Beamforming apparatus and beamforming method for antenna

#The disclosure relates to a beamforming apparatus and a beamforming method for an antenna. In particular, the disclosure relates to a beamforming apparatus and a beamforming method for an antenna, capable of checking a direction toward a base station in real time by using an inertial sensor of an appliance equipped with an antenna, and optimally correcting beamforming when the position of the base station is changed.

#Recently, as communication systems are developed to 3G and 4G communication systems, the development of the optimal antenna has been accelerated according to the diversified channel environments. In addition, a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) scheme for high-rate data transmission and an adaptive MIMO beamforming scheme according to the energy efficiency and a propagation environment have been employed. An adaptive antenna array may be used for a signal received therein from a desirable signal source or a signal received therein from an undesirable or interfered signal source, and beamforming may be performed by setting a weighted value with respect to an individual antenna installed in each antenna array.

#Meanwhile, when performing the optimal beamforming by calculating an AOA (angle of arrival), a phase, and an intensity of a signal received from a base station in real time in order to improve the efficiency of the adaptive antenna, a communication load between base stations is caused, a predetermined computation time is required, or a complex algorithm for the computation is required. Accordingly, a beamforming technology to minimize the network load caused by the position change of the terminal is required.

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a beamforming method for an adaptive antenna;

#FIG. 2 is a view showing a beamforming angle according to the position change of a terminal;

#FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the structure of a beamforming apparatus according to one embodiment of the disclosure; and

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a beamforming method for an adaptive antenna. Referring to FIG. 1, the adaptive antenna may include an antenna array including a plurality of antennas 11, 12, 13, and 14, a circuit 15 to combine signals received therein from the antenna, and a wireless communication module 16. The wireless communication module 16 may include a frequency down converter (not shown) to convert a high frequency signal received therein from the antenna array into a baseband signal, an A/D converter to convert an analog signal to a digital signal, and a beam former which measures the intensities, phases, and angles of arrival of signals arrived therein through various paths to perform a time-space process for the purpose of beamforming and to apply a weighted value to each antenna through a beamforming algorithm. Meanwhile, the weighted value applied to the beam former may be provided in the form of a vector having a dimension corresponding to the number of antennas constituting each antenna array. To this end, various beamforming algorithms may be used. The disclosure provides a beamforming method and a beamforming apparatus, capable of detecting the position change of an antenna and correcting beamforming based on the detected position change of the antenna. The beamforming apparatus according to one embodiment of the disclosure may be applied to a mobile terminal equipped with an adaptive antenna, a smart phone, a cellular phone, and a satellite phone.

#FIG. 2 is a view showing the calculation of a beamforming angle according to the position change of a terminal. Hereinafter, a case in which the beamforming apparatus according to one embodiment of the disclosure is applied to a mobile terminal 100 equipped with an adaptive antenna will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

#The mobile terminal 100 searches for the position of a base station 20 by using an antenna installed in the mobile terminal 100. The mobile terminal 100 may first initialize each module of the mobile terminal 100 after the power of the mobile terminal 100 has been turned on. The mobile terminal 100 initializes the modules by applying power to the antenna and a sensing module and checking the states of the modules.