Enhanced base station user scheduling

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a base station that includes a phased array antenna system and a MIMO antenna system. The MIMO antenna system may receive sounding signals sent by user equipment (UE) and determine angular location information for each UE. The angular location information may be used by the phased array antenna system to create antenna beams. The angular location information may also be used to schedule communications with multiple UEs in common beams. Other embodiments are disclosed.

1 . A method comprising:
 forming, by a processing system including a processor, a first beam using an analog beamformer coupled to a first antenna array;   transmitting, by the processing system, a request signal in the first beam requesting a plurality of user equipment devices (UEs) to transmit sounding signals;   receiving, by the processing system, the sounding signals at a second antenna array;   processing, by the processing system, the sounding signals using a digital beamformer coupled to the second antenna array to determine angular direction information for at least a portion of the plurality of UEs;   identifying, by the processing system, a group of the plurality of UEs that are within a particular angular distance of each other; and   responsive to the identifying, scheduling, by the processing system, downlink communications with the group of the plurality of UEs in a downlink beam to be generated by the analog beamformer.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein responsive to the request signal, the sounding signals are transmitted at a first time and a first frequency. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting, by the processing system, the downlink communications to the group of the plurality of UEs. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first antenna array and the second antenna array have an equivalent number of antenna elements. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second antenna array has fewer antenna elements than the first antenna array. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the angular direction information comprises an azimuth and an elevation. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first beam has a beamwidth greater than that of the downlink beam. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the processing system, uplink communications via the first antenna array and the analog beamformer. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the processing system, uplink communications via the second antenna array and the digital beamformer. 
     
     
         10 . A device comprising:
 a processing system including a processor; and   a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:   forming a first beam using an analog beamformer coupled to a first antenna array;   transmitting a request signal in the first beam requesting a plurality of user equipment devices (UEs) to transmit sounding signals;   receiving the sounding signals at a second antenna array;   processing the sounding signals using a digital beamformer coupled to the second antenna array to determine angular direction information for at least a portion of the plurality of UEs;   identifying a group of the plurality of UEs that are within a particular angular distance of each other; and   responsive to the identifying, scheduling downlink communications with the group of the plurality of UEs in a downlink beam to be generated by the analog beamformer.   
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 10 , wherein responsive to the request signal, the sounding signals are transmitted at a first time and a first frequency. 
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise transmitting the downlink communications to the group of the plurality of UEs. 
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 10 , wherein the angular direction information comprises an azimuth and an elevation. 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 10 , wherein the first beam has a beamwidth greater than that of the downlink beam. 
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving uplink communications via the first antenna array and the analog beamformer. 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving uplink communications via the second antenna array and the digital beamformer. 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising:
 forming a first beam using an analog beamformer coupled to a first antenna array;   transmitting a request signal in the first beam requesting a plurality of user equipment devices (UEs) to transmit sounding signals;   receiving the sounding signals at a second antenna array;   processing the sounding signals using a digital beamformer coupled to the second antenna array to determine angular direction information for at least a portion of the plurality of UEs;   identifying a group of the plurality of UEs that are within a particular angular distance of each other; and   responsive to the identifying, scheduling downlink communications with the group of the plurality of UEs in a downlink beam to be generated by the analog beamformer.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein responsive to the request signal, the sounding signals are transmitted at a first time and a first frequency. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise transmitting the downlink communications to the group of the plurality of UEs. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the angular direction information comprises an azimuth and an elevation.