U.S. patent application number 17/009402 was filed with the patent office on 2022-03-03 for beam management based on location and sensor data.
The applicant listed for this patent is QUALCOMM Incorporated. Invention is credited to Peer Berger, Shay Landis, Michael Levitsky, Sharon Levy, Assaf Touboul, Guy Wolf, David Yunusov, Noam Zach.
Application Number | 20220070843 17/009402 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | |
Filed Date | 2022-03-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20220070843 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Levitsky; Michael ; et
al. |
March 3, 2022 |
BEAM MANAGEMENT BASED ON LOCATION AND SENSOR DATA
Abstract
The present disclosure involves determining base station (BS)
beams for communicating between a UE and the BS. The BS may use
sensor data or beam management reporting history to assist with
determining one or more appropriate beams. The sensor data may
include camera images, radar data, or lidar data, and be used to
model the cell environment served by the BS. The BS may obtain
reporting data from multiple UEs over time indicating the quality
of beams received by the UEs at various locations in the cell
environment and model the cell environment based on the reporting
data. The BS may associate beams with possible UE locations within
the cell environment and use the associations to determine beams
for communicating with a UE after determining the UE's
location.
Inventors: |
Levitsky; Michael; (Rehovot,
IL) ; Wolf; Guy; (Rosh Haayin, IL) ; Touboul;
Assaf; (Netanya, IL) ; Landis; Shay; (Hod
Hasharon, IL) ; Levy; Sharon; (Binyamina, IL)
; Zach; Noam; (Kiryat Ono, IL) ; Yunusov;
David; (Holon, IL) ; Berger; Peer; (Hod
Hasharon, IL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
QUALCOMM Incorporated |
San Diego |
CA |
US |
|
|
Appl. No.: |
17/009402 |
Filed: |
September 1, 2020 |
International
Class: |
H04W 72/04 20060101
H04W072/04; H04W 72/02 20060101 H04W072/02; G06T 17/00 20060101
G06T017/00; G01S 5/06 20060101 G01S005/06; G01S 11/04 20060101
G01S011/04 |
Claims
1. A method for wireless communication performed by a base station
(BS), the method comprising: obtaining sensor data associated with
a cell environment served by the BS; receiving a plurality of beam
management (BM) reports, associated with a plurality of beams
transmitted by the BS, from a plurality of user equipments (UEs) at
a plurality of possible UE locations in the cell environment;
determining a beam management reporting history based on the
plurality of BM reports; associating the plurality of beams with
the plurality of possible UE locations based on the sensor data and
the beam management reporting history; determining a first location
of a first UE in the cell environment; determining a first set of
one or more candidate beams of the plurality of beams based on the
first location and based on the associating; determining a first
beam of the first set of one or more candidate beams for
communicating with the first UE; and transmitting a communication
to the first UE using the first beam.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first location
comprises at least one of: performing downlink-time of different
arrival (DL-TODA) positioning, wherein the first location is
determined based on the DL-TODA positioning; performing uplink-TODA
(UL-TODA) positioning, wherein the first location is determined
based on the UL-TODA positioning; performing multi-cell roundtrip
time (RTT) positioning, wherein the first location is determined
based on the RTT positioning; performing UL-angle of arrival (AoA)
positioning, wherein the first location is determined based on the
AoA positioning; performing DL-angle of departure (AoD)
positioning, wherein the first location is determined based on the
AoD positioning; determining the first location based on the sensor
data; or receiving a UE location report from the first UE, wherein
the first location is determined based on the UE location
report.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the associating comprises:
determining a three-dimensional (3-D) model of the cell environment
that defines objects in the cell environment based on the sensor
data; performing ray tracing, based on the 3-D model, for the
plurality of beams and the plurality of possible UE locations;
determining propagation paths and potential shadowing associated
with the plurality of beams for the plurality of possible UE
locations based on the ray tracing; and determining sets of one or
more candidate beams of the plurality of beams for respective
locations of the plurality of possible UE locations based on the
respective propagation paths and the respective potential
shadowing, the sets of one or more candidate beams for the
plurality of possible UE locations including the first set of one
or more candidate beams for the first location.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising receiving
predetermined 3-D cell profile data characterizing the cell
environment, wherein determining the 3-D model of the cell
environment is further based on the predetermined 3-D cell profile
data.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein each of the plurality of BM
reports includes a measurement, by a respective UE of the plurality
of UEs, of at least one of the plurality of beams and an indication
of a location of the respective UE, the method further comprising
determining long-term changes in the cell environment based on the
beam management reporting history, wherein determining the 3-D
model of the cell environment is further based on the long-term
changes.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein the sensor data includes at least
one of camera data, radar data, or lidar data, the method further
comprising analyzing the sensor data using a machine learning
algorithm, wherein the determining of the 3-D model is based on the
analysis.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the plurality of BM
reports comprises receiving a first BM report from a UE associated
with a first time and a second BM report from the UE associated
with a second time, and wherein the associating comprises:
associating a set of beams of the plurality of beams with a
possible UE location for a first condition of the cell environment,
wherein the first condition is a short-term condition; associating
another set of beams of the plurality of beams with the possible UE
location for a second condition of the cell environment, wherein
the second condition is a long-term condition; determining a first
context in the cell environment for the first BM report based on
the sensor data associated with the first time, wherein the first
context corresponds to the first condition; determining a second
context in the cell environment for the second BM report based on
the sensor data associated with the second time, wherein the second
context corresponds to the second condition; associating the set of
beams with the possible UE location for the first condition based
on the first BM report and the first context; and associating the
another set of beams with the possible UE location for the second
condition based on the second BM report and the second context.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first beam of the
first set of candidate beams comprises determining at least one
serving beam of the first set of candidate beams, the at least one
serving beam comprising the first beam, and wherein the method
further comprises transmitting, to the first UE, a first medium
access control element (MAC-CE) message including an indication of
an active transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state table
corresponding to the at least one serving beam and an indication of
a candidate TCI state table corresponding to at least one other
beam of the first set of one or more candidate beams.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: predicting shadowing
associated with the first beam based on the sensor data;
determining a second beam from the first set of one or more
candidate beams based on the associating and based on the first
location of the first UE; transmitting, to the first UE, a beam
switch indication for switching to the second beam in response to
predicting the shadowing; and transmitting a communication to the
first UE using the second beam.
10. A method for wireless communication performed by a user
equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving wireless signals
from a base station (BS) transmitted using a first beam of a first
set of one or more candidate beams determined based on associations
of a plurality of beams with a plurality of possible UE locations
in a cell environment served by the BS and based on a first
location of the UE, the associations being based on sensor data
associated with the cell environment and a beam management
reporting history associated with the plurality of beams and the
plurality of possible UE locations.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first location of the first
UE is determined based on at least one of: performing downlink-time
of different arrival (DL-TODA) positioning, wherein the first
location is determined based on the DL-TODA positioning; performing
uplink-TODA (UL-TODA) positioning, wherein the first location is
determined based on the UL-TODA positioning; performing multi-cell
roundtrip time (RTT) positioning, wherein the first location is
determined based on the RTT positioning; performing UL-angle of
arrival (AoA) positioning, wherein the first location is determined
based on the AoA positioning; performing DL-angle of departure
(AoD) positioning, wherein the first location is determined based
on the AoD positioning; determining the first location based on the
sensor data; or receiving a UE location report from the first UE,
wherein the first location is determined based on the UE location
report.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the associations are determined
by: determining a three-dimensional (3-D) model of the cell
environment that defines objects in the environment based on the
sensor data; performing ray tracing, based on the 3-D model, for
the plurality of beams and the plurality of possible UE locations;
determining propagation paths and potential shadowing associated
with each of the plurality of beams for the plurality of possible
UE locations based on the ray tracing; and determining sets of one
or more candidate beams of the plurality of beams for respective
locations of the plurality of possible UE locations based on the
respective propagation paths and the respective potential
shadowing, the sets of one or more candidate beams for the
plurality of possible UE locations including the first set of one
or more candidate beams for the first location.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the 3-D model is determined
based also on predetermined 3-D cell profile data characterizing
the cell environment.
14. The method of claim 12, further comprising: transmitting, to
the BS, a first beam management (BM) report associated with the
first location and associated with a first time, wherein the
associations are based on long-term changes in the cell environment
based on the beam management reporting history including the first
BM report, wherein the 3-D model of the cell environment is further
based on the long-term changes.
15. The method of claim 12, wherein the sensor data includes at
least one of camera data, radar data, or lidar data, wherein the
first beam is determined based on analysis of the sensor data using
a machine learning algorithm, and wherein the determining of the
3-D model is based on the analysis.
16. The method of claim 10, further comprising: transmitting, to
the BS, a first BM report associated with a first time; and
transmitting, to the BS, a second BM report associated with a
second time, wherein the associations associate a set of beams of
the plurality of beams with a possible UE location for a first
condition of the cell environment and associate another set of
beams of the plurality of beams with the possible UE location for a
second condition of the cell environment, wherein the first
condition is a short-term condition and the second condition is a
long-term condition, and wherein the associations are based on:
determining a first context in the cell environment for the first
BM report based on the sensor data associated with the first time,
wherein the first context corresponds to the short-term condition;
determining a second context in the cell environment for the second
BM report based on the sensor data associated with the second time,
wherein the second context corresponds to the long-term condition;
associating the set of beams with the possible UE location for the
first condition based on the first BM report and the first context;
and associating the another set of beams with the possible UE
location for the second condition based on the second BM report and
the second context.
17. The method of claim 10, further comprising: receiving a first
medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) message
including an indication of an active transmission configuration
indicator (TCI) state table corresponding to the at least one
serving beam, the at least one serving beam including the first
beam, and an indication of a candidate TCI states table
corresponding to at least one other beam of the first set of one or
more candidate beams.
18. The method of claim 10, further comprising: receiving a beam
switch indication for switching to a second beam selected from a
first set of one or more candidate beams based on the associations,
the first set of one or more candidate beams including the first
beam, and the beam switch indication based on predicting shadowing
associated with the first beam based on the sensor data; and
receiving wireless signals from the BS transmitted on the second
beam.
19. A base station comprising: at least one processor; and a memory
coupled with the at least one processor and storing
processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one
processor, is configured to: obtain sensor data associated with a
cell environment served by the BS; receive a plurality of beam
management (BM) reports, associated with a plurality of beams
transmitted by the BS, from a plurality of user equipments (UEs) at
a plurality of possible UE locations in the cell environment;
determine a beam management reporting history based on the
plurality of BM reports; associate the plurality of beams with the
plurality of possible UE locations based on the sensor data and the
beam management reporting history; determine a first location of a
first UE in the cell environment; determine a first set of one or
more candidate beams of the plurality of beams based on the first
location and based on the associating; determine a first beam of
the first set of one or more candidate beams for communicating with
the first UE; and transmit a communication to the first UE using
the first beam.
20. The base station of claim 19, wherein the first location is
determined by at least one at least one of: performing
downlink-time of different arrival (DL-TODA) positioning, wherein
the first location is determined based on the DL-TODA positioning;
performing uplink-TODA (UL-TODA) positioning, wherein the first
location is determined based on the UL-TODA positioning; performing
multi-cell roundtrip time (RTT) positioning, wherein the first
location is determined based on the RTT positioning; performing
UL-angle of arrival (AoA) positioning, wherein the first location
is determined based on the AoA positioning; performing DL-angle of
departure (AoD) positioning, wherein the first location is
determined based on the AoD positioning; determining the first
location based on the sensor data; or receiving a UE location
report from the first UE, wherein the first location is determined
based on the UE location report.
21. The base station of claim 19, wherein the processor is
configured to associate by: determining a three-dimensional (3-D)
model of the cell environment that defines objects in the cell
environment based on the sensor data; performing ray tracing, based
on the 3-D model, for the plurality of beams and the plurality of
possible UE locations; determining propagation paths and potential
shadowing associated with the plurality of beams for the plurality
of possible UE locations based on the ray tracing; and determining
sets of one or more candidate beams of the plurality of beams for
respective locations of the plurality of possible UE locations
based on the respective propagation paths and the respective
potential shadowing, the sets of one or more candidate beams for
the plurality of possible UE locations including the first set of
one or more candidate beams for the first location.
22. The base station of claim 21, wherein the processor is further
configured to receive predetermined 3-D cell profile data
characterizing the cell environment, wherein determining the 3-D
model of the cell environment is further based on the predetermined
3-D cell profile data.
23. The base station of claim 21, wherein each of the plurality of
BM reports includes a measurement, by a respective UE of the
plurality of UEs, of at least one of the plurality of beams and an
indication of a location of the respective UE, the method further
comprising determining long-term changes in the cell environment
based on the beam management reporting history, wherein determining
the 3-D model of the cell environment is further based on the
long-term changes.
24. The base station of claim 21, wherein the sensor data includes
at least one of camera data, radar data, or lidar data, the method
further comprising analyzing the sensor data using a machine
learning algorithm, wherein the determining of the 3-D model is
based on the analysis.
25. The base station of claim 19, wherein the processor is
configured to receive a first BM report from a UE associated with a
first time and a second BM report from the UE associated with a
second time, and wherein the processor is configured to associated
by: associating a set of beams of the plurality of beams with a
possible UE location for a first condition of the cell environment,
wherein the first condition is a short-term condition; associating
another set of beams of the plurality of beams with the possible UE
location for a second condition of the cell environment, wherein
the second condition is a long-term condition; determining a first
context in the cell environment for the first BM report based on
the sensor data associated with the first time, wherein the first
context corresponds to the first condition; determining a second
context in the cell environment for the second BM report based on
the sensor data associated with the second time, wherein the second
context corresponds to the second condition; associating the set of
beams with the possible UE location for the first condition based
on the first BM report and the first context; and associating the
another set of beams with the possible UE location for the second
condition based on the second BM report and the second context.
26. The base station of claim 19, wherein the processor is
configured to determine the first beam of the first set of
candidate beams by determining at least one serving beam of the
first set of candidate beams, the at least one serving beam
comprising the first beam, and wherein the method further comprises
transmitting, to the first UE, a first medium access control
element (MAC-CE) message including an indication of an active
transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state table
corresponding to the at least one serving beam and an indication of
a candidate TCI state table corresponding to at least one other
beam of the first set of one or more candidate beams.
27. The base station of claim 19, wherein the processor is further
configured to: predict shadowing associated with the first beam
based on the sensor data; determine a second beam from the first
set of one or more candidate beams based on the associating and
based on the first location of the first UE; transmit, to the first
UE, a beam switch indication for switching to the second beam in
response to predicting the shadowing; and transmit a communication
to the first UE using the second beam.
28. A user equipment (UE) comprising: at least one processor; and a
memory coupled with the at least one processor and storing
processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one
processor, is configured to: receive wireless signals from a base
station (BS) transmitted using a first beam of a first set of one
or more candidate beams determined based on associations of a
plurality of beams with a plurality of possible UE locations in a
cell environment served by the BS and based on a first location of
the UE, the associations being based on sensor data associated with
the cell environment and a beam management reporting history
associated with the plurality of beams and the plurality of
possible UE locations.
29. The user equipment of claim 28, wherein the first location of
the first UE is determined by at least one of: performing
downlink-time of different arrival (DL-TODA) positioning, wherein
the first location is determined based on the DL-TODA positioning;
performing uplink-TODA (UL-TODA) positioning, wherein the first
location is determined based on the UL-TODA positioning; performing
multi-cell roundtrip time (RTT) positioning, wherein the first
location is determined based on the RTT positioning; performing
UL-angle of arrival (AoA) positioning, wherein the first location
is determined based on the AoA positioning; performing DL-angle of
departure (AoD) positioning, wherein the first location is
determined based on the AoD positioning; determining the first
location based on the sensor data; or receiving a UE location
report from the first UE, wherein the first location is determined
based on the UE location report.
30. The user equipment of claim 28, wherein the associations are
determined by: determining a three-dimensional (3-D) model of the
cell environment that defines objects in the environment based on
the sensor data; performing ray tracing, based on the 3-D model,
for the plurality of beams and the plurality of possible UE
locations; determining propagation paths and potential shadowing
associated with each of the plurality of beams for the plurality of
possible UE locations based on the ray tracing; and determining
sets of one or more candidate beams of the plurality of beams for
respective locations of the plurality of possible UE locations
based on the respective propagation paths and the respective
potential shadowing, the sets of one or more candidate beams for
the plurality of possible UE locations including the first set of
one or more candidate beams for the first location.
31. The user equipment of claim 30, wherein the 3-D model is
determined based also on predetermined 3-D cell profile data
characterizing the cell environment.
32. The user equipment of claim 30, wherein the processor is
further configured to: transmit, to the BS, a first beam management
(BM) report associated with the first location and associated with
a first time, wherein the associations are based on long-term
changes in the cell environment based on the beam management
reporting history including the first BM report, wherein the 3-D
model of the cell environment is further based on the long-term
changes.
33. The user equipment of claim 30, wherein the sensor data
includes at least one of camera data, radar data, or lidar data,
wherein the first beam is determined based on analysis of the
sensor data using a machine learning algorithm, and wherein the
determining of the 3-D model is based on the analysis.
34. The user equipment of claim 28, wherein the processor is
further configured to: transmit, to the BS, a first BM report
associated with a first time; and transmit, to the BS, a second BM
report associated with a second time, wherein the associations
associate a set of beams of the plurality of beams with a possible
UE location for a first condition of the cell environment and
associate another set of beams of the plurality of beams with the
possible UE location for a second condition of the cell
environment, wherein the first condition is a short-term condition
and the second condition is a long-term condition, and wherein the
associations are based on: determining a first context in the cell
environment for the first BM report based on the sensor data
associated with the first time, wherein the first context
corresponds to the short-term condition; determining a second
context in the cell environment for the second BM report based on
the sensor data associated with the second time, wherein the second
context corresponds to the long-term condition; associating the set
of beams with the possible UE location for the first condition
based on the first BM report and the first context; and associating
the another set of beams with the possible UE location for the
second condition based on the second BM report and the second
context.
35. The user equipment of claim 28, wherein the processor is
further configured to: receive a first medium access control (MAC)
control element (MAC-CE) message including an indication of an
active transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state table
corresponding to the at least one serving beam, the at least one
serving beam including the first beam, and an indication of a
candidate TCI states table corresponding to at least one other beam
of the first set of one or more candidate beams.
36. The user equipment of claim 28, wherein the processor is
further configured to: receive a beam switch indication for
switching to a second beam selected from a first set of one or more
candidate beams based on the associations, the first set of one or
more candidate beams including the first beam, and the beam switch
indication based on predicting shadowing associated with the first
beam based on the sensor data; and receive wireless signals from
the BS transmitted on the second beam.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to
wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to beam
management based on device location in a cell environment in
conjunction with sensor data.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED TECHNOLOGY
[0002] Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to
provide various types of communication content such as voice,
video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. A wireless
multiple-access communications system may include a number of base
stations or network access nodes, each simultaneously supporting
communication for multiple communication devices, which may be
otherwise known as user equipment (UE). These systems may be
capable of supporting communication with multiple UEs by sharing
the available system resources (such as time, frequency, and
power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth
generation (4G) systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems,
LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth
generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR)
systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code
division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access
(TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal
frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier
transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing
(DFT-S-OFDM).
[0003] Base stations handle communications within a wireless
communication system by dividing the system into cells associated
with each of the base stations. The base stations have antennas
that form beams of wireless signals that can be transmitted to UEs.
These beams interact with their environment, such as by being
absorbed by some objects and reflected by other objects. The
changing environment around base stations or a UE may result in
changes in the quality of wireless signals received over the beams
when the absorption and reflection characteristics of the
environment change. For example, some beams may become blocked for
some UEs as the cell environment or a local UE environment changes.
Cells operating in millimeter wave spectrum may implement narrow
directional beams that are affected more by the changing
propagation environment, thus limiting support for communicating
with UEs that are mobile within the cell environment and also for
static UEs residing in a dynamic cell environment.
SUMMARY
[0004] The following summarizes some aspects of the present
disclosure to provide a basic understanding of the discussed
technology. This summary is not an extensive overview of all
contemplated features of the disclosure, and is intended neither to
identify key or critical elements of all aspects of the disclosure
nor to delineate the scope of any or all aspects of the disclosure.
Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects
of the disclosure in summary form as a prelude to the more detailed
description that is presented later.
[0005] One innovative aspect of the subject matter described in
this disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless
communication performed by a base station (BS). The method includes
obtaining sensor data associated with a cell environment served by
the BS; receiving a plurality of beam management (BM) reports,
associated with a plurality of beams transmitted by the BS, from a
plurality of user equipments (UEs) at a plurality of possible UE
locations in the cell environment; determining a beam management
reporting history based on the plurality of BM reports; associating
the plurality of beams with the plurality of possible UE locations
based on the sensor data and the beam management reporting history;
determining a first location of a first UE in the cell environment;
determining a first set of one or more candidate beams of the
plurality of beams based on the first location and based on the
associating; determining a first beam of the first set of one or
more candidate beams for communicating with the first UE; and
transmitting a communication to the first UE using the first beam.
The method may be implemented in a base station (BS). The BS
includes at least one processor and a memory coupled with the at
least one processor and storing processor-readable instructions
that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to
perform aspects of embodiments of the disclosed methods.
[0006] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in
this disclosure can be implemented in a method for wireless
communication performed by a user equipment (UE). The method
includes receiving wireless signals from a base station (BS)
transmitted using a first beam of a first set of one or more
candidate beams determined based on associations of a plurality of
beams with a plurality of possible UE locations in a cell
environment served by the BS and based on a first location of the
UE, the associations being based on sensor data associated with the
cell environment and a beam management reporting history associated
with the plurality of beams and the plurality of possible UE
locations. The UE includes at least one processor and a memory
coupled with the at least one processor and storing
processor-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least
one processor, is configured to perform aspects of embodiments of
the disclosed methods.
[0007] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in
this disclosure can be implemented in a base station apparatus
configured for wireless communication. The apparatus includes means
for obtaining sensor data associated with a cell environment served
by the BS; means for receiving a plurality of beam management (BM)
reports, associated with a plurality of beams transmitted by the
BS, from a plurality of user equipments (UEs) at a plurality of
possible UE locations in the cell environment; means for
determining a beam management reporting history based on the
plurality of BM reports; means for associating the plurality of
beams with the plurality of possible UE locations based on the
sensor data and the beam management reporting history; means for
determining a first location of a first UE in the cell environment;
determining a first set of one or more candidate beams of the
plurality of beams based on the first location and based on the
associating; means for determining a first beam of the first set of
one or more candidate beams for communicating with the first UE;
and means for transmitting a communication to the first UE using
the first beam.
[0008] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in
this disclosure can be implemented in a UE apparatus configured for
wireless communication. The apparatus includes means for receiving
wireless signals from a base station (BS) transmitted using a first
beam of a first set of one or more candidate beams determined based
on associations of a plurality of beams with a plurality of
possible UE locations in a cell environment served by the BS and
based on a first location of the UE, the associations being based
on sensor data associated with the cell environment and a beam
management reporting history associated with the plurality of beams
and the plurality of possible UE locations.
[0009] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in
this disclosure can be implemented in a non-transitory
computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed
by a processor of a base station, cause the processor to perform
operations including obtaining sensor data associated with a cell
environment served by the BS; receiving a plurality of beam
management (BM) reports, associated with a plurality of beams
transmitted by the BS, from a plurality of user equipments (UEs) at
a plurality of possible UE locations in the cell environment;
determining a beam management reporting history based on the
plurality of BM reports; associating the plurality of beams with
the plurality of possible UE locations based on the sensor data and
the beam management reporting history; determining a first location
of a first UE in the cell environment; determining a first set of
one or more candidate beams of the plurality of beams based on the
first location and based on the associating; determining a first
beam of the first set of one or more candidate beams for
communicating with the first UE; and transmitting a communication
to the first UE using the first beam. The method may be implemented
in a base station (BS).
[0010] Another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in
this disclosure can be implemented in a non-transitory
computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed
by a processor of a user equipment, cause the processor to perform
operations including receiving wireless signals from a base station
(BS) transmitted using a first beam of a first set of one or more
candidate beams determined based on associations of a plurality of
beams with a plurality of possible UE locations in a cell
environment served by the BS and based on a first location of the
UE, the associations being based on sensor data associated with the
cell environment and a beam management reporting history associated
with the plurality of beams and the plurality of possible UE
locations.
[0011] Other aspects, features, and implementations of the present
disclosure will become apparent to a person having ordinary skill
in the art, upon reviewing the following description of specific,
example implementations of the present disclosure in conjunction
with the accompanying figures. While features of the present
disclosure may be described relative to particular implementations
and figures below, all implementations of the present disclosure
can include one or more of the advantageous features described
herein. In other words, while one or more implementations may be
described as having particular advantageous features, one or more
of such features may also be used in accordance with the various
implementations of the disclosure described herein. In similar
fashion, while example implementations may be described below as
device, system, or method implementations, such example
implementations can be implemented in various devices, systems, and
methods.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the
present disclosure may be realized by reference to the following
drawings. In the appended figures, similar components or features
may have the same reference label. Further, various components of
the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label
by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among the similar
components. If just the first reference label is used in the
specification, the description is applicable to any one of the
similar components having the same first reference label
irrespective of the second reference label.
[0013] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating details of an example
wireless communication system.
[0014] FIG. 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an
example design of a base station (BS) and a user equipment
(UE).
[0015] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example wireless
communication system that supports beam selection based on a
complementary combination of sensor data and beam management
reporting history according to some aspects.
[0016] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example model of a
cell environment served by a BS according to some aspects.
[0017] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example model of a
cell environment served by a BS with shadowing of some beams
according to some aspects.
[0018] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process
that supports beam selection based on a complementary combination
of sensor data and beam management reporting history according to
some aspects.
[0019] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process
that supports beam selection based on a model of a cell environment
using ray tracing around objects determined from sensor data
according to some aspects.
[0020] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process
that supports operation of a UE in a network that supports beam
selection based on a model of a cell environment served by a BS
according to some aspects.
[0021] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an example UE that supports
beam switching according to some aspects.
[0022] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example base station that
supports beam selection based on a complementary combination of
sensor data and beam management reporting history according to some
aspects.
[0023] Like reference numbers and designations in the various
drawings indicate like elements.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0024] Various aspects of the disclosure are described more fully
hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. This
disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and
are not to be construed as limited to any specific structure or
function presented throughout this disclosure. Rather, these
aspects are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and
complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to
those skilled in the art. Based on the teachings herein one skilled
in the art may appreciate that the scope of the disclosure is
intended to cover any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein,
whether implemented independently of or combined with any other
aspect of the disclosure. For example, an apparatus may be
implemented or a method may be practiced using any quantity of the
aspects set forth herein. In addition, the scope of the disclosure
is intended to cover such an apparatus or method which is practiced
using other structure, functionality, or structure and
functionality in addition to or other than the various aspects of
the disclosure set forth herein. Any aspect of the disclosure
disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of a
claim.
[0025] The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided, based on
frequency (or wavelength), into various classes, bands or channels.
In fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR), two initial operating
bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410
MHz-7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz-52.6 GHz). The frequencies
between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-band frequencies.
Although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often
referred to (interchangeably) as a "Sub-6 GHz" band in various
documents and articles. A similar nomenclature issue sometimes
occurs with regard to FR2, which is often referred to
(interchangeably) as a "millimeter wave" band/spectrum in documents
and articles, despite being different than the extremely high
frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz-300 GHz) which is identified by the
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as a "millimeter wave"
band. With the above aspects in mind, unless specifically stated
otherwise, it should be understood that the term "sub-6 GHz" or the
like if used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may be
less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band
frequencies. Further, unless specifically stated otherwise, it
should be understood that the term "millimeter wave" or the like if
used herein may broadly represent frequencies that may include
mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, or may be within the EHF
band.
[0026] The present disclosure provides systems, apparatus, methods,
and computer-readable media for determining base station (BS) beams
for communicating between a UE and the BS. In some aspects,
techniques disclosed herein may enable the BS to determine one or
more appropriate beams for the UE based on the UE's location within
a cell environment served by the BS. The BS may use sensor data or
beam management reporting history to assist with determining the
one or more appropriate beams. According to aspects presented
herein, the BS may obtain sensor data, such as camera images, radar
(radio detection and ranging) data, or lidar (laser imaging,
detection, and ranging) data to model the cell environment served
by the BS. According to aspects presented herein, the BS may obtain
reporting data from multiple UEs over time indicating the quality
of beams received by the UEs at various locations in the cell
environment, and model the cell environment based on the reporting
data. As an example, the BS may receive a camera image from which
an amount of foliage on a plant near the BS or a UE may be
determined and used to model potential blocking of a beam
transmitted from the BS, allowing the BS to determine a different
beam for communicating with a UE in a vicinity of the plant near
the BS. According to aspects presented herein, the BS may associate
beams with possible UE locations within the cell environment and
use the associations to determine beams for communicating with a UE
after determining the UE's location. In some embodiments, the
serving BS beam width may be selected per UE depending on the UE
movement speed and environment dynamics using this enhanced ability
to track UE location, movement trajectory, and environment changes
through the complimentary combination of sensor data, UE position,
and UE location reporting.
[0027] Particular implementations of the subject matter described
in this disclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the
following potential advantages. In some aspects, the present
disclosure provides improved link quality with UEs served by the BS
using sensor data or beam management reporting history to determine
one or more beams for communicating with the UE. For example,
potential shadowing of a beam can reduce link quality and thus
reduce user experience by allowing dropped calls or lost data
packets. The BS may use the sensor data or beam management
reporting history to determine beams with high quality reception at
a UE's location to improve user experience. In addition, the BS may
transmit lists of candidate beams for a UE based on the UE's
location with beams designated as serving beams or candidate beams.
The provisioning of candidate beams on the UE may be performed
without a high frequency of BM reporting, such that the BS can
configure a lower periodicity of BM reporting by the UE or turn off
BM reporting by the UE to save UL resources and to reduce UE power
consumption.
[0028] Further, fast switching to an alternate beam may be
facilitated if blocking of a serving beam is predicted based on the
sensor data or beam management reporting history. For example, the
BS may have determined a serving beam for communicating with the UE
but sensor data later acquired allows the BS to predict the serving
beam will be blocked, such as by a moving bus in the street. The BS
may quickly switch to the alternate beam based on the prediction by
signaling a switch to the alternate beam to avoid a dropped call
from the UE. An alternate beam may correspond to an activated TCI
states (serving beams) such that for every allocation, DCI can
signal the corresponding TCI state for an alternate beam from the
serving beams (one of the activated, up to 8 activated TCI states)
to provide an indication regarding a beam for transmission so that
a beam switch can be performed on a slot basis.
[0029] Through some of the embodiments described below, the BS may
track several candidate beams from the BS's available beams based
on associations between the beams and a UE location and trigger
beam switching with proper timing even without any prior beam
management (BM) session scheduling (in DL or UL) for conventional
determination of the candidate beams. Thus, the serving beam
switching will be done more precisely and within required
timeframes to improve link performance. In some embodiments, AP P2
sessions can be scheduled to verify the best beams among the known
set of candidate beams prior to the beam switching. Those AP P2
sessions may be done at timings based on provisioning for
potentially required beam switching to maintain link
performance.
[0030] Benefits of some embodiments of this disclosure may include
one or more of improved mobility support for FR2 cells in relation
to beam management aspects (prediction of beam reselection/beam
change timing), more robust and responsive beam management that is
less dependent on UE BM reports, proactive beam switching that
prevents beam/link failure in case of severe shadowing, improved
linked quality and user experience in millimeter wave (mmw) cells,
more efficient usage of cell resources (through fewer BM reports
and higher spectral efficiency of the link), UE power saving and
processing complexity reduction, improved MPE ability on UE side
because proper alternative UL beams for MPE are always known to the
UE, or more accurate UE location tracking.
[0031] This disclosure relates generally to providing or
participating in authorized shared access between two or more
wireless communications systems, also referred to as wireless
communications networks. In various implementations, the techniques
and apparatus may be used for wireless communication networks such
as code division multiple access (CDMA) networks, time division
multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequency division multiple access
(FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, single-carrier
FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, 5th Generation
(5G) or new radio (NR) networks (sometimes referred to as "5G NR"
networks, systems, or devices), as well as other communications
networks. As described herein, the terms "networks" and "systems"
may be used interchangeably.
[0032] A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such as
universal terrestrial radio access (UTRA), cdma2000, and the like.
UTRA includes wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) and low chip rate (LCR).
CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards.
[0033] A TDMA network may implement a radio technology such as
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). 3GPP defines
standards for the GSM EDGE (enhanced data rates for GSM evolution)
radio access network (RAN), also denoted as GERAN. GERAN is the
radio component of GSM or GSM EDGE, together with the network that
joins the base stations (for example, the Ater and Abis interfaces,
among other examples) and the base station controllers (for
example, A interfaces, among other examples). The radio access
network represents a component of a GSM network, through which
phone calls and packet data are routed from and to the public
switched telephone network (PSTN) and Internet to and from
subscriber handsets, also known as user terminals or user
equipments (UEs). A mobile phone operator's network may include one
or more GERANs, which may be coupled with UTRANs in the case of a
UMTS or GSM network. Additionally, an operator network may include
one or more LTE networks, or one or more other networks. The
various different network types may use different radio access
technologies (RATs) and radio access networks (RANs).
[0034] An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as
evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20,
flash-OFDM and the like. UTRA, E-UTRA, and GSM are part of
universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS). In particular,
long term evolution (LTE) is a release of UMTS that uses E-UTRA.
UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS and LTE are described in documents provided
from an organization named the "3rd Generation Partnership Project"
(3GPP), and cdma2000 is described in documents from an organization
named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). These various
radio technologies and standards are known or are being developed.
For example, the 3GPP is a collaboration between groups of
telecommunications associations that aims to define a globally
applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone specification. 3GPP
long term evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP project aimed at improving the
universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) mobile phone
standard. The 3GPP may define specifications for the next
generation of mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices.
The present disclosure may describe certain aspects with reference
to LTE, 4G, 5G, or NR technologies; however, the description is not
intended to be limited to a specific technology or application, and
one or more aspects described with reference to one technology may
be understood to be applicable to another technology. Indeed, one
or more aspects the present disclosure are related to shared access
to wireless spectrum between networks using different radio access
technologies or radio air interfaces.
[0035] 5G networks contemplate diverse deployments, diverse
spectrum, and diverse services and devices that may be implemented
using an OFDM-based unified, air interface. To achieve these goals,
further enhancements to LTE and LTE-A are considered in addition to
development of the new radio technology for 5G NR networks. The 5G
NR will be capable of scaling to provide coverage (1) to a massive
Internet of things (IoTs) with an ultra-high density (such as
.about.1 M nodes per km2), ultra-low complexity (such as .about.10s
of bits per sec), ultra-low energy (such as .about.10+ years of
battery life), and deep coverage with the capability to reach
challenging locations; (2) including mission-critical control with
strong security to safeguard sensitive personal, financial, or
classified information, ultra-high reliability (such as
.about.99.9999% reliability), ultra-low latency (such as .about. 1
millisecond (ms)), and users with wide ranges of mobility or lack
thereof, and (3) with enhanced mobile broadband including extreme
high capacity (such as .about.10 Tbps per km2), extreme data rates
(such as multi-Gbps rate, 100+ Mbps user experienced rates), and
deep awareness with advanced discovery and optimizations.
[0036] 5G NR devices, networks, and systems may be implemented to
use optimized OFDM-based waveform features. These features may
include scalable numerology and transmission time intervals (TTIs);
a common, flexible framework to efficiently multiplex services and
features with a dynamic, low-latency time division duplex (TDD) or
frequency division duplex (FDD) design; and advanced wireless
technologies, such as massive multiple input, multiple output
(MIMO), robust millimeter wave (mmWave) transmissions, advanced
channel coding, and device-centric mobility. Scalability of the
numerology in 5G NR, with scaling of subcarrier spacing, may
efficiently address operating diverse services across diverse
spectrum and diverse deployments. For example, in various outdoor
and macro coverage deployments of less than 3 GHz FDD or TDD
implementations, subcarrier spacing may occur with 15 kHz, for
example over 1, 5, 10, 20 MHz, and the like bandwidth. For other
various outdoor and small cell coverage deployments of TDD greater
than 3 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur with 30 kHz over 80 or 100
MHz bandwidth. For other various indoor wideband implementations,
using a TDD over the unlicensed portion of the 5 GHz band, the
subcarrier spacing may occur with 60 kHz over a 160 MHz bandwidth.
Finally, for various deployments transmitting with mmWave
components at a TDD of 28 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur with
120 kHz over a 500 MHz bandwidth.
[0037] The scalable numerology of 5G NR facilitates scalable TTI
for diverse latency and quality of service (QoS) requirements. For
example, shorter TTI may be used for low latency and high
reliability, while longer TTI may be used for higher spectral
efficiency. The efficient multiplexing of long and short TTIs to
allow transmissions to start on symbol boundaries. 5G NR also
contemplates a self-contained integrated subframe design with
uplink or downlink scheduling information, data, and
acknowledgement in the same subframe. The self-contained integrated
subframe supports communications in unlicensed or contention-based
shared spectrum, adaptive uplink or downlink that may be flexibly
configured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink
and downlink to meet the current traffic needs.
[0038] For clarity, certain aspects of the apparatus and techniques
may be described below with reference to example 5G NR
implementations or in a 5G-centric way, and 5G terminology may be
used as illustrative examples in portions of the description below;
however, the description is not intended to be limited to 5G
applications.
[0039] Moreover, it should be understood that, in operation,
wireless communication networks adapted according to the concepts
herein may operate with any combination of licensed or unlicensed
spectrum depending on loading and availability. Accordingly, it
will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art that
the systems, apparatus and methods described herein may be applied
to other communications systems and applications than the
particular examples provided.
[0040] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating details of an example
wireless communication system. The wireless communication system
may include wireless network 100. The wireless network 100 may, for
example, include a 5G wireless network. As appreciated by those
skilled in the art, components appearing in FIG. 1 are likely to
have related counterparts in other network arrangements including,
for example, cellular-style network arrangements and
non-cellular-style-network arrangements, such as device-to-device,
peer-to-peer or ad hoc network arrangements, among other
examples.
[0041] The wireless network 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a
number of base stations 105 and other network entities. A base
station may be a station that communicates with the UEs and may be
referred to as an evolved node B (eNB), a next generation eNB
(gNB), an access point, and the like. Each base station 105 may
provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In
3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to this particular geographic
coverage area of a base station or a base station subsystem serving
the coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is
used. In implementations of the wireless network 100 herein, the
base stations 105 may be associated with a same operator or
different operators, such as the wireless network 100 may include a
plurality of operator wireless networks. Additionally, in
implementations of the wireless network 100 herein, the base
stations 105 may provide wireless communications using one or more
of the same frequencies, such as one or more frequency bands in
licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or a combination thereof,
as a neighboring cell. In some examples, an individual base station
105 or UE 115 may be operated by more than one network operating
entity. In some other examples, each base station 105 and UE 115
may be operated by a single network operating entity.
[0042] A base station may provide communication coverage for a
macro cell or a small cell, such as a pico cell or a femto cell, or
other types of cell. A macro cell generally covers a relatively
large geographic area, such as several kilometers in radius, and
may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions
with the network provider. A small cell, such as a pico cell, would
generally cover a relatively smaller geographic area and may allow
unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions with the
network provider. A small cell, such as a femto cell, would also
generally cover a relatively small geographic area, such as a home,
and, in addition to unrestricted access, may provide restricted
access by UEs having an association with the femto cell, such as
UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs for users in the home,
and the like. A base station for a macro cell may be referred to as
a macro base station. A base station for a small cell may be
referred to as a small cell base station, a pico base station, a
femto base station or a home base station. In the example shown in
FIG. 1, base stations 105d and 105e are regular macro base
stations, while base stations 105a-105c are macro base stations
enabled with one of 3 dimension (3D), full dimension (FD), or
massive MIMO. Base stations 105a-105c take advantage of their
higher dimension MIMO capabilities to exploit 3D beamforming in
both elevation and azimuth beamforming to increase coverage and
capacity. Base station 105f is a small cell base station which may
be a home node or portable access point. A base station may support
one or multiple cells, such as two cells, three cells, four cells,
and the like.
[0043] The wireless network 100 may support synchronous or
asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base
stations may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from
different base stations may be approximately aligned in time. For
asynchronous operation, the base stations may have different frame
timing, and transmissions from different base stations may not be
aligned in time. In some scenarios, networks may be enabled or
configured to handle dynamic switching between synchronous or
asynchronous operations.
[0044] The UEs 115 are dispersed throughout the wireless network
100, and each UE may be stationary or mobile. It should be
appreciated that, although a mobile apparatus is commonly referred
to as user equipment (UE) in standards and specifications
promulgated by the 3GPP, such apparatus may additionally or
otherwise be referred to by those skilled in the art as a mobile
station (MS), a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber
unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless
device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile
subscriber station, an access terminal (AT), a mobile terminal, a
wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a terminal, a user
agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable
terminology. Within the present document, a "mobile" apparatus or
UE need not necessarily have a capability to move, and may be
stationary. Some non-limiting examples of a mobile apparatus, such
as may include implementations of one or more of the UEs 115,
include a mobile, a cellular (cell) phone, a smart phone, a session
initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL)
station, a laptop, a personal computer (PC), a notebook, a netbook,
a smart book, a tablet, and a personal digital assistant (PDA). A
mobile apparatus may additionally be an "Internet of things" (IoT)
or "Internet of everything" (IoE) device such as an automotive or
other transportation vehicle, a satellite radio, a global
positioning system (GPS) device, a logistics controller, a drone, a
multi-copter, a quad-copter, a smart energy or security device, a
solar panel or solar array, municipal lighting, water, or other
infrastructure; industrial automation and enterprise devices;
consumer and wearable devices, such as eyewear, a wearable camera,
a smart watch, a health or fitness tracker, a mammal implantable
device, a gesture tracking device, a medical device, a digital
audio player (such as MP3 player), a camera or a game console,
among other examples; and digital home or smart home devices such
as a home audio, video, and multimedia device, an appliance, a
sensor, a vending machine, intelligent lighting, a home security
system, or a smart meter, among other examples. In one aspect, a UE
may be a device that includes a Universal Integrated Circuit Card
(UICC). In another aspect, a UE may be a device that does not
include a UICC. In some aspects, UEs that do not include UICCs may
be referred to as IoE devices. The UEs 115a-115d of the
implementation illustrated in FIG. 1 are examples of mobile smart
phone-type devices accessing the wireless network 100. A UE may be
a machine specifically configured for connected communication,
including machine type communication (MTC), enhanced MTC (eMTC),
narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and the like. The UEs 115e-115k illustrated
in FIG. 1 are examples of various machines configured for
communication that access 5G network 100.
[0045] A mobile apparatus, such as the UEs 115, may be able to
communicate with any type of the base stations, whether macro base
stations, pico base stations, femto base stations, relays, and the
like. In FIG. 1, a communication link (represented as a lightning
bolt) indicates wireless transmissions between a UE and a serving
base station, which is a base station designated to serve the UE on
the downlink or uplink, or desired transmission between base
stations, and backhaul transmissions between base stations.
Backhaul communication between base stations of the wireless
network 100 may occur using wired or wireless communication
links.
[0046] In operation at the 5G network 100, the base stations
105a-105c serve the UEs 115a and 115b using 3D beamforming and
coordinated spatial techniques, such as coordinated multipoint
(CoMP) or multi-connectivity. Macro base station 105d performs
backhaul communications with the base stations 105a-105c, as well
as small cell, the base station 105f. Macro base station 105d also
transmits multicast services which are subscribed to and received
by the UEs 115c and 115d. Such multicast services may include
mobile television or stream video, or may include other services
for providing community information, such as weather emergencies or
alerts, such as Amber alerts or gray alerts.
[0047] The wireless network 100 of implementations supports mission
critical communications with ultra-reliable and redundant links for
mission critical devices, such the UE 115e, which is a drone.
Redundant communication links with the UE 115e include from the
macro base stations 105d and 105e, as well as small cell base
station 105f. Other machine type devices, such as UE 115f
(thermometer), the UE 115g (smart meter), and the UE 115h (wearable
device) may communicate through the wireless network 100 either
directly with base stations, such as the small cell base station
105f, and the macro base station 105e, or in multi-hop
configurations by communicating with another user device which
relays its information to the network, such as the UE 115f
communicating temperature measurement information to the smart
meter, the UE 115g, which is then reported to the network through
the small cell base station 105f. The 5G network 100 may provide
additional network efficiency through dynamic, low-latency TDD or
FDD communications, such as in a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) mesh
network between the UEs 115i-115k communicating with the macro base
station 105e.
[0048] FIG. 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an
example design of a base station 105 and a UE 115. The base station
105 and the UE 115 may be one of the base stations and one of the
UEs in FIG. 1. For a restricted association scenario (as mentioned
above), the base station 105 may be the small cell base station
105f in FIG. 1, and the UE 115 may be the UE 115c or 115d operating
in a service area of the base station 105f, which in order to
access the small cell base station 105f, would be included in a
list of accessible UEs for the small cell base station 105f.
Additionally, the base station 105 may be a base station of some
other type. As shown in FIG. 2, the base station 105 may be
equipped with antennas 234a through 234t, and the UE 115 may be
equipped with antennas 252a through 252r for facilitating wireless
communications.
[0049] At the base station 105, a transmit processor 220 may
receive data from a data source 212 and control information from a
controller 240. The control information may be for the physical
broadcast channel (PBCH), physical control format indicator channel
(PCFICH), physical hybrid-ARQ (automatic repeat request) indicator
channel (PHICH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH),
enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH), or MTC
physical downlink control channel (MPDCCH), among other examples.
The data may be for the PDSCH, among other examples. The transmit
processor 220 may process, such as encode and symbol map, the data
and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols,
respectively. Additionally, the transmit processor 220 may generate
reference symbols, such as for the primary synchronization signal
(PSS) and secondary synchronization signal (SSS), and cell-specific
reference signal. Transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output
(MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing on the data
symbols, the control symbols, or the reference symbols, if
applicable, and may provide output symbol streams to modulators
(MODs) 232a through 232t. For example, spatial processing performed
on the data symbols, the control symbols, or the reference symbols
may include precoding. Each modulator 232 may process a respective
output symbol stream, such as for OFDM, among other examples, to
obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 may additionally
or alternatively process the output sample stream to obtain a
downlink signal. For example, to process the output sample stream,
each modulator 232 may convert to analog, amplify, filter, and
upconvert the output sample stream to obtain the downlink signal.
Downlink signals from modulators 232a through 232t may be
transmitted via the antennas 234a through 234t, respectively.
[0050] At the UE 115, the antennas 252a through 252r may receive
the downlink signals from the base station 105 and may provide
received signals to the demodulators (DEMODs) 254a through 254r,
respectively. Each demodulator 254 may condition a respective
received signal to obtain input samples. For example, to condition
the respective received signal, each demodulator 254 may filter,
amplify, downconvert, and digitize the respective received signal
to obtain the input samples. Each demodulator 254 may further
process the input samples, such as for OFDM, among other examples,
to obtain received symbols. MIMO detector 256 may obtain received
symbols from demodulators 254a through 254r, perform MIMO detection
on the received symbols if applicable, and provide detected
symbols. Receive processor 258 may process the detected symbols,
provide decoded data for the UE 115 to a data sink 260, and provide
decoded control information to a controller 280. For example, to
process the detected symbols, the receive processor 258 may
demodulate, deinterleave, and decode the detected symbols.
[0051] On the uplink, at the UE 115, a transmit processor 264 may
receive and process data (such as for the physical uplink shared
channel (PUSCH)) from a data source 262 and control information
(such as for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)) from the
controller 280. Additionally, the transmit processor 264 may
generate reference symbols for a reference signal. The symbols from
the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by TX MIMO processor 266
if applicable, further processed by the modulators 254a through
254r (such as for SC-FDM, among other examples), and transmitted to
the base station 105. At base station 105, the uplink signals from
the UE 115 may be received by antennas 234, processed by
demodulators 232, detected by MIMO detector 236 if applicable, and
further processed by receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data
and control information sent by the UE 115. The receive processor
238 may provide the decoded data to data sink 239 and the decoded
control information to the controller 240.
[0052] The controllers 240 and 280 may direct the operation at the
base station 105 and the UE 115, respectively. The controller 240
or other processors and modules at the base station 105 or the
controller 280 or other processors and modules at the UE 115 may
perform or direct the execution of various processes for the
techniques described herein, such as to perform or direct the
execution illustrated in FIG. 8, or other processes for the
techniques described herein. The memories 242 and 282 may store
data and program codes for the base station 105 and The UE 115,
respectively. Scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission
on the downlink or uplink.
[0053] In some cases, the UE 115 and the base station 105 may
operate in a shared radio frequency spectrum band, which may
include licensed or unlicensed, such as contention-based, frequency
spectrum. In an unlicensed frequency portion of the shared radio
frequency spectrum band, the UEs 115 or the base stations 105 may
traditionally perform a medium-sensing procedure to contend for
access to the frequency spectrum. For example, the UE 115 or base
station 105 may perform a listen-before-talk or
listen-before-transmitting (LBT) procedure such as a clear channel
assessment (CCA) prior to communicating in order to determine
whether the shared channel is available. A CCA may include an
energy detection procedure to determine whether there are any other
active transmissions. For example, a device may infer that a change
in a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of a power meter
indicates that a channel is occupied. Specifically, signal power
that is concentrated in a certain bandwidth and exceeds a
predetermined noise floor may indicate another wireless
transmitter. In some implementations, a CCA may include detection
of specific sequences that indicate use of the channel. For
example, another device may transmit a specific preamble prior to
transmitting a data sequence. In some cases, an LBT procedure may
include a wireless node adjusting its own back off window based on
the amount of energy detected on a channel or the acknowledge or
negative-acknowledge (ACK or NACK) feedback for its own transmitted
packets as a proxy for collisions.
[0054] The present disclosure provides systems, apparatus, methods,
and computer-readable media for determining base station (BS) beams
for communicating between a UE and the BS. In some aspects,
techniques disclosed herein may enable the BS to determine one or
more appropriate beams for the UE based on the UE's location within
a cell environment served by the BS. The BS may use sensor data or
beam management reporting history to assist with determining the
one or more appropriate beams. According to aspects presented
herein, the BS may obtain sensor data, such as camera images, radar
(radio detection and ranging) data, or lidar (laser imaging,
detection, and ranging) data to model the cell environment served
by the BS. According to aspects presented herein, the BS may obtain
reporting data from multiple UEs over time indicating the quality
of beams received by the UEs at various locations in the cell
environment, and model the cell environment based on the reporting
data. As an example, the BS may receive a camera image from which
an amount of foliage on a plant near the BS or a UE may be
determined and used to model potential blocking of a beam
transmitted from the BS, allowing the BS to determine a different
beam for communicating with a UE in a vicinity of the plant near
the BS. According to aspects presented herein, the BS may associate
beams with possible UE locations within the cell environment and
use the associations to determine beams for communicating with a UE
after determining the UE's location. In some embodiments, the
serving BS beam width may be selected per UE depending on the UE
movement speed and environment dynamics using this enhanced ability
to track UE location, movement trajectory, and environment changes
through the complimentary combination of sensor data, UE position,
and UE location reporting.
[0055] Particular implementations of the subject matter described
in this disclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the
following potential advantages. In some aspects, the present
disclosure provides improved link quality with UEs served by the BS
using sensor data or beam management reporting history to determine
one or more beams for communicating with the UE. For example,
potential shadowing of a beam can reduce link quality and thus
reduce user experience by allowing dropped calls or lost data
packets. The BS may use the sensor data or beam management
reporting history to determine beams with high quality reception at
a UE's location to improve user experience. In addition, the BS may
transmit lists of candidate beams for a UE based on the UE's
location with beams designated as serving beams or candidate beams.
The provisioning of candidate beams on the UE may be performed
without a high frequency of BM reporting, such that the BS can
configure a lower periodicity of BM reporting by the UE or turn off
BM reporting by the UE to save UL resources and to reduce UE power
consumption.
[0056] Further, fast switching to an alternate beam may be
facilitated if blocking of a serving beam is predicted based on the
sensor data or beam management reporting history. For example, the
BS may have determined a serving beam for communicating with the UE
but sensor data later acquired allows the BS to predict the serving
beam will be blocked, such as by a moving bus in the street. The BS
may quickly switch to the alternate beam based on the prediction by
signaling a switch to the alternate beam to avoid a dropped call
from the UE. An alternate beam may correspond to an activated TCI
states (serving beams) such that for every allocation, DCI can
signal the corresponding TCI state for an alternate beam from the
serving beams (one of the activated, up to 8 activated TCI states)
to provide an indication regarding a beam for transmission so that
a beam switch can be performed on a slot basis.
[0057] Through some of the embodiments described below, the BS may
track several candidate beams from the BS's available beams based
on associations between the beams and a UE location and trigger
beam switching with proper timing even without any prior beam
management (BM) session scheduling (in DL or UL) for conventional
determination of the candidate beams. Thus, the serving beam
switching will be done more precisely and within required
timeframes to improve link performance. In some embodiments, AP P2
sessions can be scheduled to verify the best beams among the known
set of candidate beams prior to the beam switching. Those AP P2
sessions may be done at timings based on provisioning for
potentially required beam switching to maintain link
performance.
[0058] Benefits of some embodiments of this disclosure may include
one or more of improved mobility support for FR2 cells in relation
to beam management aspects (prediction of beam reselection/beam
change timing), more robust and responsive beam management that is
less dependent on UE BM reports, proactive beam switching that
prevents beam/link failure in case of severe shadowing, improved
linked quality and user experience in millimeter wave (mmw) cells,
more efficient usage of cell resources (through fewer BM reports
and higher spectral efficiency of the link), UE power saving and
processing complexity reduction, improved MPE ability on UE side
because proper alternative UL beams for MPE are always known to the
UE, or more accurate UE location tracking.
[0059] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example wireless
communications system 300 that supports beam selection based on
sensor data according to some aspects. In some examples, the
wireless communications system 300 may implement aspects of the
wireless network 100. The wireless communications system 300
includes the UE 115 and the base station 105. Although one UE 115
and one base station 105 are illustrated, in some other
implementations, the wireless communications system 300 may
generally include multiple UEs 115, and may include more than one
base station 105.
[0060] The UE 115 can include a variety of components (such as
structural, hardware components) used for carrying out one or more
functions described herein. For example, these components can
include one or more processors 302 (hereinafter referred to
collectively as "the processor 302"), one or more memory devices
304 (hereinafter referred to collectively as "the memory 304"), one
or more transmitters 316 (hereinafter referred to collectively as
"the transmitter 316"), and one or more receivers 318 (hereinafter
referred to collectively as "the receiver 318"). The processor 302
may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory 304
to perform the operations described herein. In some
implementations, the processor 302 includes or corresponds to one
or more of the receive processor 258, the transmit processor 264,
and the controller 280, and the memory 304 includes or corresponds
to the memory 282.
[0061] The transmitter 316 is configured to transmit reference
signals, control information and data to one or more other devices,
and the receiver 318 is configured to receive references signals,
synchronization signals, control information and data from one or
more other devices. For example, the transmitter 316 may transmit
signaling, control information and data to, and the receiver 318
may receive signaling, control information and data from, the base
station 105. In some implementations, the transmitter 316 and the
receiver 318 may be integrated in one or more transceivers.
Additionally or alternatively, the transmitter 316 or the receiver
318 may include or correspond to one or more components of the UE
115 described with reference to FIG. 2.
[0062] The base station 105 can include a variety of components
(such as structural, hardware components) used for carrying out one
or more functions described herein. For example, these components
can include one or more processors 352 (hereinafter referred to
collectively as "the processor 352"), one or more memory devices
354 (hereinafter referred to collectively as "the memory 354"), one
or more transmitters 356 (hereinafter referred to collectively as
"the transmitter 356"), and one or more receivers 358 (hereinafter
referred to collectively as "the receiver 358"). The processor 352
may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory 354
to perform the operations described herein. In some
implementations, the processor 352 includes or corresponds to one
or more of the receive processor 238, the transmit processor 220,
and the controller 240, and the memory 354 includes or corresponds
to the memory 242.
[0063] The transmitter 356 is configured to transmit reference
signals, synchronization signals, control information and data to
one or more other devices, and the receiver 358 is configured to
receive reference signals, control information and data from one or
more other devices. For example, the transmitter 356 may transmit
signaling, control information and data to, and the receiver 358
may receive signaling, control information and data from, the UE
115. In some implementations, the transmitter 356 and the receiver
358 may be integrated in one or more transceivers. Additionally or
alternatively, the transmitter 356 or the receiver 358 may include
or correspond to one or more components of base station 105
described with reference to FIG. 2.
[0064] In some implementations, the wireless communications system
300 implements a 5G New Radio (NR) network. For example, the
wireless communications system 300 may include multiple 5G-capable
UEs 115 and multiple 5G-capable base stations 105, such as UEs and
base stations configured to operate in accordance with a 5G NR
network protocol such as that defined by the 3GPP.
[0065] During operation of the wireless communications system 300,
the BS 105 may receive sensor data 360 from sensors monitoring a
cell environment served by the BS 105. The sensor data may include
camera data, radar data, lidar data, or a combination thereof. The
BS 105 may also receive beam management (BM) reports from US 115.
The BS 105 may generate a model of the cell environment based on a
complementary combination of the sensor data 360 and beam
management reporting history 362 assembled from the BM reports, or
based on each one of these information sources separately. The BS
105 may receive an indication 372 of a first location of the UE 115
in a message 370. The first location may be determined by the UE
115 using a satellite position system (SPS), such as the global
positioning system (GPS), GLObal NAvigation Satellite System
(GLONASS), or Beidou, or other location determination systems, such
as triangulation, network-determined location services, or
crowdsourced Wi-Fi locations. Based on the model of the cell
environment determined from a complementary combination of the
sensor data 360 and the beam management reporting history 362, the
BS 105 may determine a beam from a plurality of beams available for
communicating with the UE 115 residing at a specific location or
spot and transmit an indication 382 of the determined beam in a
message 380 to the UE 115. The BS 105 and the UE 115 may
communicate over the beam indicated in message 380. The BS 105 may
also receive a beam management (BM) report 392 in a message 390
received from the UE 115. The BS 105 may associate the BM report
392 with the first location of the UE 115 and accumulate received
beam reports in the beam management reporting history 362. In some
embodiments, the BS 105 association with the first location may be
determined from a location of the UE 115 included in the BM report
392. Additional details of aspects of the present disclosure are
described with reference to subsequent figures.
[0066] As described with reference to FIG. 3, the present
disclosure provides techniques for enhancing beam management in a
wireless communication system that addresses static and dynamic
environment changes through the acquisition and use of a
complimentary combination of sensor data and beam management
reporting history, or each individually, describing the cell
environment served by the BS. Certain aspects of the disclosure may
achieve benefits such as improved user experience when operating
the UE. Aspects that result in this improved user experience
include more robust and responsive beam management, proactive beam
switching that prevents communication failures by predicting beam
shadowing events, improved link quality through more optimal beam
selection, more efficient usage of cell resources, UE power saving,
UE processing complexity reduction, quicker switching to alternate
beams, or a combination thereof. Some benefits may be particularly
advantageous in operation of FR2 cells and other millimeter wave
cells because the smaller range of such cells allows for more
comprehensive sensor data to be accumulated and a higher accuracy
model of the cell environment generated.
[0067] An example scenario illustrating the benefit of beam
management using sensor data is illustrated in a wireless
communication system in FIGS. 4 and 5. A wireless communication
system includes the BS 105 and UEs 115a-b in communication with the
BS 105. The BS 105 may have a plurality of beams available to
communicate with each of the UEs 115a-b. The BS 105 may manage
associations of some of those plurality of beams with possible UE
locations within the cell environment served by the BS. For
example, the BS 105 may associate candidate beams 410a-c with a
location of UE 115a, and the BS 105 may associate candidate beams
412a-c with a location of UE 115b. Objects in the cell environment
served by the BS 105 may affect link quality of the candidate beams
410a-c and 412a-c. For example, buildings 402 and 404 may generate
reflections of candidate beams 410c and 412c that allow UEs 115a
and 115b to communicate on those respective beams. Buildings 402
and 404 are examples of static aspects of the environment. Other
objects in the environment may be dynamic, such as objects that
result in short-term changes (e.g., objects that move on a
per-hour, per-minute, or per-second basis such as vehicle 406,
people on the street, and moving windows in buildings) and objects
that result in long-term changes (e.g., objects that move on a
per-day, per-month, or per-year basis such as plants with foliage).
The vehicle 406 is a dynamic aspect of the environment because the
vehicle 406 is moving in the street, which may have a short-term
effect on the availability of beams for communicating with UEs
115a-b. Plants are another example of a dynamic aspect of the cell
environment because the plants may have foliage that increases and
decreases with outdoor conditions, such as whether the plant
maintains foliage during the winter or lose foliage during the
winter.
[0068] The BS 105 may benefit from using sensor data about the
environment of the BS 105 or a UE in managing beams used to
communicate with 115a-b, and that environment data may be acquired
through sensors 405 capturing information about the environment.
For example, cameras in the environment, such as attached to the BS
105, may capture imagery of the cell environment and that imagery
accumulated as sensor data 420 that is provided to a beam
management (BM) server 422 for managing the association of
candidate beams 410a-c and 412a-c with locations of the UEs 115a-b.
Other example sensor data may include radar data or lidar data
acquired from devices in communication with the BM server 422.
Additionally, predetermined data 424, such as three-dimensional
(3-D) cell environment profiling data obtained during setup of the
BS 105, may provide information regarding static aspects of the
cell environment served by the BS 105. The BM server 422 may use
the sensor data 420 in determining candidate beams for the UEs
115a-b and selecting particular candidate beams for communicating
with the UEs 115a-b. The use of sensor data 420 may provide
information regarding dynamic aspects of the cell environment that
allow the BM server 422 to better determine candidate beams for the
UEs 115a-b.
[0069] Further, the BM server 422 may use a beam management
reporting history to provide information regarding dynamic aspects
of the cell environment that allow the BM server 422 to better
determine candidate beams for the UEs 115a-b, in complimentary
combination with the UE location and sensor data. For example, the
UE 115b may provide a UE1 BM report with information regarding
candidate beams 412a-c along with a location of the UE 115b.
Likewise, the UE 115a may provide a UE2 BM report with information
regarding candidate beams 410a-c along with a location of the UE
115a. The BM server 422 may accumulate BM reports from all the UEs
served by the cell including the UEs 115a-b at various locations
and times to accumulate the beam management reporting history per
location/spot and also to track some long-term changes taking place
in the environment that are reflected in BM reports provided for
the same location at different times. The beam management reporting
history may be analyzed, in view of complimentary sensor data, to
determine long-term changes in the cell environment, such as to
recognize that some beams relevant for some corresponding UE
locations may be blocked by new buildings, structures, or foliage
present in the cell environment.
[0070] An example of the benefit of the sensor data availability to
the BM server 422 is shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a block diagram
illustrating an example model of a cell environment served by a BS
with shadowing of some beams according to some aspects. The vehicle
406 may continue to move down a street eventually causing shadowing
of candidate beams 412a-b. Camera data acquired from the
environment can be used to identify the movement of the vehicle 406
and predict the shadowing effect of the vehicle on candidate beams
412a-b prior to the vehicle 406 severing communications with the UE
115b. When the shadowing of candidate beam 412a-b is predicted from
the sensor data 420, the BM server 422 may cause the BS 105 to
switch beams to a different candidate beam, such as candidate beam
412c, that provides better link quality. The BS 105 may issue
appropriate commands to the UE 115b to carry out the beam switch.
Although sensor data 420 is illustrated in the prediction of beam
shadowing, the sensor data 420 may be used in the determination of
other dynamic aspects of the cell environment that affect link
quality.
[0071] The UE 115b may change the contents of the BM report based
on changing quality of beams received at the UE's location. For
example, FIG. 5 illustrates that the UE1 BM report includes
information on beam idx3, beam idx4, and beam idx2, associated with
the UE1 location. Previously, as shown in FIG. 4, the UE 115b
transmitted a UE1 BM report including information on beam idx1,
beam idx2, and beam idx3, associated with the UE1 location. Sensor
data may be used to interpret the changing BM reports to determine
which changes are short-term and which charts are long-term for the
purposes of managing associations of beams with UE locations as
described in more detail below.
[0072] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process 600
that supports beam selection based on sensor data according to some
aspects. Operations of the process 600 may be performed by a BS,
such as the BS 105 described above with reference to FIGS. 1-3. For
example, example operations (also referred to as "blocks") of the
process 600 may enable the BS 105 to better determine beams for
communicating between the BS 105 and the UE 115 by using a model of
the cell environment based on sensor data.
[0073] In block 602, the BS obtains sensor data associated with a
cell environment served by the BS.
[0074] In block 604, the BS receives a plurality of beam management
(BM) reports from one or more UEs.
[0075] In block 606, the BS determines a beam management reporting
history for a plurality of beams of the BS based on the plurality
of BM reports received at block 604.
[0076] In block 608, the BS 105 associates a plurality of beams
with a plurality of possible UE locations in a cell environment
served by the BS. The associations are based on a complimentary
combination of sensor data regarding the cell environment served by
the BS and beam management reporting history associated with the
plurality of beams, or each of the beam management reporting
history or sensor data individually. For example, the BS 105 may
receive image data from a camera in the environment. The BS 105 may
process the raw image data, such as by applying a computer vision
algorithm or a machine learning algorithm or both to detect,
identify, or track objects in the environment, and determine the
effect of the object on beams available at the BS, and
appropriately update the candidate beams for possible UE locations.
As another example, the BS 105 may process BM reports collected
from a plurality of UEs located in a plurality of locations and
over time to determine the beam management reporting history. The
beams available at the BS 105 may be evaluated for each possible UE
location to determine candidate beams using information about the
cell environment determined from the sensor data, the beam
management reporting history, or a combination thereof. The
candidate beams may be maintained in a table stored in the memory
of the BS 105. An example table that may be maintained by the BS
105 is shown below:
TABLE-US-00001 Grid of locations Candidate Candidate Candidate
under cell range beam 1 beam 2 beam 3 UE location spot 1 SSB
idx1(1) SSB idx2(1) SSB idx3(1) UE location spot 2 SSB idx1(2) SSB
idx2(2) SSB idx3(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . UE location spot N SSB
idx1(N) SSB idx2(N) SSB idx3(N)
[0077] In some embodiments, the candidate beams may be associated
with UE locations and different environmental conditions. For
example, candidate beams may be identified for a first condition of
the cell environment (e.g., a short-term condition) and a second
condition of the cell environment (e.g., a long-term condition). An
example table that may be maintained by the BS 105 reflecting
associations with different environmental conditions 1-M is shown
below:
TABLE-US-00002 Grid of locations Cell under cell Environment
Candidate Candidate Candidate range Condition beam 1 beam 2 beam 3
UE location Environment SSB idx1(1) SSB idx2(1) SSB idx3(1) spot 1
condition 1 UE location . . . spot 1 UE location Environment SSB
idx1(1) SSB idx2(1) SSB idx3(1) spot 1 condition M UE location
Environment SSB idx1(2) SSB idx2(2) SSB idx3(2) spot 2 condition 1
UE location . . . spot 2 UE location Environment SSB idx1(2) SSB
idx2(2) SSB idx3(2) spot 2 condition M . . . . . . . . . . . . UE
location Environment SSB idx1(N) SSB idx2(N) SSB idx3(N) spot N
condition M
[0078] The BS may receive multiple BM reports from a UE at the same
location at different times. The BS may determine a context of the
cell environment at the time of the BM reports, such as by
associating the BM report with sensor data that is associated with
the time of the BM report and the UE location associated with the
report. This complementary information of the sensor data and the
BM reports may be used in managing the associations in the table of
candidate beams with environmental conditions and UE locations. The
BS may thus better determine long-term changes in the cell
environment or predict short-term environment conditions including
new blockers or reflectors affecting beams transmitted from the
BS.
[0079] In block 610, the BS 105 determine a first location of a
first UE. For example, the BS 105 may receive a location report
from the UE identifying a location determined from a global
positioning system (GPS). The location report may be received as
part of an L1 RSRP report, in which the UE attaches its location
information (based on GPS or other positioning method) that has the
best alignment with the report content. As another example, the BS
105 may receive a location of the first UE from a subsystem in the
BS 105 that is capable of triangulating the first UE's location
from antennas of the BS 105. Other example location determination
techniques include downlink-time of different arrival (DL-TODA)
positioning based on an observed time difference of arrival of a
primary reference signal (PRS) pilot received in a DL transmission,
uplink-TODA (UL-TODA) positioning based on UL-OTDOA of a sounding
reference signal (SRS) pilot in an UL transmission, Multi-cell
roundtrip time (RTT) determined from measurements of UL and DL
reference signals (RSs) by several BSs, UL-angle of arrival (AoA)
determined from measurements of UL AoA by several BSs (or total
radiated power (TRP)), DL-angle of departure (AoD) determination
based on reference signals received power (RSRP) measurements
reported by a UE on different beams for different BSs (such as
based on PRS or channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS)
in a DL transmission), locations determined based on sensor data or
a combination of any of these techniques.
[0080] In block 612, the BS 105 determines a first set of one or
more candidate beams of the plurality of beams available at the BS
for communicating with the first UE at the first location based on
the first location and based on the associating performed at block
602.
[0081] In block 614, the BS 105 determines a first beam of the
first set of one or more candidate beams of the BS for
communicating with the first UE based on the first location and the
associations. For example, the BS 105 may access a look-up table
identifying a set of candidate beams for the first location
indicated at block 604, and select at least one of the candidate
beams associated with the first location from the look-up table.
The selection may, for example, identify the best candidate beam
from the available candidate beams based on criteria such as signal
strength for the candidate beam, bandwidth available on the
candidate beam, latency achievable with the candidate beam, network
resources available for the candidate beam, or a combination
thereof. In some implementations, the BS 105 may adjust beam width
for each UE depending on the UE's movement speed, movement
trajectory, and environment dynamics, which may be determined from
the sensor data.
[0082] In block 616, the BS 105 transmits a communication to the
first UE using the first beam determined at block 608. In some
implementations, the transmitted communications to the first UE may
include a listing of candidate beams for communicating with the BS
105 at the first location, and may be updated based on changes in
the UE location or changes in the cell environment. The listing may
include a set of serving beams and an additional non-overlapping
set of other candidate beams. The listing may be addressed on a UE
side under an additional dedicated TCI states table for candidate
beams or using a special table dedicated for candidate beams
masking or notation on top of an existing TCI states table listing
all the configured TCI states. Activation of a TCI state from the
table of configured TCI states makes the corresponding beam of the
activated TCI state become a serving beam.
[0083] The indication regarding the candidate beams can be
transmitted by means of a candidate Transmission Configuration
Indicator (TCI) state activation message using a medium access
control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) message. Usage of MAC-CE
based activation may allow frequent reactivation of candidate beams
to allow continuous-in-time, fast, and synchronous indication
delivery to a UE. The listing may be the best candidate beams for
the current UE's location and environmental conditions determined
from the associating performed at block 602. The other candidate
beams indicated in the MAC-CE message that are not current serving
beams may be used on the UE side to focus UE beam-tracking efforts
on the indicated list of beams rather than continuously determine
them based on SSB beams sweeping. The other candidate beams may
also or alternatively be the focus of UE beam failure recovery
procedures and involved measurements to reduce power consumption.
The other candidate beams may also or alternatively be the beams
considered by the UE for Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE)
management and related UL beam selection. For example, with
candidate beams the UE may track the UE beam with more coarse
measurements than the serving beam.
[0084] A beam switch indicator, such as the MAC-CE message, may be
followed by an AP P3 session scheduling to allow a fast UE beam
adjustment to the new serving beam. The AP P3 session may involve
UE beam selection, refinement, or tracking performed based on P3
beam management (BM) channel state information reference signal
(CSI-RS) resources.
[0085] Optionally, the BS can also schedule a P2 BM session for BS
beam refinement to identify narrow beams corresponding to a coarse
beam indicated as an alternate beam in the list of beams. The P2 BM
session is assisted by L1 RSRP reporting by the UE for several
selected beams from the list based on BM CSI-RS resources. P2 BM
sessions can be scheduled to verify or refine a best beam among the
candidate beams prior to beam switching. A P2 BM session may be
scheduled based on provisioning for the potential beam switch to
maintain link performance. The transmission of lists of candidate
beams can allow the UE to focus UE beam tracking efforts on the
indicated list of candidate beams, reducing operations to
continuously determine the candidate beams based on SSB beam
sweeping. This can allow the UE to avoid an exhaustive search of
beams on multiple SSBs, thus reducing UE power consumption
[0086] In some implementations, the managing of associations
between candidate beams and possible UE locations may involve the
generation of a model of the environment of the cell. For example,
each object in the environment may be correlated to a corresponding
location in a three-dimensional (3-D) map in real time. Ray tracing
may be performed using the model to determine how objects in the
environment affect propagation and potential shadowing of wireless
signals transmitted from the BS 105 on beams available at the BS
105. The model may allow the BS 105 to predict blockage of beams
associated with possible UE locations or to determine the
appearance of new candidate beams associated with new reflections
from objects in the environment. This allows the BS 105 to act
proactively in beam management to reduce link disruptions with
UEs.
[0087] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process 700
that supports selection of beams based on a model generated from
ray tracing around objects defined using sensor data and BM reports
according to some aspects. Operations of the process 700 may be
performed by a base station, such as the BS 105 described above
with reference to FIGS. 1-3 or a base station as described with
reference to FIG. 10. For example, example operations of the
process 700 may enable the BS 105 to manage associates of a
plurality of candidate beams available at the BS with a plurality
of possible locations of UEs.
[0088] In block 702, the BS 105 receives sensor data associated
with the cell environment served by the BS 105 and corresponding BM
reports. The sensor data may be used in combination with the BM
reports to understand a context of the BM reports when determining
a 3-D model of the cell environment.
[0089] In block 704, the BS 105 determines a 3-D model of the cell
environment served by the BS that defines objects in the
environment based on the sensor data. The 3-D model may also
incorporate offline 3D environment mapping information. For
example, the offline information may provide a 3-D topographic map
to locate and track objects on top of it based on sensor data.
[0090] In block 706, the BS 105 performs ray tracing based on the
objects defined in the environment for a plurality of possible UE
locations in the cell environment.
[0091] In block 708, the BS 105 determines a respective propagation
path and potential shadowing for each UE location and for each of
the plurality of beams at the BS based on the ray tracing.
[0092] In block 710, the BS 105 associates a plurality of candidate
beams with the plurality of possible UE locations based on the
respective determined propagation path and potential shadowing for
each of the plurality of beams available at the BS. The BS 105 may
continue to update the associations, such as by updating the
example table described above, as sensor data is received by
repeating blocks 702, 704, 706, 708, and 710.
[0093] In typical implementations, beam management on the BS 105
may be performed using beam management (BM) reports received from
UEs in the cell environment served by the BS. BM reports may
provide additional information that may be used in managing the
association of a plurality of candidate beams with a plurality of
possible UE locations. For example, each UE may provide periodic or
aperiodicL1 RSRP reports for up to four best beams. For each L1
RSRP report, the UE may attach location information (such as an
indication of GPS coordinates). Multiple UEs moving throughout the
cell environment served by the BS may provide ongoing statistical
information from which the BS 105 may manage the association of a
plurality of candidate beams with a plurality of possible UE
locations. The BM reports history and statistics can allow for beam
management to follow long-term changes in the cell environment and
determine the 3-D model based on those mid or long-term changes.
Thus, the BM reports may be used in the determining of associations
of candidate beams per UE locations/spots under the cell coverage
range and hence can allow enhancements in beam management
procedures. The BM reports may allow capturing more precision
regarding the impact of foliage and other objects that affect
propagation paths and potential shadowing by changing reflection
and absorption aspects of the environment.
[0094] In some embodiments, the context may be used to determine
how a BM report affects the model of the cell environment by
determining whether the BM report indicates a short-term or
long-term change or event in the cell environment. For example, the
first context of the first BM report may be used to determine that
the first BM report indicates a short-term condition in the cell
environment, and the second context of the second BM report may be
used to determine that the second BM report indicates a long-term
condition in the cell environment. When associations are not
tracked based on conditions in the cell environment, BM reports
corresponding to a short-term condition may be selectively ignored
during the updating of the model of the cell environment. When
associations are tracked based on different conditions in the cell
environment, BM reports corresponding to a short-term condition may
be used to update associations corresponding only to the
appropriate condition in the cell environment.
[0095] For example, at the beginning of the year a line-of-sight
(LOS) propagation may exist from the BS to a UE at a first possible
UE location. Each time any UE at that first possible UE location
may provide similar BM reports indicating good signal quality for
the location, with the exception of short-term blockages by passing
objects. The sensor data may be used as context for interpreting
the BM reports to determine that a moving object, such as a bus,
temporarily caused reduced signal quality but long-term condition
and the corresponding beam statistics and associations of a
candidate beams should be interpreted from the BM reports that are
not associated with a short-term blockage event. Later, when an
additional building is built in the cell environment that blocks
the LOS propagation between BS and this possible UE location, UEs
at this location now provide different BM reports that include
reflected beams only. This is an example of long-term environment
changes that can be tracked based on corresponding BM reports
changes. The sensor data may provide additional context to
interpret the reduced availability of the LOS propagation as a
long-term cell environment change that can be tracked based on BM
report from all UEs for all cell locations.
[0096] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process 800
that supports operation of a UE in a network that supports beam
selection based on a model of the cell environment served by the BS
according to some aspects. Operations of the process 800 may be
performed by a UE, such as the UEs 115a-k described above with
reference to FIGS. 1-3 or a UE as described with reference to FIG.
9. For example, example operations of the process 800 may enable
the UE 115 to more efficiently and reliably operate when
communicating with the BS 105 and to provide information through BM
reports to allow the BS 105 to more efficiently and reliably select
beams for communicating with the UE 115.
[0097] In block 802, the UE 115 determines a first location of the
first UE. The first location may be determined using a satellite
position system (SPS), such as the global positioning system (GPS),
GLObal NAvigation Satellite System (GLONASS), or Beidou, or other
location determination systems, such as triangulation,
network-determined location services, or crowdsourced Wi-Fi
locations.
[0098] In block 804, the UE 115 transmits an indication of the
first location of the UE to the BS. For example, the UE 115 may
transmit a location report from the UE identifying a location
determined from a global positioning system (GPS). As another
example, the UE 115 may transmit a location of the first UE from
other example location determination techniques such as
downlink-time of different arrival (DL-TODA) positioning based on
an observed time difference of arrival of a primary reference
signal (PRS) pilot received in a DL transmission, uplink-TODA
(UL-TODA) positioning based on UL-OTDOA of a sounding reference
signal (SRS) pilot in an UL transmission, Multi-cell roundtrip time
(RTT) determined from measurements of UL and DL reference signals
(RSs) by several BSs, UL-angle of arrival (AoA) determined from
measurements of UL AoA by several BSs (or total radiated power
(TRP)), DL-angle of departure (AoD) determination based on
reference signals received power (RSRP) measurements reported by a
UE on different beams for different BSs (such as based on PRS or
channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) in a DL
transmission), location determined based on sensor data or a
combination of any of these techniques.
[0099] In block 806, the UE 115 receives wireless signals from the
BS transmitted on a first beam selected based on associations of a
plurality of candidate beams with a plurality of possible UE
locations in a cell environment served by the BS.
[0100] In some implementations, the UE 115 may provide an
indication regarding the most appropriate beams for its current
location through BM reports, and that information may be used by
the BS 105 to manage the association of a plurality of candidate
beams with a plurality of possible UE locations. For example, in
block 808, the UE 115 transmits beam management (BM) reports to the
BS, and those beam reports may be associated with the first
location by the UE 115 prior to transmission. Alternatively, the BM
reports may be transmitted without location information and UE
location information may be associated with the UE beam report by
the BS 105. In case that BS is equipped with sensor data that can
be used to build beams and locations associations based on ray
tracing and 3D modeling and continuous tracking of the cell
environment, the BS does not have to strongly rely on BM reporting
from a UE side as it is typically done in the current millimeter
wave (mmw) cell implementations and hence the BS may configure a
lower periodicity of beam reporting from the UE, or no reporting to
reduce UL resource consumption and reduce UE power consumption.
[0101] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an example UE 900 that supports
beam selection based on sensor data according to some aspects. The
UE 900 may be configured to perform operations, including the
blocks of the process 800 described with reference to FIG. 8. In
some implementations, the UE 900 includes the structure, hardware,
and components shown and described with reference to the UE 115 of
FIG. 2 or 3. For example, the UE 900 includes the controller 280,
which operates to execute logic or computer instructions stored in
the memory 282, as well as controlling the components of the UE 900
that provide the features and functionality of the UE 900. The UE
900, under control of the controller 280, transmits and receives
signals via wireless radios 901a-r and the antennas 252a-r. The
wireless radios 901a-r include various components and hardware, as
illustrated in FIG. 2 for the UE 115, including the modulator and
demodulators 254a-r, the MIMO detector 256, the receive processor
258, the transmit processor 264, and the TX MIMO processor 266.
[0102] As shown, the memory 282 may include receive logic 902 and
processing logic 903. The receive logic 902 may be configured to
process beam selection indications or beam switch indications. The
UE 900 may receive signals from or transmit signals to one or more
network entities, such as the base station 105 of FIGS. 1-3 or a
base station as illustrated in FIG. 10.
[0103] In some implementations, the UE 900 may be configured to
perform the process 700 of FIG. 7. To illustrate, the UE 900 may
execute, under control of the controller 280, the receive logic 902
and the processing logic 903, stored in the memory 282. The
execution environment of the receive logic 902 provides the
functionality to perform at least the operations in block 806. The
execution environment of the processing logic 903 provides the
functionality to perform at least the operations in block 802, 804,
and 808.
[0104] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example base station 1000
that supports beam selection based on sensor data according to some
aspects. The base station 1000 may be configured to perform
operations, including the blocks of the process 600 or 700
described with reference to FIG. 6 or 7, respectively. In some
implementations, the base station 1000 includes the structure,
hardware, and components shown and described with reference to the
base station 105 of FIGS. 1-3. For example, the base station 1000
may include the controller 240, which operates to execute logic or
computer instructions stored in the memory 242, as well as
controlling the components of the base station 1000 that provide
the features and functionality of the base station 1000. The base
station 1000, under control of the controller 240, transmits and
receives signals via wireless radios 1001a-t and the antennas
234a-t. The wireless radios 1001a-t include various components and
hardware, as illustrated in FIG. 2 for the base station 105,
including the modulator and demodulators 232a-t, the transmit
processor 220, the TX MIMO processor 230, the MIMO detector 236,
and the receive processor 238.
[0105] As shown, the memory 242 may include generation logic 1002
and transmission logic 1003. The generation logic 1002 may be
configured to manage the associations of candidate beams with
possible UE locations. The base station 1000 may receive signals
from or transmit signals to one or more UEs, such as the UE 115 of
FIGS. 1-3 or the UE 900 of FIG. 9.
[0106] In some implementations, the base station 1000 may be
configured to perform the process 600 of FIG. 6 or process 700 of
FIG. 7. To illustrate, the base station 1000 may execute, under
control of the controller 240, the generation logic 1002 and the
transmission logic 1003 stored in the memory 242. The execution
environment of the generation logic 1002 provides the functionality
to perform at least the operations in block 602, 604, 606, 702,
704, 706, 708, and 710. The execution environment of the
transmission logic 1003 provides the functionality to perform at
least the operations in block 608.
[0107] It is noted that one or more blocks (or operations)
described with reference to FIG. 6 may be combined with one or more
blocks (or operations) described with reference to another of the
figures. For example, one or more blocks (or operations) of FIG. 6
may be combined with one or more blocks (or operations) of FIG. 7.
As another example, one or more blocks associated with FIG. 6 or 7
may be combined with one or more blocks (or operations) associated
with FIG. 2 or 3.
[0108] In some aspects, techniques for enabling beam selection
using sensor data may include additional aspects, such as any
single aspect or any combination of aspects described below or in
connection with one or more other processes or devices described
elsewhere herein. In some aspects, enabling beam selection using
sensor data may include an of a wireless device, such as a UE or a
BS. In some implementations, the apparatus may include at least one
processor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor may
be configured to perform operations described herein with respect
to the wireless device. In some other implementations, the
apparatus may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium
having program code recorded thereon and the program code may be
executable by a computer for causing the computer to perform
operations described herein with reference to the wireless device.
In some implementations, the apparatus may include one or more
means configured to perform operations described herein.
[0109] In a first aspect, the processor is configured to perform a
method that includes obtaining sensor data associated with a cell
environment served by the BS; receiving a plurality of beam
management (BM) reports, associated with a plurality of beams
transmitted by the BS, from a plurality of user equipments (UEs) at
a plurality of possible UE locations in the cell environment;
determining a beam management reporting history based on the
plurality of BM reports; associating the plurality of beams with
the plurality of possible UE locations based on the sensor data and
the beam management reporting history; determining a first location
of a first UE in the cell environment; determining a first set of
one or more candidate beams of the plurality of beams based on the
first location and based on the associating; determining a first
beam of the first set of one or more candidate beams for
communicating with the first UE; and transmitting a communication
to the first UE using the first beam. The method may be implemented
in a base station (BS). The BS includes at least one processor and
a memory coupled with the at least one processor and storing
processor-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least
one processor, is configured to perform aspects of embodiments of
the disclosed methods.
[0110] In a second aspect, alone or in combination with the first
aspect, determining the first location comprises at least one of:
performing downlink-time of different arrival (DL-TODA)
positioning, wherein the first location is determined based on the
DL-TODA positioning; performing uplink-TODA (UL-TODA) positioning,
wherein the first location is determined based on the UL-TODA
positioning; performing multi-cell roundtrip time (RTT)
positioning, wherein the first location is determined based on the
RTT positioning; performing UL-angle of arrival (AoA) positioning,
wherein the first location is determined based on the AoA
positioning; performing DL-angle of departure (AoD) positioning,
wherein the first location is determined based on the AoD
positioning; determining the first location based on the sensor
data; or receiving a UE location report from the first UE, wherein
the first location is determined based on the UE location
report.
[0111] In a third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more
of the first through second aspects, the associating comprises:
determining a three-dimensional (3-D) model of the cell environment
that defines objects in the cell environment based on the sensor
data; performing ray tracing, based on the 3-D model, for the
plurality of beams and the plurality of possible UE locations;
determining propagation paths and potential shadowing associated
with the plurality of beams for the plurality of possible UE
locations based on the ray tracing; and determining sets of one or
more candidate beams of the plurality of beams for respective
locations of the plurality of possible UE locations based on the
respective propagation paths and the respective potential
shadowing, the sets of one or more candidate beams for the
plurality of possible UE locations including the first set of one
or more candidate beams for the first location.
[0112] In a fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more
of the first through third aspects, the processor is also
configured to receive predetermined 3-D cell profile data
characterizing the cell environment, wherein determining the 3-D
model of the cell environment is further based on the predetermined
3-D cell profile data.
[0113] In a fifth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more
of the first through fourth aspects, each of the plurality of BM
reports includes a measurement, by a respective UE of the plurality
of UEs, of at least one of the plurality of beams and an indication
of a location of the respective UE, the method further comprising
determining long-term changes in the cell environment based on the
beam management reporting history, wherein determining the 3-D
model of the cell environment is further based on the long-term
changes.
[0114] In a sixth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more
of the first through fifth aspects, the sensor data includes at
least one of camera data, radar data, or lidar data, the method
further comprising analyzing the sensor data using a machine
learning algorithm, wherein the determining of the 3-D model is
based on the analysis.
[0115] In a seventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or
more of the first through sixth aspects, receiving the plurality of
BM reports comprises receiving a first BM report from a UE
associated with a first time and a second BM report from the UE
associated with a second time, and wherein the associating
comprises: associating a set of beams of the plurality of beams
with a possible UE location for a first condition of the cell
environment, wherein the first condition is a short-term condition;
associating another set of beams of the plurality of beams with the
possible UE location for a second condition of the cell
environment, wherein the second condition is a long-term condition;
determining a first context in the cell environment for the first
BM report based on the sensor data associated with the first time,
wherein the first context corresponds to the first condition;
determining a second context in the cell environment for the second
BM report based on the sensor data associated with the second time,
wherein the second context corresponds to the second condition;
associating the set of beams with the possible UE location for the
first condition based on the first BM report and the first context;
and associating the another set of beams with the possible UE
location for the second condition based on the second BM report and
the second context.
[0116] In an eighth aspect, alone or in combination with one or
more of the first through seventh aspects, determining the first
beam of the first set of candidate beams comprises determining at
least one serving beam of the first set of candidate beams, the at
least one serving beam comprising the first beam, and wherein the
method further comprises transmitting, to the first UE, a first
medium access control element (MAC-CE) message including an
indication of an active transmission configuration indicator (TCI)
state table corresponding to the at least one serving beam and an
indication of a candidate TCI state table corresponding to at least
one other beam of the first set of one or more candidate beams.
[0117] In a ninth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more
of the first through eighth aspects, the processor is also
configured to predict shadowing associated with the first beam
based on the sensor data; determining a second beam from the first
set of one or more candidate beams based on the associating and
based on the first location of the first UE; transmitting, to the
first UE, a beam switch indication for switching to the second beam
in response to predicting the shadowing; and transmitting a
communication to the first UE using the second beam.
[0118] In a tenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more
of the first through ninth aspects, the processor may be configured
to perform a method including receiving wireless signals from a
base station (BS) transmitted using a first beam of a first set of
one or more candidate beams determined based on associations of a
plurality of beams with a plurality of possible UE locations in a
cell environment served by the BS and based on a first location of
the UE, the associations being based on sensor data associated with
the cell environment and a beam management reporting history
associated with the plurality of beams and the plurality of
possible UE locations.
[0119] In an eleventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or
more of the first through tenth aspects, the first location of the
first UE is determined based on at least one of: performing
downlink-time of different arrival (DL-TODA) positioning, wherein
the first location is determined based on the DL-TODA positioning;
performing uplink-TODA (UL-TODA) positioning, wherein the first
location is determined based on the UL-TODA positioning; performing
multi-cell roundtrip time (RTT) positioning, wherein the first
location is determined based on the RTT positioning; performing
UL-angle of arrival (AoA) positioning, wherein the first location
is determined based on the AoA positioning; performing DL-angle of
departure (AoD) positioning, wherein the first location is
determined based on the AoD positioning; determining the first
location based on the sensor data; or receiving a UE location
report from the first UE, wherein the first location is determined
based on the UE location report.
[0120] In a twelfth aspect, alone or in combination with one or
more of the first through eleventh aspects, the associations are
determined by: determining a three-dimensional (3-D) model of the
cell environment that defines objects in the environment based on
the sensor data; performing ray tracing, based on the 3-D model,
for the plurality of beams and the plurality of possible UE
locations; determining propagation paths and potential shadowing
associated with each of the plurality of beams for the plurality of
possible UE locations based on the ray tracing; and determining
sets of one or more candidate beams of the plurality of beams for
respective locations of the plurality of possible UE locations
based on the respective propagation paths and the respective
potential shadowing, the sets of one or more candidate beams for
the plurality of possible UE locations including the first set of
one or more candidate beams for the first location.
[0121] In a thirteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or
more of the first through twelfth aspects, the 3-D model is
determined based also on predetermined 3-D cell profile data
characterizing the cell environment.
[0122] In a fourteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or
more of the first through thirteenth aspects, the processor is also
configured to transmit, to the BS, a first beam management (BM)
report associated with the first location and associated with a
first time, wherein the associations are based on long-term changes
in the cell environment based on the beam management reporting
history including the first BM report, wherein the 3-D model of the
cell environment is further based on the long-term changes.
[0123] In a fifteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or
more of the first through fourteenth aspects, the sensor data
includes at least one of camera data, radar data, or lidar data,
wherein the first beam is determined based on analysis of the
sensor data using a machine learning algorithm, and wherein the
determining of the 3-D model is based on the analysis.
[0124] In a sixteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or
more of the first through fifteenth aspects, the processor is also
configured to transmit, to the BS, a first BM report associated
with a first time; and transmitting, to the BS, a second BM report
associated with a second time, wherein the associations associate a
set of beams of the plurality of beams with a possible UE location
for a first condition of the cell environment and associate another
set of beams of the plurality of beams with the possible UE
location for a second condition of the cell environment, wherein
the first condition is a short-term condition and the second
condition is a long-term condition, and wherein the associations
are based on: determining a first context in the cell environment
for the first BM report based on the sensor data associated with
the first time, wherein the first context corresponds to the
short-term condition; determining a second context in the cell
environment for the second BM report based on the sensor data
associated with the second time, wherein the second context
corresponds to the long-term condition; associating the set of
beams with the possible UE location for the first condition based
on the first BM report and the first context; and associating the
another set of beams with the possible UE location for the second
condition based on the second BM report and the second context.
[0125] In a eighteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or
more of the first through seventeenth aspects, the processor is
also configured to receive a first medium access control (MAC)
control element (MAC-CE) message including an indication of an
active transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state table
corresponding to the at least one serving beam, the at least one
serving beam including the first beam, and an indication of a
candidate TCI states table corresponding to at least one other beam
of the first set of one or more candidate beams.
[0126] In a nineteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or
more of the first through eighteenth aspects, the processor is also
configured to receive a beam switch indication for switching to a
second beam selected from a first set of one or more candidate
beams based on the associations, the first set of one or more
candidate beams including the first beam, and the beam switch
indication based on predicting shadowing associated with the first
beam based on the sensor data; and receiving wireless signals from
the BS transmitted on the second beam
[0127] Those of skill in the art would understand that information
and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different
technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,
commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may
be referenced throughout the above description may be represented
by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or
particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination
thereof.
[0128] Components, the functional blocks, and the modules described
herein with respect to FIGS. 1-10 include processors, electronics
devices, hardware devices, electronics components, logical
circuits, memories, software codes, firmware codes, among other
examples, or any combination thereof. In addition, features
discussed herein may be implemented via specialized processor
circuitry, via executable instructions, or combinations
thereof.
[0129] Those of skill would further appreciate that the various
illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps
described in connection with the disclosure herein may be
implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or
combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability
of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks,
modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in
terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is
implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular
application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.
Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in
varying ways for each particular application, but such
implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a
departure from the scope of the present disclosure. Skilled
artisans will also readily recognize that the order or combination
of components, methods, or interactions that are described herein
are merely examples and that the components, methods, or
interactions of the various aspects of the present disclosure may
be combined or performed in ways other than those illustrated and
described herein.
[0130] The various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules,
circuits and algorithm processes described in connection with the
implementations disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic
hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. The
interchangeability of hardware and software has been described
generally, in terms of functionality, and illustrated in the
various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits and
processes described above. Whether such functionality is
implemented in hardware or software depends upon the particular
application and design constraints imposed on the overall
system.
[0131] The hardware and data processing apparatus used to implement
the various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules and
circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein
may be implemented or performed with a general purpose single- or
multi-chip processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an
application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field
programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,
discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or
any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described
herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or,
any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state
machine. In some implementations, a processor may be implemented as
a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP
and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more
microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such
configuration. In some implementations, particular processes and
methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a given
function.
[0132] In one or more aspects, the functions described may be
implemented in hardware, digital electronic circuitry, computer
software, firmware, including the structures disclosed in this
specification and their structural equivalents thereof, or in any
combination thereof. Implementations of the subject matter
described in this specification also can be implemented as one or
more computer programs, that is one or more modules of computer
program instructions, encoded on a computer storage media for
execution by, or to control the operation of, data processing
apparatus.
[0133] If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on
or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a
computer-readable medium. The processes of a method or algorithm
disclosed herein may be implemented in a processor-executable
software module which may reside on a computer-readable medium.
Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and
communication media including any medium that can be enabled to
transfer a computer program from one place to another. A storage
media may be any available media that may be accessed by a
computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such
computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or
other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic
storage devices, or any other medium that may be used to store
desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures
and that may be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection can be
properly termed a computer-readable medium. Disk and disc, as used
herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc,
digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc where
disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce
data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also
be included within the scope of computer-readable media.
Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as
one or any combination or set of codes and instructions on a
machine readable medium and computer-readable medium, which may be
incorporated into a computer program product.
[0134] Various modifications to the implementations described in
this disclosure may be readily apparent to those skilled in the
art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to
some other implementations without departing from the spirit or
scope of this disclosure. Thus, the claims are not intended to be
limited to the implementations shown herein, but are to be accorded
the widest scope consistent with this disclosure, the principles
and the novel features disclosed herein.
[0135] Additionally, a person having ordinary skill in the art will
readily appreciate, the terms "upper" and "lower" are sometimes
used for ease of describing the figures, and indicate relative
positions corresponding to the orientation of the figure on a
properly oriented page, and may not reflect the proper orientation
of any device as implemented.
[0136] Certain features that are described in this specification in
the context of separate implementations also can be implemented in
combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various
features that are described in the context of a single
implementation also can be implemented in multiple implementations
separately or in any suitable subcombination. Moreover, although
features may be described above as acting in certain combinations
and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a
claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the
combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a
subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
[0137] Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in
a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that
such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in
sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed,
to achieve desirable results. Further, the drawings may
schematically depict one more example processes in the form of a
flow diagram. However, other operations that are not depicted can
be incorporated in the example processes that are schematically
illustrated. For example, one or more additional operations can be
performed before, after, simultaneously, or between any of the
illustrated operations. In certain circumstances, multitasking and
parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation
of various system components in the implementations described above
should not be understood as requiring such separation in all
implementations, and it should be understood that the described
program components and systems can generally be integrated together
in a single software product or packaged into multiple software
products. Additionally, some other implementations are within the
scope of the following claims. In some cases, the actions recited
in the claims can be performed in a different order and still
achieve desirable results.
[0138] As used herein, including in the claims, the term "or," when
used in a list of two or more items, means that any one of the
listed items can be employed by itself, or any combination of two
or more of the listed items can be employed. For example, if a
composition is described as containing components A, B, or C, the
composition can contain A alone; B alone; C alone; A and B in
combination; A and C in combination; B and C in combination; or A,
B, and C in combination. Also, as used herein, including in the
claims, "or" as used in a list of items prefaced by "at least one
of" indicates a disjunctive list such that, for example, a list of
"at least one of A, B, or C" means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or
ABC (that is A and B and C) or any of these in any combination
thereof. The term "substantially" is defined as largely but not
necessarily wholly what is specified (and includes what is
specified; for example, substantially 90 degrees includes 90
degrees and substantially parallel includes parallel), as
understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art. In any
disclosed implementations, the term "substantially" may be
substituted with "within [a percentage] of" what is specified,
where the percentage includes 0.1, 1, 5, or 10 percent.
[0139] The previous description of the disclosure is provided to
enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure.
Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to
those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein
may be applied to other variations without departing from the
spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not
intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein
but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the
principles and novel features disclosed herein.
* * * * *