IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,082,118

Granted Patent B2

US 11,082,118 · App. 16/557,448 · Granted Aug 3, 2021

Methods for assisting in beam sweeping, tracking and recovery

Inventors: Vasanthan Raghavan (West Windsor Township, NJ); Sundar Subramanian (San Diego, CA); Juergen Cezanne (Ocean Township, NJ); Ashwin Sampath (Skillman, NJ); Junyi Li (Chester, NJ)

Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated

H04B7/088 H04B7/063 H04B7/0617 H04B7/0621 H04B7/0695 H04W24/10 H04B7/0408 H04W72/046 H04W72/085

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 11,082,118
App. No.: 16/557,448
Granted: Aug 3, 2021
Kind: B2

External Links

USPTO Patent Center↗ Full Patent PDF↗

Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide various appropriate frame structures, sweep sequences, and procedures that may assist in beam sweeping, tracking and recovery.

Claims (122)

1. A method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

in response to a beam loss between the UE and a network entity, the beam loss associated with a wireless communication link between the UE and the network entity:

transmitting a beam acknowledgement report to the network entity; and

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sequence further comprises:

at least a second portion, wherein the UE changes receive beams for different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols while receiving a same second transmit beam of the network entity.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sequence comprises:

at least a second portion wherein the UE uses a same first receive beam while receiving different transmit beams of the network entity for different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving signaling from the network entity including information related to the sequence.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the signaling is provided via at least one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, downlink control information (DCI), or multiple access channel control element (MAC-CE).

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

sending a report to the network entity, based on measurements for different transmit receive beam pairs over a certain bandwidth or sub-bands.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the report is based on complex-valued signal comparisons across multiple transmit and receive beam pair candidates based on different panels or polarizations.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the report includes at least a portion of a covariance matrix based on post-beamforming received signal vectors across different ports or RF chains.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the beam acknowledgement report to the network entity comprises transmitting the beam acknowledgement report in a subframe comprising a physical control channel portion, a data portion, and a common uplink (UL) portion.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein:

the physical control channel portion comprises a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) portion,

the data portion comprises an uplink data portion, and

and the common UL portion comprises a common UL burst.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein based on participating in the beam recovery procedure, the UE changes its receive beam for communication over the wireless communication link.

12. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory comprising executable instructions; and

a processor in data communication with the memory and configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to perform a method, the method comprising:

in response to a beam loss between the apparatus and a network entity, the beam loss associated with a wireless communication link between the apparatus and the network entity:

transmitting a beam acknowledgement report to the network entity; and

participating in a beam recovery procedure via a sequence over which at least one of i) transmit beams of the network entity or ii) receive beams of the apparatus are scanned over a contiguous set of symbols, wherein the sequence comprises at least a first portion wherein the apparatus changes receive beams for different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols while receiving a same first transmit beam of the network entity.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the sequence further comprises:

at least a second portion, wherein the apparatus changes receive beams for different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols while receiving a same second transmit beam of the network entity.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the sequence comprises:

at least a second portion wherein the apparatus uses a same first receive beam while receiving different transmit beams of the network entity for different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the method further comprises:

receiving signaling from the network entity including information related to the sequence.

16. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein:

the method further comprises receiving signaling from the network entity including information related to the sequence, and the signaling is received via at least one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, downlink control information (DCI), or multiple access channel control element (MAC-CE).

17. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the apparatus is millimeter wave (mmWave) enabled.

18. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the network entity comprises at least one of a central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), or a remote unit (RU).

19. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein transmitting the beam acknowledgement report to the network entity comprises transmitting the beam acknowledgement report in a subframe comprising a physical control channel portion, a data portion, and a common uplink (UL) portion.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein:

the physical control channel portion comprises a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) portion,

the data portion comprises an uplink data portion, and

and the common UL portion comprises a common UL burst.

21. The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising at least one antenna and wherein the transmitting is performed using the at least one antenna.

22. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein based on participating in the beam recovery procedure, the apparatus changes its receive beam for communication over the wireless communication link.

23. A method for wireless communications by a network entity, comprising:

receiving a beam acknowledgement report from a user equipment (UE), in response to a beam loss between the UE and the network entity, the beam loss associated with a wireless communication link between the UE and the network entity; and

participating in a beam recovery procedure via a sequence over which at least one of i) transmit beams of the network entity or ii) receive beams of the UE are scanned over a contiguous set of symbols, wherein the sequence comprises at least a first portion wherein the network entity uses a same first transmit beam for different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols, and wherein the network entity signals beam selection assistance information to the UE indicating to the UE to change receive beams for receiving the same first transmit beam for the different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the sequence further comprises:

at least a second portion, wherein the network entity uses a same second transmit beam for different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols, and wherein the beam selection assistance information further indicates to the UE to change receive beams for receiving the same second transmit beam for the different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols.

25. The method of claim 23 , wherein the sequence comprises:

at least a second portion wherein the network entity changes transmit beams for different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols, and wherein the beam selection assistance information further indicates to the UE to use a same first receive beam for receiving the changing transmit beams for the different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols.

26. The method of claim 23 , wherein the beam selection assistance information is provided via at least one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, downlink control information (DCI), or multiple access channel control element (MAC-CE).

27. The method of claim 23 , further comprising:

receiving a report from the UE, wherein the report is based on measurements for different transmit receive beam pairs over a certain bandwidth or sub-bands.

28. The method of claim 27 , wherein the report is based on complex-valued signal comparisons across multiple transmit and receive beam pair candidates based on different panels or polarizations.

29. The method of claim 27 , wherein the report includes at least a portion of a covariance matrix based on post-beamforming received signal vectors across different ports or RF chains.

30. The method of claim 23 , wherein receiving the beam acknowledgement report from the UE comprises receiving the beam acknowledgement report in a subframe comprising a physical control channel portion, a data portion, and a common uplink (UL) portion.

31. The method of claim 30 , wherein:

the physical control channel portion comprises a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) portion,

the data portion comprises an uplink data portion, and

and the common UL portion comprises a common UL burst.

32. The method of claim 23 , wherein based on participating in the beam recovery procedure, the network entity changes its transmit beam for communication over the wireless communication link.

33. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory comprising executable instructions; and

a processor in data communication with the memory and configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to perform a method, the method comprising:

receiving a beam acknowledgement report from a user equipment (UE), in response to a beam loss between the UE and the apparatus, the beam loss associated with a wireless communication link between the UE and the apparatus; and

participating in a beam recovery procedure via a sequence over which at least one of i) transmit beams of the apparatus or ii) receive beams of the UE are scanned over different symbols of a contiguous set of symbols, wherein the sequence comprises at least a first portion wherein the apparatus uses a same first transmit beam for different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols, and wherein the apparatus signals beam selection assistance information to the UE indicating to the UE to change receive beams for receiving the same first transmit beam for the different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols.

34. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein the sequence further comprises:

at least a second portion, wherein the apparatus uses a same second transmit beam for different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols, and wherein the beam selection assistance information further indicates to the UE to change receive beams for receiving the same second transmit beam for the different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols.

35. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein the sequence comprises:

at least a second portion wherein the apparatus changes transmit beams for different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols, and wherein the beam selection assistance information further indicates to the UE to use a same first receive beam for receiving the changing transmit beams for the different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols.

36. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein the beam selection assistance information is provided via at least one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, downlink control information (DCI), or multiple access channel control element (MAC-CE).

37. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein the apparatus is millimeter wave (mmWave) enabled.

38. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein the apparatus is at least one of a central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), or a remote unit (RU).

39. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein receiving the beam acknowledgement report from the UE comprises receiving the beam acknowledgement report in a subframe comprising a physical control channel portion, a data portion, and a common uplink (UL) portion.

40. The apparatus of claim 39 , wherein:

the physical control channel portion comprises a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) portion,

the data portion comprises an uplink data portion, and

and the common UL portion comprises a common UL burst.

41. The apparatus of claim 33 , further comprising at least one antenna and wherein the receiving is performed using the at least one antenna.

42. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein based on participating in the beam recovery procedure, the apparatus changes its transmit beam for communication over the wireless communication link.

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

at least one processor;

a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; and

a transceiver communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

in response to a beam loss between the UE and a network entity, the beam loss associated with a wireless communication link between the UE and the network entity:

utilize the transceiver to transmit a beam acknowledgement report to the network entity; and

44. The UE of claim 43 , wherein the sequence further comprises:

at least a second portion, wherein the UE changes receive beams for different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols while receiving a same second transmit beam of the network entity.

45. The UE of claim 43 , wherein the sequence comprises:

at least a second portion wherein the UE uses a same first receive beam while receiving different transmit beams of the network entity for different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols.

46. The UE of claim 43 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

utilize the transceiver to receive signaling from the network entity including information related to the sequence.

47. The UE of claim 46 , wherein the signaling is received via at least one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, downlink control information (DCI), or multiple access channel control element (MAC-CE).

48. The UE of claim 43 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

utilize the transceiver to send a report to the network entity, based on measurements for different transmit receive beam pairs over a certain bandwidth or sub-bands.

49. The UE of claim 48 , wherein the report is based on complex-valued signal comparisons across multiple transmit and receive beam pair candidates based on different panels or polarizations.

50. The UE of claim 48 , wherein the report includes at least a portion of a covariance matrix based on post-beamforming received signal vectors across different ports or RF chains.

51. The UE of claim 43 , wherein the UE is millimeter wave (mmWave) enabled.

52. The UE of claim 43 , wherein the network entity comprises at least one of a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a remote unit (RU).

53. The UE of claim 43 , further comprising at least one antenna, and wherein the processor further utilizes the at least one antenna to transmit the beam acknowledgement report.

54. The UE of claim 43 , wherein the at least one processor being configured to utilize the transceiver to participate in the beam recovery procedure comprises the at least one processor being configured to utilize the transceiver to change its receive beam for communication over the wireless communication link.

55. A network entity, comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor; and

a transceiver communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

utilize the transceiver to receive a beam acknowledgement report from a user equipment (UE), in response to a beam loss between the UE and the network entity, the beam loss associated with a wireless communication link between the UE and the network entity; and

utilize the transceiver to participate in a beam recovery procedure via a sequence over which at least one of i) transmit beams of the network entity or ii) receive beams of the UE are scanned over a contiguous set of symbols, wherein the sequence comprises at least a first portion wherein the network entity uses a same first transmit beam for different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols, and wherein the network entity signals beam selection assistance information to the UE indicating to the UE to change receive beams for receiving the same first transmit beam for the different symbols of the contiguous set of symbols.

56. The network entity of claim 55 , wherein the sequence further comprises:

57. The network entity of claim 55 , wherein the sequence comprises:

58. The network entity of claim 55 , wherein the beam selection assistance information is provided via at least one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, downlink control information (DCI), or multiple access channel control element (MAC-CE).

59. The network entity of claim 55 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

utilize the transceiver to receive a report from the UE, wherein the report is based on measurements for different transmit receive beam pairs over a certain bandwidth or sub-bands.

60. The network entity of claim 59 , wherein the report is based on complex-valued signal comparisons across multiple transmit and receive beam pair candidates based on different panels or polarizations.

61. The network entity of claim 59 , wherein the report includes at least a portion of a covariance matrix based on post-beamforming received signal vectors across different ports or RF chains.

62. The network entity of claim 55 , wherein the network entity is millimeter wave (mmWave) enabled.

63. The network entity of claim 55 , wherein the network entity is at least one of a central unit (CU), distributed unit (DU), or a remote unit (RU).

64. The network entity of claim 55 , further comprising at least one antenna, and wherein the processor further utilizes the at least one antenna to receive the beam acknowledgement report from the UE.

65. The network entity of claim 55 , wherein the at least one processor being configured to utilize the transceiver to participate in the beam recovery procedure comprises the at least one processor being configured to utilize the transceiver to changes its transmit beam for communication over the wireless communication link.

Assignments (1)

ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 30, 2019

From: RAGHAVAN, VASANTHAN; SUBRAMANIAN, SUNDAR; CEZANNE, JUERGEN; SAMPATH, ASHWIN; LI, JUNYI

To: QUALCOMM INCORPORATED

Reel/Frame 050225/0675 →

Continuity (3)

Continuation 15711777 · Sep 21, 2017

Provisional Application 62402897 · Sep 30, 2016

Related Publication 20190386735A1 · Dec 19, 2019

Cited By (1)

US 12,549,962