Electronic device supporting muli-band wireless communications and method of controlling same

Abstract

Disclosed is an electronic device, including a housing, a first communication circuit disposed in the housing and configured to support omnidirectional wireless communication, a second communication circuit disposed in the housing and configured to support directional wireless communication using beamforming, a processor disposed in the housing and operatively coupled to the first communication circuit and the second communication circuit, and a memory disposed in the housing and operatively coupled to the processor. The processor may be configured to receive at least one first radio signal through a communication channel from an external device capable of supporting the omnidirectional wireless communication and the directional wireless communication using the first communication circuit, determine a state of the communication channel based on at least part of the at least one first radio signal, and activate the second communication circuit based on at least part of the determined state of the communication channel wherein the second communication circuit is configured to receive a second radio signal from the external device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing;   a first communication circuit disposed in the housing and configured to support omnidirectional wireless communication;   a second communication circuit disposed in the housing and configured to support directional wireless communication using beamforming;   a processor disposed in the housing and operatively coupled to the first communication circuit and the second communication circuit; and   a memory disposed in the housing and operatively coupled to the processor,   wherein the processor is configured to:   receive at least one first radio signal through a communication channel from an external device capable of supporting the omnidirectional wireless communication and the directional wireless communication using the first communication circuit,   determine a state of the communication channel based on at least part of the at least one first radio signal, and   activate the second communication circuit based on at least part of the determined state of the communication channel wherein the second communication circuit is configured to receive a second radio signal from the external device.   
     
     
         2 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the first communication circuit is configured to support a first carrier frequency corresponding to at least one of a 2.4 GHz band and a 5.0 GHz band. 
     
     
         3 . The electronic device of  claim 2 , wherein the second communication circuit is configured to support a second carrier frequency corresponding to a 60 GHz band. 
     
     
         4 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the first communication circuit is configured to support cellular communication as at least part of the omnidirectional wireless communication. 
     
     
         5 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine whether the electronic device and the external device are in a line of sight (LoS) as at least part of the determined state. 
     
     
         6 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the state of the communication channel if received signal strength indication (RSSI) corresponding to the at least one first radio signal satisfies a given condition. 
     
     
         7 . The electronic device of  claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to deactivate the second communication circuit if the RSSI does not satisfy the given condition. 
     
     
         8 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 determine a skewness and/or a kurtosis based on at least part of a channel frequency response (CFR) and/or a channel impulse response (CIR) corresponding to the at least one first radio signal, and   activate the second communication circuit if the skewness and/or kurtosis satisfies a given condition.   
     
     
         9 . The electronic device of  claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 receive a radio signal transmitted at a first point of time and a radio signal transmitted at a second point of time from the external device as at least part of the at least one first radio signal, and   determine a corresponding one of the skewness and kurtosis based on at least part of the radio signal transmitted at the first point of time and the radio signal transmitted at the second point of time.   
     
     
         10 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first radio signal includes a preamble comprising a plurality of training symbols, and   the processor is configured to identify the determined state using at least one of the plurality of training symbols.   
     
     
         11 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 receive the second radio signal from the external device using the second communication circuit while the second communication circuit is activated,   determine a connection state with the external device based on the second radio signal, and   deactivate the second communication circuit based on the determined connection state.   
     
     
         12 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to receive the at least one first radio signal while the second communication circuit is deactivated. 
     
     
         13 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine a state of the first radio signal based on at least one of characteristics of transmitted content, characteristics of the external device and a moving state of the electronic device. 
     
     
         14 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the first communication circuit and the second communication circuit are disposed in the same chip. 
     
     
         15 . A method of controlling an electronic device supporting multi-band wireless communication, the method comprising:
 receiving at least one first radio signal through a communication channel from an external device capable of supporting omnidirectional wireless communication and directional wireless communication using a first communication circuit configured to support the omnidirectional wireless communication;   determining a state of the communication channel based on at least part of the at least one first radio signal; and   activating a second communication circuit configured to support the directional wireless communication based on at least part of the determined state wherein the second communication circuit receives a second radio signal from the external device.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein:
 the first communication circuit is configured to support a first carrier frequency corresponding to at least one of a 2.4 GHz band and a 5.0 GHz band, and   the second communication circuit is configured to support a second carrier frequency corresponding to a 60 GHz band.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein determining a state of the communication channel comprises determining whether the electronic device and the external device are in a line of sight (LoS). 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein activating a second communication circuit comprises:
 determining a skewness and/or a kurtosis based on at least part of a channel frequency response (CFR) and/or a channel impulse response (CIR) corresponding to the first radio signal; and   determining whether the skewness and/or kurtosis satisfies a given condition.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein:
 the at least one first radio signal comprises a radio signal transmitted at a first point of time and a radio signal transmitted at a second point of time by the external device, and   a corresponding one of the skewness and the kurtosis is determined based on at least part of the radio signal transmitted at the first point of time and the radio signal transmitted at the second point of time.   
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program which, when executed by a processor cause an electronic device to perform operations, wherein the operations comprise:
 receiving at least one first radio signal through a communication channel from an external device capable of supporting omnidirectional wireless communication and directional wireless communication using a first communication circuit configured to support the omnidirectional wireless communication,   determine a state of the communication channel based on at least part of the at least one first radio signal, and   activating a second communication circuit configured to support the directional wireless communication based on at least part of the determined state wherein the second communication circuit receives a second radio signal from the external device.