HK1230390B - Cluster-based beacon signal transmission - Google Patents

Description

Cluster-based beacon signaling

Technical Field

The present technology relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a method for broadcasting beacon signals based on an access point cluster in a high-frequency radio communication network. The technology also relates to an access point and a computer-readable storage medium for executing the method.

Background Art

Millimeter wave (MMW) wireless systems operating from 30 to 300 GHz are emerging as a promising technology for meeting exploding bandwidth demands by enabling multi-Gbps speeds. For example, ultra-dense networks (UDNs) for 5G will most likely be deployed in the MMW band. Typical deployments for UDNs are in densely populated areas, such as urban hotspots, office buildings, or downtown areas, where high-data-rate services are in demand. At such high transmission frequencies (e.g., greater than 6 GHz), path loss becomes significantly higher than at lower transmission frequencies. In operation, beacon signals containing information such as synchronization information and random access configurations must be broadcast by access points (APs) to a sufficiently large coverage area for all served user equipment (UEs) to receive them correctly.

FIG1 illustrates individual broadcast coverage areas by an AP when different antenna configurations are employed.

Due to high path loss, broadcast coverage using omnidirectional or quasi-omnidirectional antennas is minimal. As shown, the smallest circle indicates broadcast coverage using omnidirectional antennas with normal modulation and coding rates. The middle circle indicates broadcast coverage using omnidirectional antennas with low modulation and coding rates. Lowering the modulation and coding rates can help expand broadcast coverage slightly, however, this is not sufficient to achieve seamless coverage. As shown in Figure 2, there are still marginal areas between APs that cannot be covered by the expanded broadcast coverage.

The largest circle indicates the broadcast coverage using beamforming antennas, which enables high-gain beamforming. This significantly expands the broadcast coverage. Typically, beacon signals are broadcast via beacon scanning, meaning the AP transmits the same beacon signal via multiple beams, one after another, directed in different directions. However, since all beamforming antennas are required to broadcast the beacon signal periodically, antenna power consumption is significant. Furthermore, cell-edge UEs may receive different beacon signals from different APs, causing interference in the UE's reception of these beacon signals.

Summary of the Invention

An object of the present invention is to solve or alleviate at least one of the above mentioned problems.

A first aspect of the invention disclosed herein is a method for broadcasting a beacon signal in an AP in a high-frequency radio communication network. The method includes joining an AP cluster in the high-frequency radio communication network, the AP cluster comprising two or more APs; and synchronously broadcasting the same beacon signal with other APs in the AP cluster, the broadcasted same beacon signal including an identifier of the AP cluster.

A second aspect of the present invention is a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which, when executed on an AP, cause the AP to perform the steps of the method described above.

A third aspect of the present invention is a method, in a communication device, for deriving a beacon signal in a high-frequency radio communication network. The method includes receiving a plurality of candidate beacon signals from one or more AP clusters, each of the one or more AP clusters including a plurality of APs, the plurality of APs within the same AP cluster synchronously broadcasting the same beacon signal, and each of the plurality of candidate beacon signals including an identifier of an associated AP cluster; and selecting one or more beacon signals from the plurality of candidate beacon signals.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which, when executed on a communication device, causes the communication device to perform the steps of the method described above.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is an AP configured to broadcast a beacon signal in a high-frequency radio communication network. The AP includes a joining unit and a broadcasting unit. The joining unit is configured to join an AP cluster in the high-frequency radio communication network, where the AP cluster comprises two or more APs. The broadcasting unit is configured to synchronously broadcast the same beacon signal with other APs in the AP cluster, where the broadcasted same beacon signal includes an identifier of the AP cluster.

A sixth aspect of the present invention is a communication device configured to obtain a beacon signal in a high-frequency radio communication network. The communication device includes a receiving unit and a selecting unit. The receiving unit is configured to receive multiple candidate beacon signals from one or more AP clusters, each of the one or more AP clusters including multiple APs, the multiple APs within the same AP cluster synchronously broadcasting the same beacon signal, and each of the multiple candidate beacon signals includes an identifier of an associated AP cluster. The selecting unit is configured to select one or more beacon signals from the multiple candidate beacon signals.

A seventh aspect of the present invention is an AP configured to broadcast a beacon signal in a high-frequency radio communication network. The AP includes a processor and a memory. The memory contains instructions executable by the processor, whereby the AP operates to join an AP cluster in the high-frequency radio communication network, the AP cluster comprising two or more APs, and to synchronously broadcast the same beacon signal with other APs in the AP cluster, the broadcasted same beacon signal including an identifier of the AP cluster.

An eighth aspect of the present invention is a communication device configured to obtain a beacon signal in a high-frequency radio communication network. The communication device includes a processor and a memory. The memory contains instructions executable by the processor, whereby the communication device operates to receive multiple candidate beacon signals from one or more AP clusters, each of the one or more AP clusters including multiple APs, multiple APs within the same AP cluster synchronously broadcasting the same beacon signal, and each of the multiple candidate beacon signals including an identifier of an associated AP cluster; and select one or more beacon signals from the multiple candidate beacon signals.

By clustering multiple APs into AP clusters, APs in the same AP cluster join together to broadcast the same beacon signal synchronously, thereby achieving energy gain and/or diversity gain for the beacon signal at the receiving end. Accordingly, the beacon broadcast coverage will be expanded.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The technology will be described by way of example based on embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG1 schematically illustrates beacon broadcast coverage areas by APs employing different antenna configurations;

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates beacon broadcast coverage by an AP using omnidirectional antennas at low modulation and coding rates.

3 schematically illustrates a flow chart of broadcasting a beacon signal by an AP in a high frequency radio communication network according to an embodiment;

FIG4 schematically illustrates an AP cluster according to an embodiment, wherein all APs employ beamforming antennas to broadcast beacon signals through multiple beams;

5a-b schematically illustrate aggregated beaconing according to an embodiment.

FIG6 schematically shows a flow chart of obtaining a beacon signal in a high-frequency radio communication network by a communication device according to an embodiment.

FIG7 schematically illustrates an interaction diagram between APs and communication devices in an AP cluster according to an embodiment.

8 is a block diagram of an example AP configured to broadcast a beacon signal in a high frequency radio communication network according to an embodiment; and

9 is a block diagram of an example communication device configured to obtain a beacon signal in a high frequency radio communication network, according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments herein will be described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the embodiments herein may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the appended claims. The elements in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale relative to each other. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well. It will also be understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and "including," when used herein, indicate the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Furthermore, the use of ordinal numbers such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc. in the claims that modify claim elements does not, by itself, imply any priority, precedence, or order or chronological sequence (in which the acts of the method are performed) of one claim element over another claim element, but rather serves merely as a label to distinguish one claim element having a certain name from another element having the same name (but for the use of ordinal terms) to distinguish claim elements.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood. It will also be understood that, unless clearly defined otherwise herein, the terms used herein should be understood to have a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art, and not to be understood in an idealized or overly formal sense.

The present technology is described below with reference to block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of methods, devices (systems), and/or computer programs according to the present embodiments. It is understood that the blocks of the block diagrams and/or flowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowcharts, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor, controller, or control unit of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, and/or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, such that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer and/or other programmable data processing device create instructions for implementing the functions/actions specified in the block diagram and/or flowchart block(s).

Accordingly, the present technology may be embodied in hardware and/or software (including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.). Furthermore, the present technology may take the form of a computer program on a computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium having computer-usable or computer-readable program code embodied therein for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system. In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium may be any medium that can contain, store, or be suitable for delivering a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Although specific terms in some specifications, such as AP, are used herein, it should be understood that the embodiments are not limited to those specific terms, but are applicable to all similar entities, such as base stations, macro base stations, micro base stations, core networks (CNs), NodeBs, eNodeBs, etc.

Hereinafter, embodiments of this document will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG3 schematically illustrates a method 300 for broadcasting a beacon signal by an AP in a high-frequency radio communication network according to an embodiment. Here, a high-frequency radio communication network generally refers to any type of radio communication network operating at a transmission frequency exceeding 6 GHz, such as a UDN. The process of an embodiment will now be described in detail with reference to FIG3 .

In step 310, an AP joins an AP cluster in a high frequency radio communication network. An AP cluster includes two or more APs.

Specifically, during the cell planning process, it is possible to statically predefine which AP clusters an AP should join. In one embodiment, a central controller exists within the high-frequency radio communication network, to which all APs transmit information regarding their locations and the received signal power of signals received from neighboring APs. The central controller then divides all APs into multiple clusters based on this collected information. For example, based on AP location information, APs that are closer to each other will join the same cluster. As another example, the central controller may include APs whose received signal power from each other exceeds a power threshold into the same cluster.

Alternatively, an AP can dynamically select the AP cluster it intends to join during operation. For example, when an AP is newly powered on or wishes to change to another cluster, it may first obtain information about surrounding clusters by detecting beacon signals broadcast by the cluster, or request this information from neighboring APs. Based on certain criteria, the AP then determines which of the available AP clusters to join. In one embodiment, the AP may join an AP cluster whose distance to the AP is closer than a threshold distance. In other words, the AP will join a neighboring AP cluster. In another embodiment, the AP may join an AP cluster whose overlapping coverage with the AP is greater than a threshold area. In yet another embodiment, for example, if the number of APs in the AP cluster the AP intends to join has reached an upper limit, the AP may create a new AP cluster and join the new cluster. Other APs may then choose to join this new cluster.

It should be appreciated that the above description of joining an AP cluster is only given as an example, and other suitable ways of joining an AP cluster can be applied to the present invention.

In step 320, the AP, along with other APs in the AP cluster, synchronously broadcasts the same beacon signal. Here, a beacon signal refers to control signaling transmitted via broadcast. A beacon signal may include synchronization information, one or more preambles for control or data signal detection, a beam training preamble, a reference signal, a random access configuration, indicators of downlink and uplink configurations, a bandwidth indicator, and the like, or any combination thereof. In the present disclosure, a beacon signal also includes an identifier for the AP cluster.

Specifically, APs in the same AP cluster can synchronously broadcast the same beacon signal. That is, each AP broadcasts a beacon signal simultaneously with the others, and the corresponding beacon signals broadcast by the APs are identical. Identical beacon signals mean that all items contained in these beacon signals, such as synchronization information and the AP cluster's identifier, are identical. This makes it highly likely that a beacon signal receiver, such as a mobile phone, will receive an aggregated beacon signal that is a superposition of more than one of these identical beacon signals. This results in energy gain on the receiving end. Furthermore, APs can coordinate joint transmissions, for example, to decode these identical beacon signals before broadcasting. This results in diversity gain on the receiving end.

In an embodiment, each AP in the AP cluster may broadcast a beacon signal using an omnidirectional antenna. In this case, the APs may uniformly reduce the modulation and coding rate used for the beacon signal to be broadcast in order to achieve further wider broadcast coverage.

In another embodiment, each AP in an AP cluster can employ a beamforming antenna to broadcast a beacon signal. Specifically, each AP in the AP cluster has multiple beams directed in different directions, and the AP can broadcast the beacon signal in different directions using the multiple beams. This achieves high beam transmission gain. It should be noted that beamforming technology is well known in the art and will not be described in detail for the sake of brevity and clarity.

Furthermore, if each AP in an AP cluster uses a beamforming antenna to broadcast a beacon signal, then these APs may simultaneously broadcast the same beacon signal via their beams with the same beam identifier. For example, as shown in FIG4 , the AP cluster has three APs, AP1-AP3, each with a total of eight beams, which are sequentially numbered as beam 1 to beam 8. It should be understood that the beams may also be numbered non-sequentially. When performing clustered beacon transmission, the three APs will simultaneously broadcast the same beacon signal via their beams with the same beam identifier, such as the three beams numbered as beam 1 for AP1-AP3. Furthermore, to identify beacon signals transmitted via different beams within an AP, the broadcast beacon signal may additionally include a beam identifier for associating the beams and optional configuration information associated with the beams, such as a beam-specific random access resource configuration.

Furthermore, to enable a receiver to receive aggregated beacon signals for additional energy/diversity gain, it is desirable that beams with the same beam identifier within an AP be oriented in substantially the same direction. Here, "substantially the same direction" may refer to the same direction and a direction with an angle less than a threshold. Thus, beams with the same beam identifier within different APs will have overlapping coverage, potentially allowing a receiver to receive the same beacon signal from two or more beams, which overlap to form an aggregated beacon signal.

By aggregating multiple APs into an AP cluster, APs in the same AP cluster join together to synchronously broadcast the same beacon signal, thereby obtaining energy gain and/or diversity gain for the beacon signal at the receiving side. Accordingly, the beacon broadcast coverage will be expanded.

Optionally, for each AP in the AP cluster, a beacon signal is broadcast using all beams of the AP within a single beacon transmission interval. As shown in Figure 5a, the beacon transmission intervals are arranged regularly. Each beacon transmission interval is divided into 8 time slots, which are used by AP1-AP3 to synchronously broadcast the same beacon signal through each of all 8 beams. For example, in time slot 1, AP1-AP3 synchronously broadcast the same beacon signal using their beams with the identifier of beam 1; in time slot 2, they synchronously broadcast the same beacon signal using their beams with the identifier of beam 2; and so on. Finally, all beams in each AP have been utilized to broadcast the beacon signal within one beacon transmission interval. Here, the beacon signals broadcast by APs through beams with the same beam identifier are the same beacon signal. In addition, if the only difference is the included beacon identifier, beacon signals broadcast by APs through beams with different beam identifiers can also be considered the same beacon signal.

Alternatively, to reduce the burden on APs to broadcast beacon signals, thereby saving overhead and power consumption, it is advantageous to utilize a first subset of all of the AP's beams to broadcast beacon signals during a first beacon transmission interval, and utilize a second subset of all of the AP's beams to broadcast beacon signals during a second beacon transmission interval. This reduces the number of beacon signals broadcast by the APs during each beacon transmission interval. For example, as shown in FIG5 b , the first beacon transmission interval is divided into four time slots, which are used by AP1-AP3 to simultaneously broadcast the same beacon signal through each of the four beams (i.e., beam 1, beam 2, beam 5, and beam 6). The second beacon transmission interval is divided into four time slots, which are used by AP1-AP3 to simultaneously broadcast the same beacon signal through each of the remaining four beams (i.e., beam 3, beam 4, beam 7, and beam 8). As an example here, the beam is divided into two subsets for beacon transmission in different beacon transmission intervals; it should be appreciated that the beam can be divided into two or more subsets such that beacon signals are broadcast in different beacon transmission intervals using each subset.

FIG6 schematically illustrates a method 600 for obtaining a beacon signal in a high-frequency radio communication network by a communication device, according to an embodiment. Here, a communication device can be any device intended for accessing services via a radio communication network and configured to communicate via the radio communication network. For example, the communication device can be, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a sensor device, a meter, a vehicle, a household appliance, a medical device, a media player, a camera, or any type of consumer electronic device, such as, but not limited to, a television, a radio, a lighting device, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer (PC). The communication device can be portable, pocket-storable, handheld, computer-containing, or in-vehicle mobile device (which enables the transmission of voice and/or data via a wireless connection). The process of an embodiment will now be described in detail with reference to FIG6 .

In step 610, the communication device receives multiple candidate beacon signals transmitted from one or more AP clusters. As described above, each of the one or more AP clusters includes multiple APs, multiple APs within the same AP cluster simultaneously broadcast the same beacon signal, and each of the multiple candidate beacon signals includes an identifier of the associated AP cluster. Because the APs in an AP cluster simultaneously broadcast the same beacon signal, these identical beacon signals broadcast by the APs will overlap during propagation to form overlapping beacon signals, also known as aggregated beacon signals. The aggregated beacon signal is received by the communication device as a candidate beacon signal transmitted from this AP cluster. In the same manner, the communication device can receive corresponding candidate beacon signals transmitted from other AP clusters.

In step 620, the communication device selects one or more beacon signals from a plurality of candidate beacon signals. In an embodiment, the communication device may select one or more beacon signals based on the reception quality of the plurality of candidate beacon signals. For example, the communication device may check the signal strength of the candidate beacon signals. The stronger the signal strength, the better the reception quality. In this way, the communication device may select the beacon signal with the highest reception quality. The communication device will then send a random access request to the AP cluster that has broadcasted the selected beacon signal. For example, the communication device may retrieve the identifier of the AP cluster and random access configuration information specific to the AP cluster, create a random access request based on the random access configuration information that may include a format of the random access request, for example, requiring the random access request to include the identifier of the AP cluster, and then send the random access request to the AP cluster, more specifically, the AP of the AP cluster, using the scheduled time-frequency resources indicated in the random access configuration information.

In addition, the AP cluster that has broadcast the selected beacon signal may not respond to the access request of the communication device (for example, all APs in the AP cluster are turned off). In this case, the communication device may select more than one beacon signal from the candidate beacon signals and then send a random access request to different resources that have broadcast the more than one selected beacon signal.

Since the aggregated beacon signals transmitted from the AP cluster may provide energy gain and/or diversity gain for the communication device, the communication device may be able to obtain a beacon signal with higher quality, thereby successfully establishing a communication connection with the AP.

In addition, all APs in multiple AP clusters can use beamforming antennas to broadcast beacon signals using beams directed in different directions. In this case, each of the multiple APs in the same AP cluster has multiple beams, and the same beacon signal is broadcast simultaneously by the multiple APs in the same AP cluster using their beams with the same beam identifier. Each of the multiple candidate beacon signals also includes an identifier of the beam used to transmit the candidate beacon signal. In this way, different candidate beacon signals can be broadcast on different beams on the AP cluster, and these candidate beacon signals have the same AP cluster identifier but different beam identifiers. For example, a communication may receive two candidate beacon signals. The first candidate beacon signal is transmitted from AP cluster 1 via beam 1, and the second candidate beacon signal is transmitted from AP cluster 1 via beam 2.

Due to the introduction of beams, random access requests are directed to a specific beam of an AP cluster rather than to the AP cluster. In an embodiment, the communication device may retrieve an identifier of the AP cluster, an identifier of the beam, and random access configuration information specific to the beam of the AP cluster. Then, based on the random access configuration information, the communication device may create a random access request, which may include the identifier of the AP cluster and the identifier of the beam. Finally, the communication device may send the random access request directed to the specific beam to the AP cluster.

Fig. 7 schematically shows an interaction diagram between an AP 701 and a communication device 702 in an AP cluster according to an embodiment. Now, the interaction between the communication device and the AP cluster will be explained with reference to Fig. 7 .

At 710, AP 701 joins an AP cluster in the high frequency radio communication network and broadcasts the same beacon signal synchronously with other APs in the AP cluster at 720. Steps 710 and 720 are performed in the same manner as steps 310 and 320 in FIG3 and therefore will not be repeated for the sake of brevity.

After the APs in the AP cluster (including AP 701) synchronously broadcast the same beacon signal, communication device 702 may receive multiple candidate beacon signals from multiple AP clusters including the AP cluster that AP 701 has joined at 730, and select one or more beacon signals from the multiple candidate beacon signals at 740. Steps 730 and 740 are performed in the same manner as steps 610 and 620 in FIG. 6 , and therefore, will not be repeated for the sake of brevity.

Assuming that the communication device 702 selects a beacon signal transmitted from the AP cluster that the AP 701 joins, the communication device 702 may retrieve the identification of this AP cluster from the selected beacon signal at 750 and send an access request including the identification of the AP cluster to the AP cluster at 760 .

AP 701 and the other APs in the AP cluster monitor access requests sent from the communication device and determine whether the access request is directed to the AP cluster by checking the AP cluster identifier in the access request. If it is determined that the access request is directed to the AP cluster, then at 770, AP 701 and the other APs in the AP cluster may receive the access request directed to the AP cluster and coordinate with the other APs in the AP cluster to select one of them to respond to the communication device 701 at 708. For example, the AP that has received the signal containing the access request and has the best signal quality will be selected to respond to the communication device 701.

FIG8 is a block diagram of an exemplary AP 800 configured to broadcast a beacon signal in a high frequency radio communication network according to an embodiment. As shown, AP 800 includes a joining unit 810 and a broadcasting unit 820. It should be appreciated that the AP is not limited to the elements shown and can include other conventional elements and additional elements for other purposes. The functions of these elements will now be described in detail with reference to FIG8.

The joining unit 810 of the AP 810 joins an AP cluster in the high frequency radio communication network. The AP cluster includes two or more APs.

Specifically, during the cell planning process, it is possible to statically predefine which AP clusters an AP should join. In one embodiment, a central controller exists within the high-frequency radio communication network, to which all APs transmit information regarding their locations and the received signal power of signals received from neighboring APs. The central controller then divides all APs into multiple clusters based on this collected information. For example, based on AP location information, APs that are closer to each other will join the same cluster. As another example, the central controller may include APs whose received signal power from each other exceeds a power threshold into the same cluster.

Alternatively, the joining unit 810 may dynamically select the AP cluster it intends to join during operation. For example, when an AP is newly powered on or wishes to change to another cluster, the joining unit 810 may first obtain surrounding cluster information by detecting beacon signals broadcast by the cluster, or request this information from neighboring APs. Then, based on certain criteria, the joining unit 810 may determine which of the available AP clusters to join. In one embodiment, the joining unit 810 may select to join an AP cluster whose distance from the AP is closer than a threshold distance. In other words, the joining unit 810 may select to join a neighboring AP cluster. In another embodiment, the joining unit 810 may select to join an AP cluster whose overlapping coverage with the AP is greater than a threshold area. In yet another embodiment, for example, if the number of APs in the AP cluster that the joining unit 810 intends to join has reached an upper limit, the joining unit 810 may create a new AP cluster and join the new cluster.

The broadcast unit 820 of AP 800 simultaneously broadcasts the same beacon signal with the other APs in the AP cluster. Specifically, the broadcast units 820 of APs in the same AP cluster can simultaneously broadcast the same beacon signal. That is, each AP broadcasts a beacon signal simultaneously with the other APs, and the corresponding beacon signals broadcast by the APs are the same beacon signal. The same beacon signal means that all items included in these beacon signals, such as synchronization information and the AP cluster identifier, are identical. This makes it very likely that a beacon signal receiver, such as a mobile phone, will receive an aggregated beacon signal that is a superposition of more than one of these identical beacon signals. Consequently, energy gain is achieved on the receiving side. In addition, the broadcast units 820 of the APs can coordinate joint transmission to decode these identical beacon signals before broadcasting them. Consequently, diversity gain is achieved on the receiving side.

In an embodiment, each AP in the AP cluster may broadcast a beacon signal using an omnidirectional antenna. In this case, the broadcast units 820 of these APs may uniformly reduce the modulation and coding rates used for the beacon signal to be broadcast, so as to achieve further wider broadcast coverage.

In another embodiment, each AP in an AP cluster can employ a beamforming antenna to broadcast a beacon signal. Specifically, each AP in the AP cluster has multiple beams directed in different directions, and the AP can broadcast the beacon signal in different directions using the multiple beams. This achieves high beam transmission gain. It should be noted that beamforming technology is well known in the art and will not be described in detail for the sake of brevity and clarity.

Furthermore, when each AP in an AP cluster uses a beamforming antenna to broadcast a beacon signal, the broadcast units 820 of these APs can simultaneously broadcast the same beacon signal via their beams with the same beam identifier. For example, as shown in FIG4 , the AP cluster has three APs, AP1-AP3, each with eight beams sequentially numbered Beam 1-Beam 8. When performing aggregated beacon transmission, the broadcast units 820 of the three APs will simultaneously broadcast the same beacon signal via their beams with the same beam identifier, such as the three beams numbered Beam 1 for AP1-AP3. Furthermore, to distinguish beacon signals transmitted via different beams within a single AP, the broadcast beacon signal can additionally include a beam identifier for associating the beams and optional configuration information associated with the beams, such as a beam-specific random access resource configuration.

Furthermore, to enable a receiver to receive the same beacon signal from more than one AP to achieve additional energy/diversity gain, it is desirable that beams with the same beam ID within an AP be oriented in substantially the same direction. Here, substantially the same direction means the same direction or a direction with an angle less than a threshold. Thus, beams with the same beam ID within different APs will have overlapping coverage, potentially allowing a receiver to receive the same beacon signal from two or more beams.

FIG9 is a block diagram of an exemplary communication device 900 configured to obtain a beacon signal in a high-frequency radio communication network according to an embodiment. As shown, the communication device 900 includes a receiving unit 910 and a selecting unit 920. In practice, the communication device can function as a UE or an AP. It should be appreciated that the communication device is not limited to the elements shown and can include other conventional elements and additional elements for other purposes. The functions of these elements will now be described in detail with reference to FIG9.

The receiving unit 910 of the communication device 900 receives multiple candidate beacon signals transmitted from one or more AP clusters. Each of the one or more AP clusters includes multiple APs, and multiple APs within the same AP cluster simultaneously broadcast the same beacon signal. Each of the multiple candidate beacon signals includes an identifier of the associated AP cluster. Because the APs in an AP cluster simultaneously broadcast the same beacon signal, these identical beacon signals broadcast by the APs will overlap with each other during propagation to form overlapping beacon signals, also known as aggregated beacon signals. The aggregated beacon signal is received by the receiving unit 910 as a candidate beacon signal transmitted from this AP cluster. In the same manner, the receiving unit 910 can receive corresponding candidate beacon signals transmitted from other AP clusters.

The selection unit 920 of the communication device 900 selects one or more beacon signals from a plurality of candidate beacon signals. In an embodiment, the selection unit 920 may select one or more beacon signals based on the reception quality of the plurality of candidate beacon signals. For example, the selection unit 920 may check the signal strength of the candidate beacon signals. The stronger the signal strength, the better the reception quality. In this way, the selection unit 920 may select the beacon signal with the highest reception quality. The communication device 900 then sends a random access request to the AP cluster that has broadcast the selected beacon signal. For example, the communication device 900 may retrieve an identifier of the AP cluster and random access configuration information specific to the AP cluster, create a random access request based on the random access configuration information, the random access request including the identifier of the AP cluster, and send the random access request to the AP cluster, more specifically, to the AP of the AP cluster.

In addition, the AP cluster that has broadcast the selected beacon signal may not respond to the access request of the communication device (for example, all APs in the AP cluster are turned off). In this case, the selection unit 920 may select more than one beacon signal from the candidate beacon signals, and then the communication device 900 may send a random access request to different resources that have broadcast the more than one selected beacon signal.

In addition, all APs in multiple AP clusters can use beamforming antennas to broadcast beacon signals using beams directed in different directions. In this case, each of the multiple APs in the same AP cluster has multiple beams, and the same beacon signal is broadcast simultaneously by the multiple APs in the same AP cluster using their beams with the same beam identifier. Each of the multiple candidate beacon signals also includes an identifier of the beam used to transmit the candidate beacon signal. In this way, different candidate beacon signals can be broadcast on different beams on the AP cluster, and these candidate beacon signals have the same AP cluster identifier but different beam identifiers. For example, a communication may receive two candidate beacon signals. The first candidate beacon signal is transmitted from AP cluster 1 via beam 1, and the second candidate beacon signal is transmitted from AP cluster 1 via beam 2.

Due to the introduction of beams, the random access request will be directed to a specific beam of the AP cluster rather than the AP cluster. In an embodiment, the communication device 900 may retrieve the identifier of the AP cluster, the identifier of the beam, and random access configuration information specific to the beam of the AP cluster, then create a random access request based on the random access configuration information 20, the random access request including the identifier of the AP cluster and the identifier of the beam, and finally send the random access request directed to the specific beam to the AP cluster.

Although the embodiments have been shown and described herein, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the true scope of the present technology, and any equivalents may be substituted for its elements. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt to specific circumstances and the teachings herein without departing from the central scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the present embodiments are not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out the present technology, but that the present embodiments include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (19)

1. A method (300) for broadcasting beacon signals in a high-frequency radio communication network at an access point (AP), comprising: Joining an AP cluster in the high-frequency radio communication network described in (310, 710), wherein the AP cluster comprises two or more APs, and wherein each AP in the AP cluster has multiple beams oriented in different directions, and the corresponding beams of each AP have corresponding identical beam identifiers; and Together with other APs in the AP cluster, they synchronously broadcast the same beacon signal (320, 720) via a beam with the same beam identifier, the broadcast beacon signal containing the identifier of the AP cluster and the beam identifier. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the adding step (310) comprises: The AP cluster is joined when its distance from the AP is close to the threshold distance. The AP cluster is joined where the overlap between the AP and the AP is greater than a threshold area; or Create a new AP cluster and join the new cluster. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein each AP in the AP cluster broadcasts a beacon signal using an omnidirectional antenna, and the method further includes reducing the modulation and coding rate of the same beacon signal. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the beams having the same beam identifier are oriented in substantially the same direction. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein for each AP in the AP cluster, a beacon signal is broadcast within the beacon transmission interval using all beams of the AP. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein for each AP in the AP cluster, a beacon signal is broadcast within a first beacon transmission interval using a first subset of all beams of the AP, and a beacon signal is broadcast within a second beacon transmission interval using a second subset of all beams of the AP. 7. The method of any one of claims 1-6, wherein the method further comprises: Receive (770) an access request directed to the AP cluster from the communication device, and Coordinate with other APs in the AP cluster (780) to select one of them to respond to the communication device. 8. A method (600) in a communication apparatus for obtaining a beacon signal in a high-frequency radio communication network, comprising: Receive (610, 730) multiple candidate beacon signals from one or more access point (AP) clusters, each of the one or more AP clusters comprising multiple APs, the multiple APs within the same AP cluster synchronously broadcasting the same beacon signal, and each of the multiple candidate beacon signals containing an identifier of the associated AP cluster; and Select one or more beacon signals (620, 740) from the plurality of candidate beacon signals; Each of the multiple APs within the same AP cluster has multiple beams and the corresponding beams in each AP have a corresponding common beam identifier, and the common beacon signal is synchronously broadcast by the multiple APs within the same AP cluster through beams with the common beam identifier, and each of the multiple candidate beacon signals also includes an associated beam identifier. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the selection step (620) includes selecting one or more beacon signals based on the reception quality of the plurality of candidate beacon signals. 10. The method of claim 8, further comprising: Retrieve (750) the identifier of the associated AP cluster from the selected beacon signal; and Based on the identifier of the associated AP cluster, an access request is sent (760) to the associated AP cluster. 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises: Retrieve the identifier of the associated AP cluster and the associated beam identifier from the selected beacon signal; and Based on the identifier of the associated AP cluster and the associated beam identifier, the access request is sent to the associated AP cluster. 12. An access point (AP) (800) configured to broadcast beacon signals in a high-frequency radio communication network, comprising: Joining unit (810) is adapted to join an AP cluster in the high-frequency radio communication network, wherein the AP cluster comprises two or more APs, and wherein each AP in the AP cluster has multiple beams oriented in different directions, and the corresponding beams of each AP have corresponding identical beam identifiers; and The broadcast unit (820) is adapted to broadcast the same beacon signal synchronously with other APs in the AP cluster via a beam having the same beam identifier (820, 720), the broadcast beacon signal including the identifier of the AP cluster and the beam identifier. 13. The AP of claim 12, wherein each AP in the AP cluster broadcasts a beacon signal using an omnidirectional antenna, and the AP (800) is further configured to reduce the modulation and coding rate of the same beacon signal. 14. A communication apparatus (900) configured to obtain beacon signals in a high-frequency radio communication network, comprising: The receiving unit (910) is adapted to receive multiple candidate beacon signals from one or more access point (AP) clusters, each of the one or more AP clusters comprising multiple APs, the multiple APs within the same AP cluster synchronously broadcasting the same beacon signal, and each of the multiple candidate beacon signals containing an identifier of the associated AP cluster; and Selection unit (920) is adapted to select one or more beacon signals from the plurality of candidate beacon signals; Each of the multiple APs within the same AP cluster has multiple beams, and the same beacon signal is synchronously broadcast by the multiple APs within the same AP cluster through their beams having the same beam identifier, and each of the multiple candidate beacon signals also includes an associated beam identifier. 15. The communication device as claimed in claim 14, wherein the communication device (900) is a user equipment. 16. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed on an access point (AP), cause the AP to perform the steps of the method as claimed in any one of claims 1-7. 17. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed on a communication device, cause the communication device to perform the steps of the method as claimed in any one of claims 8-11. 18. An access point (AP) configured to broadcast beacon signals in a high-frequency radio communication network, comprising a processor and a memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processor, whereby the AP operates to: The AP cluster is joined to the high-frequency radio communication network, wherein the AP cluster comprises two or more APs, and wherein each AP in the AP cluster has multiple beams oriented in different directions, and the corresponding beams of each AP have corresponding identical beam identifiers; and Together with other APs in the AP cluster, they broadcast the same beacon signal synchronously via their beams, which have the same beam identifier and contain the identifier of the AP cluster and the beam identifier. 19. A communication apparatus configured to obtain beacon signals in a high-frequency radio communication network, comprising a processor and a memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processor, wherein the communication apparatus operates to: Receive multiple candidate beacon signals from one or more access point (AP) clusters, each of which includes multiple APs, wherein the multiple APs within the same AP cluster synchronously broadcast the same beacon signal, and each of the multiple candidate beacon signals contains an identifier of the associated AP cluster; and Select one or more beacon signals from the plurality of candidate beacon signals; Each of the multiple APs within the same AP cluster has multiple beams, and the same beacon signal is synchronously broadcast by the multiple APs within the same AP cluster through their beams having the same beam identifier, and each of the multiple candidate beacon signals also includes an associated beam identifier.