IP Library Granted Patent US 11,595,104
Granted Patent B2
US 11,595,104 · App. 17/301,740 · Granted Feb 28, 2023

Dynamically indicating unavailable beams

Inventors: Iyab Issam Sakhnini (San Diego, CA); Tao Luo (San Diego, CA)
Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
H04B7/0695H04W16/28H04W56/001H04W72/042H04W72/046H04W72/0493H04W80/02
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,595,104
App. No.
17/301,740
Granted
Feb 28, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

Various aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication. In some aspects, a user equipment (UE) may receive, from a base station, an indication identifying one or more blocked beams that are unavailable to use for uplink or downlink communication. The UE may determine one or more beams to use for communication with the base station based at least in part on the indication identifying the one or more blocked beams. Numerous other aspects are provided.

Claims (59)

1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

receiving, from a base station, an indication identifying one or more blocked beams that are unavailable to use for an uplink or downlink communication during a time period or a time pattern in which the indication is valid or until a subsequent indication is received indicating that the one or more blocked beams are available to use for a subsequent uplink or downlink communication;

determining one or more beams to use for communication with the base station during the time period or the time pattern in which the indication is valid or until the subsequent indication is received based at least in part on the indication identifying the one or more blocked beams; and

using the one or more blocked beams for the subsequent uplink or downlink communication based at least in part on an expiration of the time period or the time pattern in which the indication is valid or receiving the subsequent indication.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more blocked beams are unavailable to use for the uplink or downlink communication for a configured time period.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more blocked beams are unavailable to use for the uplink or downlink communication during the time pattern, wherein the time pattern is configured in radio resource control (RRC) signaling and activated by a downlink control information (DCI) message or a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) that includes the indication identifying the one or more blocked beams.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication further identifies one or more channels or messages for which the one or more blocked beams are unavailable to use for the uplink or downlink communication.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication indicates that the one or more blocked beams are unavailable to use for all uplink or all downlink communication.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more beams to use for communication with the base station are determined based at least in part on radio resource control (RRC) configuration information, one or more rules that relate to a type of communication for which the one or more blocked beams are unavailable, or information in the indication that identifies the one or more beams to use for communication with the base station.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining one or more downlink or uplink channels that are quasi co-located (QCLed) with the one or more blocked beams based at least in part on the one or more blocked beams including one or more synchronization signal block (SSB) or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) beams; and

selecting one or more alternate SSB or CSI-RS beams to use as a QCL association for the one or more downlink or uplink channels that are QCLed with the one or more blocked beams.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

refraining from monitoring downlink messages associated with one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) states that correspond to the one or more blocked beams while the one or more blocked beams are unavailable; and

refraining from transmitting uplink messages associated with one or more channels having spatial relationships with the one or more TCI states that correspond to the one or more blocked beams while the one or more blocked beams are unavailable.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting, to the base station, a report that includes one or more beam measurements, wherein the one or more beam measurements include measurements related to the one or more blocked beams.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transmitting, to the base station, a report that includes one or more beam measurements, wherein measurements related to the one or more blocked beams are excluded from the report.

11. A method of wireless communication performed by a base station, comprising:

transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), an indication identifying one or more blocked beams that are unavailable to use for an uplink or downlink communication during a time period or a time pattern in which the indication is valid or until a subsequent indication is received by the UE indicating that the one or more blocked beams are available to use for a subsequent uplink or downlink communication;

determining one or more beams to use for communication with the UE during the time period or the time pattern in which the indication is valid or until the subsequent indication is received by the UE based at least in part on the indication identifying the one or more blocked beams; and

using the one or more blocked beams for the subsequent uplink or downlink communication based at least in part on an expiration of the time period or the time pattern in which the indication is valid or the UE receiving the subsequent indication.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

transmitting the subsequent indication to indicate that the one or more blocked beams are available to use for the subsequent uplink or downlink communication.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more blocked beams are unavailable to use for the uplink or downlink communication during the time pattern, wherein the time pattern is configured in radio resource control (RRC) signaling and activated by a downlink control information (DCI) message or a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) that includes the indication identifying the one or more blocked beams.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the indication further identifies one or more channels or messages for which the one or more blocked beams are unavailable to use for the uplink or downlink communication.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the indication indicates that the one or more blocked beams are unavailable to use for all uplink or all downlink communication.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more beams that the UE is to use for communication with the base station are based at least in part on radio resource control (RRC) configuration information, one or more rules that relate to a type of communication for which the one or more blocked beams are unavailable, or information in the indication identifies the one or more beams to use for communication with the base station.

17. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

receiving, from the UE, a report that includes one or more beam measurements, wherein the one or more beam measurements include measurements related to the one or more blocked beams.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

receiving, from the UE, a report that includes one or more beam measurements, wherein measurements related to the one or more blocked beams are excluded from the report.

19. A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising:

a memory; and

one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to:

receive, from a base station, an indication identifying one or more blocked beams that are unavailable to use for an uplink or downlink communication during a time period or a time pattern in which the indication is valid or until a subsequent indication is received indicating that the one or more blocked beams are available to use for a subsequent uplink or downlink communication;

determine one or more beams to use for communication with the base station during the time period or the time pattern in which the indication is valid or until the subsequent indication is received based at least in part on the indication identifying the one or more blocked beams; and

use the one or more blocked beams for the subsequent uplink or downlink communication based at least in part on an expiration of the time period or the time pattern in which the indication is valid or receiving the subsequent indication.

20. The UE of claim 19 , wherein the one or more blocked beams are unavailable to use for the uplink or downlink communication for a configured time period.

21. The UE of claim 19 , wherein the one or more blocked beams are unavailable to use for the uplink or downlink communication during the time pattern, wherein the time pattern is configured in radio resource control (RRC) signaling and activated by a downlink control information (DCI) message or a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) that includes the indication identifying the one or more blocked beams.

22. The UE of claim 19 , wherein the indication further identifies one or more channels or messages for which the one or more blocked beams are unavailable to use for the uplink or downlink communication.

23. The UE of claim 19 , wherein the indication indicates that the one or more blocked beams are unavailable to use for all uplink or all downlink communication.

24. The UE of claim 19 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

determine one or more downlink or uplink channels that are quasi co-located (QCLed) with the one or more blocked beams based at least in part on the one or more blocked beams including one or more synchronization signal block (SSB) or channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) beams; and

select one or more alternate SSB or CSI-RS beams to use as a QCL association for the one or more downlink or uplink channels that are QCLed with the one or more blocked beams.

25. The UE of claim 19 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

refrain from monitoring downlink messages associated with one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) states that correspond to the one or more blocked beams while the one or more blocked beams are unavailable; and

refrain from transmitting uplink messages associated with one or more channels having spatial relationships with the one or more TCI states that correspond to the one or more blocked beams while the one or more blocked beams are unavailable.

26. A base station for wireless communication, comprising:

a memory; and

one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to:

transmit, to a user equipment (UE), an indication identifying one or more blocked beams that are unavailable to use for an uplink or downlink communication during a time period or a time pattern in which the indication is valid or until a subsequent indication is received by the UE indicating that the one or more blocked beams are available to use for a subsequent uplink or downlink communication;

determine one or more beams to use for communication with the UE during the time period or the time pattern in which the indication is valid or until the subsequent indication is received by the UE based at least in part on the indication identifying the one or more blocked beams; and

use the one or more blocked beams for the subsequent uplink or downlink communication based at least in part on an expiration of the time period or the time pattern in which the indication is valid or the UE receiving the subsequent indication.

27. The base station of claim 26 , wherein the one or more blocked beams are unavailable to use for the uplink or downlink communication for a configured time period.

28. The base station of claim 26 , wherein the one or more blocked beams are unavailable to use for the uplink or downlink communication during the time pattern, wherein the time pattern is configured in radio resource control (RRC) signaling and activated by a downlink control information (DCI) message or a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) that includes the indication identifying the one or more blocked beams.

29. The base station of claim 26 , wherein the indication further identifies one or more channels or messages for which the one or more blocked beams are unavailable to use for the uplink or downlink communication.

30. The base station of claim 26 , wherein the indication indicates that the one or more blocked beams are unavailable to use for all uplink or all downlink communication.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 22, 2021
From: SAKHNINI, IYAB ISSAM; LUO, TAO
To: QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
Reel/Frame 056008/0189 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63043411 · Jun 24, 2020
Related Publication 20210409093A1 · Dec 30, 2021