Receiver beamforming

An apparatus comprising a receiver, the receiver comprising:

• a plurality of receiver arrangements, each receiver arrangement configured for connection to one respective antenna element of a plurality of antenna elements;
• each receiver arrangement being configurable to receive wireless transmissions from multiple transmitters at each of the plurality of antenna elements;
• each receiver arrangement of the plurality of receiver arrangements comprising a phase-shift arrangement configurable to phase-shift the received antenna signals in relation to multiple beam directions, thereby providing phase-shifted antenna signals for two or more of the multiple transmitters;
• a first combiner being configurable to combine, for the two or more of the multiple transmitters, the phase-shifted antenna signals thereby providing a received beam signal for each of the two or more of the multiple transmitters;
• and
• a second combiner comprising a synchronizer configurable to synchronize the received beam signals with regards to a time and a phase difference between the received beam signals, the second combiner being configurable to combine the received beam signals thereby providing a combined receive signal, the second combiner being configurable to determine a transmitter signal to noise ratio (SNR) of each of the received beam signals.

A data processing unit, operatively connected to a plurality of receiver arrangements each connected to one respective antenna element of a plurality of antenna elements, a first combiner and a second combiner, the data processing unit being configured to cause:

• receiving of wireless transmissions from multiple transmitters at each of the plurality of antenna elements;
• phase-shifting of, for each antenna element, the received antenna signals in relation to multiple beam directions, thereby causing provision of phase-shifted antenna signals for two or more of the multiple transmitters;
• combining of, for the two or more of the multiple transmitters, the phase-shifted antenna signals thereby causing provision a received beam signal for each of the two or more of the multiple transmitters;
• synchronizing of the received beam signals with regards to one or both of a time and a phase difference between the received beam signals and combining of the received beam signals thereby causing provision of a combined receive signal;
• and
• determining a transmitter signal to noise ratio (SNR) of each of the received beam signals.

A method for receiver beamforming, the method comprising:

• receiving wireless transmissions from multiple transmitters at each of a plurality of antenna elements;
• phase-shifting, for each antenna element, the received antenna signals in relation to multiple beam directions, thereby providing phase-shifted antenna signals for two or more of the multiple transmitters;
• combining, for the two or more of the multiple transmitters, the phase-shifted antenna signals thereby providing a received beam signal for each of the two or more of the multiple transmitters;
• synchronizing the received beam signals with regards to one or both of a time and a phase difference between the received beam signals and combining the synchronized received beam thereby providing a combined receive signal;
• and
• determining a transmitter signal to noise ratio (SNR) of each of the received beam signals.