Beam selection systems and methods

1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

producing a first power value based on a reception of a reference signal (RS) transmitted using a first TRP beam and received using a first UE beam and a first antenna arrangement of the UE;

producing a second power value based on a reception of an RS transmitted using a second TRP beam and received using the first UE beam and the first antenna arrangement;

receiving downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a transmission of data to the UE, the DCI comprising information with which the first and second power values are associated;

after receiving the DCI, retrieving the first and second power values using the information in the DCI;

calculating a first value using as inputs to the calculation the first and second power values; and

using the calculated first value in a process for selecting UE beams to use to receive the scheduled transmission of data.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein

the RS that was transmitted using the first TX beam is one of a burst of RSs transmitted to the UE using the first TX beam as part of a beam management procedure, and

the RS that was transmitted using the second TX beam is one of a burst of RSs transmitted to the UE using the second TX beam as part of said beam management procedure.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to receiving the DCI, performing the steps of:

producing a third power value based on a reception of a RS transmitted using the first TRP beam and received using a second UE beam and a second antenna arrangement of the UE; and

producing a fourth power value based on a reception of an RS transmitted using the second TRP beam and received using the second UE beam and the second antenna arrangement.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising, after receiving the DCI, performing the further steps of:

retrieving the third and fourth power values using the information in the DCI;

calculating a second value using as inputs to the calculation the third and fourth power values; and

using the calculated first and second values in the process for selecting UE beams to use to receive the scheduled transmission of data.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein using the calculated first and second values in the process for selecting UE beams to use to receive the scheduled transmission of data comprises calculating a first throughput value (TP1), were

TP 1= T 1+ T 2,

T1 is the first calculated value,

T2 is the second calculated value,

T1 is a function of a difference between the first power value and the second power value, and

T2 is a function of a difference between the third power value and the fourth power value.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein

T 1=10*log 2( P _TRP_ B 2_UE_ B 1− P _TRP_ B 1_UE_ B 1− N ),

T 2=10*log 2( P _TRP_ B 1_UE_B2 −P _TRP_ B 2_UE_ B 2 −N ),

P_TRP_B1_UE_B1 is the first power value,

P_TRP_B2_UE_B1 is the second power value,

P_TRP_B1_UE_B2 is the third power value,

P_TRP_B2_UE_B2 is the fourth power value, and

N is a noise value.

7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising, prior to receiving the DCI, performing the steps of:

producing a fifth power value based on a reception of a RS transmitted using the first TRP beam and received using a third UE beam and the first antenna arrangement of the UE; and

producing a sixth power value based on a reception of an RS transmitted using the second TRP beam and received using the third UE beam and the first antenna arrangement.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising, after receiving the DCI, performing the further steps of:

retrieving the fifth and sixth power values using the information in the DCI;

calculating a third value using as inputs to the calculation the fifth and sixth power values; and

using the calculated first, second, and third values in the process for selecting UE beams to use to receive the scheduled transmission of data.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein using the calculated first, second, and third values in the process for selecting UE beams to use to receive the scheduled transmission of data comprises:

calculating a first throughput value (TP1), where TP1=T1+T2;

calculating a second throughput value (TP2), where TP2=T3+T2;

determining whether TP1 is larger than TP2; and

as a result of determining that TP1 is larger than TP2, selecting the first beam and the second beam to receive the scheduled transmission of data, wherein

T1 is the first calculated value,

T2 is the second calculated value, and

T3 is the third calculated value.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein

T1 is a function of a difference between the first power value and the second power value,

T2 is a function of a difference between the third power value and the fourth power value, and

T3 is a function of a difference between the fifth power value and the sixth power value.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

storing the first power value so that the first power value is associated with information associated with the first TRP beam; and

storing the second power value so that the second power value is associated with information associated with the second TRP beam.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the RS signal transmitted using the second TRP beam is transmitted from the same TRP that transmits the RS signal transmitted using the first TRP beam.

13. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when performed by processing circuitry of a user equipment (UE) causes the UE to perform the method of claim 1 .

14. A user equipment (UE), the UE being adapted to:

produce a first power value based on a reception of a reference signal (RS) transmitted using a first TRP beam and received using a first UE beam and a first antenna arrangement of the UE;

produce a second power value based on a reception of an RS transmitted using a second TRP beam and received using the first UE beam and the first antenna arrangement;

receive downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a transmission of data to the UE, the DCI comprising information with which the first and second power values are associated;

after receiving the DCI, retrieve the first and second power values using the information in the DCI;

calculate a first value using as inputs to the calculation the first and second power values; and

use the calculated first value in a process for selecting UE beams to use to receive the scheduled transmission of data.

15. The UE of claim 14 , wherein

the RS that was transmitted using the first TX beam is one of a burst of RSs transmitted to the UE using the first TX beam as part of a beam management procedure, and

the RS that was transmitted using the second TX beam is one of a burst of RSs transmitted to the UE using the second TX beam as part of said beam management procedure.

16. The UE of claim 14 , wherein the UE is further adapted to:

prior to receiving the DCI, produce a third power value based on a reception of a RS transmitted using the first TRP beam and received using a second UE beam and a second antenna arrangement of the UE;

prior to receiving the DCI, produce a fourth power value based on a reception of an RS transmitted using the second TRP beam and received using the second UE beam and the second antenna arrangement;

after receiving the DCI, perform the steps of:

retrieving the third and fourth power values using the information in the DCI;

calculating a second value using as inputs to the calculation the third and fourth power values; and

using the calculated first and second values in the process for selecting UE beams to use to receive the scheduled transmission of data.

17. The UE of claim 16 , wherein using the calculated first and second values in the process for selecting UE beams to use to receive the scheduled transmission of data comprises calculating a first throughput value (TP1), wherein

TP 1= T 1+ T 2,

T1 is the first calculated value,

T2 is the second calculated value,

T1 is a function of a difference between the first power value and the second power value, and

T2 is a function of a difference between the third power value and the fourth power value.

18. The UE of claim 16 , wherein the UE is further adapted to:

prior to receiving the DCI, produce a fifth power value based on a reception of a RS transmitted using the first TRP beam and received using a third UE beam and the first antenna arrangement of the UE; and

prior to receiving the DCI, produce a sixth power value based on a reception of an RS transmitted using the second TRP beam and received using the third UE beam and the first antenna arrangement.

19. The UE of claim 18 , wherein the UE is further adapted to:

after receiving the DCI, retrieving the fifth and sixth power values using the information in the DCI;

calculate a third value using as inputs to the calculation the retrieved fifth and sixth power values; and

use the calculated first, second, and third values in the process for selecting UE beams to use to receive the scheduled transmission of data.

20. The UE of claim 19 , wherein using the calculated first, second, and third values in the process for selecting UE beams to use to receive the scheduled transmission of data comprises:

calculating a first throughput value (TP1), where TP1=T1+T2;

calculating a second throughput value (TP2), where TP2=T3+T2;

determining whether TP1 is larger than TP2; and

as a result of determining that TP1 is larger than TP2, selecting the first beam and the second beam to receive the scheduled transmission of data, wherein

T1 is the first calculated value,

T2 is the second calculated value, and

T3 is the third calculated value.

21. A method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

producing a first power value (P_TRP1_UE1) based on a reception of a reference signal (RS) transmitted using a first TRP beam and received using a first UE receive (RX) beam;

producing a second power value (P_TRP2_UE1) based on a reception of an RS transmitted using a second TRP beam and received using the first UE RX beam;

producing a third power value (P_TRP1_UE2) based on a reception of an RS transmitted using the first TRP beam and received using a second UE RX beam;

producing a fourth power value (P_TRP2_UE2) based on a reception of an RS transmitted using the second TRP beam and received using the second UE RX beam;

receiving downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a transmission of data to the UE using the first TRP beam and the second TRP beam, the DCI comprising information corresponding to a beam tuple consisting of the first TRP beam and the second TRP beam; and

in response to receiving the DCI: i) obtaining a set of N throughput values, the set of N throughput values comprising: 1) a first throughput value calculated using the first power value and the second power value and 2) a second throughput value calculated using the third power value and the fourth power value; and ii) using the set of N throughput values in a process for selecting a UE RX beam from a set of UE RX beams that includes the first UE RX beam and the second UE RX beam.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein

obtaining a set of N throughput values comprises generating the set of N throughput values, and

generating the set of N throughput values comprises:

i) generating the first throughput value by calculating the first throughput value using the first and second power values as inputs to the calculation; and

i) generating the second throughput value by calculating the second throughput value using the third and fourth power values as inputs to the calculation.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein obtaining a set of N throughput values further comprises, prior to generating the set of N throughput values, using information contained in the DCI to retrieve from a date store the first, second, third, and fourth power values.