Beam Forming Using an Antenna Arrangement

A method for beam forming using an antenna array comprising dual polarized elements, the method comprising:

• generating one or two beam ports:
• wherein the one or two beam ports are defined by combining at least two non-overlapping subarrays;
• wherein each subarray has two subarray ports, the two subarray ports having identical power patterns and mutually orthogonal polarization;
• wherein the at least two non-overlapping subarrays are combined via expansion weights;
• wherein the expansion weights map the one or two beam ports to subarray ports such that the one or two beam ports have the same power pattern as the subarrays;
• and
• wherein at least some of the expansion weights have identical non-zero magnitude and are related in phase to form a transmission lobe;
• wherein the expansion weights are collected in an expansion matrix and are determined such that the expansion matrix is spatially white;
• and
• transmitting signals using the one or two beam ports.

An antenna arrangement, comprising:

• an antenna array comprising dual polarized elements for beam forming;
• processing circuitry configured to cause the antenna array to:
• generate one or two beam ports:
• wherein the beam ports are defined by combining at least two non-overlapping subarrays;
• wherein each subarray has two subarray ports, the two subarray ports having identical power patterns and mutually orthogonal polarization;
• wherein the at least two non-overlapping subarrays are combined via expansion weights;
• wherein the expansion weights map the one or two beam ports to subarray ports such that the one or two beam ports have the same power pattern as the subarrays;
• wherein at least some of the expansion weights have identical non-zero magnitude and are related in phase to form a transmission lobe;
• wherein the expansion weights are collected in an expansion matrix and are determined such that the expansion matrix is spatially white;
• transmit signals using the one or two beam ports.

A network node comprising:

• an antenna arrangement comprising an antenna array and processing circuitry;
• wherein the antenna array comprises dual polarized elements for beam forming;
• wherein the processing circuitry is configured to cause the antenna array to:
• generate one or two beam ports:
• wherein the beam ports are defined by combining at least two non-overlapping subarrays;
• wherein each subarray has two subarray ports, the two subarray ports having identical power patterns and mutually orthogonal polarization;
• wherein the at least two non-overlapping subarrays are combined via expansion weights;
• wherein the expansion weights map the one or two beam ports to subarray ports such that the one or two beam ports have the same power pattern as the subarrays;
• wherein at least some of the expansion weights have identical non-zero magnitude and are related in phase to form a transmission lobe;
• wherein the expansion weights are collected in an expansion matrix and are determined such that the expansion matrix is spatially white;
• transmit signals using the one or two beam ports.

A wireless device, comprising:

• an antenna arrangement comprising an antenna array and processing circuitry;
• wherein the antenna array comprises dual polarized elements for beam forming;
• wherein the processing circuitry is configured to cause the antenna array to:
• generate one or two beam ports:
• wherein the beam ports are defined by combining at least two non-overlapping subarrays;
• wherein each subarray has two subarray ports, the two subarray ports having identical power patterns and mutually orthogonal polarization;
• wherein the at least two non-overlapping subarrays are combined via expansion weights;
• wherein the expansion weights map the one or two beam ports to subarray ports such that the one or two beam ports have the same power pattern as the subarrays;
• wherein at least some of the expansion weights have identical non-zero magnitude and are related in phase to form a transmission lobe;
• wherein the expansion weights are collected in an expansion matrix and are determined such that the expansion matrix is spatially white;
• transmit signals using the one or two beam ports.

A non-transitory computer readable recording medium storing a computer program product for beam forming using an antenna array comprising dual polarized elements, the computer program product comprising software instructions which, when run on processing circuitry, causes the antenna array to:

• generate one or two beam ports:
• wherein the beam ports are defined by combining at least two non-overlapping subarrays;
• wherein each subarray has two subarray ports, the two subarray ports having identical power patterns and mutually orthogonal polarization;
• wherein the at least two non-overlapping subarrays are combined via expansion weights;
• wherein the expansion weights map the one or two beam ports to subarray ports such that the one or two beam ports have the same power pattern as the subarrays;
• wherein at least some of the expansion weights have identical non-zero magnitude and are related in phase to form a transmission lobe;
• wherein the expansion weights are collected in an expansion matrix and are determined such that the expansion matrix is spatially white;
• and
• transmit signals using the one or two beam ports.