Method and apparatus of beam training for MIMO operation and multiple antenna beamforming operation

摘要

The disclosed invention provides an efficient method for MIMO beam training for multiple antennas to enable spatial multiplexing MIMO operation and spatial combining in a wireless network. The invention discloses a simple and efficient beam-training algorithm and protocol for MIMO operation that operates in high SNR condition for reliable MIMO operation. In one novel aspect, the best MIMO beam combinations are determined after TX sector sweeping and RX sector sweeping. The best MIMO beam combinations are determined in such a way that no any selected TX/RX sectors come from the same TX/RX antenna/beamformer. The selection criteria includes not only signal quality, but also considers mutual interference and leakage among multiple MIMO spatial streams to improve overall MIMO performance. Simultaneous RX or TX training are also supported to reduce training time.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
(a) initiating a multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) training procedure in a wireless network; (b) transmitting training frames using all TX sectors during TX sector sweeping and in response obtaining a set of selected TX sectors for each TX antenna, wherein each of the TX sectors corresponds to a specific TX antenna beam; (c) transmitting training frames using omni-direction antenna pattern during RX sector sweeping and in response obtaining a set of selected RX sectors for each RX antenna, wherein each of the RX sectors corresponds to a specific RX antenna beam; (d) starting MIMO beam combination training based on pairings of the selected TX and RX sectors, wherein each of the MIMO beam combinations includes one of the selected TX sectors and one of the selected RX sectors; and (e) obtaining multiple best MIMO beam combinations for multiple MIMO spatial streams based on the results of the MIMO beam combination training.