Radio base station, user terminal and radio communication method

• US 9,860,041 B2
• Filed: 09/02/2014
• Issued: 01/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Shen, Jiyun, Suyama, Satoshi, Okumura, Yukihiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Jiang, Charles C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Clark, Rose
• Application Number:
  US14/916,586
• Publication Number:
  US 20160197709A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,218 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0417 Feedback systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0617 for beam forming
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0626 Channel coefficients, e.g. channel state information [CSI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0697 using spatial multiplexing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0048 Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/28 using beam steering
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/04 Wireless resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

The present invention is designed so that, in a communication system to employ massive MIMO, data signals to which beamforming is applied can be transmitted adequately. A radio base station transmits a data signal to a user terminal by applying beamforming using a plurality of antenna elements, and has a determining section that determines the type of a weight to apply to the data signal for beamforming, a generating section that generates a reference signal which the user terminal uses in channel estimation, a weight control section that controls weights to apply to transmitting signals, and a transmitting section that transmits the data signal and the reference signal, and the weight control section determines whether or not to apply a weight to the reference signal based on the type of the weight.

Claims

1. A radio base station that transmits a data signal to a user terminal by applying beamforming using a plurality of antenna elements,

the radio base station comprising:

a processor that;

determines a type of a weight to apply to the data signal for beamforming;

generates a reference signal which the user terminal uses in channel estimation; and

controls weights to apply to transmitting signals; and

a transmitter that transmits the data signal and the reference signal,

wherein the processor determines whether or not to apply a weight to the reference signal based on the type of the weight that is output from a memory, and

wherein the type of the weight indicates a fixed weight to define a predetermined weight in advance and an adaptive weight to generate a weight based on channel state information transmitted from the user terminal.

2. The radio base station according to claim 1, wherein:

the processor determines the number of streams to apply to the transmission of the data signal, in addition to the type of the weight; and

the processor generates reference signals to match the number of streams.

3. The radio base station according to claim 1, wherein, when the processor selects a fixed weight as the type of the weight, the processor applies predetermined fixed weights to the reference signal and the data signal, and the transmitter transmits the reference signal and the data signal to which the predetermined fixed weights are applied.

4. The radio base station according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined fixed weights are fixed weights applied to synchronization signals which the user terminal detects upon cell search.

5. The radio base station according to claim 1, wherein, when the processor selects an adaptive weight as the type of the weight, the transmitter transmits the reference signal without applying beamforming, and the processor generates weights based on channel state information that is fed back from the user terminal in response to a reference signal to which beamforming is not applied, and applies the generated weight to the data signal.

6. The radio base station according to claim 2, wherein, when the processor selects a plurality of streams, the transmitter orthogonalizes and transmits reference signals corresponding to each stream.

7. The radio base station according to claim 6, wherein, when the processor selects a fixed weight as the type of the weight and also selects the plurality of streams, the processor applies varying weights to reference signals and data signals corresponding to each stream.

8. The radio base station according to claim 2, wherein the transmitter reports information about the type of the weight and/or the number of streams to the user terminal.

11. The radio base station according to claim 2, wherein, when the processor selects a fixed weight as the type of the weight, the processor applies predetermined fixed weights to the reference signal and the data signal, and the transmitter transmits the reference signal and the data signal to which the predetermined fixed weights are applied.

12. The radio base station according to claim 2, wherein, when the processor selects an adaptive weight as the type of the weight, the transmitter transmits the reference signal without applying beamforming, and the processor generates weights based on channel state information that is fed back from the user terminal in response to a reference signal to which beamforming is not applied, and applies the generated weight to the data signal.

9. A user terminal that receives a data signal to which beamforming is applied and which is transmitted from a radio base station comprising a plurality of antenna elements, the user terminal comprising:

a receiver that receives a reference signal transmitted from the radio base station that determines whether or not to apply a weight to the reference signal based on a type of a weight;

a processor that;

acquires channel state information based on the reference signal;

generates a receiving weight based on the channel state information and causes a memory to store the receiving weight; and

controls feedback of the channel state information based on a type of the reference signal transmitted from the radio base station

wherein the type of the weight indicates a fixed weight to define a predetermined weight in advance and an adaptive weight to generate a weight based on channel state information transmitted from the user terminal.

10. A radio communication method for a radio base station that comprises a plurality of antenna elements and a user terminal that receives a data signal to which beamforming is applied and which is transmitted from the radio base station, the radio communication method comprising, in the radio base station, the steps of:

determining a type of a weight to apply to the data signal for beamforming;

generating a reference signal which the user terminal uses in channel estimation;

determining whether or not to apply a weight to the reference signal based on the type of the weight; and

transmitting the data signal and the reference signal,

wherein the type of the weight indicates a fixed weight to define a predetermined weight in advance and an adaptive weight to generate a weight based on channel state information transmitted from the user terminal, and

wherein, when the type of the weight is a fixed weight, the reference signal and the data signal are applied predetermined weights and transmitted, and, when the type of the weight is an adaptive weight, the reference signal is transmitted without being applied beamforming.