Implementing MIMO in mmWave wireless communication systems

• US 9,537,546 B2
• Filed: 12/08/2011
• Issued: 01/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Cordeiro, Carlos, Li, Guoqing, Somayazulu, Vallabhajosyula S., Sadeghi, Bahareh B., Sadri, Ali S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Moore, Ian N
• Assistant Examiner(s): McCallum, Latresa
• Application Number:
  US13/992,753
• Publication Number:
  US 20140294106A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,853 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0413 MIMO systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0452 Multi-user MIMO systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0617 for beam forming
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0691 using subgroups of transmit antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0023 Time-frequency-space
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/00 Connection management

Abstract

A system and method are provided to increase data rates available in mmWave wireless communication systems by adapting a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) in a next generation mmWave wireless communication system. The system and method advantageously employ the characteristics of mmWave antenna arrays, including multiple antenna elements in each antenna array, to implement the MIMO scheme by establishing multiple beamformed communication links between a mmWave transmitter and receiver. An outgoing signal is divided into multiple signal elements to correspond to the multiple beamformed links and each of the multiple signal elements is transmitted by the transmitter across a different one of the multiple beamformed links to be reassembled at the receiver. An antenna element allocation scheme is incorporated to assign specific numbers and configurations of antenna elements at each of the transmitted and receiver to each of the multiple beamformed communication links.

Claims

1. A method performed by a transmitter/receiver device for executing wireless communications, comprising:

determining, by a processor, if a pair of millimeter wave (mmWave) wireless communicating devices are implementing a multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) scheme between said pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices;

establishing multiple separate beamformed links between the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices; and

implementing the MIMO scheme between the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices;

wherein the processor determines if the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices are implementing the MIMO scheme between said pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices based on information provided by each one of the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices;

wherein the information provided by each one of the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices being a separate field in a MAC/PHY protocol for each one of the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices.

2. The method of claim 1, the implemented MIMO scheme comprising:

separating an outgoing signal into individual signal elements at a transmission side;

transmitting each of the individual signal elements across a different one of the multiple separate beamformed links between the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices;

separately receiving, at a reception side, each of the individual signal elements transmitted across the different one of the multiple separate beamformed links; and

reassembling the separately received individual signal elements at the reception side to acquire the outgoing signal.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the processor, a number of separate beamformed links that are established between the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices based on information provided in separate fields in a MAC/PHY protocol for each of the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices.

4. The method of claim 3, the separate fields in the MAC/PHY protocol for each of the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices indicating at least one of a maximum number of beamformed transmission links and a maximum number of beamformed reception links that a one of the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices transmitting the separate bit fields supports.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising executing an antenna element allocation scheme that assigns a number of antenna elements available in at least one of the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices to each of the multiple separate beamformed links between the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices.

6. The method of claim 5, the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices comprising multiple pairs of mmWave wireless communicating devices including a single transmitting mmWave wireless communicating device and multiple receiving mmWave wireless communicating devices, and

the antenna element allocation scheme for the single transmitting mmWave wireless communicating device is based on allocating a number of antenna elements to each of the multiple receiving mmWave wireless communicating devices on an equal basis.

7. The method of claim 5, the antenna element allocation scheme being based on a requirement that a Signal (plus Interference) to Noise Ratio S(I)NR between the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices exceeds a predetermined S(I)NR.

8. The method of claim 5, the antenna allocation scheme being based on a requirement that a Quality of Service (QoS) for a signal received at a reception side of the communication link exceeds a predetermined QoS.

9. The method of claim 8, the QoS being based on at least one of a data rate, a Packet Error Rate or other characteristic communication link quality assessment parameter.

10. A system for executing wireless communications, comprising:

a first mmWave wireless communicating device and at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device, each of the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device comprising;

a mmWave radio;

a beamforming device that executes a beamforming scheme to establish multiple separate beamformed links between the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device; and

a MIMO implementing device that executes a MIMO scheme across the established multiple separate beamformed links between the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device, the MIMO scheme including at least;

separating an outgoing signal from one of the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device into individual signal elements,

transmitting each of the individual signal elements across a different one of the multiple separate beamformed links between the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device;

separately receiving, at an other of the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device, each of the individual signal elements transmitted across the different one of the multiple separate beamformed links; and

reassembling the separately received individual signal elements at the other of the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device to acquire the outgoing signal;

wherein the MIMO implementing device being configured to determine if another mmWave wireless communicating device is implementing the MIMO scheme between one of the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device and the another mmWave wireless communicating device according to a separate single field in a MAC/PHY protocol for each device.

11. The system of claim 10, the beamforming device being configured to determine a number of separate beamformed links that are established between the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the least one second mmWave wireless communicating device based on information provided in separate fields in a MAC/PHY protocol for at least one of the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the separate fields further indicate a maximum number of beamformed transmission links and a maximum number of beamformed reception links that the at least one of the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device supports.

13. The system of claim 10, further comprising an antenna element allocation device in at least one of the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device that assigns a number of antenna elements available in the at least one of the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device to each of the multiple separate beamformed links between the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one mmWave wireless communicating device.

14. The system of claim 13, an antenna allocating device being in the first mmWave wireless communicating device and being configured to assign the number of antenna elements available in the first mmWave wireless communicating device to each of a plurality of second mmWave wireless communicating devices based on a number of second mmWave wireless communicating devices on an equal basis.

15. The system of claim 13, an antenna allocation device being configured assign the number of antenna elements available in the at least one of the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device to each of the multiple separate beamformed links between the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device based on a requirement that communications between the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device exceed a predetermined S(I)NR.

16. The system of claim 13, an antenna allocation device being configured to assign the number of antenna elements available in the at least one of the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device to each of the multiple separate beamformed links between the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device based on a requirement that communications between the first mmWave wireless communicating device and the at least one second mmWave wireless communicating device exceed a predetermined Quality of Service.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to execute a method for executing wireless communications, comprising:

determining if a pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices are implementing a MIMO scheme between said pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices;

establishing multiple separate beamformed links between the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices; and

implementing the MIMO scheme between the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices;

wherein the processor determines if the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices are implementing the MIMO scheme between said pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices based on information provided by each one of the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices;

wherein the information provided by each one of the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices being a separate field in a MAC/PHY protocol for each one of the pair of mmWave wireless communicating devices.