Granted Patent B2

US 12,294,435 · App. 17/736,673 · Granted May 6, 2025

Inventors: Daehee Park (Gyeonggi-do, KR); Chonghwa Seo (Gyeonggi-do, KR)

Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd

H04B7/0695H04B7/0617H04B7/086

Abstract

Claims (83)

1. An electronic device comprising:

an antenna comprising a plurality of antenna elements; and

a processor operatively connected to the antenna,

wherein the processor is configured to:

form a plurality of reception beams by selecting a first number of antenna elements among the plurality of antenna elements,

receive a first signal from an external device using the plurality of reception beams,

in a low-power mode:

select a second number of antenna elements that are used to transmit a signal to an external device, the second number being less than the first number,

identify beam set information related to a plurality of transmission beam sets capable of being formed using the second number of antenna elements, and

select, based on quality information of the first signal and the beam set information, at least one transmission beam from the transmission beam sets, in a normal mode:

allocate the first number of antenna elements to a transmission antenna, and

select a transmission beam based on information associated with a plurality of transmission beam sets corresponding to the first number of antenna elements, and

transmit a second signal to the external device using the selected transmission beam.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 ,

wherein the beam set information comprises correspondence information in which the plurality of reception beams and the plurality of transmission beams are mapped, and

wherein the processor is further configured to:

select, based on the quality information of the first signal, at least one of the plurality of reception beams, and

select the transmission beam based on the selected reception beam and the correspondence information.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

estimate, based on the quality information of the first signal, an angle of arrival (AoA) of the first signal, and

select, based on the estimated AoA, at least one transmission beam from the transmission beam sets.

4. The electronic device of claim 3 , further comprising:

a memory storing first information related to a distribution of the quality information with variation of the AoA for each of the plurality of reception beams,

wherein the processor is further configured to:

obtain second information related to real-time quality information of the first signal for each reception beam, and

estimate the AoA based on the first information and the second information.

5. The electronic device of claim 3 , further comprising:

a memory storing third information related to effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) with variation of the AoA for each of the plurality of transmission beams,

wherein the processor is further configured to select at least one transmission beam based on the estimated AoA and the third information.

6. The electronic device of claim 1 ,

wherein the first signal comprises a reference signal, and

wherein the quality information comprises reference signal receiving power (RSRP) information associated with the first signal.

7. The electronic device of claim 1 ,

wherein the antenna comprises at least one array antenna, and

wherein the array antenna comprises a plurality of antenna elements.

8. The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein, if a signal of an additional frequency band that is different from a frequency band of the plurality of formed reception beams is received from the external device, the processor is further configured to:

additionally form a plurality of reception beams of the additional frequency band,

allocate a third number of antenna elements to a transmission antenna,

identify beam set information added in association with an additional transmission beam set capable of being formed based on the third number of antenna elements and the additional frequency band,

receive the first signal using the plurality of reception beams,

estimate the AoA of the first signal based on the quality information of the first signal, and

select, based on the estimated AoA and the added beam set information, at least one transmission beam from the additional transmission beam set.

9. The electronic device of claim 1 ,

wherein the first signal and the second signal comprise millimeter waves.

10. The electronic device of claim 1 ,

wherein the beam set information comprises codebook information that controls beamforming of a transmission antenna and a reception antenna, and

wherein the processor is further configured to support communication of a beamforming scheme based on the codebook information.

11. A method of selecting, by an electronic device, a transmission beam for an external device, the method comprising:

forming a plurality of reception beams by allocating a first number of antenna elements to a reception antenna;

receiving a first signal from an external device using the plurality of reception beams;

in a low-power mode:

allocating a second number of antenna elements to a transmission antenna, the second number being less than the first number;

identifying beam set information related to a plurality of transmission beam sets that the transmission antenna is capable of forming based on the second number of antenna elements; and

selecting, based on quality information of the first signal and the beam set information, at least one transmission beam from the transmission beam sets;

in a normal mode:

allocating the first number of antenna elements to the transmission antenna; and

selecting a transmission beam based on information related to the plurality of transmission beam sets corresponding to the first number of antenna elements; and

transmitting a second signal to the external device using the selected transmission beam.

12. The method of claim 11 ,

wherein the beam set information comprises correspondence information associated with the plurality of transmission beams that respectively correspond to the plurality of reception beams, and

wherein selecting the at least one transmission beam comprises:

selecting at least one of the plurality of reception beams based on the quality information of the first signal; and

selecting the at least one transmission beam based on the selected reception beam and the correspondence information.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein selecting the at least one transmission beam based on the quality information comprises:

estimating, based on the quality information of the first signal, an angle of arrival (AoA) of the first signal; and

selecting, based on the estimated AoA, at least one transmission beam from transmission beam sets.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

identifying first information related to a distribution of the quality information with variation of an AoA for each of the plurality of reception beams;

obtaining second information related to real-time quality information of the first signal for each reception beam; and

estimating the AoA based on the first information and the second information.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

identifying third information related to effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) with variation of an AoA for each of the plurality of transmission beams; and

selecting the at least one transmission beam based on the estimated AoA and the third information.

16. The method of claim 11 ,

wherein the first signal comprises a reference signal, and

wherein the quality information comprises reference signal receiving power (RSRP) information associated with the first signal.

17. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

if a signal of an additional frequency band that is different from a frequency band of the plurality of formed reception beams is received from the external device, additionally forming a plurality of reception beams of the additional frequency band;

allocating a third number of antenna elements to the transmission antenna;

identifying beam set information added in association with an additional transmission beam set capable of being formed based on the third number of antenna elements and the additional frequency band;

receiving the first signal using the plurality of reception beams;

estimating an AoA of the first signal based on the quality information of the first signal; and

selecting at least one transmission beam from the additional transmission beam set based on the estimated AoA and the added beam set information.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (23)