Dynamic beam management for wireless communications
Methods, systems, and devices for updating beam-based communications are described. A base station may configure a user equipment (UE) with a set of beam management configurations, which may be used to modify (e.g., dynamically or periodically) beam-based communications. For example, the base station may indicate a beam configuration for utilization by the UE and the UE may switch to the indicated beam configuration or update a currently used beam configuration based on the indication. In another example, a set of beam configurations may be sequentially ordered, and the base station may indicate to the UE to use the next beam configuration in the sequence of beam configurations. The update to the beam configuration may be triggered based on a distance change (e.g., UE and base station getting closer or farther apart) or a reference signal measurement between the UE and the base station, among other factors.
1. A method for wireless communications, comprising:
receiving, at a user equipment (UE), an indication of one or more beam management configurations from a first base station, the one or more beam management configurations being for managing a beam based communication with the first base station;
identifying, at the UE, a first beam management configuration from the one or more beam management configurations;
determining, by the UE, a configuration change trigger for triggering a change from the first beam management configuration to a second beam management configuration from the one or more beam management configurations;
modifying a beam management configuration of the UE according to the second beam management configuration based at least in part on the configuration change trigger; and
communicating with the first base station using beam-based communications in accordance with the modified beam management configuration.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a location of the UE relative to the first base station or a second base station, wherein the configuration change trigger is determined based on the location of the UE.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the location of the UE comprises:
determining a linear distance or an angular distance traveled by the UE.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the location of the UE comprises:
estimating the location of the UE based at least in part on a round trip time (RTT) of downlink or uplink received timings.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the beam management configuration of the UE comprises:
increasing or decreasing a beam sweep periodicity according to the second beam management configuration.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein modifying the beam management configuration of the UE comprises:
maintaining a beam sweep periodicity of the first beam management configuration and increasing or decreasing a beam width according to the second beam management configuration.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more beam management configurations is a set of beam management configurations for the UE.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein:
the set of beam management configurations comprises a sequence of beam management configurations; and
the second beam management configuration follows the first beam management configuration in the sequence of beam management configurations.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the set of beam management configurations corresponds to a set of base stations.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the configuration change trigger comprises:
determining to change to the second beam management configuration based at least in part on a connection time of the UE or a duration of time allocated for the first beam management configuration.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the duration of time allocated is periodic or aperiodic.
12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
comparing a signal strength of a reference signal to a threshold, wherein the configuration change trigger is determined based at least in part on the comparison.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the beam management configuration of the UE comprises a set of transmission beams to sweep, a set of reception beams to sweep, an antenna port configuration, a set of resources allocation for one or more beams, a measurement window for sweeping, a periodicity of a resource allocated for one or more beams, a reporting configuration, a beamforming configuration, or a combination thereof.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the UE is associated with a high speed train.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the UE is a relay for a set of UEs.
16. A method for wireless communications, comprising:
indicating, by a first base station, one or more beam management configurations to a user equipment (UE), the one or more beam management configurations being for managing a beam based communication by the UE with the first base station;
identifying, at the first base station, a first beam management configuration for managing a beam-based communication with the UE;
determining a configuration change trigger for triggering a change from the first beam management configuration to a second beam management configuration, wherein the configuration change trigger corresponds to a position of the UE relative to the first base station;
modifying a beam management configuration for communications with the UE according to the second beam management configuration based at least in part on the configuration change trigger, wherein modifying the beam management configuration comprises modifying a beam sweep periodicity, a beam width, or both based at least in part on a change in the position of the UE relative to the first base station; and
communicating with the UE using beam-based communications in accordance with the modified beam management configuration at the first base station and one of the one or more beam management configurations indicated to the UE.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein modifying the beam management configuration for communications with the UE comprises:
increasing or decreasing the beam sweep periodicity according to the second beam management configuration.
18. The method of claim 16 , wherein modifying the beam management configuration for communications with the UE comprises:
maintaining the beam sweep periodicity of the first beam management configuration and increasing or decreasing the beam width according to the second beam management configuration.
19. The method of claim 16 , wherein indicating the one or more beam management configurations to the UE comprises:
transmitting, to the UE, an indication of a set of beam management configurations for the UE.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein:
the set of beam management configurations comprises a sequence of beam management configurations; and
the second beam management configuration follows the first beam management configuration in the sequence of beam management configurations.
21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the set of beam management configurations corresponds to a set of base stations including the first base station.
22. The method of claim 16 , wherein determining the configuration change trigger comprises:
determining to change to the second beam management configuration based at least in part on a connection time of the UE or a duration of time allocated for the first beam management configuration.
23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the duration of time allocated is periodic or aperiodic.
24. The method of claim 16 , wherein the beam management configuration for communications with the UE comprises a set of transmission beams to sweep, a set of reception beams to sweep, an antenna port configuration, a set of resources allocation for one or more beams, a measurement window for sweeping, a periodicity of a resource allocated for one or more beams, a reporting configuration, a beamforming configuration, or a combination thereof.
25. The method of claim 16 , wherein the UE is associated with a high speed train.
26. The method of claim 16 , wherein the UE is a relay for a set of UEs.
27. An apparatus for wireless communications, 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, at a user equipment (UE), an indication of one or more beam management configurations from a first base station, the one or more beam management configurations being for managing a beam based communication with the first base station;
identify, at the UE, a first beam management configuration from the one or more beam management configurations;
determine, by the UE, a configuration change trigger for triggering a change from the first beam management configuration to a second beam management configuration from the one or more beam management configurations;
modify a beam management configuration of the UE according to the second beam management configuration based at least in part on the configuration change trigger; and
communicate with the first base station using beam-based communications in accordance with the modified beam management configuration.
28. The apparatus of claim 27 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
determine a location of the UE relative to the first base station or a second base station, wherein the configuration change trigger is determined based on the location of the UE.
29. The apparatus of claim 28 , wherein the instructions to determine the location of the UE are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
determine a linear distance or an angular distance traveled by the UE.
30. An apparatus for wireless communications, 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:
indicate, by a first base station, one or more beam management configurations to a user equipment (UE), the one or more beam management configurations being for managing a beam based communication by the UE with the first base station;
identify, at the first base station, a first beam management configuration for managing a beam-based communication with the UE;
determine a configuration change trigger for triggering a change from the first beam management configuration to a second beam management configuration, wherein the configuration change trigger corresponds to a position of the UE relative to the first base station;
modify a beam management configuration for communications with the UE according to the second beam management configuration based at least in part on the configuration change trigger, wherein modifying the beam management configuration comprises modifying a beam sweep periodicity, a beam width, or both based at least in part on a change in the position of the UE relative to the first base station; and
communicate with the UE using beam-based communications in accordance with the modified beam management configuration at the first base station and one of the one or more beam management configurations indicated to the UE.