Patent Description:
To meet the demand for wireless data traffic having increased since deployment of <NUM>th generation (<NUM>) communication systems, efforts have been made to develop an improved <NUM>th generation (<NUM>) or pre-<NUM> communication system. Therefore, the <NUM> or pre-<NUM> communication system is also called a `Beyond <NUM> Network' or a 'Post Long Term Evolution (LTE) System".

In the <NUM> system, Hybrid frequency shift keying (FSK) and quadrature amplitude modulation (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) as an advanced coding modulation (ACM), and filter bank multi carrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) as an advanced access technology have been developed.

In general, during a development process of a communication system, a procedure of measuring and analyzing a signal in a real communication environment is performed. Since the <NUM> system uses a higher frequency band than a cellular system of the related art, it is difficult to use measurement/analysis equipment of the related art as it is. Therefore, there is a need for a method for receiving and measuring/analyzing a wireless signal in consideration of characteristics of the <NUM> system.

<CIT> discloses an electronic device having wireless communications circuitry including an adjustable antenna system coupled to a radio-frequency transceiver, wherein the adjustable antenna system includes one or more adjustable electrical components that are controlled by storage and processing circuitry in the electronic device, wherein the adjustable electrical components include switches and components that can be adjusted between numerous different states.

<CIT> discloses a wireless local area network system comprising: a wireless local area network master station for supporting communication between satellite stations belonging to the master station; and one or more wireless local area network satellite stations. Therein, the satellite station in the relevant local area network comprises: an antenna for dynamically changing a directivity characteristic when receiving electric waves from the master station; control frame transmitting means for transmitting control frames prior to the commencement of communication; and antenna directivity characteristic controlling means for determining such a directivity characteristic that the receiving electric field intensity of a carrier wave transmitted from the master station when receiving the relevant control frame may become a maximum by changing the directivity characteristic of said antenna, and the master station in the relevant local area network system comprises carrier wave transmitting means for starting to transmit carrier waves when receiving said control frame.

Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosure is to provide a device and method for effectively receiving and measuring a wireless signal.

Another aspect of the disclosure is to provide a device and method for receiving and measuring a wireless signal by using a directional antenna.

In accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure, a device for measuring a wireless signal is provided as defined in the appended claims.

In accordance with another embodiment of the disclosure, a method for measuring a wireless signal is provided as defined in the appended claims.

A device and method according to various embodiments of the disclosure can effectively analyze a high-frequency wireless signal by adjusting oriented directions of directional antennas and receiving and measuring the signal.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses various embodiments of the disclosure.

Among the above listed figures, the embodiments of <FIG> pertain to the claimed solution.

The terms used in the disclosure are only used to describe embodiments and are not intended to limit the disclosure. A singular expression may include a plural expression unless they are definitely different in a context.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the disclosure will be described based on an approach of hardware. However, various embodiments of the disclosure include a technology that uses both hardware and software and thus, the various embodiments of the disclosure may not exclude the perspective of software.

Hereinafter, the disclosure relates to a device and method for receiving and measuring a wireless signal. Particularly, the disclosure describes a technique for receiving and measuring a wireless signal by using a directional antenna.

The terms referring to a device, the terms referring to elements of the device, the terms referring to a signal or properties of the signal, and the like, which are used in the following description, are used for convenience of description. Accordingly, the disclosure is not limited to the following terms and other terms having the same technical meaning may be used. For example, equipment for receiving and measuring a wireless signal according to various embodiments may be referred to hereinafter as a "measurement device", and may be referred to as a "wireless measurement device", an "analysis device", a "wireless signal analysis device", and "measurement equipment", "wireless measurement equipment", "analysis equipment", "wireless signal analysis equipment" or other terms having equivalent technical meanings.

Since general radio wave measurement equipment is designed such that only one antenna can be connected to each receiver, there is a limitation in signal reception performance. In consideration of high frequency characteristics, it is preferable to use a directional antenna rather than an omnidirectional antenna. However, the directional antenna has a narrower reception range than the omnidirectional antenna. Accordingly, hereinafter, the disclosure proposes various embodiments for securing a signal reception range equal to that of an omnidirectional antenna by using directional antennas.

<FIG> illustrates a configuration of a measurement device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the measurement device includes a signal analyzer <NUM> and a receiver <NUM>.

The signal analyzer <NUM> analyzes wireless signals received through the receiver <NUM>. For example, the signal analyzer <NUM> may analyze various factors related to the signals (for example, antenna gain, system gain, cable loss, signal strength, etc.). An analysis result obtained by the signal analyzer <NUM> may be generated for each antenna, and analysis data for each antenna may include characteristic values on a time axis. In addition, the signal analyzer <NUM> may include representative values (for example, average, movement average, etc.) for all the antennas or a subset of the antennas.

The signal analyzer <NUM> may include a controller <NUM> and a storage unit <NUM>. The controller <NUM> may be implemented as at least one processor, perform an analysis operation, and control an operation of another element (for example, the receiver <NUM>). The storage unit <NUM> may store a program, an instruction, and configuration data, which may be required for an operation of the measurement device, and store an analysis result. The controller <NUM> may control the measurement device to perform operations according to various embodiments described below.

The receiver <NUM> receives a wireless signal. To this end, the receiver <NUM> may include at least one antenna and a reception circuit (for example, an amplifier and a signal path). According to various embodiments, at least one antenna included in the receiver <NUM> may be a directional antenna. For example, the receiver <NUM> may be configured as shown in <FIG>.

Although not shown in <FIG>, the measurement device may further include a display unit and an input unit. The display unit may display an analysis result of a signal and an interface for controlling the measurement device according to the control of the controller <NUM>. The input unit may detect a user's input and provide the detected input to the controller <NUM>. For example, the input unit may include a keyboard, a button, and the like.

<FIG> illustrates a configuration of a receiver included in a measurement device according to an embodiment of the disclosure. <FIG> may be understood as a configuration of the receiver <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, the receiver <NUM> includes an antenna unit <NUM>, a switching unit <NUM>, and an amplifier <NUM>.

The antenna unit <NUM> includes a plurality of antennas, and the plurality of antennas are classified into a plurality of antenna sets. The plurality of antenna sets include a first antenna set 122a and a second antenna set 122b. The plurality of antennas included in the antenna unit <NUM> may be directional antennas, and the directional antennas may be arranged toward directions different from each other. For example, the directional antennas may be implemented as a horn antenna.

Directional antennas included in at least one set (for example, the first antenna set 122a) among the plurality of antenna sets may be designed to adjust an oriented angle. To this end, although not shown in <FIG>, a driving means for adjusting oriented angles of the directional antennas may be further included. Each of the oriented angles of the directional antennas may be adjusted independently. Directional antennas included in at least one set (for example, the second antenna set 122b) among the plurality of antenna sets may be designed to have a fixed oriented angle.

The switching unit <NUM> is connected to the plurality of antennas included in the antenna unit <NUM> and connects at least one of the plurality of antennas to the amplifier <NUM>. The switching unit <NUM> may provide signals received through the plurality of antennas to the amplifier <NUM> by sequentially establishing paths with the plurality of antennas according to the control of the controller <NUM>. To this end, the switching unit <NUM> may include at least one switching board or switch board.

According to an embodiment, the switching unit <NUM> may include one switch. In this case, the switching unit <NUM> may connect one antenna to the amplifier <NUM> at a specific time. When all the plurality of antennas are connected, losses corresponding to the number of connected antennas may occur. In order to prevent such a loss, only one switch is used. By using only one switch, only one antenna is connected to a reception path at a time, the reception path is cycled, and thus data can be collected while a loss is minimized. According to another embodiment, the switching unit <NUM> may include as many switches as the number of antenna sets.

The amplifier <NUM> amplifies a signal received through the antenna unit <NUM>. For example, the amplifier <NUM> may be implemented as a low noise amplifier (LNA). The receiver <NUM> may include the amplifier <NUM> to address a problem in that a radio wave arrival distance of a high frequency is shortened. According to an embodiment, for ease of movement measurement, the amplifier <NUM> may include one LNA.

<FIG> illustrates an implementation example of a receiver according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

<FIG> illustrates an implementation example of a receiver according to an embodiment of the disclosure. In the example illustrated in <FIG>, two antenna sets in the antenna unit <NUM> have a dual structure along a vertical axis.

Referring to <FIG>, two antenna sets are arranged in a hemispherical shape. To this end, the antenna unit <NUM> may include a housing and various support members for fixing antennas. Antennas <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>,. <NUM>-N included in the first antenna set 122a disposed in an upper end portion 210a of a semi-circular sphere have a structure capable of adjusting an oriented angle, and antennas <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>,. <NUM>-N included in the second antenna set 122b disposed in a lower end portion 210b of the semi-circular sphere have fixed oriented angles. For example, when a signal passing through a high obstacle arrives from a signal source, an arrival angle of the signal has a high deviation along the vertical axis. Therefore, the antennas <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-N included in the upper end portion 210a among the dually arranged antennas are configured to be movable up and down by using an electrical device. According to an embodiment, in consideration of commercial high frequency characteristics, each antenna set may include <NUM> antennas having a beam width of <NUM> degrees, and the antennas may be configured to cover a <NUM>-degree direction.

One antenna (for example, antenna <NUM>-<NUM>) disposed in the upper end portion 210a and one antenna (for example, antenna <NUM>-<NUM>) disposed in the lower end portion 210b form one antenna pair (for example, antenna pair <NUM>-<NUM>). Accordingly, the antenna unit <NUM> includes N antenna pairs <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>,. One antenna pair may cover the same horizontal angle, and the antenna <NUM>-<NUM> disposed in the upper end portion 210a may cover a vertical angle in a predetermined range by adjusting an oriented angle in a vertical direction. In order to adjust the oriented angle of the antenna, the controller <NUM> may generate a control signal for vertical movement of the antenna <NUM>-<NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, various embodiments of the disclosure may provide an effect, such as using an omnidirectional antenna, by arranging directional antennas in a hemispherical shape. The directional antennas may be configured to cover a <NUM>-degree direction in a horizontal direction and may be arranged in a plurality of rows in a vertical direction. Further, at least one upper end row of the antennas may be configured to be movable by an angular degree.

For example, the antenna pair <NUM>-<NUM> may be configured as shown in <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG>, the antenna <NUM>-<NUM> is fixed to a base member <NUM> through a first fixing member <NUM>. The antenna <NUM>-<NUM> is connected to a driving unit <NUM> through a second fixing member <NUM>, and the driving unit <NUM> is fixed to the base member <NUM>. The antenna <NUM>-<NUM> moves along a guide member <NUM>, and a vertical oriented angle is changed according to the movement.

Referring to <FIG>, the antennas <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-N included in the second antenna set 122b may be arranged in a circular shape and may be connected to the switching unit <NUM>. The antennas <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-N included in the first antenna set 122a may also be arranged in a circular shape and may be connected to the switching unit <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates a flowchart for receiving and measuring a wireless signal by a measurement device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the measurement device determines oriented directions of antennas and controls the antennas according to the determined oriented directions in operation <NUM>. The oriented directions of the antennas may be determined according to measurement scheduling. The oriented directions of the antennas may be determined according to a measurement algorithm or may be determined according to a user's command. A user can monitor a received signal and, if necessary, can determine an appropriate arrival angle of the signal by moving the antennas in the upper end portion. When an oriented direction is determined, the measurement device may adjust vertical angles of antennas included in at least one antenna set to arrange the antennas. Otherwise, the measurement device may adjust so as to allow a designated antenna to be oriented to a specific horizontal angle by rotating the antenna unit.

In operation <NUM>, the measurement device receives signals by using the antennas. According to an embodiment, the measurement device may control a switch so as to receive and collect signals by sequentially using the plurality of antennas. Through the operation, the measurement device may collect signals received by the plurality of antennas through one reception path. In this case, the reception path may include an LNA. That is, the measurement device may amplify the signals received through the antennas.

In operation <NUM>, the measurement device analyzes the signals. That is, the measurement device may analyze the signals received through the plurality of antennas. Since information on an antenna which receives the signals is provided, an angle of arrival (AOA) of the signals may be obtained from an oriented direction of the antenna.

As described with reference to <FIG>, the plurality of antennas are adjusted to have different oriented directions. Accordingly, an arrival angle of a received signal may be easily identified from an oriented direction of an antenna. To this end, before the measurement is performed, the measurement device may estimate and correct the oriented angle of the antenna. For example, the estimation and correction of the oriented angle of the antenna may be performed using a global positioning system (GPS) signal.

According to an embodiment, the measurement device may estimate and correct a reception direction angle of each antenna by applying a differential GPS (DGPS). For example, the measurement device may estimate an oriented direction of a specific antenna by a signal of the DGPS by linking directions of antenna #<NUM> and the DGPS. In more detail, if a movement direction of the measurement device is identified using a GPS or DGPS, it may be determined that an oriented direction of an antenna facing the movement direction corresponds to the movement direction. That is, since the movement direction measured by using the GPS or DGPS includes longitude and latitude coordinates, the measurement device may calculate an azimuth angle from the coordinate values, and may determine the calculated azimuth angle as an oriented direction of a corresponding antenna, that is, an arrival angle.

The measurement device may link corrected direction information to the remaining antennas, based on beam widths and the number of the remaining antennas. When an arrival angle for one antenna is determined using the coordinate values of the movement direction, the measurement device may estimate arrival angles for the remaining antennas. For example, if <NUM> antennas having a beam width of <NUM> degrees are arranged, when antenna #<NUM> is aligned to <NUM> degrees, the arrival angles of the remaining antennas may be corrected by adding or subtracting a multiple of <NUM> to an arrival angle of antenna #<NUM>. For example, an arrival angle of antenna #<NUM> adjacent to antenna #<NUM> may be replaced with a value obtained by correcting the arrival angle of antenna #<NUM> by <NUM> degrees. Through these operations, an arrival angle of each antenna at a position where the measurement device moves may be identified.

Accordingly, a signal reaching each antenna is linked to the DGPS, and all the signals may be stored and recorded together with an arrival angle and the amount (e.g., signal strength) of a received signal. In this case, in consideration of the occurrence of a plurality of overlapping position signals in the same antenna, information on the signals may be stored after interval averaging.

A wireless signal may be distorted while passing through a channel. For example, when a transmitter terminal or a receiver terminal moves, a difference between a frequency of a signal at the time of transmission and a frequency of a signal at the time of reception may occur due to the Doppler effect.

<FIG> illustrates an influence of the Doppler effect on a wireless signal according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, a frequency of a peak component of a signal <NUM> may be <NUM> at the time of transmission. However, due to the Doppler effect, a frequency of a peak component of a signal <NUM> may be <NUM> at the time of reception. That is, a phenomenon in which the peak component moves on a frequency axis may occur. Accordingly, since a frequency of a signal transmitted for measurement may not be constant, the measurement device receives a signal within a predetermined bandwidth by using short divided bands, and selectively processes an interval in which a peak signal is received within a spectrum of the same reception time zone, so as to measure only a signal to be actually measured. Example operations for measurement will be described hereinafter with reference to <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates a flowchart for extracting a measurement signal by a measurement device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the measurement device divides a received signal according to bands in operation <NUM>. Each band has a smaller width than the total bandwidth for signal reception. Accordingly, one received signal is divided into a plurality of band-specific partial signals. The partial signals may be referred to as narrowband signals.

<FIG> illustrates examples of an extraction result of a measurement signal according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the whole band may be divided into <NUM> bands, and each of a signal <NUM> and a signal <NUM> may be divided into <NUM> partial signals.

Referring again to <FIG>, the measurement device identifies a measurement signal among the band-specific signals in operation <NUM>. That is, the measurement device identifies a partial signal including a signal transmitted for measurement, among the plurality of partial signals. In this case, the measurement signal may be identified according to a predefined criterion. For example, the predefined criterion may be defined based on at least one of a value, a pattern, or a magnitude of a signal. As a specific example, the partial signal including the measurement signal may be a partial signal including a peak component. For example, as shown in <FIG>, a partial signal <NUM> among the partial signals of the signal <NUM> and a partial signal <NUM> among the partial signals of the signal <NUM> may be selected as a signal including the measurement signal.

In operation <NUM>, the measurement device stores and analyzes the measurement signal. The measurement device may store partial signals which are identified to include the measurement signal and discard the remaining partial signals. Thereafter, the measurement device may analyze the stored partial signals.

According to an embodiment described with reference to <FIG>, the partial signal including the measurement signal may be the partial signal including the peak component. In this case, the measurement device may first perform an operation of determining whether another interference signal is detected in a corresponding band. If no other interference signal is detected, it is possible to assume that the peak component is the measurement signal during the measurement.

<FIG> illustrates an implementation example of a measurement device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to <FIG>, the measurement device may be installed in a vehicle <NUM>. For example, the signal analyzer <NUM> of the measurement device may be installed in the vehicle <NUM> and the receiver <NUM> may be installed on the vehicle <NUM>. The receiver <NUM> may switch a plurality of directional antennas and receive signals like an omnidirectional antenna, and the signal analyzer <NUM> may extract and analyze only a required signal among the received signals. In addition, a GPS receiver <NUM> may be further installed on the vehicle <NUM>, and the measurement device may estimate and correct angles of antennas by using a GPS signal received through the GPS receiver <NUM>.

The measurement device installed in the vehicle <NUM> may be used for signal reception and measurement. In this case, a signal may be transmitted from a terminal or a base station of a target system. Otherwise, the signal may be transmitted by a device designed for measurement, for example, a signal generator <NUM> and a transmitter <NUM>.

In order to reduce occurrence of the Doppler effect during radio wave propagation, signal collection may be configured with reference to the maximum signal after a bandwidth (BW) is configured at the time of signal reception.

Since a signal has a characteristic of rays at a high frequency, absolute angle allocation is configured for each antenna in cooperation with a DGPS in order to identify an arrival angle of a signal.

According to various embodiments described above, measurements at various arrival angles of a signal may be performed due to the use of multiple antennas and antenna position change. In addition, beamforming and multiple input multiple output (MIMO) channel analysis data may be secured through reception of a plurality of signals for each antenna. In particular, data acquisition may be performed several hundred times per second by using a switch, and signal strength and information on an arrival angle may be generated together for each received signal, and thus are easy to be utilized. Massive data including information on an arrival angle is utilized, so that regional channel estimation may be facilitated in a mmWave, and regional channel estimation information may be used to improve the accuracy of system design. The collected data may be used to extract individual antenna characteristics and the best signal for each interval, and an extracted signal may contribute to the improvement of the propagation model accuracy.

Methods according to embodiments stated in the claims and/or specification of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

The one or more programs stored in the computer-readable storage medium may be configured for execution by one or more processors within an electronic device.

The programs (software modules or software) may be stored in non-volatile memories including a random access memory and a flash memory, a read only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), a magnetic disc storage device, a compact disc-ROM (CD-ROM), digital versatile discs (DVDs), or other types of optical storage devices, or a magnetic cassette. Alternatively, any combination of some or all of the above may form a memory in which the program is stored.

In addition, the programs may be stored in an attachable storage device which is accessible through communication networks such as the Internet, Intranet, local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), and storage area network (SAN), or a combination thereof. Such a storage device may access a device for performing an embodiment of the disclosure via an external port. Further, a separate storage device on the communication network may access the device for performing an embodiment of the disclosure.

In the above-described embodiments of the disclosure, an element included in the disclosure is expressed in the singular or the plural according to a presented embodiment. However, the singular form or plural form is selected for convenience of description suitable for the presented situation, and various embodiments of the disclosure are not limited to a single element or multiple elements thereof. Further, either multiple elements expressed in the description may be configured as a single element or a single element in the description may be configured as multiple elements.

Claim 1:
A device for measuring a wireless signal, the device comprising:
a first antenna set (122a) including a plurality of antennas (<NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-N) having adjustable oriented directions;
a second antenna set (122b) including a plurality of antennas (<NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-N) having fixed oriented directions; and
at least one processor (<NUM>) configured to:
determine an oriented direction of at least one of the plurality of antennas (<NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-N; <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-N),
adjust (<NUM>) a vertical angle of at least one of the plurality of antennas (<NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-N) included in the first antenna set (122a) based on the determining,
rotate (<NUM>) the first antenna set (122a) and the second antenna set (122b) to a certain horizontal angle based on the determining,
determine a certain antenna having an oriented direction corresponding to a moving direction of the device, and
receive (<NUM>) and analyze (<NUM>) wireless signals by using the first antenna set (122a) and the second antenna set (122b),
wherein the plurality of antennas (<NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-N; <NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-N) included in the first antenna set (122a) and the second antenna set (122b) are arranged in a hemispherical shape, the first antenna set (122a) is disposed on an upper end (210a) of the hemispherical shape, and the second antenna set (122b) is disposed on a lower end (210b) of the hemispherical shape,
wherein one of the plurality of antennas (<NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-N) included in the first antenna set (122a) and one of the plurality of antennas (<NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-N) included in the second antenna set (122b) are arranged at a same horizontal angle to form an antenna pair (<NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-N),
wherein each antenna included in the antenna pair (<NUM>-<NUM> to <NUM>-N) has a different vertical angle.