Three-dimensional millimetre wave beam tracking based on handset MEMS sensors with extended Kalman filtering

Due to the narrow beam in millimetre wave communication for future 5G networks, small device movements in the form of either self-rotation or displacement can result in serious power loss. In this paper, a three-dimensional (3-D) beam tracking method employing extended Kalman filtering (EKF) is proposed based on antenna arrays and the three smart phone sensors, which are gyroscope, accelerometer and magnetometer, embedded in the micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) inside the smart phone. The EKF-based location tracking is also incorporated into the design by combing the data from direction of arrival (DoA) and time of arrival (ToA) estimation results of the user node (UN), since accurate UN location information is also very important in the process of beam tracking to achieve beam alignment between the access node (AN) and the UN.