Method and apparatus for sensor assisted beam selection, beam tracking, and antenna module selection

1. A user equipment (UE) comprising:

a plurality of antenna modules; and

a sensor positioned proximate to an antenna module in the plurality of antenna modules, the sensor configured to detect an obstacle proximate to the sensor; and

a processor configured to:

receive an input from the sensor indicating a presence of the obstacle proximate to the sensor;

identify the antenna module proximate to the sensor based on accessing a table in which a sensor index of the sensor is related to an antenna module index of the antenna module proximate to the sensor; and

deactivate at least a portion of the identified antenna module based on the input from the sensor and the sensor index.

2. The UE of claim 1 , wherein to deactivate at least the portion of the identified antenna module, the processor is configured to:

identify, based on the input from the sensor and a position of the sensor relative to the antenna module, a position of the obstacle relative to the antenna module;

identify beam patterns for beams of the antenna module by accessing the table in which the sensor index of the sensor is related to beam indices of the beams of the antenna module;

determine, based on the beam patterns and the position of the obstacle relative to the antenna module, one or more of the beams that are obstructed by the obstacle; and

deactivate use of the one or more beams that are determined to be obstructed by the obstacle.

3. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is at least one of a proximity sensor or a biometric sensor.

4. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is a first sensor, the UE further comprising:

a second sensor configured to detect rotation of the UE,

wherein the processor is configured to:

determine a subset of activated beams to use for wireless communication;

determine, based on an input from the second sensor, an amount and direction of rotation of the UE; and

modify the determined subset of activated beams based on the determined amount and direction of rotation of the UE.

5. The UE of claim 4 , wherein:

the processor is configured to determine to modify the determined subset of activated beams based on occurrence of a triggering event, and

the triggering event is one of a degradation of a link quality by a threshold amount or a change in position of the UE by a threshold amount.

6. The UE of claim 4 , wherein to modify the determined subset of activated beams, the processor is configured to:

calculate, based on the amount and direction of rotation of the UE, a change in position of the UE;

translate, based on the calculated change in position of the UE, a first direction associated with the determined subset of activated beams into a second direction associated with the change in position of the UE;

identify beams associated with the translated second direction; and

modify the determined subset of activated beams based on the beams identified as associated with the translated second direction.

7. The UE of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the subset of activated beams to use to search for a neighbor cell.

8. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:

collect statistics of an angle of arrival (AOA) of signal beams; and

generate an AOA aware codebook based on the collected statistics.

9. The UE of claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to:

estimate a reference signal power from a reference signal; and

generate the AOA aware codebook based on the estimated reference signal power being lower than an estimated reference power threshold.

10. The UE of claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to:

collect and save an identity of used codewords;

calculate a distribution of the codewords at a given time duration; and

generate the AOA aware codebook based on a variance of the distribution being smaller than an estimated variance threshold.

11. A method for sensor assisted beam selection, comprising:

receiving an input from a sensor indicating a presence of an obstacle proximate to the sensor;

identifying an antenna module proximate to the sensor by accessing a table in which a sensor index of the sensor is related to an antenna module index of the antenna module proximate to the sensor; and

deactivating at least a portion of the identified antenna module based on the input from the sensor and the sensor index.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein deactivating at least the portion of the identified antenna modules comprises:

identifying, based on the input from the sensor and a position of the sensor relative to the antenna module, a position of the obstacle relative to the antenna module;

identifying beam patterns for beams of the antenna module by accessing the table in which the sensor index of the sensor is related to beam indices of the beams of the antenna module;

determining, based on the beam patterns and the position of the obstacle relative to the antenna module, one or more of the beams that are obstructed by the obstacle; and

deactivating use of the one or more beams that are determined to be obstructed by the obstacle.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the sensor is at least one of a proximity sensor or a biometric sensor.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein:

the sensor is a first sensor, and

the method further comprises:

detecting, by a second sensor, rotation of a user equipment (UE);

determining a subset of activated beams to use for wireless communication;

determining, based on an input from the second sensor, an amount and direction of rotation of the UE; and

modifying the determined subset of activated beams based on the determined amount and direction of rotation of the UE.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein:

modifying the determined subset of activated beams is based on an occurrence of a triggering event, and

the triggering event is one of a degradation of a link quality by a threshold amount or a change in position of the UE by a threshold amount.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein modifying the determined subset of activated beams comprises:

calculating, based on the amount and direction of rotation of the UE, a change in position of the UE;

translating, based on the calculated change in position of the UE, a first direction associated with the determined subset of activated beams into a second direction associated with the change in position of the UE;

identifying beams associated with the translated second direction; and

modifying the determined subset of activated beams based on the beams identified as associated with the translated second direction.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein determining the subset of activated beams is used to search for a neighbor cell.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

collecting statistics of an angle of arrival (AOA) of signal beams; and

generating an AOA aware codebook based on the collected statistics.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

estimating a reference signal power from a reference signal; and

generating the AOA aware codebook based on the estimated reference signal power being lower than an estimated reference power threshold.

20. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:

collecting and saving an identity of used codewords;

calculating a distribution of the codewords at a given time duration; and

generating the AOA aware codebook based on a variance of the distribution being smaller than an estimated variance threshold.