Beam refinement reference signal before paging DCI reception

1. A method of wireless communications, comprising, at a UE:

receiving at least one transmission indicating a beam refinement reference signal transmitted prior to a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring occasion;

receiving the beam refinement reference signal prior to the paging PDCCH monitoring occasion based on the at least one transmission; and

receiving a downlink control information on the paging PDCCH monitoring occasion based on the beam refinement reference signal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one transmission indicating the beam refinement reference signal is a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) including one or more bit fields indicating presence of the beam refinement reference signal.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the one or more bit fields indicate resources of the beam refinement reference signal.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one transmission is remaining minimum system information (RMSI) or other system information (OSI) indicating resources of the beam refinement reference signal.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the beam refinement reference signal is applicable depending on one or more of: frequency range, frequency band, subcarrier spacing, or paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising refining a receive beam based on the beam refinement reference signal.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein refining the receive beam comprises selecting a beam from a hierarchical beam structure based on the beam refinement reference signal.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein refining the receive beam comprises adjusting a weight of a calculated receive beam based on the beam refinement reference signal.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the beam refinement reference signal uses a same sequence as a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

10. A method of wireless communications, comprising, at a base station:

scheduling a transmission of a beam refinement reference signal prior to a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring occasion;

transmitting the beam refinement reference signal; and

transmitting a paging downlink control information (DCI) on the paging PDCCH monitoring occasion subsequent to the beam refinement reference signal.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein scheduling the transmission of the beam refinement reference signal comprises setting one or more bit fields of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) to indicate presence of the beam refinement reference signal.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more bit fields indicate resources of the beam refinement reference signal.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein scheduling the transmission of the beam refinement reference signal comprises including an indication of resources for the beam refinement reference signal in remaining minimum system information (RMSI) or other system information (OSI).

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the beam refinement reference signal is applicable depending one or more of: frequency range, frequency band, subcarrier spacing, or paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the beam refinement reference signal uses a same sequence as a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein scheduling the transmission of the beam refinement reference signal prior to the paging PDCCH monitoring occasion comprises indicating resources for the beam refinement reference signal relative to the PDCCH monitoring occasion.

17. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a memory storing computer-executable instructions; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:

receive at least one transmission indicating a beam refinement reference signal transmitted prior to a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring occasion;

receive the beam refinement reference signal prior to the paging PDCCH monitoring occasion based on the at least one transmission; and

receive a downlink control information on the paging PDCCH monitoring occasion based on the beam refinement reference signal.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the at least one transmission indicating the beam refinement reference signal is a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) including one or more bit fields indicating presence of the beam refinement reference signal.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the one or more bit fields indicate resources of the beam refinement reference signal.

20. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the at least one transmission is remaining minimum system information (RMSI) or other system information (OSI) indicating resources of the beam refinement reference signal.

21. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the beam refinement reference signal is applicable depending on one or more of: frequency range, frequency band, subcarrier spacing, or paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).

22. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to refine a receive beam based on the beam refinement reference signal.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to select a beam from a hierarchical beam structure based on the beam refinement reference signal.

24. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to adjust a weight of a calculated receive beam based on the beam refinement reference signal.

25. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the beam refinement reference signal uses a same sequence as a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

26. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:

a memory storing computer-executable instructions; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:

schedule a transmission of a beam refinement reference signal prior to a paging physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring occasion;

transmit the beam refinement reference signal; and

transmit a paging downlink control information (DCI) on the paging PDCCH monitoring occasion subsequent to the beam refinement reference signal.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to set one or more bit fields of a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) to indicate presence of the beam refinement reference signal.

28. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to include an indication of resources for the beam refinement reference signal in remaining minimum system information (RMSI) or other system information (OSI).

29. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the beam refinement reference signal is applicable depending one or more of: frequency range, frequency band, subcarrier spacing, or paging radio network temporary identifier (P-RNTI).

30. The apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the beam refinement reference signal uses a same sequence as a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).