WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICE

Abstract

A wireless communication device includes a beamforming antenna and a beam former that sets a beam pattern of the beamforming antenna depending on an antenna weight vector selected from a beam table. In the beam table, a peak direction of the array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector is non-uniformly distributed in an angular space.

Claims

1. A wireless communication device comprising: a beamforming antenna; and a beam former that sets a beam pattern of the beamforming antenna depending on an antenna weight vector selected from a beam table, wherein in the beam table, a peak direction of an array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector is non-uniformly distributed in an angular space.

2. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein in the peak direction of the array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table, a difference between two peak directions adjacent to each other in the angular space varies depending on a difference from a direction orthogonal to a plane in which antenna elements constituting the beamforming antenna are arranged.

3. The wireless communication device according to claim 2, wherein in a peak direction of an array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table, a difference between two peak directions adjacent to each other in the angular space is minimized in a vicinity of a direction orthogonal to the plane.

4. The wireless communication device according to claim 3, wherein in the peak direction of the array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table, a difference between two peak directions adjacent to each other in the angular space gradually increases as being away from a direction orthogonal to the plane.

5. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein a distribution of a peak direction of the array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table is the densest in a vicinity of a direction where a half power beam width of the array factor is minimum.

6. The wireless communication device according to claim 1, wherein a distribution of a peak direction of the array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table is set such that a gain in a valley of the array factor is constant.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first wireless communication device provided in the wireless communication system shown in FIG. 1.

[0025] FIG. 3 is a graph (shown by the polar coordinate) showing an array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table used by the first wireless communication device shown in FIG. 2.

[0026] FIG. 4 is a graph (shown by the orthogonal coordinate with a vertical axis representing gain and a horizontal axis representing direction) showing an envelope of the array factor shown in FIG. 3.

[0027] FIG. 5 is a graph (shown by the orthogonal coordinate with a vertical axis representing gain and a horizontal axis representing direction) plotting picked-up valleys of the array factor shown in FIG. 3 (minimum points of the envelope shown in FIG. 4).

[0028] FIG. 6 is a graph (shown by the orthogonal coordinate with a vertical axis representing half power beam width and a horizontal axis representing peak direction) plotting a half power beam width of the array factor shown in FIG. 3.

[0029] FIG. 7 is a graph (shown by the polar coordinate) showing an array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table used by the conventional wireless communication device.

[0030] FIG. 8 is a graph (shown by the orthogonal coordinate with a vertical axis representing gain and a horizontal axis representing direction) showing an envelope of the array factor shown in FIG. 7.

[0031] FIG. 9 is a graph (shown by the orthogonal coordinate with a vertical axis representing gain and a horizontal axis representing direction) plotting picked-up valleys of the array factor shown in FIG. 7 (minimum points of the envelope shown in FIG. 8).

[0032] FIG. 10 is a graph (shown by the orthogonal coordinate with a vertical axis representing half power beam width and a horizontal axis representing peak direction) plotting a half power beam width of the array factor shown in FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(Wireless Communication System)

[0033] The configuration of the wireless communication system S according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of the wireless communication system S.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless communication system S includes a first wireless communication device 1 (an example of “wireless communication device” in the claims) and a second wireless communication device 2 (an example of “opposite communication device” in the claims).

[0035] The first wireless communication device 1 is a wireless communication device connected to the upstream network. As an example, the first wireless communication device 1 is a wireless communication device managed by a wireless Internet service provider. In this case, the first wireless communication device 1 is connected to the Internet (an example of an upstream network) via a provider network, for example. An optical fiber line or a wireless communication line is used for connection between the first wireless communication device 1 and the provider network, for example.

[0036] The second wireless communication device 2 is a wireless communication device connected to the downstream network. As an example, the second wireless communication device 2 is a wireless communication device managed by a user who has a contract with a service provider. In this case, the second wireless communication device 2 is connected to, for example, a local area network (an example of a downstream network) in the user's home.

[0037] In addition, in FIG. 1, although the configuration which has one second wireless communication device 2 is shown, it is not limited to this. For example, a configuration in which there are two or more second wireless communication devices 2 may be employed. In this case, each of the two or more second wireless communication devices 2 performs wireless communication with one first wireless communication device 1.

[0038] Each of the first wireless communication device 1 and the second wireless communication device 2 includes a beamforming antenna. The first wireless communication device 1 specifies the direction in which the second wireless communication device 2 is located in the beamforming process, and also selects a beam pattern corresponding to the specified direction as the beam pattern of the beamforming antenna included in the first wireless communication device 1. Similarly, the second wireless communication device 2 specifies the direction in which the first wireless communication device 1 exists in the process of performing beamforming, and also selects a beam pattern corresponding to the specified direction as the beam pattern of the beamforming antenna included in the second wireless communication device 2. Thereafter, the first wireless communication device 1 and the second wireless communication device 2 each perform the wireless communication according to a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) corresponding to the wireless signal quality. For example, a high-speed wireless communication is performed when the wireless signal quality is good, and a low-speed wireless communication is performed when the wireless signal quality is poor.

[0039] The wireless communication system S according to the present embodiment is characterized by a beam pattern that can be selected by the first wireless communication device 1 as a beam pattern of a beamforming antenna used for the wireless communication with the second wireless communication device 2. The beam pattern that can be selected by the first wireless communication device 1 as the beam pattern of the beamforming antenna used for wireless communication with the second wireless communication device 2 will be described later with reference to different drawings.

[0040] The first wireless communication device 1 is not limited to a wireless communication device installed by a service provider. Similarly, the second wireless communication device 2 is not limited to a wireless communication device installed by a user who has a contract with a service provider. For example, the first wireless communication device 1 and the second wireless communication device 2 may be wireless communication devices installed by organizations such as companies and public institutions.

(Configuration of First Wireless Communication Device)

[0041] A configuration of the first wireless communication device 1 included in the wireless communication system S will be described with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the first wireless communication device 1.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 2, the first wireless communication device 1 includes a baseband integrated circuit (BBIC) 11, a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) 12, a beamforming antenna 13, a network interface 14, a control system 15, and a power supply unit 16.

[0043] The BBIC 11 is an integrated circuit that processes a baseband (BB) signal. The RFIC 12 is an integrated circuit that processes a radio frequency (RF) signal. The beamforming antenna 13 is an antenna capable of setting a beam pattern depending on an antenna weight vector, and is used for wireless communication with the second wireless communication device 2. In the present embodiment, a phased array antenna constituted by a plurality of antenna elements is used as the beamforming antenna 13. The network interface 14 is an interface for connecting the wireless communication device 1 to the upstream network. The control system 15 mediates the communication between the upstream network connected to the first wireless communication device 1 and the downstream network connected to the second wireless communication device 2 by controlling the BBIC 11 and the RFIC 12. The control system 15 executes control of the BBIC 11 and the RFIC 12 by referring to various databases according to a provided program. The power supply unit 16 supplies power obtained from the outside to each unit of the first wireless communication device 1.

[0044] The RFIC 12 includes a look-up table (LUT) 121 and a beam former 122. An antenna weight vector transferred from the storage 151 described later is stored in the LUT 121. The beam former 122 sets the beam pattern of the beamforming antenna 13 according to the antenna weight vector stored in the LUT 121. The beam former 122 is constituted by, for example, an amplitude adjuster in which a gain is set according to an antenna weight vector and a variable phase shifter device in which a phase shift amount is set.

[0045] The control system 15 includes a storage 151. The storage 151 stores a plurality of antenna weight vectors. As the storage 151, for example, a storage medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), or a flash memory can be used. In addition, a non-volatile storage area built in an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) functioning as the control system 15 may be used as the storage 151. The control system 15 selects one antenna weight vector from a plurality of antenna weight vectors stored in the storage 151, and transfers the selected antenna weight vector to the LUT 121 described above.

[0046] In the following description, the beam pattern corresponding to a certain antenna weight vector refers to a beam pattern of the beamforming antenna 13 obtained when the gain of the amplitude adjuster constituting the beam former 122 and the phase shift amount of the variable phase shifter are set depending on the antenna weight vector. An array factor corresponding to an antenna weight vector refers to a beam pattern corresponding to the antenna weight vector when each antenna element being non-directional. A beam pattern corresponding to an antenna weight vector is calculated by multiplying the array factor corresponding to the antenna weight vector and the beam pattern of each antenna element.

(Beam Table Stored in Storage)

[0047] The storage 151 included in the first wireless communication device 1 stores a beam table BT constituted by a plurality of antenna weight vectors. The peak direction of the array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table BT is non-uniformly distributed in the angular space (not arranged at equal intervals). As an example, regarding the peak direction of the array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table BT, the difference between two peak directions adjacent to each other in the angular space varies depending on the angle difference from the direction orthogonal to the plane in which the antenna elements constituting the beamforming antenna 13 are arranged.

[0048] In the wireless communication device 1 according to the present embodiment, the peak direction of the array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table BT is the densest in the direction orthogonal to the plane in which the antenna elements constituting the beamforming antenna 13 are arranged, and furthermore, is distributed so that the peak direction becomes gradually sparser as being away from the direction. In other words, the peak distribution is the densest in the direction where each half power beam width of the array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table BT is the narrowest and becomes gradually sparser as being away from the direction. The peak direction in a certain direction being the densest is equivalent to the difference between two peak directions adjacent to each other in the angular space being minimum in the direction. The peak direction becoming gradually sparser in the angular space is equivalent to gradually increasing the difference between two peak directions adjacent to each other in the angular space.

[0049] The first wireless communication device 1 uses such a beam table BT when the direction in which the second wireless communication device 2 exists is not specified. For example, the wireless communication device 1 compatible with IEEE 802.11 ad uses such a standard beam table SBT in a sector-level sweep (SLS) phase or a beam refinement protocol (BRP) phase performed in a state where the direction in which the second wireless communication device 2 exists is not specified. At this time, the control system 15 transfers the antenna weight vector constituting the beam table BT stored in the storage 151 to the LUT 121 of the RFIC 12. The beam former 122 of the RFIC 12 sets the beam pattern of the beamforming antenna 13 depending on the antenna weight vector transferred to the LUT 121 of the RFIC 12.

[0050] As an example, a beam table BT constituted by thirty-one antenna weight vectors and designed according to the following guidelines is considered.

[0051] (1) Assuming a beamforming antenna 13 constituted by sixteen antenna elements (assuming a planar patch antenna) that are equally spaced on the same line (assuming ½ wavelength spacing) in the same plane. As the direction orthogonal to the plane is 90° direction, the direction from the 30° direction to the 150° direction is covered. At this time, the thirty-one target directions are non-uniformly distributed so that the gain in the valley of the array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector is constant. To explain the details, when thirty-one target directions are uniformly distributed, the angular interval in the target direction is uniformly set as (150°-30°)/(31-1)=4° in design results. Compared to this uniformly distributed design case, the angular interval in the target direction for a direction with a large gain in the valley of the array factor is widely adjusted, and the target direction for a direction with a small gain in the valley of the array factor is narrowly adjusted to be distributed in the target direction.

[0052] (2) As the antenna weight vector corresponding to each target direction, an antenna weight vector is selected such that the gain of the array factor in the target direction is the maximum among the antenna weight vectors in which the peak direction of the array factor coincides with the target direction with a predetermined accuracy.

[0053] (3) The designed results are investigated, and readjusted and redesigned the distribution in the target direction until the difference in gain in the valley of the array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector becomes sufficiently small. A list of the array factor peak directions of each array antenna weight vector designed in this manner and the angular intervals between adjacent peak directions are shown in Table 2.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Direction Angular interval Beam No. [degree] [degree] 1 30.0 6.0 2 36.0 5.3 3 41.3 4.8 4 46.1 4.4 5 50.5 4.2 6 54.7 4.0 7 58.7 3.8 8 62.5 3.7 9 66.2 3.6 10 69.8 3.5 11 73.3 3.4 12 76.7 3.4 13 80.1 3.3 14 83.4 3.3 15 86.7 3.3 16 90.0 3.3 17 93.3 3.3 18 96.6 3.3 19 99.9 3.4 20 103.3 3.4 21 106.7 3.5 22 110.2 3.6 23 113.8 3.7 24 117.5 3.8 25 121.3 4.0 26 125.3 4.2 27 129.5 4.4 28 133.9 4.8 29 138.7 5.3 30 144.0 6.0 31 150.0

[0054] FIG. 3 is a graph (shown by the polar coordinate) showing an array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table BT designed as described above. FIG. 4 is a graph (shown by the orthogonal coordinate with a vertical axis representing gain and a horizontal axis representing direction) showing an envelope of the array factor shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a graph (shown by the orthogonal coordinate with a vertical axis representing gain and a horizontal axis representing direction) plotting picked-up valleys of the array factor shown in FIG. 3 (minimum points of the envelope shown in FIG. 4). FIG. 6 is a graph (shown by the orthogonal coordinate with a vertical axis representing half power beam width and a horizontal axis representing peak direction) plotting a half power beam width of the array factor shown in FIG. 3. When calculating the array factor, the frequency used was 60.48 GHz, and the digitization of the variable phase shifter was 8 bits (256 levels).

[0055] As shown in Table 2, the peak direction of the array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table BT is the densest in the 90° direction, which is the direction orthogonal to the plane in which the antenna elements constituting the beamforming antenna 13 are arranged, and furthermore, is distributed so that the peak direction becomes gradually sparser as being away from the direction. The angular interval of the peak direction in the vicinity of the 90° direction where the peak directions are distributed most densely is 3.3°, and the angular interval of the peak direction in the vicinity of the 30° direction and the 150° direction where the peak directions are distributed most sparsely is 6.0°.

[0056] When the graph shown in FIG. 5 is compared with the graph shown in FIG. 9, the following can be found. That is, when the conventional beam table is used, the gain at the valley of the array factor varies in a range from approximately 11.5 dB to 11.9 dB, and the variation range is approximately 0.4 dB. On the other hand, when the beam table BT of the present embodiment is used, the gain at the valley of the array factor varies in the range from 11.65 dB to 11.67 dB, and the variation range is 0.02 dB. That is, by using the beam table BT of the present embodiment, the variation range of the gain at the valley of the array factor can be reduced. Actually, when the beam table BT of the present embodiment is used, the variation range of the gain at the valley of the array factor is negligibly small compared to the gain of the valley of the array factor, and the gain in the valley of the array factor is substantially constant.

[0057] Therefore, according to the first wireless communication device 1 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to more fairly guarantee the wireless signal quality with respect to the second wireless communication device 2 existing in various directions.

[0058] Assuming that the antenna elements constituting the beamforming antenna 13 are arranged along the x-axis of the orthogonal coordinate system in the xy plane, the 0° direction is the x-axis positive direction, the 90° direction is the z-axis positive direction, the 180° direction is the x-axis negative direction, and the 270° direction is the z-axis negative direction. In this case, the array factor is plane-symmetric with respect to the xy plane. For this reason, in the graph mentioned above, the plot from the 180° direction to the 360° direction is omitted.

[0059] In the present embodiment, the configuration in which the beam table BT is stored in the storage 151 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. The beam table 151 may be stored in a nonvolatile storage area built in an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a system-on-a-chip (SoC) that functions as the control system 15.

[0060] The wireless communication device according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a beamforming antenna, and a beam former that sets a beam pattern of the beamforming antenna depending on an antenna weight vector selected from a beam table. In the beam table, a peak direction of an array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector is non-uniformly distributed in an angular space.

[0061] In the wireless communication device according to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the wireless communication device according to the first aspect of the present invention, a configuration may be employed such that in the peak direction of the array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table, a difference between two peak directions adjacent to each other in the angular space varies depending on a difference from a direction orthogonal to a plane in which antenna elements constituting the beamforming antenna are arranged.

[0062] In the wireless communication device according to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the wireless communication device according to the second aspect of the present invention, a configuration may be employed such that in a peak direction of an array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table, a difference between two peak directions adjacent to each other in the angular space is minimized in a vicinity of a direction orthogonal to the plane.

[0063] In the wireless communication device according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the wireless communication device according to the third aspect of the present invention, a configuration may be employed such that in the peak direction of the array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table, a difference between two peak directions adjacent to each other in the angular space gradually increases as being away from a direction orthogonal to the plane.

[0064] In the wireless communication device according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the wireless communication device according to the first aspect of the present invention, a configuration may be employed such that a distribution of a peak direction of the array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table is the densest in a vicinity of a direction where a half power beam width of the array factor is minimum.

[0065] In the wireless communication device according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the wireless communication device according to the first aspect of the present invention, a configuration may be employed such that a distribution of a peak direction of the array factor corresponding to each antenna weight vector constituting the beam table is set such that a gain in a valley of the array factor is constant.

[0066] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope shown in the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.