System and method for beam management

1. A method of wireless communication for a base station, the method comprising:

communicating data with a user equipment (UE) through an active beam;

transmitting, to the UE through the active beam and via a downlink radio resource control (RRC) message, control information indicating a periodicity at which uplink control information different from the data is to be communicated on a control channel through a control- information beam, the uplink control information including an indication of quality associated with the active beam; and

receiving, from the UE, the uplink control information on the control channel through the control-information beam at the periodicity, the control-information beam being different from the active beam.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the control channel includes a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and the uplink control information is carried on the PUCCH through the control-information beam based on the periodicity.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the control-information beam includes at least one candidate beam, the at least one candidate beam corresponding to a beam index included in a set of candidate beam indexes maintained by the base station.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the control-information beam includes at least one wide beam, the at least one wide beam having an angle greater than that of the active beam.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a request to change the active beam, the request indicating a beam index corresponding to a second beam; and

changing the active beam to the second beam corresponding to the beam index indicated by the request.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the request indicates the beam index through at least one of a cyclic shift or spreading across symbols.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the request indicates the beam index through at least one of a subcarrier region or a random access channel (RACH).

8. A method of wireless communication for a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

communicating data with a base station through an active beam;

receiving, from the base station through the active beam and via a downlink radio resource control (RRC) message, control information indicating a periodicity at which uplink control information different from the data is to be communicated on a control channel through a control-information beam, the uplink control information including an indication of quality associated with the active beam; and

sending, to the base station, the uplink control information on the control channel through the control-information beam at the periodicity, the control-information beam being different from the active beam.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the control channel includes a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and the uplink control information is sent on the PUCCH through the control-information beam based on the periodicity.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the control-information beam includes at least one candidate beam, the at least one candidate beam corresponding to a beam index included in a set of candidate beam indexes.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the control-information beam includes at least one wide beam, the at least one wide beam having an angle greater than that of the active beam.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

transmitting, to the base station, a request to change the active beam, the request indicating a beam index corresponding to a second beam; and

changing the active beam to the second beam corresponding to the beam index indicated by the request.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the request indicates the beam index through at least one of a cyclic shift or spreading across symbols.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the request indicates the beam index through at least one of a subcarrier region or a random access channel (RACH).

15. A base station comprising:

means for communicating data with a user equipment (UE) through an active beam;

means for transmitting, to the UE through the active beam and via a downlink radio resource control (RRC) message, control information indicating a periodicity at which uplink control information different from the data is to be communicated on a control channel through a control-information beam, the uplink control information including an indication of quality associated with the active beam; and

means for receiving, from the UE, the uplink control information on the control channel through the control-information beam at the periodicity, the control-information beam being different from the active beam.

16. The base station of claim 15 , wherein the control channel includes a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and the uplink control information is carried on the PUCCH through the control-information beam based on the periodicity.

17. The base station of claim 15 , wherein the control-information beam includes at least one candidate beam, the at least one candidate beam corresponding to a beam index included in a set of candidate beam indexes maintained by the base station.

18. The base station of claim 15 , wherein the control-information beam includes at least one wide beam, the at least one wide beam having an angle greater than that of the active beam.

19. A user equipment (UE) comprising:

means for communicating data with a base station through an active beam;

means for receiving, from the base station through the active beam and via a downlink radio resource control (RRC) message, control information indicating a periodicity at which uplink control information different from the data is to be communicated on a control channel through a control-information beam, the uplink control information including an indication of quality associated with the active beam; and

means for sending, to the base station, the uplink control information on the control channel through the control-information beam at the periodicity, the control-information beam being different from the active beam.

20. The UE of claim 19 , wherein the control channel includes a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and the uplink control information is sent on the PUCCH through the control-information beam based on the periodicity.

21. The UE of claim 19 , wherein the control-information beam includes at least one candidate beam, the at least one candidate beam corresponding to a beam index included in a set of candidate beam indexes.

22. The UE of claim 19 , wherein the control-information beam includes at least one wide beam, the at least one wide beam having an angle greater than that of the active beam.

23. An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory, the at least one processor is configured to:

communicate data with a user equipment (UE) through an active beam;

transmit, to the UE through the active beam via a downlink radio resource control (RRC) message, control information indicating a periodicity at which uplink control information different from the data is to be communicated on a control channel through a control-information beam, the uplink control information including an indication of quality associated with the active beam; and

receive, from the UE, the uplink control information on the control channel through the control-information beam at the periodicity, the control-information beam being different from the active beam.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein the control channel includes a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and the uplink control information is carried on the PUCCH through the control-information beam based on the periodicity.

25. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein the control-information beam includes at least one candidate beam, the at least one candidate beam corresponding to a beam index included in a set of candidate beam indexes maintained by the base station.

26. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein the control-information beam includes at least one wide beam, the at least one wide beam having an angle greater than that of the active beam.

27. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

receive a request to change the active beam, the request indicating a beam index corresponding to a second beam; and

change the active beam to the second beam corresponding to the beam index indicated by the request.

28. The apparatus of claim 27 , wherein the request indicates the beam index through at least one of a cyclic shift or spreading across symbols.

29. The apparatus of claim 27 , wherein the request indicates the beam index through at least one of a subcarrier region or a random access channel (RACH).

30. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory, the at least one processor is configured to:

communicating data with a base station through an active beam;

receiving, from the base station through the active beam and via a downlink radio resource control (RRC) message, control information indicating a periodicity at which uplink control information different from the data is to be communicated on a control channel through a control-information beam, the uplink control information including an indication of quality associated with the active beam; and

sending, to the base station, the uplink control information on the control channel through the control-information beam at the periodicity, the control-information beam being different from the active beam.

31. The apparatus of claim 30 , wherein the control channel includes a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), and the uplink control information is sent on the PUCCH through the control-information beam based on the periodicity.

32. The apparatus of claim 30 , wherein the control-information beam includes at least one candidate beam, the at least one candidate beam corresponding to a beam index included in a set of candidate beam indexes.

33. The apparatus of claim 30 , wherein the control-information beam includes at least one wide beam, the at least one wide beam having an angle greater than that of the active beam.

34. The apparatus of claim 30 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

transmit, to the base station, a request to change the active beam, the request indicating a beam index corresponding to a second beam; and

change the active beam to the second beam corresponding to the beam index indicated by the request.

35. The apparatus of claim 34 , wherein the request indicates the beam index through at least one of a cyclic shift or spreading across symbols.

36. The apparatus of claim 34 , wherein the request indicates the beam index through at least one of a subcarrier region or a random access channel (RACH).