width of such a beam. However, since the direction and intensity of the beam can be adjusted by individually adjusting the beams output from the beam forming technique of the 5G mobile communication system 200, more efficient control becomes possible.

The beamforming control method in the network supporting the beamforming technique of the present invention is centered on the corresponding base station 400. When the traffic is concentrated in a specific area, So as to further enhance the service environment of the terminal 500.

The beamforming control method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail below. In addition, in a mixed heterogeneous environment of the 4G mobile communication system 100 and the 5G mobile communication system 200 of the present invention, The A base station of the 4G mobile communication system 100 and the B base station of the 5G mobile communication system 200 are respectively installed at different sites and the coverage of the A base station and the coverage of the B base station 20 do not overlap with each other. On the other hand, a D base station, which is one base station of the 5G mobile communication system 200, is constructed in the same or similar site as the site where the C base station, which is one base station of the 4G mobile communication system 100, They can operate the same or similar to each other.

Hereinafter, for convenience of description, a network construction environment in which coverage does not overlap is constructed in different sites such as the A base station of the 4G mobile communication system 100 and the B base station of the 5G mobile communication system 200, And a network construction environment in which the coverage is built up in the same or similar sites as the C base station of the 4G mobile communication system 100 and the D base station of the 5G mobile communication system 200 is referred to as a co- .

In addition, a terminal 500 (User Equipment) requesting connection in a network environment may be a terminal supporting both the 4G module and the 5G module. In this case, when the terminal 500 is located in the cooperative network establishment environment, the terminal 500 can first access the 5G mobile communication system 200. In the independent network construction environment, the handover to the adjacent- .

In this specification, for convenience of description, the first network that does not support beamforming technology will be described as an example of a 4G mobile communication system, while the second network supporting beamforming technology will be described as an example of a 5G mobile communication system , But it should be noted that the present invention is not limited thereto.

Hereinafter, the beamforming control method in the technical environment of the present invention will be described in more detail.

First, the beamforming control method in the cooperative network construction environment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a beamforming control method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.

2A, the cooperative network establishment environment is established when the base station 300 of the 4G mobile communication system 100 and the base station 400 of the 5G mobile communication system 200 are installed in the same or similar sites , Which means that the service coverage overlaps. The terminal 500 located in such an environment may include both the 4G module and the 5G module and may be connected to the 5G mobile communication system 200 to use the service.

At this time, the terminal 500 receives a transmission stream layer, i.e., a transmission beam, transmitted from the base station 400, and when a plurality of transmission beams are received, the terminal 500 selects and connects the transmission beam having the best channel state Can be performed. For example, when five transmission beams 1 through 5 are received from the base station 400 of the 5G mobile communication system 500, an optimal transmission beam is selected from the transmission beams, and the selected transmission beam is connected to the base station 400 through the corresponding beam Process can be performed. At this time, the terminal 500 can perform a process of selecting and connecting a transmission beam using a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) and a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS).

However, when traffic is concentrated in a specific area as indicated by a specific area, for example, 520, the signal intensity of a transmission beam that can be received by some of the terminals 500 may be reduced, However, if the signal intensity of the transmission beam is smaller than that of the signal transmitted from the base station 100 of the 4G mobile communication system 100, the mobile station 100 will be connected to the 4G mobile communication system 100.

In order to solve this problem, the base station 400 of the 5G mobile communication system 200 of the present invention collects the signal reception level information continuously from the terminal 100 and, when it is determined that traffic is concentrated in a specific area, As shown in FIG. 3B, the transmission beam to be transmitted to the area is controlled to be a shape of a more sharp beam, thereby enhancing the strength and accuracy of the signal to provide a service.

On the other hand, the beamforming control method in the independent network construction environment of the present invention will be described.

3 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a beamforming control method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3A, in the independent network construction environment, the base station 300 of the 4G mobile communication system 100 and the base station 400 of the 5G mobile communication system 200 are respectively installed in different sites This means that the service coverage does not overlap. The terminal 500 including the 4G module and the 5G module located in such an environment accesses the mobile communication system of the cell in which the 4G module and the 5G module are located and uses the service. That is, the terminals located in the cell radius of the 4G mobile communication system 100 can access the 4G mobile communication system through the 4G communication module.

In this case, when a plurality of terminals are concentrated and traffic is concentrated as indicated by a specific sector 520 among the cells of the 4G mobile communication system 100, the base station 300 of the 4G mobile communication system 100 transmits 500 to the base station 400 of the 5G mobile communication system 200, which is a neighboring cell. The base station 400 of the 5G mobile communication system 200 can confirm that traffic is concentrated in a specific area of the 4G mobile communication system 100 using the received signal reception level information, 3B, the beam coverage is extended so as to be connected to the 5G mobile communication system 200, and the terminals 500 of the corresponding region 520 are connected to the 4G It is possible to perform handover and connection to the 5G mobile communication system 200 other than the mobile communication system 100.

As described above, according to the present invention, when it is confirmed that the traffic is concentrated in a specific region by confirming the traffic load, the base station 400 supporting the beamforming technique adjusts the phase or amplitude of the antenna array, The direction of the antenna and the strength of the electric field are controlled, and the wireless environment can be provided to provide optimal service to the terminal 500 within the layer region.

The main configuration and operation of the base station 400 that performs the beamforming control method according to the embodiment of the present invention will now be described.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a base station performing a beamforming control method according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a base station according to an embodiment of the present invention, It is a block diagram.

4, a base station 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a digital signal processing unit 410 and an antenna unit 420. Referring to FIG.

The digital signal processing unit 410 controls the overall operation of the base station 400, and may perform a function of transmitting or receiving a signal through the antenna unit 420. In particular, the digital signal processing unit 410 of the present invention can generate a beam to be used for signal transmission or reception, or control the characteristics of a beam, that is, amplitude, power, polarization, phase, and the like of the beam. In addition, the digital signal processing unit 410 of the present invention can support independent channel formation among a plurality of antenna arrays by controlling each beam to have different polarization characteristics.

In addition, the digital signal processing unit 410 of the present invention can determine the network construction environment around the base station 400 in which the current base station 400 is installed. To this end, the digital signal processing unit 410 of the present invention can preset condition information for determining a network construction environment and perform a role of managing the condition information.

If it is determined that the traffic of a specific area is concentrated, the digital signal processor 410 determines the network construction environment using preset conditions, adjusts the phase of the antenna according to the determined network construction environment, So that it can be controlled.

The digital signal processor 410 may include a modulation / demodulation module 411 and a MIMO processing module 412, as shown in FIG.

The antenna unit 420 may include an antenna array that is a set of a plurality of antennas. In this case, one antenna array can form one beam and two antenna arrays can form one beam. Particularly, the antenna unit 420 of the present invention adjusts the phase of the phase adjuster or adjusts its amplitude according to the control of the digital signal processor 410 to generate a sharp beam or a broad beam, You can control the process.

In particular, the antenna unit 420 of the base station 400 supporting the beamforming technique of the present invention employs a massive MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technique. The MIMO technique is a technique that can improve transmission / reception efficiency of data by using a large-sized transmission antenna and a reception antenna. In a multi-antenna technique, it does not depend on a single antenna path to receive one entire message. Instead, in multi-antenna technology, the data is completed by combining the data fragments received from the various antennas. With multi-antenna technology, it is possible to increase the data transmission rate within a cell area of a specified size, or to increase system coverage while ensuring a certain data transmission rate.

First, when a signal to be transmitted to the terminal 500 is transmitted through the digital signal processor 410, the digital-to-analog converter (DAC) To an analog signal, and the signal converted through the DAC can be converted into a frequency band of a passband of the transmission medium through up-conversion. Then, the power is amplified so that it can be transmitted as a signal having sufficient power at the final stage through a power amplifier (PA). Thereafter, the signal is amplified through an antenna through TDD (Time Division Duplex) / FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) And can be transmitted to the receiving terminal 500.

At this time, the digital signal processing unit 410 of the present invention can control the beam to be transmitted through the antennas designated in the previously set sector area. For example, the beam transmitted first may be transmitted through a predetermined antenna among a plurality of antennas And thereafter, the number of antennas can be increased to radiate the beam.

On the other hand, the received signal transmitted through the antenna is transmitted through the TDD / FDD and transmitted to the LNA (Low Noise Amplifier). When the LNA amplifies the received signal with noise in the air, the LNA amplifies the signal while suppressing the noise as much as possible. The analog signal is converted into a baseband signal frequency band through a down-conversion and is transferred to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to convert the analog signal into a digital signal. So that it can be processed.

Each of the antennas ultimately radiates electromagnetic waves in the air by radiating electrical signal changes on the wire, and these antenna elements are arranged in a line spaced apart by a certain distance. In this case, each antenna element can be arranged in consideration of the wavelength of the received signal, and the phase adjuster P1, P2, ... can control the phase and amplitude of each antenna element to generate a thin beam or a broad beam . At this time, the broad beam covers a larger area, but the strength and accuracy of the signal is relatively weak. On the other hand, a sharp beam covers a narrower region, but the intensity or accuracy of the signal becomes relatively strong.

The digital signal processing unit 410 of the present invention controls the antenna unit 420 to transmit the wide beam and the thin beam in consideration of the traffic load. In particular, in the digital signal processing unit 410 of the present invention, If it is determined that the network construction environment is a co-located network, the number of beams is increased to increase the capacity in the service area, and if it is determined to be an isolated network, The size of the effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) can be increased to substantially extend the coverage of the 5G mobile communication system.

That is, the antenna unit 420 of the base station 400 according to the present invention performs an analog beamforming process through the phase adjuster 421, and the analog beamforming technique uses phase and size values for each antenna element And a beam is formed. At this time, a plurality of phase adjusters 421 of the present invention are used, and independent phase adjusters having no influence on each other are used. Such an independent phase adjuster can transmit or receive through a plurality of antennas by applying a phase change to one analog signal, and simultaneously form N independent beams that can be spatially separated. That is, N beams formed independently can be allocated to the minimum number of terminals to provide a high-quality communication service.

The phase adjuster 421 operates according to the control of the digital signal processor 410. When the phase adjuster 421 determines that the phase should be adjusted through the digital signal processor 410, So that a sharp beam is formed so that energy can be emitted in a specific direction. On the other hand, it is possible to expand the coverage by controlling the amplitude.

This will be described with reference to Fig. 6 and Fig.

6 and 7 illustrate a process of adjusting a beam by an antenna phase adjuster according to the present invention. First, in FIG. 6A, the digital signal processor 410 performs a current network construction It can be judged that the environment is a collaborative network construction environment. The traffic load in the network can be confirmed using the signal reception level information.

When it is determined that a traffic load exists in a specific area, the digital signal processor 410 controls the antenna unit 420 to increase the capacity in the service area, thereby increasing the phase of all the antennas to generate a sharp beam .

6B, all of the terminals 500 may be located in a thin beam region, and the terminal 500, which has been connected to the 4G mobile communication system 100, So that loading can be performed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7A, the digital signal processing unit 410 of the base station 400 can determine that the current network construction environment is an independent network construction environment using the collected signal reception level information. In the case of the independent network environment, the digital signal processor 410 of the base station 400 receives the received signal level information from the base station of the neighboring cell and can confirm the traffic load of the neighboring cell.

When it is determined that a traffic load exists in a specific area of the neighboring cell, the digital signal processor 410 controls the antenna unit 420 to increase the amplitudes of all the antennas A control is made so that a sharp beam is generated.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 7B, the terminal 500 is within the coverage of the 4G mobile communication system 100, but is located within the beam coverage of the 5G mobile communication system 200, which is a higher quality communication coverage. The handover from the communication system 100 to the 5G mobile communication system 200 enables higher quality communication services.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the base station 400 of the present invention controls the phase and amplitude of the analog beamforming method. However, according to the implementation method, the base station 400 of the present invention may apply the digital beamforming technique. The digital beamforming technique may change the phase and size for beamforming for each antenna port by applying a signal processing technique at a baseband stage. In addition, hybrid beamforming that simultaneously performs analog beamforming and digital beamforming may be applied according to the implementation method.

In addition, the base station 400 of the present invention can determine the degree of control using the information transmitted from the terminal 500.

In other words, when the base station 400 generates and transmits a plurality of analog beams, the terminal 500 measures the channel state information and reports it to the base station 400. Herein, the channel information to be measured by the UE is designated as an antenna port, and RSRP measurement is performed for a plurality of antenna ports. The number of RSRP information measured by the terminal is reported through the associated reporting channel. At this time, the RSRP information may be reported together with the antenna port related information. The base station 400 may determine the degree of phase adjustment or amplitude adjustment based on the channel state information continuously transmitted from the terminal 500.

The beamforming control method in the network environment of the present invention has been described above with reference to the exemplary diagrams.

Hereinafter, a beamforming control method in a network environment according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to flowcharts.

The beamforming control method of the present invention is performed in an environment where heterogeneous networks are mixed, and in particular, the base station in the second network supporting beamforming technology performs the corresponding operation.

Here, the second network supporting the beamforming technique may be a 5G mobile communication system, which is a next generation wide area network, and the first network not supporting beamforming technology may be a 4G mobile communication system including LTE which is currently widely used .

8 is a flowchart for explaining a beamforming control method in the base station of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, the base station 400 of the present invention first sets a condition for determining a network establishment environment (S101). The condition may set a threshold for mobility between a first network that does not support beamforming technology and a second network that supports beamforming technology and a threshold for determining a network establishment environment, respectively.

For example, the threshold value for mobility can be set as follows.

Case1 4G 90% or more, 5G 50% or less 5G condition established in 4G Case2 4G 50% or less, 5G 90% or more 4G condition establishment Case3 4G 90% or less, 5G 90% or less 4G, 5G maintenance

In order to set a threshold for determining the network construction environment, the base station 400 may first set neighboring cells of 4G and 5G sites. The network construction environment can be determined based on the signal reception level information measured by the terminal 500 located in each cell. For this, condition information can be set as an example as follows.

Case1 4G -90dBm, 5G -90dBm Cooperation (4G to 5G Redirect) Case2 4G-90dBm, 5G-110dBm Independent (4G to 5G handover) Case3 4G -100dBm, 5G -90dBm Independent (5G maintenance)

After setting these conditions, the base station 400 receives and collects the signal reception level information of each household network from the terminal 500 located in each cell (S103). At this time, the base station 400 of the present invention can receive and collect signal reception level information of the terminal 500 located in the corresponding cell from the neighboring cell's base station, Neighboring cell signal reception level information may be collected.

In addition, the base station 400 of the present invention can determine whether the current network establishment environment is an independent network environment or a cooperative network environment by comparing the collected signal reception level information with the conditions of Table 2 (S105) .

Thereafter, the base station 400 of the present invention controls the phase or amplitude of the antenna according to the determined network construction environment (S107). In addition, the base station 400 of the present invention can continuously check the traffic load when controlling the phase or amplitude of the antenna and set the control range of the phase or amplitude accordingly. For example, the base station 400 of the present invention can determine the degree to which a thin beam is to be transmitted during phase control of all antenna arrays based on signal reception level information collected from the terminal 500 or other network information . In addition, the base station 400 of the present invention can determine the beam to be selected according to the traffic load when the specific beam is selected and the amplitude is controlled, and the number of beams to control the amplitude according to the continuously confirmed traffic load You can increase or decrease it.

The beamforming control method according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

The beamforming control method of the present invention as described above may be provided in the form of a computer readable medium suitable for storing computer program instructions and data.

In particular, the computer program of the present invention is a beamforming control method in an environment in which a first network that does not support beamforming technology and a second network that supports beamforming technology are mixed, A step in which the base station of the network collects signal reception level information generated by the terminal and determines a network construction environment and if it is determined that the first network and the second network are cooperative network environments, And adjusting the phase of all the antenna arrays to send a thin beam.

Such a computer-readable recording medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc., singly or in combination, and includes all kinds of recording apparatuses in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include an optical recording medium such as a magnetic medium such as a hard disk, a floppy disk and a magnetic tape, a compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), and a digital video disk (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, and the like, such as a magneto-optical medium such as a magneto-optical medium and a floppy disk, And hardware devices that are specifically configured to perform the functions described herein.

In addition, the computer-readable recording medium may be distributed over network-connected computer systems so that computer readable codes can be stored and executed in a distributed manner. In addition, functional programs, codes, and code segments for implementing the present invention can be easily inferred by programmers of the technical field to which the present invention belongs.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary, It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that numerous changes and modifications can be made to the invention. And all such modifications and changes as fall within the scope of the present invention are therefore to be regarded as being within the scope of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a beamforming control method and, more particularly, to a beamforming control method in which, in an environment in which a first network that does not support beamforming technology and a second network that supports beamforming technology are mixed, And control the phase or amplitude of the antenna to provide a higher quality communication service to the terminal, and to an apparatus therefor.

According to the present invention, the beamforming for controlling the phase or amplitude of the antenna is performed more efficiently according to the traffic load of the terminal, and the redirection or the handover of the terminal is performed to the base station capable of providing high- It is possible to control the load efficiently and at the same time to provide a high quality communication service to the terminal, thereby contributing to the development of the communication service industry.

Further, since the present invention is not limited to a commercial or an operation, it is industrially applicable because it is practically possible to carry out clearly.

100: 4G mobile communication system 200: 5G mobile communication system
400: base station 410: digital signal processor
411: Modulation and modulation module 412: MIMO processing module
420: antenna unit 421: phase adjuster
500: terminal

Claims (8)

A beamforming control method in an environment in which a first network that does not support beamforming technology and a second network that supports beamforming technology are mixed,
Wherein the base station of the second network supporting the beamforming technique comprises:
Collecting signal reception level information generated by the terminal and determining a network construction environment; And
Transmitting a thin beam by adjusting the phase of all the antenna arrays to increase the capacity in the service area if it is determined that the first network and the second network are cooperative network environments;
The beamforming control method comprising: The method according to claim 1,
Before the determining step,
Setting a condition for determining a network construction environment;
Further comprising:
The determining step
And comparing the collected signal reception level information with the condition to determine whether the network construction state is an independent network environment or a cooperative network environment. The method according to claim 1,
Determining an antenna array to control the amplitude if it is determined that the first network and the second network are independent network environments; And
Controlling an amplitude of the determined antenna array to increase a transmission radiated power of a corresponding beam to control a service area to be expanded;
Wherein the beamforming control method further comprises: The method according to claim 1,
The step of determining the network construction environment
Collecting signal reception level information from a plurality of terminals located within a coverage, or collecting signal reception level information from a base station of a first network, which is a neighbor cell, to determine a network construction environment. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4. In an environment in which a first network that does not support beamforming technology and a second network that supports beamforming technology are mixed, the base station of the second network supporting the beamforming technique,
An antenna unit including a plurality of phase adjusters each capable of generating an independent beam and changing a phase or an amplitude; And
The control unit controls the antenna unit and determines the network establishment environment according to the signal reception level information of the terminal collected through the antenna unit. If it is determined that the first network and the second network are cooperative network environments, A digital signal processing unit for controlling the phase adjuster of the antenna unit to control the phase of all the antenna arrays to transmit a sharp beam for the purpose of increase;
And a base station. The method according to claim 6,
The digital signal processing unit
Wherein a condition for determining a network establishment environment is set, and the collected signal reception level information is compared with the condition to determine whether the network establishment state is an independent network environment or a cooperative network environment. The method according to claim 6,
The digital signal processing unit
If it is determined that the first network and the second network are independent network environments, the controller determines an antenna array to control the amplitude and controls amplitude of the determined antenna array to increase the transmission radiated power of the corresponding beam, And controls the phase adjuster of the antenna unit so that the area is expanded.

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