Beamforming apparatus and method for multi-antenna system
First Claim
1. A beamforming apparatus for a multi-antenna system, comprising:
- a phase control unit comprising a plurality of phase shifters configured to control, according to a preset phase weight vector, the phases of signals from a plurality of antennas, respectively;
a signal combination unit configured to combine signals outputted from the plurality of phase shifters into a combined signal;
a frequency down converter configured to down-convert the combined signal outputted from the signal combination unit into a baseband signal;
an analog/digital (A/D) converter configured to convert the baseband signal outputted from the frequency down converter into a digital signal; and
a radio frequency (RF) beamforming control unit configured to provide a plurality of preset phase weight vectors to the phase control unit according to a preset application sequence, configured to decide a maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) among a plurality of SNRs corresponding to the phase weight vectors applied to the phase control unit, by using digital signals outputted from the A/D converter, and configured to control the beamforming of the phase control unit by using the maximum SNR,wherein the RF beamforming control unit comprises;
a phase weight vector codebook comprising the plurality of phase weight vectors, which are divided into a plurality of first to m-th arrangement ranges in consideration of phase correlations;
a phase control section configured to apply the plurality of phase weight vectors of the phase weight vector codebook according to the preset application sequence, configured to decide the maximum SNR by using a comparison result of the plurality of SNRs corresponding to the applied phase weight vectors, and configured to control the respective phases of the plurality of phase shifters by using the maximum SNR;
an SNR detection unit configured to detect the plurality of SNRs for the applied phase weight vector, by using the digital signal outputted from the A/D converter; and
an SNR comparison unit configured to compare the detected SNRs for the applied phase weight vectors, which are outputted from the SNR detection unit, and configured to provide the comparison result to the phase control section.
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Abstract
A beamforming apparatus for a multi-antenna system includes a phase control unit including a plurality of phase shifters which respectively control the phases of signals according to a preset phase weight vector; a signal combination unit combining the signals outputted from the plurality of phase shifters; a frequency down converter down-converting the combined signal outputted from the signal combination unit into a baseband signal; an analog/digital (A/D) converter converting the baseband signal into a digital signal; and a radio frequency (RF) beamforming control unit providing a plurality of preset phase weight vectors to the phase control unit according to a preset application sequence, deciding a maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) among a plurality of SNRs corresponding to the applied phase weight vectors by using the digital signal outputted from the A/D converter, and controlling the beamforming of the phase control unit by using the maximum SNR.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A beamforming apparatus for a multi-antenna system, comprising:
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a phase control unit comprising a plurality of phase shifters configured to control, according to a preset phase weight vector, the phases of signals from a plurality of antennas, respectively; a signal combination unit configured to combine signals outputted from the plurality of phase shifters into a combined signal; a frequency down converter configured to down-convert the combined signal outputted from the signal combination unit into a baseband signal; an analog/digital (A/D) converter configured to convert the baseband signal outputted from the frequency down converter into a digital signal; and a radio frequency (RF) beamforming control unit configured to provide a plurality of preset phase weight vectors to the phase control unit according to a preset application sequence, configured to decide a maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) among a plurality of SNRs corresponding to the phase weight vectors applied to the phase control unit, by using digital signals outputted from the A/D converter, and configured to control the beamforming of the phase control unit by using the maximum SNR, wherein the RF beamforming control unit comprises; a phase weight vector codebook comprising the plurality of phase weight vectors, which are divided into a plurality of first to m-th arrangement ranges in consideration of phase correlations; a phase control section configured to apply the plurality of phase weight vectors of the phase weight vector codebook according to the preset application sequence, configured to decide the maximum SNR by using a comparison result of the plurality of SNRs corresponding to the applied phase weight vectors, and configured to control the respective phases of the plurality of phase shifters by using the maximum SNR; an SNR detection unit configured to detect the plurality of SNRs for the applied phase weight vector, by using the digital signal outputted from the A/D converter; and an SNR comparison unit configured to compare the detected SNRs for the applied phase weight vectors, which are outputted from the SNR detection unit, and configured to provide the comparison result to the phase control section. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A beamforming method which is applied to a multi-antenna system comprising a phase control unit comprising a plurality of phase shifters configured to control, according to a preset phase weight vector, the phases of signals from a plurality of antennas, respectively;
- a signal combination unit configured to combine signals outputted from the plurality of phase shifters into a combine signal;
a frequency down converter configured to down-convert the combined signal outputted from the signal combination unit into a baseband signal; and
an A/D converter configured to convert the baseband signal outputted from the frequency down converter into a digital signal, the beamforming method comprising;performing an SNR detection operation of providing a plurality of phase weight vectors contained in a preset phase weight vector codebook to the phase control unit according to a preset application sequence, and detecting a plurality of SNRs corresponding to the phase weight vectors, applied to the phase control unit, by using the digital signals outputted from the A/D converter; performing an SNR comparison operation of comparing the magnitudes of the plurality of SNRs; performing a maximum SNR decision operation of deciding a maximum SNR according to the comparison result of the SNRs; and performing a beamforming operation of controlling beamforming of the phase control unit by using the maximum SNR, wherein the phase weight vector codebook comprises the plurality of phase weight vectors, which are divided into a plurality of first to m-th arrangement ranges in consideration of phase correlations. - View Dependent Claims (8)
- a signal combination unit configured to combine signals outputted from the plurality of phase shifters into a combine signal;
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9. A beamforming method which is applied to a multi-antenna system comprising a phase control unit comprising a plurality of phase shifters configured to control, according to a preset phase weight vector, the phases of signals from a plurality of antennas, respectively;
- a signal combination unit configured to combine signals outputted from the plurality of phase shifters into a combined signal;
a frequency down converter configured to down-convert the combined signal outputted from the signal combination unit into a baseband signal; and
an A/D converter configured to convert the baseband signal outputted from the frequency down converter into a digital signal, the beamforming method comprising;performing an SNR detection operation of providing a plurality of phase weight vectors contained in a preset phase weight vector codebook to the phase control unit according to a preset application sequence, and detecting a plurality of SNRs corresponding to the plurality of phase weight vectors, applied to the phase control unit, by using the digital signals outputted from the A/D converter; performing an SNR comparison operation of comparing the magnitudes of the plurality of SNRs; performing a maximum SNR decision operation of deciding a maximum SNR according to the comparison result of the plurality of SNRs; and performing a beamforming operation of controlling beamforming of the phase control unit by using the maximum SNR, wherein the phase weight vector codebook comprises the plurality of phase weight vectors, which are divided into a plurality of first to m-th arrangement ranges in consideration of phase correlations wherein, in the performing of the maximum SNR decision operation, the plurality of phase weight vectors of the phase weight vector codebook are applied according to the preset application sequence, the plurality of SNRs corresponding to the phase weight vectors applied to the phase control unit are compared, and the maximum SNR is decided by using the comparison result, wherein the performing of the maximum SNR decision operation comprises; performing a first maximum SNR decision operation of deciding a maximum SNR in a preset start arrangement range among the first to m-th arrangement ranges of the phase weight vector codebook; performing a second maximum SNR decision operation of deciding maximum SNRs in the other arrangement ranges by using the periodicity of the SNRs which occurs depending on arrangement ranges having the phase correlations among the plurality of phase weight vectors; and performing a third maximum SNR decision operation of deciding a maximum SNR having the greatest value among the SNRs of the first to m-th arrangement ranges. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
- a signal combination unit configured to combine signals outputted from the plurality of phase shifters into a combined signal;
Specification