The present invention relates to wireless communication systems that improve confidentiality in mobile communications between a transmitting station and a moving receiving station.
In a wireless communication system such as a mobile communication system, a directional antenna is mounted in order to maintain the communication quality even though the communication direction changes. For example, in Patent Literature 1, a wireless communication system in which a phased multi-antenna is included in a transmitting station, and the amplitude and the phase of each element signal is controlled to change the direction of a directional beam in accordance with the moving path of a receiving station, is shown. In the transmitting station of this wireless communication system, weight coefficients suitable for communications with the moving object are calculated and prepared in advance for each movement position of the moving object, and, every time when the moving object moves to each movement position, the weight coefficients prepared in advance are changed to cause the direction of the directional beam to follow the moving object.
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-298389
However, a problem with a conventional wireless communication system as described in above-mentioned Patent Literature 1 is that because a desired signal is transmitted in the direction of a main beam of the directional beam, a receiving station which is not the communication partner can receive and demodulate the desired signal if the receiving station exists in the direction, even though its position differs. A further problem is that even though the signal power in a direction of a sidelobe is less than that in a direction of the main beam, as the desired signal is transmitted in the direction of the sidelobe, even a receiving station in a direction other than that of the main beam can demodulate the desired signal, and the confidentiality of the communication content is low.
The present invention is made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a wireless communication system that improves confidentiality in mobile communications.
According to the present invention, there is provided a wireless communication system including: a modulating unit for generating a communication symbol sequence from a transmission bit sequence; an amplitude phase calculating unit for calculating information about a propagation path between each of the transmitting stations and a receiving station which is a moving object that receives signals of multiple transmitting stations at each communication point of the receiving station at each communication time, and for calculating the amounts of amplitude phase adjustment to the communication symbol sequence on the basis of the channel state information; an amplitude phase adjusting unit for adjusting the amplitude and the phase of the communication symbol sequence by using the amounts of amplitude phase adjustment, to generate a transmission symbol sequence; transmission RF units for converting the transmission symbol sequence into signals in a radio frequency band; and a transmitting antenna disposed in each of the transmitting stations, for radiating a signal of a transmission RF unit, in which the receiving station includes: a timing control unit for generating a timing for signal reception from each of the transmitting stations, the timing being based on a communication time; a reception RF unit for converting a received signal from each of the transmitting stations into a signal in a baseband band, and for extracting only a signal at the timing from the signal on which the frequency conversion is performed, to calculate a reception symbol sequence; and a demodulating unit for demodulating the reception symbol sequence, and receives one communication symbol at each communication point.
The wireless communication system according to the present invention shares communication times and communication points between the transmitting and receiving stations, and, in the transmitting stations, the communication symbols are transmitted after the amplitudes and the phases of the communication symbols are adjusted by using the channel state information based on the communication times and the communication points. As a result, communications can be implemented only between the transmitting and receiving stations that share the communication times and the communication points, and the confidentiality can be improved.
Hereafter, in order to explain this invention in greater detail, the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In this embodiment, an example in which signals are transmitted to a moving receiving station 2 from N transmitting stations 1-1 to 1-N (N is an integer equal to or larger than 2) each including a single antenna, and communication symbols on which Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) modulation is performed and which are communication objects are communicated at two points, will be explained.
In the wireless communication system of this embodiment, communication points and communication times are set up in advance, and information about the communication points and the communication times are held in the transmitting stations 1-1 to 1-N and the receiving station 2. Each of the transmitting stations 1-1 to 1-N transmits a communication symbol which is processed on the basis of the information about a communication point and a communication time and which is a communication object, and the receiving station 2 passes each set-up communication point at the corresponding set-up communication time, receives signals, and acquires a communication symbol.
In this way, one communication symbol is received at one communication point, and communications are established only between the transmitting and receiving stations that share the information about the communication points and the communication times in advance.
The wireless communication system illustrated includes the transmitting stations 1-1 to 1-N, the receiving station 2, and a control station 3. The control station 3 includes a modulating unit 31, an amplitude phase calculating unit 32, and an amplitude phase adjusting unit 33. The modulating unit 31 is comprised of, for example, a semiconductor integrated circuit equipped with a Central Processing Unit (CPU), or a one chip microcomputer, and performs a process of generating a communication symbol which is a signal of a communication object by performing, for example, a baseband modulation process such as QPSK on a transmission bit sequence provided from the outside. Although the example in which the modulation method used for the transmission bit sequence is QPSK, is shown here, the modulation method is not limited to QPSK, and, for example, a modulation method such as Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK), 16QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation), or 64QAM can be used.
The amplitude phase calculating unit 32 is comprised of, for example, a semiconductor integrated circuit equipped with a CPU, or a one chip microcomputer, and performs a process of calculating the amounts of adjustment to the amplitude and the phase of a communication symbol on the basis of the information about the positions of the transmitting stations 1-1 to 1-N, and the information about a communication point and a communication time.
The amplitude phase calculating unit 32 includes a channel matrix calculating unit 321 and an arithmetic unit 322, as shown in the figure. The channel matrix calculating unit 321 is comprised of, for example, a semiconductor integrated circuit equipped with a CPU, or a one chip microcomputer, and performs a process of calculating a channel matrix by using both propagation phase information based on a positional relation between the transmitting stations 1-1 and 1-N and each of the communication points, and the time of passage at each of the communication points, the time of passage being calculated from the moving speed and the moving path of the receiving station 2. The arithmetic unit 322 is comprised of, for example, a semiconductor integrated circuit equipped with a CPU, or a one chip microcomputer, and performs a process of calculating the inverse matrix of the channel matrix calculated by the channel matrix calculating unit 321.
Although it is assumed in the example of
In the case in which the amplitude phase calculating unit 32 is comprised of a computer, a program in which the details of processing by the channel matrix calculating unit 321 and the arithmetic unit 322 are described, can be stored in a memory 40 of the computer, and a processor 41 of the computer can execute the program stored in the memory 40.
In
Output interface equipment 43 includes, for example, a signal input/output port such as a USB port or a serial port, is connected to the amplitude phase adjusting unit 33, and outputs the amounts of adjustment to the amplitude and the phase of each communication symbol outputted from the arithmetic unit 322 to the amplitude phase adjusting unit 33.
Returning to
The transmitting stations 1-1 to 1-N include transmission RF units 11-1 to 11-N and single antennas 12-1 to 12-N, respectively. Each of the transmissions RF unit 11-1 to 11-N includes, for example, a mixer and a high power amplifier, and performs a process of converting a signal in a baseband into a signal in a radio frequency band and amplifying a transmission symbol. Each of the single antennas 12-1 to 12-N performs a process of radiating into space a transmission symbol after conversion into the radio frequency band.
The receiving station 2 includes a receiving antenna 21, a timing control unit 22, a reception RF unit 23, and a demodulating unit 24.
The receiving antenna 21 performs a process of receiving a signal in the radio frequency band. The timing control unit 22 is comprised of, for example, a semiconductor integrated circuit equipped with a CPU, or a one chip microcomputer, and performs a process of controlling a receiving timing on the basis of a communication time shared in advance between the transmitting and receiving stations. The reception RF unit 23 includes a low noise amplifier, a mixer, a filter, and an analog-to-digital converter, and performs a process of converting the received signal in the radio frequency band from the receiving antenna 21 into a signal in the baseband at the time shown by the timing control unit 22, to generate a reception symbol. The demodulating unit 24 is comprised of, for example, a semiconductor integrated circuit equipped with a CPU, or a one chip microcomputer, and performs a process of performing a baseband demodulating process on the reception symbol, to calculate a reception bit sequence.
Next, the operation of the wireless communication system of Embodiment 1 will be explained.
A case in which the number of transmitting stations is N, the number of communication points is N, and confidential wireless communications in line-of-sight communications are performed, will be considered.
First, in the control station 3, communication points and communication times are set up (step ST11), and information about these communication points and communication times are registered in the amplitude phase calculating unit 32.
The modulating unit 31 performs, for example, a baseband modulating process such as QPSK on a transmission bit sequence inputted thereto, to generate N communication symbols Sn (1≤n≤N) which are signals of communication objects, and outputs the communication symbols to the amplitude phase adjusting unit 33.
When the symbols are expressed as a vector, the communication symbol vector S is [S1, S2, . . . , SN]T and is an N×1 matrix. The superscript T denotes transposition.
Here, n denotes a symbol number, and, when the modulation method is QPSK, each communication symbol Sn is exp(jπ/4), exp(j3π/4), exp(−j3π/4), or exp(−jπ/4).
The amplitude phase calculating unit 32 calculates a channel matrix by using both the propagation phase information based on the time of passage at each of the communication points and a positional relation between the transmitting stations 1-1 and 1-N and each of the communication points, the time of passage being calculated from the moving speed and the moving path of the receiving station 2. First, in the channel matrix calculating unit 321, the following process is performed.
The distance dmn between the n-th transmitting station and the m-th (1≤m≤N) communication point is given by the following equation, by using the position (xn, yn, zn) of the n-th transmitting station and the position (Xm, Ym, Zm) of the m-th communication point.
d
mn=√{square root over ((Xm−xn)2−(Ym−yn)2+(Zm−zn)2)} (1)
Next, when the speed of light is vc and the angular frequency is ω, information hmn(t) about a propagation path along which a signal transmitted from the n-th transmitting station at a time t reaches the m-th communication point is given by the following equation.
h
mn(t)=exp(jω(t−dmn/vc)) (2)
On the other hand, when the distance of movement from the position at the time t=0 that transmission from the transmitting stations 1-1 to 1-N is started to the m-th communication point is Dm, the time tm that the receiving station reaches each communication point, i.e., the communication time tm is given by the following equation by using the moving speed yr of the receiving station 2.
t
m
=D
m
/v
r (3)
From the equations (2) and (3), the information hmn(t) about the propagation path from the n-th transmitting station to the m-th communication point at the communication time tm is given by the following equation.
h
mn(tm)=exp(jω(Dm/vr−dmn/vc) (4)
When the equation (4) is expressed by using a matrix, the channel matrix H is given by the following equation.
The arithmetic unit 322 performs a process such as calculating an inverse matrix on the equation (5) to calculate the amounts of amplitude phase adjustment (step ST12). Here, taking a case of performing an inverse matrix arithmetic operation as an example, an inverse matrix H−1 is calculated from H. The arithmetic unit 322 can perform a process based on a Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) criterion in consideration of the noise power of the receiving station 2.
The amplitude phase adjusting unit 33 multiplies the inverse matrix H−1 from the amplitude phase calculating unit and the communication symbol vector S, to acquire a communication symbol vector A after amplitude phase adjustment (step ST13).
A=H
−1
·S (6)
In this equation, the communication symbol vector A after amplitude phase adjustment is [A1, A2, . . . , AN]T and is an N×1 matrix. Each element An of the communication symbol vector A after amplitude phase adjustment is transmitted from the single antenna 12-n (step ST14).
Next, the receiving station 2 passes the m-th communication point at the communication time tm on the basis of the information about the communication points and the communication times which are shared in advance (step ST21), and receives a signal by using the receiving antenna 21 (step ST22). Frequency conversion of the received signal is performed by the reception RF unit 23. When the received signal on which the frequency conversion is performed is r(t), in the receiving station, the received signal is r(tm) because the received signal at the communication time t=tm provided from the timing control unit 22 is used. Here, when a received signal vector in which the received signal r (tm) is each element thereof is expressed as R, the received symbols R are calculated by using the following equation.
In this equation, Z is a receiver noise. R is an N×1 matrix. Because symbols are transmitted by performing a multiplication of the inverse matrix of the channel matrix H, the symbols received are the communication symbol vector S itself if the noise is neglected.
Finally, a reception bit sequence is acquired by performing baseband demodulation on the communication symbol vector S by using the demodulating unit 24.
In the figure, a signal 101 is the communication symbol vector S(=[S1, S2, S3, S4]T) outputted from the modulating unit 31. Each of S1 to S4 denotes one symbol after modulation. A signal 102 is the output from the control station 3, and shows the symbol vector A after amplitude phase adjustment. More specifically, the vector in which the amplitudes and the phases of the elements of the communication symbol vector S are adjusted is A (A=[A1, A2, A3, A4]T). In the example illustrated, the amplitudes after adjustment are a1, a2, a3, and a4, and the phases after adjustment are ϕ1, ϕ2, ϕ3, and ϕ4. The vector A after amplitude phase adjustment is continuously transmitted until the receiving station passes a predetermined communication point. The signals transmitted from the antennas 12-1 to 12-4 are the elements of the vector A after amplitude phase adjustment, and these signals are radiated from the antennas into space and a signal in which A1 to A4 are combined, is received at each communication point (refer to an arrow 103). For example, when reception is performed at a first point at a time T1, received signals A1, A2, A3, and A4 are combined and S1 is acquired. Further, the same goes for second through fourth points on the moving path 200 of the receiving station 2, and, when reception is performed at times T2 to T4, S2 to S4 are acquired.
As mentioned above, according to Embodiment 1, because the communication times and the communication points are shared between the transmitting and receiving stations, and, in the transmitting stations 1-1 to 1-N, the communication symbols are transmitted after the amplitudes and the phases of the communication symbols are adjusted by using the channel matrix based on the communication times and the communication points, communications can be implemented only between the transmitting and receiving stations that share the communication times and the communication points, and the confidentiality can be improved.
Further, even if the communication symbols can be received in an environment in the vicinity of the transmitting stations 1-1 to 1-N in which the reception power is large, because the communication symbols are transmitted after their amplitudes and phases are adjusted, it is difficult to intercept the communication content and the confidentiality can be improved.
In addition, because the processing is centralized at the transmitting stations 1-1 to 1-N, the receiving device of the receiving station 2 which is the moving object can be reduced in size.
As previously explained, because the wireless communication system of Embodiment 1 includes: the modulating unit that generates a communication symbol sequence from a transmission bit sequence; the amplitude phase calculating unit that calculates information about a propagation path between each of the transmitting stations and the receiving station which is a moving object that receives signals of the multiple transmitting stations at each communication point of the receiving station at each communication time, and that calculates the amounts of amplitude phase adjustment to the communication symbol sequence on the basis of the channel state information; the amplitude phase adjusting unit that adjusts the amplitude and the phase of the communication symbol sequence by using the amounts of amplitude phase adjustment, to generate a transmission symbol sequence; the transmission RF units that convert the transmission symbol sequence into signals in a radio frequency band; and a transmitting antenna that is disposed in each of the transmitting stations, and that radiates the signal of the corresponding transmission RF unit, and the receiving station includes: the timing control unit that generates a timing for signal reception from each of the transmitting stations, the timing being based on a communication time; the reception RF unit that converts a received signal from each of the transmitting stations into a signal in a baseband, and extracts only a signal at the timing from the signal on which the frequency conversion is performed, to calculate a reception symbol sequence; and the demodulating unit that demodulates the reception symbol sequence, and the receiving station receives one communication symbol at each communication point, mobile communications whose confidentiality is improved can be performed.
Further, because in the wireless communication system of Embodiment 1, the amplitude phase calculating unit calculates the amounts of amplitude phase adjustment by calculating the inverse matrix of a channel matrix showing the channel state information, the processing load on the receiving station can be reduced.
Although in above-mentioned Embodiment 1 the example in which each of the multiple transmitting stations includes a single antenna, is shown, transmission from multiple transmitting stations each including a multi-antenna can be performed, and this example will be explained below as Embodiment 2.
Because the other components in
Next, the operation of the wireless communication system of Embodiment 2 will be explained.
A case in which the number of transmitting stations is N, the number of element antennas in each of the transmitting stations is K, the number of communication points is M, and confidential wireless communications in line-of-sight communications are performed, will be considered.
A modulating unit 31 generates N×K communication symbols. The N×K communication symbols are expressed as a communication symbol vector S.
When the position of the k-th (1≤k≤K) element antenna in the n-th (1≤n≤N) transmitting station is (xn,k, yn,k, Zn,k) and the position of the m-th (1≤m≤M) communication point is (Xm, Ym, ZM), the distance dmnk from each of the element antennas to each of the communication points is given by the following equation.
d
mnk=√{square root over ((Xm−xn,k)2−(Vm−yn,k)2+(Zm−zn,k)2)} (8)
Next, when the speed of light is vc, the angular frequency is ω, and a time is t, information hmnk(t) about a propagation path along which a signal transmitted from the k-th element antenna of the n-th transmitting station reaches the m-th communication point, is given by the following equation.
h
mnk(t)=exp(jω(t−dmnk/vc)) (9)
From the equations (9) and (3), the information hmnk(t) about the propagation path from the k-th element antenna of the n-th transmitting station to the m-th communication point at a communication time tm, is given by the following equation.
h
mn(tm)=exp(jω(Dm/vr−dmnk/vc)) (10)
When the equation (10) is expressed by using a matrix, the channel matrix H is given by the following equation.
The arithmetic unit 322 calculates the inverse matrix H−1 of this channel matrix H, or the like, and an amplitude phase adjusting unit 33 multiplies the communication symbol vector S by H−1, adjusts the amplitude and the phase of each of the symbols, and transmits the symbols from the element antennas 12a-1-1 to 12a-N-K.
As previously explained, because the wireless communication system of Embodiment 2 includes: the modulating unit that generates a communication symbol sequence from a transmission bit sequence; the amplitude phase calculating unit that calculates information about a propagation path between each of the element antennas and a receiving station which is a moving object that receives signals from multiple transmitting stations each including a multi-antenna comprised of multiple element antennas at each communication point of the receiving station at each communication time, and that calculates the amounts of amplitude phase adjustment to the communication symbol sequence on the basis of the channel state information; the amplitude phase adjusting unit that adjusts the amplitude and the phase of the communication symbol sequence by using the amounts of amplitude phase adjustment, to generate a transmission symbol sequence; the transmission RF units that convert the transmission symbol sequence into signals in a radio frequency band; and a transmitting antenna disposed in each of the transmitting stations, and comprised of a multi-antenna that radiates the signal of the corresponding transmission RF unit, and the receiving station includes: the timing control unit that generates a timing for signal reception from each of the transmitting stations, the timing being based on a communication time; the reception RF unit that converts a received signal from each of the transmitting stations into a signal in a baseband, and that extracts only a signal at the timing from the signal on which the frequency conversion is performed, to calculate a reception symbol sequence; and the demodulating unit that demodulates the reception symbol sequence, and the receiving station receives one communication symbol at each communication point, the number of communication symbols can be increased and the transmission capacity can be improved by using a small number of transmitting stations while the confidentiality is maintained, in addition to the advantages of Embodiment 1.
While the invention has been described in its preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that an arbitrary combination of two or more of the above-mentioned embodiments can be made, various changes can be made in an arbitrary component according to any one of the above-mentioned embodiments, and an arbitrary component according to any one of the above-mentioned embodiments can be omitted within the scope of the invention.
As mentioned above, the wireless communication system according to the present invention relates to a wireless communication system in which signals from multiple transmitting stations are transmitted, and which includes a receiving station that receives the signals at multiple communication points at predetermined communication times, and is suitable for use in mobile communications in which high confidentiality of communication content is required.
1-1 to 1-N, 10-1 to 10-N transmitting station, 2 receiving station, 3, 3a control station, 11-1 to 11-N, 11a-1 to 11a-N transmission RF unit, 12-1 to 12-N single antenna, 12a-1 to 12a-N multi-antenna, 12a-1-1 to 12a-N-K Element antenna, 21 receiving antenna, 22 timing control unit, 23 reception RF unit, 24 demodulating unit, 31 modulating unit, 32, 32a amplitude phase calculating unit, 33 amplitude phase adjusting unit, 321, 321a channel matrix calculating unit, 322 arithmetic unit, 40 memory, 41 processor, 42 input interface equipment, and 43 output interface equipment.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2016/069621 | 7/1/2016 | WO | 00 |