Configurable hybrid beamforming
A wireless communication device can include an antenna array and processing circuitry coupled to the antenna array to segment antenna elements of an antenna array into a configurable plurality of groups of antenna elements. The processing circuitry can also activate analog beamforming for at least one group of the plurality of groups of antenna elements. Subsequent to enabling analog beamforming, the processing circuitry can configure digital beamforming for the at least one group based on a criterion.
1 . A wireless communication device comprising:
an antenna array formed by antenna elements; and
processing circuitry coupled to the antenna array and configured to:
separate antenna elements of an antenna array into a configurable plurality of groups of antenna elements associated with signal transmission or signal reception via a wireless channel, at least one group of the configurable plurality of groups comprising non-contiguous antenna elements;
activate analog beamforming for at least one group of the plurality of groups of antenna elements, the analog beamforming performed in a first direction by antenna elements in different rows of the antenna array;
subsequent to activating the analog beamforming, configure digital beamforming for the at least one group based on a group-specific criterion associated with the at least one group, the digital beamforming performed in a second direction by antenna elements in different columns of the antenna array, the first and second directions being orthogonal; and
adaptively adjust a size of the at least one group of the plurality of groups of antenna elements in real time, based on channel conditions of the wireless channel.
2 . The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to configure the at least one group of antenna elements for digital beamforming responsive to detecting a low signal quality level.
3 . The wireless communication device of claim 2 , wherein detecting the low signal quality level is based on a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement.
4 . The wireless communication device of claim 3 , wherein the RSSI measurement is based on a combined analog beamformed signal.
5 . The wireless communication device of claim 3 , wherein RSSI is estimated during beam scanning across a plurality of beam directions.
6 . The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to configure digital beamforming for the at least one group of antenna elements responsive to detecting an expiration of a time period.
7 . The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to configure digital beamforming for the at least one group of antenna elements responsive to detecting a need for additional beams for a device served by the at least one group of antenna elements.
8 . The wireless communication device of claim 7 , wherein the need for additional beams is based on a handover assistance condition.
9 . The wireless communication device of claim 1 , further comprising mixers, at least one of the mixers being of a segmented design, and wherein the processing circuitry is to configure weighted slices of segmented mixers to configure groups of antenna elements.
10 . A method for communication in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:
initiating communications using a multi-element antenna array with analog beamforming configured for each element in the multi-element antenna array, the analog beamforming performed in a first direction by elements in different rows of the multi-element antenna array;
separating antenna elements of the multi-element antenna array into a configurable plurality of groups of antenna elements associated with signal transmission or signal reception via a wireless channel, at least one group comprising a non-contiguous set of antenna elements;
detecting that communications quality has deteriorated below a threshold;
responsive to the detecting, for at least one group, configuring digital beamforming based on a group-specific criterion associated with the at least one group, the digital beamforming performed in a second direction by elements in different columns of the multi-element antenna array, the first and second directions being orthogonal; and
adaptively adjusting a size of the at least one group of the plurality of groups of antenna elements in real time, based on channel conditions of the wireless channel.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein detecting the communications quality comprises detecting a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the RSSI measurement is made on a combined analog beamformed signal.
13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the RSSI measurement is estimated during beam scanning across a plurality of beam directions.
14 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising measuring signal quality for different beams to identify a best beam.
15 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising detecting that a timer has expired and, responsive to detecting that the timer has expired, configuring at least two chains from the multi-element antenna array for digital beamforming.
16 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising detecting that a handover condition is present and, responsive to detecting the handover condition, configuring at least two chains from the multi-element antenna array for digital beamforming.
17 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions that, when implemented on processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to perform operations including:
initiating communications using a multi-element antenna array with analog beamforming configured for each element in the multi-element antenna array, the analog beamforming performed in a first direction by elements in different rows of the multi-element antenna array;
separating antenna elements of the multi-element antenna array into a configurable plurality of groups of antenna elements associated with signal transmission or signal reception via a wireless channel, at least one group comprising a non-contiguous set of antenna elements;
detecting that communications quality has deteriorated below a threshold;
responsive to the detecting, for at least one group, configuring digital beamforming based on a group-specific criterion associated with the at least one group, the digital beamforming performed in a second direction by elements in different columns of the multi-element antenna array, the first and second directions being orthogonal; and
adaptively adjusting a size of the at least one group of the plurality of groups of antenna elements in real time, based on channel conditions of the wireless channel.
18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein detecting the communications quality comprises detecting a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement.
19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the RSSI measurement is made on a combined analog beamformed signal.
20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the RSSI measurement is estimated during beam scanning across a plurality of beam directions.
21 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise detecting that a handover condition is present and, responsive to detecting the handover condition, configuring at least two paths from the multi-element antenna array for digital beamforming.