Wireless communication with quasi-omni and directional beams
Aspects of this disclosure relate to wireless communications that involve a quasi-omni beam and a directional beam, where the wireless communications involve radio frequency signals having relatively high frequency (e.g., a frequency above 20 GHz). In embodiments, a quasi-omni beam is wirelessly transmitted, a directional beam is selected based on the quasi-omni beam, and a data transmission is received over the selected directional beam.
1. A wireless communication device comprising:
at least one antenna; and
a processor in communication with the at least one antenna, wherein the processor is configured to cause the wireless communication device to:
wirelessly transmit a quasi-omni beam to a network node in a training mode such that the quasi-omni beam is time division multiplexed with a second quasi-omni beam received by the network node from another wireless communication device in a time slot for the training mode;
select a directional receive beam based on a third quasi-omni beam wirelessly transmitted by the network node during another training mode, wherein the wireless communication device is arranged to receive directional beams while the network node wirelessly transmits the third quasi-omni beam;
determine to wirelessly transmit a directional beam during a data transmission mode based on stored information identifying the directional receive beam to invoke reciprocity, wherein the directional beam corresponds to the directional receive beam; and
wirelessly transmit the directional beam to the network node in the data transmission mode, wherein the quasi-omni beam and the directional beam are each associated with a radio frequency signal having a frequency of at least 20 gigahertz.
2. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
select another directional receive beam based on the quasi-omni beam wirelessly transmitted by the network node in the training mode; and
configure the wireless communication device to receive a data transmission from the network node over the another directional receive beam.
3. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the information identifying the directional receive beam is stored in a look-up table.
4. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the directional beam is associated with a wireless communication in compliance with an 802.11 standard.
5. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the directional beam is associated with cellular communication.
6. A method of wireless communication, the method comprising:
receiving, by a wireless communication device during a time slot for a training mode for the wireless communication device, a quasi-omni beam wirelessly transmitted by a network node and a second quasi-omni beam wirelessly transmitted by a second network node, wherein the quasi-omni beam and the second quasi-omni beam are time division multiplexed during the time slot for the training mode for the wireless communication device, wherein the wireless communication device and the network node wirelessly communicate with a radio frequency signal having a frequency of at least 20 gigahertz;
selecting a directional receive beam for the wireless communication device based on the quasi-omni beam wirelessly transmitted by the network node;
selecting a second directional receive beam for the wireless communication device based on the second quasi-omni beam wirelessly transmitted by the second network node;
receiving, by the wireless communication device, data from the network node over the selected directional receive beam and data from the second network node over the selected second directional receive beam during a data transmission mode following the time slot for the training mode for the wireless communication device; and
transmitting data over a directional transmit beam to the network node based on stored information identifying the directional received beam to invoke reciprocity.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the radio frequency signal in compliance with an 802.11 standard.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the radio frequency signal is an 802.11ad signal.
9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the radio frequency signal is cellular signal.
10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the radio frequency signal has a frequency within Frequency Range 2 for New Radio.
11. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
while the wireless communication device is configured to receive the quasi-omni beam, receiving an indication from the network node identifying that a data transmission is coming from the network node; and
in response to said receiving the indication, configuring the wireless communication device to receive from the network node over the directional receive beam.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the indication from the network node comprises an identifier included in at least one of a Request to Send (RTS) or a Clear to Send (CTS).
13. The method of claim 6 , further comprising initiating a training session that comprises said selecting based on a request from the network node to start the training session, wherein the request from the network node indicates that the wireless communication device will receive a data transmission from the network node after the training session.
14. A method of wireless communication, the method comprising:
receiving, by a first node, a first quasi-omni beam wirelessly transmitted by a second node in a training mode and a second quasi-omni beam wirelessly transmitted by a third node in a time slot for the training mode, wherein the second node and the third node time division multiplex the first quasi-omni beam and the second quasi-omni beam, wherein the first node and the second node wirelessly communicate with a radio frequency signal having a frequency of at least 20 gigahertz;
configuring the first node to receive a first directional receive beam from the second node and a second directional receive beam from the third node, wherein the first directional receive beam is selected based on the first quasi-omni beam wirelessly transmitted by the second node in the time slot for the training mode, and wherein the second directional receive beam is selected based on the second quasi-omni beam wirelessly transmitted by the third node in the time slot for the training mode;
receiving, by the first node, data from the second node over the first directional receive beam in a data transmission mode and data from the third node over the second directional receive beam in the data transmission mode; and
transmitting, by the first node, data over a directional transmit beam to the second node based on stored information identifying the first directional receive beam to invoke reciprocity.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first node receives the first quasi-omni beam transmitted by the second node and the second quasi-omni beam transmitted by the third node in back-to-back slots in the training mode.
16. The method of claim 6 , wherein the wireless communication device, the network node, and the second network node are in a multipoint environment while the method is performed, and wherein multiple network nodes and multiple wireless communication devices wirelessly communicate with each other in the multipoint environment.
17. The wireless communication device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to process a plurality of quasi-omni beams received during a time slot for the another training mode, the plurality of quasi-omni beams are time division multiplexed with each other, and the plurality of quasi-omni beams including the third quasi-omni beam.
18. The method of claim 6 , further comprising transmitting a third quasi-omni beam to the network mode such that the third quasi-omni beam is time division multiplexed with a fourth quasi-omni beam transmitted from a second wireless communication device during a time slot for a training mode for the network node.