Scheme for performing beamforming in communication system

• US 10,375,733 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2013
• Issued: 08/06/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Inventors: Jeong, Su-Ryong, Son, Yeong-Moon, Yu, Hyun-Kyu, Kim, Tae-Young
• Primary Examiner(s): Cho, Un C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Perez, Jose L
• Application Number:
  US13/890,551
• Publication Number:
  US 20130301567A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,280 Days
• Field of Search: 370329, 370331, 370335
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0695 using beam selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/088 using beam selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/28 using beam steering
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0833 Random access procedures, e.g. with 4-step access

Abstract

A method of performing beamforming in a base station is provided. The method includes receiving random access channel signals transmitted in one or more transmit beams from a terminal, using one or more receive beams, determining at least one best transmit beam from the one or more transmit beams and at least one best receive beam from the one or more receive beams, and transmitting information about the best transmit beam and the best receive beam to the terminal.

Claims

1. A method of performing beamforming in a base station, the method comprising:

transmitting, to a terminal, a receive beam configuration message indicating a mapping relation between a plurality of receive beams of the base station and a plurality of resource regions within an uplink resource region on a time and frequency domain;

receiving random access signals transmitted through a plurality of transmit beams of a terminal, the random access signals being received through the plurality of receive beams of the base station;

determining at least one best transmit beam from among the plurality of transmit beams based on the received random access signals, the at least one best transmit beam indicating at least one transmit beam selected for signal transmission in the terminal;

determining at least one best receive beam from among the plurality of receive beams based on the received random access signals, the at least one best receive beam indicating at least one receive beam selected for signal reception in the base station;

transmitting information identifying the at least one best transmit beam and information identifying the at least one best receive beam from among the plurality of receive beams to the terminal; and

receiving an uplink signal through the at least one best receive beam on a resource region mapped to the at least one best receive beam,

wherein the resource region to be used for receiving the uplink signal is selected from among the plurality of resource regions allocated to the plurality of receive beams of the base station as indicated by the mapping relation represented in the receive beam configuration message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the uplink signal comprises at least one of a bandwidth request channel signal, a reference channel-request channel signal, or a handover request channel signal.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to perform the method of claim 1.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the information identifying the at least one best receive beam from among the plurality of receive beams comprises a receive beam ID.

12. The method of claim 1,

wherein the at least one best transmit beam comprises an upper percentage of the plurality of transmit beams having a signal intensity above a first threshold value from among the plurality of transmit beams, and

wherein the at least one best receive beam comprises an upper percentage of the plurality of receive beams having a signal intensity above a second threshold value from among the plurality of receive beams.

3. A method of performing beamforming in a terminal, the method comprising:

receiving, from a base station, a receive beam configuration message indicating a mapping relation between a plurality of receive beams of the base station and a plurality of resource regions within an uplink resource region on a time and frequency domain;

transmitting, to the base station, random access signals through a plurality of transmit beams of the terminal;

receiving, from the base station, information identifying at least one best transmit beam from among the plurality of transmit beams and information identifying at least one best receive beam from among the plurality of receive beams of the base station; and

transmitting to the base station, an uplink signal through the at least one best transmit beam on a resource region mapped to the at least one best receive beam,

wherein the at least one best transmit beam is selected by the base station based on the transmitted random access signals,

wherein the at least one best receive beam is selected by the base station based on the transmitted random access signals, and

wherein the resource region to be used for transmitting the uplink signal is selected from among the plurality of resource regions allocated to the plurality of receive beams of the base station as indicated by the mapping relation represented in the receive beam configuration message.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the uplink signal comprises at least one of a bandwidth request channel signal, a reference channel-request channel signal, or a handover request channel signal.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to perform the method of claim 3.

5. A base station for performing beamforming, the base station comprising:

a transceiver configured to;

transmit, to a terminal, a receive beam configuration message indicating a mapping relation between a plurality of receive beams of the base station and a plurality of resource regions within an uplink resource region on a time and frequency domain, and

receive random access signals transmitted through a plurality of transmit beams of a terminal, the random access signals being received through the plurality of receive beams of the base station; and

at least one processor configured to;

determine at least one best transmit beam from among the plurality of transmit beams based on the received random access signals, the at least one best transmit beam indicating at least one transmit beam selected for signal transmission in the terminal, and

determine at least one best receive beam from among the plurality of receive beams based on the received random access signals, the at least one best receive beam indicating at least one receive beam selected for signal reception in the base station,

wherein the transceiver is further configured to;

transmit information identifying the at least one best transmit beam and information identifying the at least one best receive beam from among the plurality of receive beams to the terminal, and

receive an uplink signal through the at least one best receive beam on a resource region mapped to the at least one best receive beam,

wherein the resource region to be used for receiving the uplink signal is selected from among the plurality of resource regions allocated to the plurality of receive beams of the base station as indicated by the mapping relation represented in the receive beam configuration message.

6. The base station of claim 5, wherein the uplink signal comprises at least one of a bandwidth request channel signal, a reference channel-request channel signal, or a handover request channel signal.

7. A terminal for performing beamforming, the terminal comprising:

a transceiver configured to;

receive, from a base station, a receive beam configuration message indicating a mapping relation between a plurality of receive beams of the base station and a plurality of resource regions within an uplink resource region on a time and frequency domain;

transmit, to the base station, random access signals through a plurality of transmit beams of the terminal,

receive, from the base station, information identifying at least one best transmit beam from among the plurality of transmit beams and information identifying at least one best receive beam from among the plurality of receive beams of the base station, and

transmit, to the base station, an uplink signal through the at least one best transmit beam on a resource region mapped to the at least one best receive beam; and

a controller configured to select the resource region to be used for transmitting the uplink signal from among the plurality of resource regions allocated to the plurality of receive beams of the base station as indicated by the mapping relation represented in the receive beam configuration message,

wherein the at least one best transmit beam is selected by the base station based on the transmitted random access signals, and the at least one best receive beam is selected by the base station based on the transmitted random access signals.

8. The terminal of claim 7, wherein the uplink signal comprises at least one of a bandwidth request channel signal, a reference channel-request channel signal, or a handover request channel signal.