Patent ID: 11916625
Assignee: TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL)
Field: Telecommunications (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 12:
13. A method implemented by an antenna device adapted for use in an antenna arrangement of a distributed massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) system, wherein the distributed massive MIMO system comprises a central unit and wherein the antenna arrangement comprises a chain of antenna devices, including the antenna device, the method comprising:
performing per-antenna-element processing with respect to a corresponding antenna element in the antenna device;
wherein the per-antenna-element processing comprises:
locally performing a channel estimate based on a pilot signal received at the antenna device from a wireless communication terminal;
receiving a processed signal from a next antenna device in the chain of antenna devices;
using the channel estimate, processing an antenna signal received from wireless terminal via the antenna element;
adding the processed antenna signal to the received processed signal to form a combined signal; and
forwarding the combined signal to a previous antenna device for further forwarding along the chain of antenna devices to the central unit.