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US 10,833,740 B1Granted
Systems and methods for coarse scan beamforming using subarrays
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsChia-Feng Lin, Qishan Yu, Berke Cetinoneri, Xueting Liu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A communication device has multiple antennas in an antenna array, and applies the same input power to each antenna. A controller of the communication device instructs phase shifters to form a first subarray with a first pair of the antennas and a second subarray with a second pair of the antennas. The controller causes the first subarray to generate a first beam and causes the second subarray to generate a second beam, wherein the first beam combines in phase with the second beam to generate a coarse beam. The coarse beam may have increased beam width while exhibiting decreased peak gain loss.
Claims20
A communication device comprising:
- one or more antenna arrays comprising a plurality of antennas;
- a radio frequency integrated circuit comprising:
- a plurality of phase shifters, wherein each phase shifter of the plurality of phase shifters is coupled to a respective antenna of the plurality of antennas;
- and
- a codebook configured to store a plurality of codewords, wherein each codeword is configured to cause the plurality of phase shifters to control phases of a signal received by the plurality of phase shifters;
- and
- a controller coupled to the radio frequency integrated circuit, wherein the controller is configured to:
- send the signal to the plurality of phase shifters, wherein the signal is configured to apply a same input power to each antenna of the plurality of antennas;
- and
- send a codeword of the plurality of codewords to the plurality of phase shifters, wherein the signal and the codeword are configured to cause a first subarray of antennas of the plurality of antennas to emit a first beam and cause a second subarray of antennas of the plurality of antennas to emit a second beam, wherein the first beam is configured to combine in phase with the second beam to generate a coarse beam having a beam width at least 2.5 times that of a reference beam width of a reference beam that is generated by applying the same input power to each antenna of the plurality of antennas when the plurality of antennas are configured to emit respective beams singly and separately.
7 more elements
A radio frequency integrated circuit comprising:
- a plurality of phase shifters, wherein each phase shifter of the plurality of phase shifters is configured to couple to a respective antenna of an antenna array, wherein the antenna array comprises a plurality of antennas;
- and
- a codebook configured to store a plurality of codewords, wherein a set of codewords of the plurality of codewords is configured to cause the plurality of phase shifters to control phases of a signal received by the plurality of phase shifters, wherein the set of codewords is configured to cause a first subarray of antennas of the plurality of antennas to emit a first beam and cause a second subarray of antennas of the plurality of antennas to emit a second beam, wherein the plurality of codewords enables spherical coverage, wherein a number of codewords of the plurality of codewords stored in the codebook is less than or equal to 72, wherein the first beam is configured to coherently add to the second beam to generate a coarse beam that comprises a main lobe having:
- a maximum peak gain in a main direction at which the coarse beam is directed;
- a plurality of lesser peak gains in lesser directions different from the main direction.
2 more elements
One or more tangible, non-transitory, machine-readable-medium, comprising machine-readable instructions that cause a processing device to:
- send a signal to a plurality of phase shifters of a radio frequency integrated circuit, wherein each phase shifter of the plurality of phase shifters is coupled to a respective antenna of a plurality of antennas, and wherein the signal is configured to apply a same input power to each antenna of the plurality of antennas;
- and
- send a codeword of a plurality of codewords stored in a codebook to the plurality of phase shifters, wherein each codeword is configured to cause the plurality of phase shifters to control phases of the signal received by the plurality of phase shifters, wherein the signal and the codeword are configured to cause a first subarray of antennas of the plurality of antennas to emit a first beam and cause a second subarray of antennas of the plurality of antennas to emit a second beam, wherein the first beam is configured to combine in phase with the second beam to generate a coarse beam having a beam width at least 2.5 times that of a reference beam width of a reference beam that is generated by applying the same input power to each antenna of the plurality of antennas when the plurality of antennas are configured to emit respective beams singly and separately.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.