Connected discontinuous reception wake up procedure

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

identifying that data is available to be transmitted to a user equipment (UE) that is operating in a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode;

configuring a plurality of UEspecific reference signals for transmission to the UE, each UE-specific reference signal indicating a UE identifier and an availability of data for the UE, the availability of data for the UE indicated by a bit configured in each of the plurality of UE-specific reference signals; and

transmitting, using a beam sweeping configuration, the plurality of UE-specific reference signals.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

configuring the plurality of UE-specific reference signals for transmission to the UE comprises encoding a plurality of channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) with at least a portion of the UE identifier.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the UE identifier includes at least a portion of a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) for the UE, and wherein:

configuring the plurality of UE-specific reference signals for transmission to the UE comprises encoding the plurality of UE-specific reference signals with at least a portion of the cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) for the UE.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein:

transmitting the plurality of UE-specific reference signals conveys the indication of availability of data for the UE.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a beam recovery signal from the UE in response to the plurality of UE-specific reference signals; and

selecting a transmit beam to use to transmit the data to the UE based at least in part on the received beam recovery signal.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a beam recovery signal from the UE in response to the plurality of UE-specific reference signals; and

identifying a beam index for a transmit beam used by the UE to transmit the beam recovery signal.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

transmitting the data to the UE based at least in part on the identified beam index.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the beam sweeping configuration comprises transmitting each UE-specific reference signal in a different beamforming direction, and further comprising:

receiving a beam recovery signal from the UE, the beam recovery signal including an identifier of a transmit beam used by the base station to transmit the at least one UE-specific reference signal with the highest receive power, highest receive quality, lowest interference level, or a combination.

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

receiving, while operating in a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, a UE-specific reference signal from a base station, wherein the UE-specific reference signal includes one bit encoded with at least a portion of a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) for the UE, the one bit indicating that data is available for the UE or not available for the UE;

identifying, based at least in part on the received UE-specific reference signal, that data for the UE is available from the base station, wherein the identifying comprises decoding the UE-specific reference signal using the at least a portion of the C-RNTI to identify that the data is available for the UE based on the one bit; and

transmitting, based at least in part on the identification, a signal to the base station, the signal including a beam index.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of UE-specific reference signals comprise a plurality of channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs), and wherein:

identifying that the data for the UE is available comprises decoding at least one channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) using the UE identifier, wherein the UE identifier is at least a portion of a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) for the UE.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the UE identifier is at least a portion of a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) for the UE, and wherein:

identifying that the data for the UE is available comprises decoding the UE-specific reference signal using a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) for the UE.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

receiving at least a portion of the data from the base station in response to the transmitted signal.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein:

the signal comprises a beam recovery signal.

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

a processor,

memory in electronic communication with the processor; and

instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

identify that data is available to be transmitted to a user equipment (UE) that is operating in a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode;

configure a plurality of UE-specific reference signals for transmission to the UE, each UE-specific reference signal indicating a UE identifier and an availability of data for the UE, the availability of data for the UE indicated by a bit configured in each of the plurality of UE-specific reference signals; and

transmit, using a beam sweeping configuration, the plurality of UE-specific reference signals.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the instructions to configure the plurality of UE-specific reference signals for transmission to the UE are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

encode a plurality of channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) with at least a portion of the UE identifier.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the UE identifier is at least a portion of a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) for the UE, and wherein the instructions to configure the plurality of UE-specific reference signals for transmission to the UE are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

encode the plurality of UE-specific reference signals with at least a portion of the cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) for the UE.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein;

transmitting the plurality of UE-specific reference signals conveys the indication of availability of data for the UE.

18. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

receive a beam recovery signal from the UE in response to the plurality of UE-specific reference signals; and

select a transmit beam to use to transmit the data to the UE based at least in part on the received beam recovery signal.

19. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

receive a beam recovery signal from the UE in response to the plurality of UE-specific reference signals; and

identify a beam index for a transmit beam used by the UE to transmit the beam recovery signal.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

transmit the data to the UE based at least in part on the identified beam index.

21. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein:

the beam sweeping configuration comprises transmitting each UE-specific reference signal in a different beamforming direction.

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

a processor,

memory in electronic communication with the processor; and

instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

receive, while operating in a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, a UE-specific reference signal from a base station;

identify, based at least in part on the received UE-specific reference signal, that data for the UE is available from the base station, the instructions to identify including instructions to decode at least one bit of the UE-specific reference signal to identify that the data is available for the UE; and

transmit, based at least in part on the identification, a signal to the base station, the signal including a beam index.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the UE-specific reference signal is a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and wherein the instructions to identify that the data for the UE is available are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

decode the channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) using at least a portion of an identifier of the UE, wherein the received UE-specific reference signal.

24. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the UE-specific reference signal includes an indication that data for the UE is available from the base station encoded in the UE-specific reference signal, and wherein the instructions to identify that the data for the UE is available are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

decode the UE-specific reference signal using a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) for the UE.

25. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

receive at least a portion of the data from the base station in response to the transmitted signal.

26. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein:

the signal comprises a beam recovery signal.