Method and apparatus for adaptive beamforming in an antenna array system for wireless communications
First Claim
1. A method of adaptively beamforming data for an antenna array, comprising the steps of:
- (a) receiving in a current frame, an RF signal emanating from a mobile station;
(b) obtaining a spatial location associated with a previous frame of the signal;
(c) calculating beamforming weights based on pre-training sequence data of the current frame of the signal and the spatial location;
(d) applying the beamforming weights to the antenna array data to process the current frame; and
(e) estimating an updated spatial location associated with the current frame based on training sequence data of the current frame; and
(f) maintaining the updated spatial location for use with a future frame of the signal.
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Abstract
A novel system for performing adaptive beamforming in a slow frequency hopping environment is disclosed. The presence of slow frequency hopping means that conventional mechanisms of using beamforming weights from previous time slots are inapplicable. The inventive system calculates a series of beamforming weights from an estimate of the spatial location of the mobile subscriber in the previous frame, which is impervious to slow frequency hopping and the data that precedes the training sequence data of the current frame. The beamforming weights and the spatial location of the mobile are updated with the arrival of the entirety of the current frame. The initial beamforming weight estimate is sufficient to permit processing on a real-time basis of the current frame even if the inventive system is implemented as an appliqué system interposed between the antenna array and a conventional base station.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method of adaptively beamforming data for an antenna array, comprising the steps of:
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(a) receiving in a current frame, an RF signal emanating from a mobile station;
(b) obtaining a spatial location associated with a previous frame of the signal;
(c) calculating beamforming weights based on pre-training sequence data of the current frame of the signal and the spatial location;
(d) applying the beamforming weights to the antenna array data to process the current frame; and
(e) estimating an updated spatial location associated with the current frame based on training sequence data of the current frame; and
(f) maintaining the updated spatial location for use with a future frame of the signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An adaptive beamforming system for a base station, comprising:
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a plurality of antenna elements for receiving in frames an RF signal emanating from a mobile station;
a spatial location database for storing a spatial location associated with a previous frame of the signal;
a beamforming weight calculator for determining a set of beam weights based on the stored spatial location;
a beamforming network for applying the set of beam weights to retrieve a current frame of the signal; and
a spatial location estimator for calculating a spatial location associated with the current frame for updating the spatial location database.
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Specification