Techniques for beam refinement in vehicle to everything communications systems
Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A user equipment (UE), such as a vehicular UE, may perform proactive beam management in a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications system. In some cases, road conditions may affect V2X connectivity for the V-UE. For example, if the V-UE is using a narrow beam and approaches a road with a steep gradient, the narrow beam may be unable to detect other V-UEs, which could lead to connection loss. Instead, the V-UE may proactively perform beam management or beam refinement to adjust the beam and maintain connectivity. For example, the V-UE may select a wider beam which has greater coverage, or the V-UE may update a direction of the narrow beam to maintain connection with neighboring V-UEs. The V-UE may use onboard sensor and computer vision-based techniques to detect changes to road conditions or its trajectory.
1. A method for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
communicating, at the UE, using a first beam configured for a sidelink communications link;
determining a predicted change to a trajectory of the UE based at least in part on a change to a gradient of a road, a banking angle of the road, a turning radius of the road, or a combination thereof;
storing, at a first time, environmental conditions of the UE based at least in part on determining the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE for use in proactive beam management on a route;
determining a beam adjustment parameter for the sidelink communications link based at least in part on the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE;
identifying, at a second time later than the first time, the environmental conditions of the UE based at least in part on storing the environmental conditions of the UE on the route;
applying the beam adjustment parameter based at least in part on identifying the environmental conditions of the UE; and
communicating using a second beam applying the beam adjustment parameter based at least in part on the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE comprises:
determining the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE based at least in part on a sensor of the UE or a computer vision application at the UE, or both.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE comprises:
receiving signaling indicating the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE from another UE, a roadside unit, a server, a network entity, or a combination thereof.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the beam adjustment parameter comprises:
determining a second beam width for the second beam based at least in part on the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE, wherein the second beam width is wider than a first beam width for the first beam.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the beam adjustment parameter comprises:
determining a second beam direction for the second beam based at least in part on the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE, wherein the second beam direction is different from a first beam direction for the first beam.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein communicating using the second beam comprises:
deactivating the first beam based at least in part on the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE; and
activating the second beam based at least in part on determining the beam adjustment parameter.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the beam adjustment parameter comprises:
determining the beam adjustment parameter prior to an occurrence of a change to the trajectory of the UE, wherein the second beam is used to communicate during the change to the trajectory of the UE.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving signaling indicating the beam adjustment parameter from another UE, a roadside unit, a server, a network entity, or a combination thereof.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting signaling indicating the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE, the beam adjustment parameter, a location tag associated with the beam adjustment parameter, or a combination thereof, to another UE, a roadside unit, a server, a network entity, or a combination thereof.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein communicating using the second beam comprises:
maintaining a sidelink connection with another UE during the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sidelink communications link comprise vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications.
12. An apparatus for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
a processor;
memory coupled with the processor; and
instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
communicate, at the UE, using a first beam configured for a sidelink communications link;
determine a predicted change to a trajectory of the UE based at least in part on a change to a gradient of a road, a banking angle of the road, a turning radius of the road, or a combination thereof;
store, at a first time, environmental conditions of the UE based at least in part on determining the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE for use in proactive beam management on a route;
determine a beam adjustment parameter for the sidelink communications link based at least in part on the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE;
identify, at a second time later than the first time, the environmental conditions of the UE based at least in part on storing the environmental conditions of the UE on the route;
apply the beam adjustment parameter based at least in part on identifying the environmental conditions of the UE; and
communicate using a second beam applying the beam adjustment parameter based at least in part on the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the instructions to determine the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
determine the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE based at least in part on a sensor of the UE or a computer vision application at the UE, or both.
14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the instructions to determine the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive signaling indicating the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE from another UE, a roadside unit, a server, a network entity, or a combination thereof.
15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the instructions to determine the beam adjustment parameter are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
determine a second beam width for the second beam based at least in part on the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE, wherein the second beam width is wider than a first beam width for the first beam.
16. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the instructions to determine the beam adjustment parameter are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
determine a second beam direction for the second beam based at least in part on the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE, wherein the second beam direction is different from a first beam direction for the first beam.
17. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the instructions to communicate using the second beam are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
deactivate the first beam based at least in part on the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE; and
activate the second beam based at least in part on determining the beam adjustment parameter.
18. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the instructions to determine the beam adjustment parameter are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
determine the beam adjustment parameter prior to an occurrence of a change to the trajectory of the UE, wherein the second beam is used to communicate during the change to the trajectory of the UE.
19. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
receive signaling indicating the beam adjustment parameter from another UE, a roadside unit, a server, a network entity, or a combination thereof.
20. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
transmit signaling indicating the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE to another UE, a roadside unit, a server, a network entity, or a combination thereof.
21. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the instructions to communicate using the second beam are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
maintain a sidelink connection with another UE during the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE.
22. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the sidelink communications link comprise vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications.
23. An apparatus for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
means for communicating, at the UE, using a first beam configured for a sidelink communications link;
means for determining a predicted change to a trajectory of the UE based at least in part on a change to a gradient of a road, a banking angle of the road, a turning radius of the road, or a combination thereof;
means for storing, at a first time, environmental conditions of the UE based at least in part on determining the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE for use in proactive beam management on a route;
means for determining a beam adjustment parameter for the sidelink communications link based at least in part on the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE;
means for identifying, at a second time later than the first time, the environmental conditions of the UE based at least in part on storing the environmental conditions of the UE on the route;
means for applying the beam adjustment parameter based at least in part on identifying the environmental conditions of the UE; and
means for communicating using a second beam applying the beam adjustment parameter based at least in part on the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE.
24. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to:
communicate, at the UE, using a first beam configured for a sidelink communications link;
determine a predicted change to a trajectory of the UE based at least in part on a change to a gradient of a road, a banking angle of the road, a turning radius of the road, or a combination thereof;
store, at a first time, environmental conditions of the UE based at least in part on determining the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE for use in proactive beam management on a route;
determine a beam adjustment parameter for the sidelink communications link based at least in part on the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE;
identify, at a second time later than the first time, the environmental conditions of the UE based at least in part on storing the environmental conditions of the UE on the route;
apply the beam adjustment parameter based at least in part on identifying the environmental conditions of the UE; and
communicate using a second beam applying the beam adjustment parameter based at least in part on the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE.
25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24 , wherein the instructions to determine the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE are executable by the processor to:
determine the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE based at least in part on a sensor of the UE or a computer vision application at the UE, or both.
26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24 , wherein the instructions to determine the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE are executable by the processor to:
receive signaling indicating the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE from another UE, a roadside unit, a server, a network entity, or a combination thereof.
27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24 , wherein the instructions to determine the beam adjustment parameter are executable by the processor to:
determine a second beam width for the second beam based at least in part on the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE, wherein the second beam width is wider than a first beam width for the first beam.
28. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 24 , wherein the instructions to determine the beam adjustment parameter are executable by the processor to:
determine a second beam direction for the second beam based at least in part on the predicted change to the trajectory of the UE, wherein the second beam direction is different from a first beam direction for the first beam.