IP Library › Granted Patent US 12684370
Granted Patent B2
US 12684370 · App. 18/000,927 · Granted Jul 14, 2026

Managing beam coverage area representations in wireless communications systems

Inventors: Liangping Ma (San Diego, CA); Xiao Feng Wang (San Diego, CA); Ayan Sengupta (San Diego, CA); Alberto Rico Alvarino (San Diego, CA); Bharat Shrestha (San Diego, CA); Jun Ma (San Diego, CA); Peter Gaal (San Diego, CA); Umesh Phuyal (San Diego, CA); Dan Zhang (San Diego, CA); Huilin Xu (Temecula, CA); Yiqing Cao (Beijing, CN)
Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
H04W16/28H04B7/088
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12684370
App. No.
18/000,927
Granted
Jul 14, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A communication device, otherwise known as a user equipment (UE) may determine a beam configuration associated with a set of directional beams of a base station. The beam configuration may include a set of identifiers associated with the set of directional beams. The UE may determine beam position information associated with a coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams based on the beam configuration. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may determine beam classification information associated with the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams based on the beam configuration. The UE may select a directional beam of the set of directional beams based on the beam position information and the beam classification information, and communicate with the base station using the selected directional beam.

Claims (88)

1 . An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) device in a wireless network, comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors, the one or more processors configured to:

determine a beam configuration associated with a set of directional beams of a network device, wherein the beam configuration comprises a set of identifiers associated with the set of directional beams;

determine beam position information associated with a coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams based at least in part on the beam configuration;

determine beam classification information associated with the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams based at least in part on the beam configuration, wherein the beam classification information comprises an orientation of the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams, wherein the orientation comprises an angle between the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams and a direction of motion associated with the network device;

select a directional beam of the set of directional beams based at least in part on the beam position information and the beam classification information; and

communicate with the network device via the directional beam.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein, to determine the beam position information, the one or more processors are configured to:

determine position coordinates of a center of each coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams.

3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein, to determine the position coordinates, the one or more processors are configured to:

determine the position coordinates of the center of each coverage area of each directional beam as a function of time.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein, to determine the beam position information, the one or more processors are configured to:

determine a set of position coordinates associated with a boundary of each coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine a reference directional beam of the set of directional beams based at least in part on the beam configuration; and

communicate an indication that the beam configuration is based at least in part on a use of the reference directional beam, wherein to determine the beam position information, the one or more processors are configured to:

determine position coordinates of a center of a coverage area of the reference directional beam of the set of directional beams.

6 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein, to determine the position coordinates, the one or more processors are configured to:

determine the position coordinates of the center of the coverage area of the reference directional beam as a function of time.

7 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

determine other position coordinates of other centers of other coverage areas of other directional beams of the set of directional beams based at least in part on the position coordinates of the center of the coverage area of the reference directional beam and location information associated with the set of directional beams.

8 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

determine a scaling factor associated with the coverage area of the reference directional beam, wherein to determine the other position coordinates, the one or more processors are configured to:

determine the other position coordinates of the other centers of the other coverage areas of the other directional beams based at least in part on the coverage area of the reference directional beam that is scaled by the scaling factor.

9 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein to determine the beam classification information the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine a shape of the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams, wherein the shape of the coverage area comprises an ellipse shape, a circle shape, or a hexagon shape, or any combination thereof.

10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein to determine the beam classification information the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine a size of the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams, wherein the size of the coverage area corresponds to a semi-major axis associated with each directional beam or a semi-minor axis associated with each directional beam, or both.

11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein, to determine the orientation of the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams, the one or more processors are configured to:

determine an angle between a semi-minor axis associated with each directional beam of the set of directional beams and the direction of motion associated with the network device.

12 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein to determine the beam classification information the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine a direction of a center of the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams, wherein the direction comprises an azimuth angle or a zenith angle, or both.

13 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein to determine the beam classification information the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine a width of each directional beam of the set of directional beams.

14 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein to determine the beam classification information the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine position coordinates of a center of each coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams based at least in part on a direction of a center of the coverage area of a directional beam, a width of a directional beam, or a height associated with the network device, or any combination thereof, wherein the network device comprises a non-terrestrial base station or a non-terrestrial relay station.

15 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine beam frequency information of each directional beam of the set of directional beams based at least in part on the beam configuration, wherein, to select, the one or more processors are configured to:

select the directional beam of the set of directional beams based at least in part on the beam frequency information.

16 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine that each directional beam of the set of directional beams operates in a separate frequency interval based at least in part on the beam frequency information.

17 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein to determine that each directional beam of the set of directional beams operates in the separate frequency interval, the one or more processors are configured to:

determine that each directional beam of the set of directional beams operates in a separate bandwidth part based at least in part on the beam frequency information.

18 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

receive a system information message that includes the beam configuration, the system information message that includes a system information block, wherein, to determine the beam configuration, the one or more processors are configured to:

determine the beam configuration associated with the set of directional beams of the network device based at least in part on the system information message.

19 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

receive a radio resource control message that includes the beam configuration, wherein, to determine the beam configuration, the one or more processors are configured to:

determine the beam configuration associated with the set of directional beams of the network device based at least in part on the radio resource control message.

20 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is preconfigured with the beam configuration.

21 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

receive, via an antenna of the apparatus, an identifier of the network device, wherein the network device comprises a non-terrestrial base station or a non-terrestrial relay station;

map the identifier of the network device to the set of identifiers associated with the set of directional beams; and

associate the set of directional beams to the network device based at least in part on the map between the identifier of the network device and the set of identifiers associated with the set of directional beams.

22 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine that each directional beam of the set of directional beams comprises a single cell based at least in part on the beam configuration.

23 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine that each directional beam of the set of directional beams comprises a separate cell based at least in part on the beam configuration.

24 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the network device comprises a satellite.

25 . An apparatus for wireless communication at a network device in a wireless network, comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors, the one or more processors configured to:

determine a beam configuration associated with a set of directional beams of the apparatus, wherein the beam configuration comprises an identifier of the apparatus and a set of identifiers associated with the set of directional beams and the beam configuration comprises beam classification information associated with a coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams, wherein the beam classification information comprises an orientation of the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams, wherein the orientation comprises an angle between the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams and a direction of motion associated with the network device; and

transmit the beam configuration.

26 . The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine beam position information associated with the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams, wherein the beam configuration comprises the beam position information associated with the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams, wherein the beam position information comprises a center of the coverage area of each directional beam and a boundary of the coverage area of each directional beam.

27 . The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein, to determine the beam position information, the one or more processors are configured to:

determine position coordinates of the center of each coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams.

28 . The apparatus of claim 27 , wherein, to determine the position coordinates, the one or more processors are configured to:

determine the position coordinates of the center of each coverage area of each directional beam as a function of time.

29 . The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein, to determine the beam position information, the one or more processors are configured to:

determine a set of position coordinates associated with the boundary of each coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams.

30 . A method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:

determining a beam configuration associated with a set of directional beams of a network device, wherein the beam configuration comprises a set of identifiers associated with the set of directional beams;

determining beam position information associated with a coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams based at least in part on the beam configuration;

determining beam classification information associated with the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams based at least in part on the beam configuration, wherein the beam classification information comprises an orientation of the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams, wherein the orientation comprises an angle between the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams and a direction of motion associated with the network device;

selecting a directional beam of the set of directional beams based at least in part on the beam position information and the beam classification information; and

communicating with the network device using the directional beam.

31 . A method for wireless communication at a network device, comprising:

determining a beam configuration associated with a set of directional beams of the network device, wherein the beam configuration comprises an identifier of the network device and a set of identifiers associated with the set of directional beams and the beam configuration comprises beam classification information associated with a coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams, wherein the beam classification information comprises an orientation of the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams, wherein the orientation comprises an angle between the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams and a direction of motion associated with the network device; and

transmitting the beam configuration.

32 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to:

determine a beam configuration associated with a set of directional beams of a network device, wherein the beam configuration comprises a set of identifiers associated with the set of directional beams;

determine beam position information associated with a coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams based at least in part on the beam configuration;

determine beam classification information associated with the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams based at least in part on the beam configuration, wherein the beam classification information comprises an orientation of the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams, wherein the orientation comprises an angle between the coverage area of each directional beam of the set of directional beams and a direction of motion associated with the network device;

select a directional beam of the set of directional beams based at least in part on the beam position information and the beam classification information; and

communicate with the network device using the directional beam.