Base station apparatus and calibration method

1. A base station apparatus comprising:

a plurality of antenna elements;

a combiner configured to receive and combine downlink signals, each including a reference signal, from monitor ports provided corresponding to the plurality of antenna elements;

a channel estimator configured to perform channel estimation for estimating a channel of the reference signal for each of the plurality of antenna elements;

a calibration controller configured to calculate a calibration correction value to be applied to each of the antenna elements based upon channel estimation result; and

multiple antenna ports, each antenna port being formed of one or more of said plurality of antenna elements,

wherein the calibration controller is configured to:

(1) add a phase difference to the respective antenna elements that form associated one of the antenna ports to determine a phase rotation quantity that maximizes the channel estimation result, and calculate a calibration correction value to be applied to each of the antenna ports based upon the determined phase rotation quantity, or

(2) add a random phase difference to the antenna elements that form associated one of the antenna ports, repeat the adding of the random phase difference and the channel estimation multiple times, determine a current phase state of each of the antenna elements from a relationship between a phase rotation quantity acquired when adding the random phase difference and an associated channel estimation value, and calculate a calibration correction value to be applied to each of the antenna ports based upon the determined current phase state of each of the antenna elements.

2. The base station apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a scheduler configured to perform scheduling such that the reference signal is transmitted from all the antenna elements or antenna ports at a time slot or a frequency slot so as to be mutually orthogonal,

wherein the monitor ports are configured to monitor the downlink signals at a timing designated by the scheduler.

3. The base station apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a timing detector configured to detect a timing at which user data are not transmitted,

wherein the monitor ports are configured to switch an output direction of the downlink signals from the antenna elements to a calibration receiving system in response to a switching signal supplied from the timing detector.

4. A calibration method comprising:

receiving and combining downlink signals, each including a reference signal, from monitor ports provided corresponding to antenna elements of a base station apparatus;

extracting each reference signal from the combined downlink signal;

performing channel estimation to estimate a channel of the reference signal for each of the antenna elements;

calculating a calibration correction value to be applied to each of the antenna elements based upon channel estimation result;

forming multiple antenna ports, each antenna port being formed of one or more of the antenna elements; and

(1) adding a phase difference to each of the antenna elements that form associated one of the antenna ports,

determining a phase rotation quantity that maximizes the channel estimation result, and

calculating a calibration correction value to be applied to each of the antenna ports based upon the determined phase rotation quantity, or

(2) adding a random phase difference to the antenna elements that form associated one of the antenna ports,

repeating the adding of the random phase difference and the channel estimation multiple times,

determining a current phase state of each of the antenna elements from a relationship between a phase rotation quantity acquired when adding the random phase difference and an associated channel estimation value, and

calculating a calibration correction value to be applied to each of the antenna ports based upon the determined current phase state of each of the antenna elements.

5. The calibration method according to claim 4 , further comprising:

performing scheduling such that the reference signal is transmitted from all the antenna elements or antenna ports at a time slot or a frequency slot so as to be mutually orthogonal; and

at the monitor ports, monitoring the downlink signals at a timing of the scheduling.