Antenna device and method for driving antenna ports of an antenna array

1. An antenna device configured to assign antenna beams to radio cells, the antenna device comprising:

a set of radio transceivers coupleable to a set of associated antenna ports of an antenna array, wherein each radio transceiver is configured to drive its associated antenna port of the antenna array when each radio transceiver is coupled to its associated antenna port,

a combination unit configured to provide each radio transceiver with a set of user signals that coordinate the driving of the antenna ports in order to control antenna beams generated by the antenna array,

wherein the set of the radio transceivers is configured to drive the set of the associated antenna ports to generate at least two antenna beams, wherein each radio transceiver contributes to the generation of more than one antenna beam.

2. The antenna device of claim 1 , configured to assign the antenna beams to radio cells according to one of the following cell configuration modes:

a vertical cell split mode, and

a horizontal cell split mode.

3. The antenna device of claim 1 , wherein the combination unit comprises a set of weighting units configured to weight each user signal with a respective weight.

4. The antenna device of claim 3 , wherein the set of the weighting units is configured to provide a user-individual amplitude coefficient to each user signal.

5. The antenna device of claim 4 , wherein the combination unit comprises:

a summing unit configured to sum the weighted user signals, providing a sum user signal; and

a distribution unit configured to distribute the sum user signal to each of the radio transceivers.

6. The antenna device of claim 5 , wherein a power of the sum user signal corresponds to a total radio frequency output power of all radio transceivers.

7. The antenna device of claim 5 , wherein the distribution unit is configured to apply a vector modulation to the sum user signal before distributing the sum user signal to the radio transceivers.

8. The antenna device of claim 7 , wherein the vector modulation comprises parameter sets according to radio cells the at least two antenna beams are assigned to.

9. The antenna device of claim 8 , wherein the parameter sets correspond to amplitude and phase multiplication.

10. The antenna device of claim 4 , configured to provide a sum of squared user-individual amplitude coefficients for all user signals, wherein the sum is assigned to one of the radio cells, when the sum is smaller than or equal to a total radio frequency output power of all radio transceivers.

11. The antenna device of claim 10 , configured to limit a transmit signal of the set of the radio transceivers when the sum of the squared user-individual amplitude coefficients for all the user signals is higher than the total radio frequency output power.

12. A radio base transceiver station comprising:

an active antenna array being capable of beam forming; and

an antenna device, wherein each of the radio transceivers is coupled to an antenna port or to a group of antenna ports of the antenna array

wherein the antenna device is configured to assign antenna beams to radio cells, the antenna device comprises:

a set of radio transceivers coupleable to a set of associated antenna ports of an antenna array, wherein each radio transceiver is configured to drive its associated antenna port of the antenna array when each radio transceiver is coupled to its associated antenna port,

a combination unit configured to provide each radio transceiver with a set of user signals that coordinate the driving of the antenna ports in order to control the antenna beams generated by the antenna array,

wherein the set of the radio transceivers is configured to drive the set of the associated antenna ports to generate at least two antenna beams, wherein each radio transceiver contributes to the generation of more than one antenna beam.

13. A method for sharing a radio frequency output power of a set of radio transceivers between antenna beams, the set of the radio transceivers being coupleable to a set of antenna ports of an antenna array, wherein each radio transceiver is configured to drive an associated antenna port when each radio transceiver is coupled to its associated antenna port, the method comprising:

providing each radio transceiver with a set of user signals that coordinate the driving of the antenna ports in order to control the antenna beams generated by the antenna array;

driving, by the set of radio transceivers, the antenna ports to generate at least two antenna beams, wherein each radio transceiver contributes to the generation of more than one antenna beam.

14. The method of claim 13 , comprising:

combining a set of amplitude weighted user signals to obtain a combined user signal; and

distributing the combined user signal to the set of radio transceivers,

wherein before being distributed to the set of radio transceivers, the combined user signal is passed through a vector modulation, which comprises vector parameter sets according to radio cells that the at least two antenna beams are assigned to.

15. The radio base transceiver station of claim 12 , wherein the antenna device is configured to assign the antenna beams to radio cells according to one of the following cell configuration modes:

a vertical cell split mode, and

a horizontal cell split mode.

16. The radio base transceiver station of claim 12 , wherein the combination unit comprises a set of weighting units configured to weight each user signal with a respective weight.

17. The radio base transceiver station of claim 16 , wherein the set of the weighting units is configured to provide a user-individual amplitude coefficient to each user signal.

18. The radio base transceiver station of claim 17 , wherein the combination unit comprises:

a summing unit configured to sum the weighted user signals, providing a sum user signal; and

a distribution unit configured to distribute the sum user signal to each of the radio transceivers.