Beam interpolation in massive MIMO systems

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, configure an evolved node B (eNB) to transmit to one or more user equipment (UEs) via a massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system of the eNB, the eNB configured to:

transmit a first transmission beamformed reference signal using a first transmission beam associated with a first plurality of antennas of the eNB;

transmit a second transmission beamformed reference signal using a second transmission beam associated with a second plurality of antennas of the eNB;

receive, at the eNB from a first UE, a set of beam interpolation information; and

generate, using the set of beam interpolation information, a first interpolated transmission for the first UE using an interpolated transmission beam from the first transmission beam and the second transmission beam.

2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the instructions further configure the eNB to establish a radio resource control (RRC) connection for the interpolated transmission beam comprising the first transmission beam and the second transmission beam using RRC signaling, wherein the RRC signaling comprises the receipt of the set of beam interpolation information at the eNB.

3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 2 wherein the instructions further configure the eNB to initiate a channel state information (CSI) process with the first UE prior to receipt of the set of beam interpolation information;

wherein the set of beam interpolation information comprises a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) for the first transmission beam, a first transmission beam Index (BI) value for the first transmission beam, and a second BI value for the second transmission beam.

4. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 3 wherein the set of beam interpolation information comprises Angle based Beam interpolation Indicator (ABI) data associated with interpolation factors α and β;

wherein:

θ=αθ 1 +(1−α)θ 2

φ=βφ 1 +(1−β)φ 2

wherein θ is a horizontal angle of the interpolated transmission beam used to transmit the first interpolated transmission;

wherein θ1 is a horizontal angle of the first transmission beam;

wherein θ1 is a horizontal angle of the second transmission beam;

wherein φ is a vertical angle of the interpolation transmission beam used to transmit the first interpolated transmission;

wherein φ1 is a vertical angle of the first transmission beam; and

wherein φ2 is a vertical angle of the second transmission beam.

5. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 4 wherein the ABI data consists of a two-bit value associated with an ABI table stored in the eNB.

6. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5 wherein the set of beam interpolation information comprises Power based Beam interpolation Indicator (PBI) data associated with power interpolation factor γ;

wherein:

P =√{square root over (γ)} P 1 +(1−√{square root over (γ)}) P 2

wherein P is the interpolated transmission beam used to transmit the first interpolated transmission;

wherein P1 is the first transmission beam; and

wherein P2 is the second transmission beam.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6 wherein the PBI data comprises an N bit value associated with a corresponding power interpolation factor γ value by the eNB.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 wherein the N bit value is 1 and the corresponding power interpolation factor γ value is 0.5.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 wherein the set of beam interpolation information is received at the eNB from the first UE as a first RRC transmission comprising the ABI data and the PBI data.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 wherein the set of beam interpolation information is received at the eNB from the first UE as a plurality of RRC transmissions, wherein a first RRC transmission of the plurality of RRC transmissions comprises the ABI data and wherein a second RRC transmission of the plurality of RRC transmissions comprises the PBI data.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 wherein the set of beam interpolation information comprises first explicit antenna port (AP) identification data for antennas associated with the first channel and second explicit AP identification data for antennas associated with the second channel.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 wherein the set of beam interpolation information comprises a fixed identifier associated with the interpolated transmission beam.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 wherein the instructions further configure the eNB to transmit a beam interpolation enable indicator as Downlink Control Information (DCI) to the first UE prior to transmission of the first interpolated transmission.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 wherein the instructions further configure the eNB to track errors associated with the interpolated transmission channel, and to transmit a beam interpolation disabled indicator to the first UE as second DCI when an error rate associated with the interpolated transmission channel exceeds a threshold error rate.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the set of beam interpolation information is selected based on a CSI reporting type determined by comparing a Beamformed Reference Signal Receiving Power (BRS-RP) with a reporting type threshold value.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the set of beam interpolation information is selected based on a CSI reporting type determined by comparing a Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP) with a first threshold value and a second threshold value, such that when the RSRP is above the first threshold, the set of beam interpolation information is associated with power based beam interpolation (PBI); and

when the RSRP is below the second threshold, the set of beam interpolation information is associated with angle based beam interpolation (ABI), wherein the first threshold is no less than the second threshold, and wherein the first threshold and the second threshold are configurable via RRC signaling.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the instructions configure the eNB to:

schedule a CSI process set comprising a first CSI process and a second CSI process, wherein each CSI process of the CSI process set reports a beam selection indicator (BSI), wherein each CSI process is associated with a corresponding Channel Quality Indicator (CQI);

determine that a first BSI of the first CSI process is different than a second BSI of the second CSI process; and

initiate establishment of the interpolated transmission beam using radio resource control (RRC) signaling in response to the determination that the first BSI is different than the second BSI.

18. An apparatus of an evolved node B (eNB), the eNB configured for interpolated beam transmission using massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), the apparatus comprising baseband circuitry configured to:

generate a first transmission beamformed reference signal for transmission on a first transmission beam using a first plurality of antennas of a massive MIMO antenna array of the eNB;

generate a second transmission beamformed reference signal for transmission on a second transmission beam using a second plurality of antennas of the massive MIMO antenna array of the eNB;

access a set of beam interpolation information from a first UE; and

generate, based on the set of beam interpolation information, a first interpolated transmission using the first transmission beam and the second transmission beam.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 further comprising:

radio frequency (RF) circuitry configured to:

receive the set of beam interpolation from the first UE via an air interface; and

transmit the first interpolated transmission via the air interface using the first plurality of antennas and the second plurality of antennas.

20. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the baseband circuitry is further configured to determine that the first UE is in a coverage hole between the first transmission beam and the second transmission beam based on comparison of a first Beamformed Reference Signal Receiving Power (BRS-RP) measured from the first transmission beamformed reference signal with a first threshold value and a second BRS-RB measured from the second transmission beamformed reference signal with the first threshold value.

21. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, configure a user equipment (UEs) to receive communications from an evolved node B (eNB) via a massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system of the eNB, the UE configured to:

measure a first transmission beamformed reference signal on a first transmission beam associated with a first plurality of antennas of the eNB;

measure a second transmission beamformed reference signal a second transmission beam associated with a second plurality of antennas of the eNB;

generate, from the first transmission beamformed reference signal and the second transmission beamformed reference signal, a set of beam interpolation information; and

receive, at the UE from the eNB, a downlink transmission using an interpolated beam generated from the first transmission beam and the second transmission beam.

22. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 21 wherein the set of beam interpolation information comprises Power based Beam interpolation Indicator (PBI) data associated with power interpolation factor γ;

wherein:

P =√{square root over (γ)} P 1 +(1−√{square root over (γ)}) P 2

wherein P is the interpolated transmission beam used to transmit the first interpolated transmission;

wherein P1 is the first transmission beam; and

wherein P2 is the second transmission beam.

23. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 22

wherein the set of beam interpolation information further comprises Angle based Beam interpolation Indicator (ABI) data associated with interpolation factors α and β;

wherein:

θ=αθ 1 +(1−α)θ 2

φ=βφ 1 +(1−β)φ 2

wherein θ is a horizontal angle of the interpolated transmission beam used to transmit the first interpolated transmission;

wherein θ1 is a horizontal angle of the first transmission beam;

wherein θ1 is a horizontal angle of the second transmission beam;

wherein φ is a vertical angle of the interpolation transmission beam used to transmit the first interpolated transmission;

wherein φ1 is a vertical angle of the first transmission beam; and

wherein φ2 is a vertical angle of the second transmission beam.

24. An apparatus of a user equipment (UE) for reception of transmissions from an evolved node B (eNB) using massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) operations, the apparatus comprising:

baseband circuitry configured to:

process a first transmission beamformed reference signal from a first transmission beam associated with a first plurality of antennas of the eNB;

process a second transmission beamformed reference signal a second transmission beam associated with a second plurality of antennas of the eNB; and

generate, from the first transmission beamformed reference signal and the second transmission beamformed reference signal, a set of beam interpolation information for transmission to the eNB using Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 further comprising:

one or more antennas;

radio frequency (RF) circuitry coupled to the one or more antennas and the baseband circuitry, the RF circuitry configured to:

receive the first transmission beamformed reference signal and the second transmission beamformed references signal;

transmit the set of beam interpolation information to the eNB; and

receive a set of application data on an interpolated beam; and

wherein the baseband circuitry is further configured to establish an active RRC connection via the interpolated beam using the first transmission beam and the second transmission beam based on the RRC signaling.