Beam selection process for multi-stream environments

Abstract

Techniques for selecting transmit beam sets in a multi-stream environment are described as part of a beam selection process. The selection and reporting processes within the beam selection process may include reporting information about potential interference sources targeting the selected transmit beam. The base station may transmit a reference signal to the user equipment (UE) as part of a beam scan of a directional beam. The UE may measure signal quality parameters associated with the reference signal and may select multiple transmit beam set candidates based on these parameters. The UE may report information about inter-beam interference in the multi-stream environment to the base station. Based on the reports received from the UE, including information about inter-beam interference, the base station may determine which transmit beams to use to transmit information to the UE.

Description

[0001] Cross-references

[0002] This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 855,467, filed on May 31, 2019, by PARK et al., entitled “BEAM SELECTION PROCEDURES FOR MULTI-STREAM ENVIRONMENTS”; and U.S. Patent Application No. 16 / 880,914, filed on May 21, 2020, by PARK et al., entitled “BEAM SELECTION PROCEDURES FOR MULTI-STREAM ENVIRONMENTS”, each of which is assigned to the assignee of this application. Background Art

[0003] The following relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment.

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various communication content, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcasting, etc. These systems can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, advanced LTE (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems, which may be referred to as new radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple access communication system may include multiple base stations or network access nodes, each of which simultaneously supports communication for multiple communication devices, also referred to as user equipment (UE).

[0005] Some wireless communication systems may use directional beams for communication. The base station and the UE may perform a beam selection process to establish a beam pair link or modify the beam being used for a communication link. The selection of beam pairs may face challenges in a multi-flow environment. Summary of the invention

[0006] The described technology relates to improved methods, systems, devices, and apparatuses that support a beam selection process for a multi-stream environment. In general, the described technology provides for selecting a transmit beam set as part of a beam selection process in a multi-stream environment. The selection process and the reporting process in the beam selection process may include reporting information about potential sources of interference for the selected transmit beam. A base station may send a reference signal to a user equipment (UE) as part of a beam scan of a directional beam. The UE may measure a signal quality parameter associated with the reference signal and may select a plurality of transmit beam set candidates based on the signal quality parameter. The UE may send a report to the base station including information about inter-beam interference in a multi-stream environment. Based on the report received from the UE including information about inter-beam interference, the base station may determine which transmit beams to use to send information to the UE.

[0007] A method for wireless communication on a user device is described. The method may include receiving a reference signal associated with a set of transmit beams from a base station, selecting a set of transmit beam sets associated with a beam selection process based on receiving one or more reference signals, wherein the set of transmit beam sets includes a first transmit beam set, the first transmit beam set includes a first transmit beam associated with a first receive beam and a second transmit beam associated with a second receive beam, and sending a message indicating signal quality information of each transmit beam set in the set of transmit beam sets to the base station based on selecting the set of transmit beam sets, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam, and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam.

[0008] An apparatus for wireless communication on a user device is described. The apparatus may include a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executed by the processor to cause the apparatus to receive a reference signal associated with a set of transmit beams from a base station, select a set of transmit beam sets associated with a beam selection process based on receiving one or more reference signals, wherein the set of transmit beam sets includes a first transmit beam set, the first transmit beam set includes a first transmit beam associated with a first receive beam and a second transmit beam associated with a second receive beam, and send a message indicating signal quality information of each transmit beam set in the set of transmit beam sets to the base station based on selecting the set of transmit beam sets, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam, and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam.

[0009] Another apparatus for wireless communication on a user device is described. The apparatus may include components for: receiving a reference signal associated with a set of transmit beams from a base station; selecting a set of transmit beam sets associated with a beam selection process based on receiving one or more reference signals, wherein the set of transmit beam sets includes a first transmit beam set, the first transmit beam set includes a first transmit beam associated with a first receive beam and a second transmit beam associated with a second receive beam; and sending a message indicating signal quality information of each transmit beam set in the set of transmit beam sets to the base station based on selecting the set of transmit beam sets, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam, and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam.

[0010] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication on a user device is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to receive reference signals associated with a set of transmit beams from a base station, select a set of transmit beam sets associated with a beam selection process based on receiving one or more reference signals, wherein the set of transmit beam sets includes a first transmit beam set, the first transmit beam set includes a first transmit beam associated with a first receive beam and a second transmit beam associated with a second receive beam, and send a message indicating signal quality information of each transmit beam set in the set of transmit beam sets to the base station based on selecting the set of transmit beam sets, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam, and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam.

[0011] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, signal quality information for a first transmit beam set is based on a third signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via a second receive beam, and a fourth signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the second receive beam.

[0012] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the message includes a first field indicating a first signal quality parameter, a second field indicating a second signal quality parameter, a third field indicating a third signal quality parameter, and a fourth field indicating a fourth signal quality parameter.

[0013] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for identifying a first signal quality ratio between the first signal quality parameter and the second signal quality parameter, and a second signal quality ratio between the third signal quality parameter and the fourth signal quality parameter, wherein the message includes a first field indicating the first signal quality ratio and a second field indicating the second signal quality ratio.

[0014] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for identifying a first signal quality ratio between a first signal quality parameter and a combination of a second signal quality parameter and a first noise measurement associated with a first receive beam, and a second signal quality ratio between a third signal quality parameter and a combination of a fourth signal quality parameter and a second noise measurement associated with a second receive beam, wherein the message includes a first field indicating the first signal quality ratio and a second field indicating the second signal quality ratio.

[0015] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, a first receive beam may be associated with a first antenna panel of a user device and a second receive beam may be associated with a second antenna panel of the user device.

[0016] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for identifying a set of ranks for one or more transmissions, wherein selecting the set of transmit beam sets includes selecting one or more transmit beam sets for each rank in the set of ranks.

[0017] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for selecting a rank from a set of ranks to report to a base station, wherein the signal quality information of the message includes signal quality information associated with the selected rank from the set of ranks.

[0018] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for identifying transmit configuration indexes associated with the set of transmit beams, wherein the message indicates a selected subset of the transmit configuration indexes.

[0019] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for identifying a rank for one or more transmit beams and identifying a number of transmit beams in each transmit beam set in the group of transmit beam sets based on the identification rank, wherein selecting the group of transmit beam sets may be based on identifying the number of transmit beams in each transmit beam set.

[0020] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for receiving a report configuration for a beam selection process from a base station, wherein selecting the group of transmit beam sets may be based on receiving the report configuration.

[0021] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the signal quality information of the message includes signal quality information associated with each rank in a set of ranks for one or more transmissions.

[0022] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, receiving a reference signal may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for receiving a first reference signal at a first antenna panel coupled to a radio frequency chain, and receiving a second reference signal at a second antenna panel coupled to a second radio frequency chain.

[0023] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, a first transmit beam may be selected for a first antenna panel and a second transmit beam may be selected for a second antenna panel.

[0024] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for evaluating each combination of each set of transmit beams received via each of a set of receive beams, wherein selecting the set of transmit beam sets may be based on evaluating each combination.

[0025] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, selecting the group of transmit beam sets may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for identifying a group of transmit beams that includes the group of transmit beams, selecting a transmit beam set for the group of transmit beam sets, and removing the selected transmit beam from the group of transmit beams, wherein selecting the transmit beam set for the group of transmit beam sets includes selecting a transmit beam with the next highest signal quality from the group of transmit beams for one or more additional antenna panels in the group of antenna panels.

[0026] A method for wireless communication on a base station is described. The method may include receiving a message indicating signal quality information of a set of transmit beam sets from a user equipment, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set including a first transmit beam and a second transmit beam is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via a first receive beam, and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam, selecting one or more transmit beams from the set of transmit beam sets for communicating information with the user equipment based on receiving the message, and communicating information with the user equipment using the one or more transmit beams.

[0027] An apparatus for wireless communication on a base station is described. The apparatus may include a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions may be executed by the processor to cause the apparatus to receive a message indicating signal quality information of a set of transmit beam sets from a user equipment, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set including a first transmit beam and a second transmit beam is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via a first receive beam, and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam, select one or more transmit beams from the set of transmit beam sets for communicating information with the user equipment based on receiving the message, and communicate information with the user equipment using the one or more transmit beams.

[0028] Another apparatus for wireless communication at a base station is described. The apparatus may include components for: receiving a message indicating signal quality information of a set of transmit beam sets from a user equipment, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set including a first transmit beam and a second transmit beam is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via a first receive beam, and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam; selecting one or more transmit beams from the set of transmit beam sets for communicating information with the user equipment based on receiving the message; and communicating information with the user equipment using the one or more transmit beams.

[0029] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication on a base station is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to receive a message indicating signal quality information of a set of transmit beam sets from a user equipment, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set including a first transmit beam and a second transmit beam is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via a first receive beam and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam, select one or more transmit beams from the set of transmit beam sets for communicating information with the user equipment based on receiving the message, and communicate information with the user equipment using the one or more transmit beams.

[0030] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the message includes a first field indicating a first signal quality parameter for the first transmit beam, and a second field indicating a second signal quality parameter for the second transmit beam.

[0031] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the message includes a field indicating a signal quality ratio of a first transmit beam to a second transmit beam in the first transmit beam set.

[0032] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the signal quality ratio includes a signal-to-interference ratio of the first transmit beam to the second transmit beam.

[0033] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the signal quality ratio includes a ratio of the first signal quality parameter to a sum of the second signal quality parameter and a noise measurement associated with the first receive beam.

[0034] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the signal quality information of the message includes signal quality information of a transmit beam set associated with a set of ranks.

[0035] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for selecting a rank for one or more transmissions from a set of ranks based on receiving the message, wherein selecting one or more transmission beams may be based on selecting the rank.

[0036] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for identifying a transmit configuration index associated with each beam in the group of transmit beam sets, and identifying a subset of transmit configuration indexes for one or more transmit beams based on receiving the message, wherein selecting one or more transmit beams may be based on identifying the subset of transmit configuration indexes.

[0037] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for sending a reference signal to a user equipment, wherein receiving the message may be based on sending the reference signal.

[0038] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for sending a reporting configuration for a beam selection process to a user equipment, where receiving the message may be based on sending the reporting configuration.

[0039] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for receiving a message from a group of user devices, wherein the group of user devices includes the user device, wherein identifying one or more transmit beams may be based on receiving the message from the group of user devices. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] Figure 1 An example of a system for wireless communication supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0041] Figure 2 An example of a wireless communication system supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0042] Figure 3 An example of a process flow supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0043] Figure 4 An example of an antenna module supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0044] Figure 5A An example of a diagram supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0045] Figure 5B An example of a report message supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0046] Figure 6 and 7 A block diagram of an apparatus supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0047] Figure 8 A block diagram of a communication manager supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment is shown according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0048] Fig. 9 A diagram of a system including a device supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0049] Fig.10 and 11 A block diagram of an apparatus supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0050] Fig.12 A block diagram of a communication manager supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment is shown according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0051] Fig.13 A diagram of a system including a device supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0052] Figures 14 to 15 A flow chart of a method for supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0053] Some wireless communication systems may use directional beams for communication. Base stations and user equipment (UE) may perform a beam selection process to establish a beam pair link or modify a beam being used for a communication link. Measurement or reporting of the signal quality of a transmitted beam may be used by a base station or UE for beam selection. However, in various environments, beam selection based on measured or reported signal quality may result in suboptimal beam selection due to inter-beam interference.

[0054] Techniques for selecting a transmit beam set in a multi-stream environment as part of a beam selection process are described. The selection process and the reporting process in the beam selection process may include reporting information about potential sources of interference for the selected transmit beam. The base station may send a reference signal to the UE as part of a beam scan of a directional beam. The UE may measure a signal quality parameter associated with the reference signal and may select a plurality of transmit beam set candidates based on the signal quality parameter. The UE may send a report to the base station including information based on received signal quality (e.g., for a beam pair) and inter-beam interference in a multi-stream environment. Based on a report received from the UE including or based on information about inter-beam interference, the base station may determine which transmit beams to use to send information to the UE.

[0055] Aspects of the present disclosure are initially described in the context of wireless communication systems. Aspects of the present disclosure are described in the context of process flows and diagrams. Aspects of the present disclosure are further illustrated and described by and with reference to apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flow diagrams related to a beam selection process for a multi-stream environment.

[0056] Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication system 100 supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The wireless communication system 100 includes a base station 105, a UE 115, and a core network 130. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may be a long term evolution (LTE) network, an advanced LTE (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pro network, or a new radio (NR) network. In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 may support enhanced broadband communications, ultra-reliable (e.g., mission-critical) communications, low-latency communications, or communications with low-cost and low-complexity devices.

[0057] The base station 105 may communicate wirelessly with the UE 115 via one or more base station antennas. The base station 105 described herein may include or may be referred to by a person skilled in the art as a base transceiver, a radio base station, an access point, a radio transceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a next generation NodeB or a giga-NodeB (any of which may be referred to as a gNB), a home NodeB, a home eNodeB, or some other suitable terminology. The wireless communication system 100 may include different types of base stations 105 (e.g., macro or small cell base stations). The UE 115 described herein is capable of communicating with various types of base stations 105 and network equipment, including macro eNBs, small cell eNBs, gNBs, relay base stations, etc.

[0058] Each base station 105 may be associated with a particular geographic coverage area 110 in which it supports communications with various UEs 115. Each base station 105 may provide communications coverage for the respective geographic coverage area 110 via a communication link 125, and the communication link 125 between the base station 105 and the UE 115 may utilize one or more carriers. The communication link 125 shown in the wireless communication system 100 may include an uplink transmission from the UE 115 to the base station 105 or a downlink transmission from the base station 105 to the UE 115. Downlink transmissions may also be referred to as forward link transmissions, and uplink transmissions may also be referred to as reverse link transmissions.

[0059] The geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 105 can be divided into sectors that constitute a portion of the geographic coverage area 110, and each sector can be associated with a cell. For example, each base station 105 can provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a small cell, a hotspot, or other types of cells, or various combinations thereof. In some examples, the base station 105 is mobile and can therefore provide communication coverage for a mobile geographic coverage area 110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies can overlap, and overlapping geographic coverage areas 110 associated with different technologies can be supported by the same base station 105 or different base stations 105. The wireless communication system 100 may include, for example, a heterogeneous LTE / LTE-A / LTE-A Pro or NR network, in which different types of base stations 105 provide coverage for each geographic coverage area 110.

[0060] The term "cell" refers to a logical communication entity used to communicate with base station 105 (e.g., via a carrier), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID)) used to distinguish between adjacent cells operating on the same or different carriers. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other) that provide access to different types of devices. In some cases, the term "cell" may refer to a portion (e.g., a sector) of a geographic coverage area 110 on which the logical entity operates.

[0061] UE 115 can be dispersed throughout the wireless communication system 100, and each UE 115 can be fixed or mobile. UE 115 can also be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscription device or some other suitable term, where "device" can also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client. UE 115 can also be a personal electronic device, such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a personal computer. In some examples, UE 115 can also refer to a wireless local loop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet of Everything (IoE) device, or an MTC device, etc., which can be implemented in various items, such as appliances, vehicles, meters, etc.

[0062] Some UEs 115, such as MTC or IoT devices, may be low-cost or low-complexity devices and may provide automated communication between machines (e.g., via machine-to-machine (M2M) communication). M2M communication or MTC may refer to data communication technology that allows devices to communicate with each other or with a base station 105 without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTC may include communication from devices that integrate sensors or meters to measure or capture information and relay the information to a central server or application that can utilize the information or present the information to a person interacting with the program or application. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collect information or implement automated behavior of machines. Examples of applications for MTC devices include smart meters, inventory monitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, health care monitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological event monitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing, physical access control, and transaction-based commercial charging.

[0063] Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ operating modes that reduce power consumption, such as half-duplex communication (e.g., a mode that supports unidirectional communication via sending or receiving without sending and receiving simultaneously). In some examples, half-duplex communication may be performed at a reduced peak rate. Other power conservation techniques for UE 115 include entering a power saving "deep sleep" mode when not participating in active communications or operating on a limited bandwidth (e.g., according to narrowband communications). In some cases, UE 115 may be designed to support critical functions (e.g., mission-critical functions), and the wireless communication system 100 may be configured to provide ultra-reliable communications to these functions.

[0064] In some cases, UE 115 can also communicate directly with other UE 115 (e.g., using peer-to-peer (P2P) or device-to-device (D2D) protocols). One or more of a group of UEs 115 that employ D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 105. Other UEs 115 in the group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 105 or unable to receive transmissions from the base station 105. In some cases, a group of UEs 115 that communicate via D2D may employ a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE 115 transmits to each other UE 115 in the group. In some cases, the base station 105 implements scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be performed between UEs 115 without involving the base station 105.

[0065] The base stations 105 may communicate with the core network 130 and may communicate with each other. For example, the base stations 105 may be connected to the core network 130 via a backhaul link 132 (e.g., via S1, N2, N3 or other interfaces). The base stations 105 may communicate with each other via a backhaul link 134 (e.g., via X2, Xn or other interfaces) either directly (e.g., directly between the base stations 105) or indirectly (e.g., via the core network 130).

[0066] The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet (IP) connectivity, and other access, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be an evolved packet core (EPC), which may include at least one mobility management entity (MME), at least one serving gateway (S-GW), and at least one packet data network (PDN) gateway (P-GW). The MME may manage non-access stratum (e.g., control plane) functions such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management for UE 115, which is served by a base station 105 associated with the EPC. User IP packets may be transmitted through the S-GW, which itself may be connected to the P-GW. The P-GW may provide IP address allocation and other functions. The P-GW may be connected to a network operator IP service. Operator IP services may include access to the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), or a packet switched (PS) streaming service.

[0067] At least some of the network devices, such as the base station 105, may include subcomponents, such as an access network entity, which may be an example of an access node controller (ANC). Each access network entity may communicate with the UE 115 through a plurality of other access network transport entities, referred to as radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmit / receive points (TRPs). In some configurations, the functions of each access network entity or base station 105 may be distributed across network devices (e.g., radio heads and access network controllers), or combined into a single network device (e.g., base station 105).

[0068] The wireless communication system 100 can operate using one or more frequency bands typically in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz). Typically, the region from 300MHz to 3GHz is referred to as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band, due to the wavelength range from about one decimeter to one meter in length. UHF waves can be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features. However, for macro cells, these waves are sufficient to penetrate structures to provide services to UE 115 located indoors. Compared to transmissions using lower frequencies and longer waves in the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portion of the spectrum below 300MHz, transmissions of UHF waves can be associated with smaller antennas and shorter ranges (e.g., less than 100km).

[0069] The wireless communication system 100 may also operate in the Super High Frequency (SHF) region, also known as the centimeter band, using a frequency band from 3 GHz to 30 GHz. The SHF region includes bands such as the 5 GHz Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band, which may be used by devices that can tolerate interference from other users.

[0070] The wireless communication system 100 may also operate in the extremely high frequency (EHF) spectrum region (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz), also referred to as the millimeter wave band. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may support millimeter wave (mmW) communications between the UE 115 and the base station 105, and the EHF antennas of the corresponding devices may be even smaller and more closely spaced than the UHF antennas. In some cases, this facilitates the use of antenna arrays within the UE 115. However, the propagation of EHF transmissions suffers even greater atmospheric attenuation and a shorter range than SHF or UHF transmissions. The technology disclosed herein may be used across transmissions using one or more different frequency regions, and the designated use of bands across these frequency regions may vary by country or regulatory body.

[0071] In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 can employ licensed and unlicensed radio spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communication system 100 can use license assisted access (LAA), LTE-unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology in an unlicensed band such as the 5GHz ISM band. When operating in an unlicensed radio spectrum band, wireless devices such as base stations 105 and UE 115 can use a listen-before-talk (LBT) process to ensure that the frequency channel is idle before sending data. In some cases, operations in unlicensed bands can be based on a carrier aggregation configuration in combination with component carriers operating in a licensed band (e.g., LAA). Operations in unlicensed spectrum can include downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, peer-to-peer transmissions, or a combination of these. Duplexing in unlicensed spectrum can be based on frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination of the two.

[0072] In some examples, the base station 105 or the UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas, which may be used to use techniques such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication, or beamforming. For example, the wireless communication system 100 may use a transmission scheme between a transmitting device (e.g., a base station 105) and a receiving device (e.g., a UE 115), wherein the transmitting device is equipped with multiple antennas and the receiving device is equipped with one or more antennas. MIMO communication may use multipath signal propagation to increase spectral efficiency by sending or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers, which may be referred to as spatial multiplexing. Multiple signals may be sent, for example, by a transmitting device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Similarly, multiple signals may be received by a receiving device via different antennas or different combinations of antennas. Each of the multiple signals may be referred to as an independent spatial stream and may carry bits associated with the same data stream (e.g., the same codeword) or different data streams. Different spatial layers may be associated with different antenna ports for channel measurement and reporting. MIMO technology includes single-user MIMO (SU-MIMO) in which multiple spatial layers are transmitted to the same receiving device, and multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) in which multiple spatial layers are transmitted to multiple devices.

[0073] Beamforming, also known as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signal processing technique that can be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a base station 105 or a UE 115) to shape or steer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming can be implemented by combining signals transmitted via antenna elements of an antenna array so that signal propagation in a particular direction for the antenna array experiences constructive interference, while others experience destructive interference. Adjustments to signals communicated via antenna elements can include the transmitting device or the receiving device applying certain amplitude and phase offsets to the signals carried via each antenna element associated with the device. The adjustments associated with each antenna element can be defined by a set of beamforming weights associated with a particular direction (e.g., with respect to the antenna array of the transmitting device or the receiving device, or with respect to some other direction).

[0074] In one example, the base station 105 may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays to implement beamforming operations for directional communication with the UE 115. For example, some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) may be sent multiple times by the base station 105 in different directions, which may include signals sent according to different beamforming weight sets associated with different transmission directions. The transmissions in different beam directions may be used (e.g., by the base station 105 or a receiving device, such as the UE 115) to identify the beam direction for subsequent transmission and / or reception by the base station 105.

[0075] Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particular receiving device, may be transmitted by base station 105 in a single beam direction (e.g., a direction associated with a receiving device such as UE 115). In some examples, the beam direction associated with transmission along a single beam direction may be determined based at least in part on signals transmitted in different beam directions. For example, UE 115 may receive one or more signals transmitted by base station 105 in different directions, and UE 115 may report to base station 105 an indication of the signal it received having the highest signal quality or otherwise acceptable signal quality. Although these techniques are described with reference to signals transmitted by base station 105 in one or more directions, UE 115 may use similar techniques for transmitting signals multiple times in different directions (e.g., for identifying beam directions for subsequent transmissions or receptions by UE 115), or for transmitting signals in a single direction (e.g., for transmitting data to a receiving device).

[0076] When receiving various signals such as synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals from the base station 105, a receiving device (e.g., UE 115, which may be an example of a millimeter wave receiving device) may try multiple receive beams. For example, the receiving device may try multiple receive directions by receiving via different antenna subarrays, by processing the received signal according to different antenna subarrays, by receiving according to different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of the antenna array, or by processing the received signal according to different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of the antenna array, any of which may be referred to as "listening" according to different receive beams or receive directions. In some examples, the receiving device may use a single receive beam to receive along a single beam direction (e.g., when receiving a data signal). The single receive beam may be aligned with a beam direction determined at least in part based on listening according to different receive beam directions (e.g., a beam direction with the highest signal strength, the highest signal-to-noise ratio, or otherwise acceptable signal quality determined at least in part based on listening according to multiple beam directions).

[0077] In some cases, the antennas of a base station 105 or a UE 115 may be located within one or more antenna arrays that support MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example, one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located at an antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some cases, the antennas or antenna arrays associated with a base station 105 may be located in dispersed geographic locations. A base station 105 may have an antenna array having multiple rows and columns of antenna ports that the base station 105 may use to support beamforming for communications with a UE 115. Likewise, a UE 115 may have one or more antenna arrays that support various MIMO or beamforming operations.

[0078] In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 can be a packet-based network operating according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane, the communication on the bearer or packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer can be IP-based. The radio link control (RLC) layer can perform packet segmentation and reassembly to communicate on the logical channel. The media access control (MAC) layer can perform priority processing and multiplexing of logical channels to transport channels. The MAC layer can also use hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) to provide retransmission at the MAC layer to improve link efficiency. In the control plane, the radio resource control (RRC) protocol layer can provide the establishment, configuration and maintenance of the RRC connection between the UE 115 and the base station 105 or the core network 130 that supports the radio bearer for the user plane data. At the physical layer, the transport channel can be mapped to the physical channel.

[0079] In some cases, UE 115 and base station 105 can support retransmission of data to increase the possibility of successful data reception. HARQ feedback is a technique to increase the possibility of data being correctly received through communication link 125. HARQ can include a combination of error detection (e.g., using cyclic redundancy check (CRC)), forward error correction (FEC) and retransmission (e.g., automatic repeat request (ARQ)). HARQ can improve the throughput of the MAC layer under poor wireless conditions (e.g., signal-to-noise ratio conditions). In some cases, a wireless device can support simultaneous slot HARQ feedback, where the device can provide HARQ feedback for data received in previous symbols in a specific time slot. In other cases, the device can provide HARQ feedback in a subsequent time slot or according to some other time intervals.

[0080] The time interval in LTE or NR can be expressed as a multiple of a basic time unit, which can be referred to as T s = 1 / 30,720,000 second sampling period. The time interval of the communication resources can be organized according to radio frames, each radio frame has a duration of 10 milliseconds, where the frame period can be expressed as T f=307,200T s . A radio frame can be identified by a system frame number (SFN) ranging from 0 to 1023. Each frame can include 10 subframes numbered from 0 to 9, and each subframe can have a duration of 1 ms. The subframe can also be divided into 2 time slots, each time slot has a duration of 0.5 ms, and each time slot can contain 6 or 7 modulation symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of the cyclic prefix preset to each symbol period). In addition to the cyclic prefix, each symbol period can contain 2048 sampling periods. In some cases, a subframe can be the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communication system 100 and can be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI). In other cases, the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communication system 100 can be shorter than a subframe, or can be dynamically selected (e.g., in a burst of a shortened TTI (sTTI) or a component carrier selected using sTTI).

[0081] In some wireless communication systems, a time slot may also be divided into a plurality of mini-slots containing one or more symbols. In some cases, a symbol of a mini-slot or a mini-slot may be the smallest unit of scheduling. For example, depending on the subcarrier spacing or the frequency band of operation, the duration of each symbol may vary. Further, some wireless communication systems may implement time slot aggregation, in which multiple time slots or mini-slots are aggregated together and used for communication between UE 115 and base station 105.

[0082] The term "carrier" refers to a group of wireless spectrum resources with a specified physical layer structure for supporting communications on the communication link 125. For example, the carrier of the communication link 125 may include a portion of a wireless spectrum band that operates according to a physical layer channel for a given wireless access technology. Each physical layer channel may carry user data, control information, or other signaling. A carrier may be associated with a predetermined frequency channel (e.g., an Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (EARFCN)) and may be located by the UE 115 according to a channel grid for discovery. A carrier may be downlink or uplink (e.g., in FDD mode), or may be configured to carry downlink and uplink communications (e.g., in TDD mode). In some examples, the signal waveform sent on the carrier may be composed of multiple subcarriers (e.g., using a multi-carrier modulation (MCM) technique such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM)).

[0083] The organization structure of the carrier can be different for different radio access technologies (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR). For example, communications on a carrier can be organized according to TTIs or time slots, and each TTI or time slot can include user data and control information or signaling to support decoding of the user data. A carrier can also include dedicated acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals or system information, etc.) and control signaling to coordinate operations for the carrier. In some examples (e.g., in a carrier aggregation configuration), a carrier can also have acquisition signaling or control signaling to coordinate operations for other carriers.

[0084] Physical channels can be multiplexed on a carrier according to various techniques. Physical control channels and physical data channels can be multiplexed on a downlink carrier, for example using time division multiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. In some examples, the control information sent in the physical control channel can be distributed between different control regions in a cascaded manner (e.g., between a common control region or common search space and one or more UE-specific control regions or UE-specific search spaces).

[0085] A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of a wireless spectrum, and in some examples, the carrier bandwidth may be referred to as the "system bandwidth" of a carrier or wireless communication system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be one of a plurality of predetermined bandwidths of a carrier for a particular wireless access technology (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, or 80 MHz). In some examples, each serviced UE 115 may be configured to operate on part or all of the carrier bandwidth. In other examples, some UEs 115 may be configured to operate using a narrowband protocol type associated with a predetermined portion or range (e.g., a subcarrier or RB group) within a carrier (e.g., an "in-band" deployment of a narrowband protocol type).

[0086] In a system using MCM technology, a resource element may include a symbol period (e.g., the duration of a modulation symbol) and a subcarrier, where the symbol period and the subcarrier spacing are inversely proportional. The number of bits carried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme (e.g., the order of the modulation scheme). Therefore, the more resource elements received by UE 115 and the higher the order of the modulation scheme, the higher the data rate of UE 115 may be. In a MIMO system, wireless communication resources may refer to a combination of wireless spectrum resources, time resources, and space resources (e.g., space layers), and the use of multiple space layers may also increase the data rate of communication with UE 115.

[0087] A device (e.g., base station 105 or UE 115) of wireless communication system 100 may have a hardware configuration that supports communication on a particular carrier bandwidth, or may be configurable to support communication on one of a set of carrier bandwidths. In some examples, wireless communication system 100 may include base station 105 and / or UE 115 that supports simultaneous communication via carriers associated with more than one different carrier bandwidths.

[0088] The wireless communication system 100 may support communication with the UE 115 on multiple cells or carriers, a feature that may be referred to as carrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation. Depending on the carrier aggregation configuration, the UE 115 may be configured with multiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink component carriers. Carrier aggregation may be used with both FDD component carriers and TDD component carriers.

[0089] In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 can employ an enhanced component carrier (eCC). An eCC can be characterized by one or more characteristics, including a wider carrier or frequency channel bandwidth, a shorter symbol duration, a shorter TTI duration, or a modified control channel configuration. In some cases, an eCC can be associated with a carrier aggregation configuration or a dual connectivity configuration (e.g., when multiple serving cells have suboptimal or non-ideal backhaul links). An eCC can also be configured for use in unlicensed spectrum or shared spectrum (e.g., where more than one operator is allowed to use the spectrum). An eCC characterized by a wide carrier bandwidth can include one or more segments employed by a UE 115 that is unable to monitor the entire carrier bandwidth or is otherwise configured to use a restricted carrier bandwidth (e.g., to save energy).

[0090] In some cases, an eCC may employ a symbol duration different from that of other component carriers, which may include the use of a shortened symbol duration compared to the symbol duration of the other component carriers. A shorter symbol duration may be associated with an increased spacing between adjacent subcarriers. A device employing an eCC, such as a UE 115 or a base station 105, may transmit a wideband signal (e.g., based on a frequency channel or carrier bandwidth of 20, 40, 60, 80 MHz, etc.) on a shortened symbol duration (e.g., 16.67 microseconds). A TTI in an eCC may consist of one or more symbol periods. In some cases, the TTI duration (i.e., the number of symbol periods in a TTI) is variable.

[0091] The wireless communication system 100 may be an NR system that employs any combination of licensed, shared, and unlicensed spectrum bands, etc. The flexibility of eCC symbol duration and subcarrier spacing may allow the use of eCCs across multiple spectrums. In some examples, NR shared spectrum may increase spectrum utilization and spectrum efficiency, particularly through dynamic vertical (e.g., across frequency domain) and horizontal (e.g., across time domain) sharing of resources.

[0092] The base station 105 and one or more UEs 115 may perform a beam selection process to establish or modify a beam pair link. In a multi-flow environment, the beam selection process may not take into account inter-beam interference between selected transmit beams. Techniques are described for the UE 115 to identify inter-beam interference, report the inter-beam interference to the base station 105, or select a transmit beam based on the inter-beam interference as part of the beam selection process. The base station 105 may be configured to select a transmit beam based on information about the inter-beam interference as part of the beam selection process. The base station 105 or the UE 115 may be configured to perform rank adaptation based on the inter-beam interference information.

[0093] Figure 2 An example of a wireless communication system 200 that supports a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In some examples, the wireless communication system 200 can implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 200 may include one or more base stations 205 and one or more UEs 210. The base station 205 may be a reference Figure 1 UE 210 may be an example of a base station 105 described above. Figure 1 An example of UE 115 is described.

[0094] The wireless communication system 200 may support a beam selection process to identify or select a transmit beam 215, a receive beam 220, or both. In some cases, the beam selection process may be used as part of a phase in which the UE 210 initially accesses the base station 205, or after a phase in which the UE 210 initially accesses the base station 205. Additionally or alternatively, the beam may become misaligned, for example, as the UE 210 moves throughout the coverage area of ​​the base station 105. When the beam becomes misaligned, the signal quality of the communication link between the base station 205 and the UE 210 may degrade. To address such issues, the base station 205 and the UE 210 may implement a beam selection process to determine whether a new transmit beam or receive beam should be used.

[0095] In some beam selection processes, beam scanning may occur both at the base station 205 and at the UE 210. The base station 205 may scan multiple transmit beams 215 over a duration. Each transmit beam 215 may have an associated beam index. The UE 210 may scan multiple receive beams 220 over the same duration. A receive beam 220 may refer to a receive configuration or a receive beam configuration for directional listening. In some examples, a receive beam 220 may refer to a post-processing technique applied to energy received at an antenna panel of the UE 210. In some cases, the beam scanning performed by the base station 205 and the beam scanning performed by the UE 210 are coordinated so that multiple combinations (e.g., each combination) of transmit beams 215 and receive beams 220 are measured.

[0096] UE 210 may measure and select one or more beam pairs based on beam scanning. A beam pair may refer to a transmit beam 215 and a receive beam 220. UE 210 may measure a signal quality parameter, such as reference signal received power (RSRP), for each beam pair. In an example where there are two transmit beams 215 (e.g., Tx0 and Tx1) and two receive beams 220 (e.g., Rx0 and Rx1) in the beam selection process, possible beam pairs are Tx0-Rx0, Tx1-Rx0, Tx0-Rx1, and Tx1-Rx1. UE 210 may measure a signal quality parameter for each of these beam pairs. UE 210 may select one or more of these beam pairs to report back to base station 205 as part of the beam selection process.

[0097] The UE 210 may send a report to the base station 205 indicating the signal quality parameters of the beam pair selected by the UE 210 during the beam selection process. The base station 205 may use the report to select the transmit beam 215 to be used after the beam selection process. In some cases, the report may include the beam index of the (multiple) selected transmit beams 215 and the signal quality parameters of the (multiple) selected transmit beams 215. In some cases, the UE 210 may avoid reporting information about the receive beams 220 used to obtain the signal quality parameters. Instead, in some cases, the UE 210 may manage which receive beam 220 is used based on the transmit beam 215 selected by the base station 205 (e.g., based on the selected beam pair). In other cases, the report may include information about the receive beam 220 or beam pair. In some such cases, the base station 205 may select the receive beam 220 used by the UE and communicate an indication of the selected receive beam 220 to the UE 210.

[0098] When the base station 205 and the UE 210 communicate in a multi-flow environment, the enhanced beam selection process and reporting process may be used. Examples of multi-flow environments may include an environment in which the UE 210 has multiple antenna panels 225 and each antenna panel 225 has its own RF chain, an environment in which the UE 210 has a single antenna panel 225 containing multiple RF chains, or a combination thereof. A group of antenna elements that may include two or more antenna elements in one or more antenna arrays or subarrays may be referred to herein as an antenna panel, which corresponds to a physical antenna panel or hardware module at the UE, or corresponds to a virtual antenna panel that may include two or more antenna elements that are a subset of antenna elements at a physical antenna module, or span multiple antenna modules.

[0099] Another multi-stream environment may include multiple UEs served by base station 205, wherein base station 205 uses different spatial resources or transmit configuration indexes (TCIs) to transmit to different UEs. Each UE in a multi-stream environment may be associated with a rank or a rank indicator. The rank may be a measure indicating how many paths (e.g., streams) a channel between base station 205 and UE 210 provides. In an example where the rank is 1, the channel may support a single path or stream. In an example where the rank is 2, the channel may support two paths or streams. In an example where UE 210 is capable of supporting N paths or streams, UE 210 may communicate using rank 1 to rank N. In an example where UE 210 is capable of supporting 4 streams, the rank used for communication between UE 210 and base station 205 may be rank 1, rank 2, rank 3, or rank 4. A multi-stream environment may be an example of a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) environment.

[0100] The upper limit of the number of streams or ranks supported by UE 210 may be determined based on the number of panels or radio frequency chains supported by UE 210. Figure 2 In the exemplary example of , UE 210 includes a first antenna panel 225-a having a first RF chain and a second antenna panel 225-b having a second RF chain. In some examples, UE 210 may include any number of antenna panels and any number of RF chains.

[0101] For a multi-stream environment, the beam selection process can be configured to select a transmit beam for one or more streams being used for communication between the base station 205 and the UE 210. As part of the beam selection process, the UE 210 can perform group-based beam reporting. In a first example, the UE 210 can report the signal quality parameters (e.g., RSRP) of the best (e.g., based on criteria such as signal quality parameters) K transmit beams 215 for each of the antenna panels 225-a and 225-b, where K can be predetermined or configured for different ranks. In some cases, groups can be defined to be associated with antenna panels (e.g., the number of groups is equal to the number of antenna panels). In some cases, groups can be defined to be associated with RF chains (e.g., the number of groups is equal to the number of RF chains). For Figure 2 In the illustrated example, a UE 210 having two antenna panels 225-a and 225-b may report two groups of transmit beams 215, one group of K transmit beams 215 for antenna panel 225-a, and a second group of K transmit beams 215 for antenna panel 225-b. For grouped reporting, transmit beams 215 for different groups may be received simultaneously at the UE 210, while transmit beams 215 for the same group may not be received simultaneously at the UE 210. That is, the base station 205 may select one transmit beam 215 from the first group and one transmit beam 215 from the second group.

[0102] In a second example, the UE 210 may optimally (e.g., based on a criterion such as a signal quality parameter) report signal quality parameters (e.g., RSRP) for M groups of transmit beams 215, where M may be predetermined or configured for different ranks. In the second example, a group may be defined as a transmit beam set (e.g., the number of groups is equal to the number of transmit beam sets). That is, the transmit beams 215 for each group may be received simultaneously at the UE 210, while transmit beams 215 selected from different groups may not be received simultaneously at the UE 210.

[0103] The beam selection process in a multi-stream environment may not be able to find the best (e.g., based on criteria such as signal quality parameters) set of transmit beams for multi-beam operation and / or may not be able to perform appropriate rank adaptation using such a reporting process during the beam selection process. Such reporting does not take into account the inter-beam interference 230 between the first transmit beam selected for the first antenna panel 225-a and the second transmit beam selected for the second antenna panel 225-b. In this case, the signal quality parameters can be used to identify the best (e.g., based on criteria such as signal quality parameters) transmit beams for each antenna panel individually, but more generally, the combination of the selected transmit beams may not be the best (e.g., based on additional criteria such as signal interference) set of transmit beams for communication between the base station 205 and the UE 210. In one example, the beam pair {Tx#5, Rx#15} and the beam pair {Tx#6, Rx#21} have the highest signal quality parameters (e.g., RSRP) for their respective antenna panels. However, although the beam pair may have a relatively high signal quality parameter, the rank-2 transmission using the Tx beam set {Tx#5, Tx#6} may be negatively affected due to interference between the two beams (e.g., inter-beam interference 230). In some cases, such as when UE 210 reports the signal quality parameter of the transmit beam without reporting additional information, base station 205 may not be able to avoid this situation of inter-beam interference.

[0104] In addition, in some cases where the UE 210 reports the signal quality parameters of the transmit beam without reporting additional information, the base station 205 may not be able to perform rank adaptation. Rank adaptation may refer to the selection of the number of streams that should be used for communication between the base station 205 and the UE 210 (e.g., performed by the base station 205 or the UE 210). For example, in some cases, compared to sending data using two streams (e.g., rank 2), due to interference and other signal quality issues, sending data using a single stream (e.g., rank 1) may result in a communication link with improved performance (e.g., higher throughput, higher quality, etc.). For example, the signal quality parameters may indicate that the transmit beams {Tx#5, Tx#6} will have the highest signal quality parameters for their respective antenna panels. However, since the inter-beam interference 230 may negatively affect the transmit beam set, the separate signal quality parameters may not take into account the inter-beam interference 230. In some examples, due to interference 230, rank-1 transmission with Tx#5 may be better than rank-2 transmission with transmit beam set {Tx#5, Tx#6} (e.g., based on criteria such as signal quality).

[0105] Techniques for selecting a transmit beam set in a multi-stream environment as part of a beam selection process are described. The selection process and the reporting process in the beam selection process may include reporting information about potential interference sources. The base station 205 may send a reference signal to the UE 210 as part of a beam scan of a directional beam. The UE 210 may measure a signal quality parameter associated with the reference signal and may select a plurality of transmit beam set candidates based on the signal quality parameter. The UE 210 may report information about inter-beam interference in a multi-stream environment to the base station 205. Based on the report including information about inter-beam interference received from the UE 210, the base station 205 may determine which transmit beams 215 to use to send information to the UE 210. Although discussed above in the context of a UE having two antenna panels, these techniques may be applied to UEs having any number of antenna panels. In addition, these techniques may be applied to any rank or any number of ranks, including rank-1, rank-2, rank-3, rank-4, and the like.

[0106] Figure 3 An example of a process flow 300 for supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In some examples, the process flow 300 can implement aspects of wireless communication systems 100 and 200. The process flow 300 can include communications of functions performed and exchanges between a base station 305 and a UE 310. The base station 305 can be a reference Figure 1 and 2 Examples of base stations 105 and 205 are described. UE 310 may be a reference Figure 1 and 2 Examples of UEs 115 and 210 are described.

[0107] Processing flow 300 may illustrate techniques for measuring and reporting information about interference for a beam selection process in a multi-stream environment. Such techniques may support identifying a transmit beam set that minimizes or otherwise reduces inter-beam interference and provides improved (e.g., higher) link quality over other techniques. A transmit beam set may refer to a group of transmit beams consisting of a plurality of transmit beams, which may be rank related. For example, for a rank-1 case, a transmit beam set may include a first transmit beam selected for a first antenna panel, a second antenna panel, or both a first and a second antenna panel. In another example, for a rank-2 case, a transmit beam set may include a first antenna beam selected for a first antenna panel and a second transmit beam selected for a second antenna panel.

[0108] As part of the beam selection process, the base station 305 may send a report configuration message 315 to the UE 310. The report configuration message 315 may indicate whether the UE 310 is to measure and / or provide reports associated with the multi-flow environment as part of the beam selection process. The report configuration message 315 may indicate the information that the UE 310 is to measure and report. For example, the report configuration message 315 may indicate the type of signal quality parameter (e.g., RSRP or ratio) that the UE 310 is to include in the report message 345. In some cases, the report configuration message 315 may be an example of system information, downlink control information, or a radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0109] At 320 , the UE 310 may configure a process (eg, a beam selection process performed by the UE 310 ) based on the information included in the report configuration message 315 . The UE 310 may identify the information in the report configuration message 315 .

[0110] The base station 305 may send one or more reference signals 325 to the UE 310 as part of a beam selection process. The reference signals 325 may include multiple directional transmit beams transmitted in multiple directions as part of a beam scanning process. During the beam selection process, the base station 305 may identify one or more transmit beam candidates and scan each transmit beam candidate as part of a beam scanning process. Each directional transmit beam may be an example of a reference signal 325 transmitted using a consistent set of parameters. The UE 310 may monitor (e.g., listen for) the reference signals 325. While monitoring (e.g., listening for) the reference signals 325, the UE 310 may scan one or more receive beams. In some cases, the beam scanning process may be coordinated so that the UE 310 may measure or attempt to measure multiple combinations (e.g., each possible combination) of transmit beam and receive beam pairs.

[0111] At 330, UE 310 may measure one or more signal quality parameters associated with reference signal 325. The signal quality parameters may be associated with a transmit-receive (Tx-Rx) beam pair and inter-beam interference between the Tx-Rx beam pairs. For example, UE 310 may measure a first signal quality parameter for a first transmit beam and a first receive beam, a second signal quality parameter for a second transmit beam and a first receive beam, a third signal quality parameter for the second transmit beam and the second receive beam, and a fourth signal quality parameter for the first transmit beam and the second receive beam. In an example where the number of transmit beams in a transmit beam set is represented by M, UE 310 may measure M signal quality parameters for each Tx-Rx beam pair, one for each transmit beam associated with the Tx-Rx beam pair, and M-1 inter-beam interference parameters for interference from other transmit beams in the transmit beam set.

[0112] In examples where the UE 310 includes multiple antenna panels, multiple RF chains, or a combination thereof, the UE 310 may measure a signal quality parameter for each Tx-Rx beam pair for each antenna panel or RF chain. For example, for a Tx-Rx beam pair, the UE 310 may measure a first signal quality parameter received by a first antenna panel (or a first RF chain), and may measure a second signal quality parameter received by a second antenna panel (or a second RF chain). In some aspects, by measuring the signal quality parameter for each antenna panel, the UE 310 may measure information (e.g., an amount of interference) about interference between transmit beams seen by different panels. The UE 310 may use the measured information to select which transmit beams to include in a transmit beam set.

[0113] The signal quality parameter may include a single quantity or a set of quantities. In some cases, the signal quality parameter may be an example of the RSRP of a transmit beam on a panel. In some examples, the signal quality parameter may include information about the receive beam used to determine the signal quality parameter. In other examples, the signal quality parameter may not include information about the receive beam. Examples of signal quality parameters may include RSRP, reference signal received quality (RSRQ), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), signal to noise ratio (SNR), signal plus interference to noise ratio (SINR), signal to interference ratio (SIR), or various combinations thereof.

[0114] In some examples, UE 310 may identify a signal quality ratio between different transmit beams in a multi-stream environment. In an example in which UE 310 operates in a rank-2 environment, UE 310 may select a first transmit beam candidate for a first antenna panel and select a second transmit beam candidate for a second antenna panel. UE 310 may determine a first signal quality ratio based on a comparison of a signal quality parameter of the first transmit beam candidate on the first antenna panel with a signal quality parameter of the second transmit beam candidate on the first antenna panel. UE 310 may also determine a second signal quality ratio based on a comparison of a signal quality parameter of the second transmit beam candidate on the second antenna panel with a signal quality parameter of the first transmit beam candidate on the second antenna panel.

[0115] Examples of formulas for calculating the signal quality ratio are provided below with reference to Formula 1 and Formula 2.

[0116] RSRP(Tx#2 on P0) / RSRP(Tx#4 on P0) (1)

[0117] In Formula 1, the term P0 may refer to an antenna panel for measuring a respective RSRP. In an example, the term Tx#2 may refer to a first transmit beam received by a first antenna panel, and the term Tx#4 may refer to a second transmit beam received by the first antenna panel. Formula 1 may be used to determine a ratio of any combination of transmit beams received by any combination of antenna panels. Formula 1 may be an example of a calculation of a SIR of a transmit beam, where one of the transmit beams (e.g., a numerator) represents a transmit beam selected for an antenna panel, and the other transmit beam (e.g., a denominator) represents a transmit beam that potentially interferes with the antenna panel.

[0118] RSRP(Tx#2 on P0) / (γ+RSRP(Tx#4 on P0)) (2)

[0119] In Formula 2, the term γ may refer to a noise parameter. The term P0 may refer to an antenna panel for measuring a respective RSRP. In an example, the term Tx#2 may refer to a first transmit beam received by a first antenna panel, and the term Tx#4 may refer to a second transmit beam received by the first antenna panel. Formula 2 may be used to determine a ratio of any combination of transmit beams received by any combination of panels. Formula 2 may be an example of a calculation of a SINR for a transmit beam, where one of the transmit beams (e.g., a numerator) represents a transmit beam selected for an antenna panel, and the other transmit beam (e.g., a denominator) represents a transmit beam that potentially interferes with the antenna panel.

[0120] At 335, UE 310 may select a plurality of transmit beam sets based on receiving reference signal 325 or measuring signal quality parameters. UE 310 may select at least one transmit beam for each antenna panel or radio frequency chain in the rank. The transmit beam set may include the selected transmit beam. In some aspects, the transmit beam set may include a transmit beam that interferes with the selected transmit beam. In some examples, UE 310 may select a plurality of transmit beams for each rank. In this example, base station 305 may be configured to select a transmit beam for each rank from a plurality of transmit beams. In some aspects, the transmit beam set may include a plurality of interfering transmit beams associated with each selected transmit beam.

[0121] The number of transmit beams included in the transmit beam set may be selected based on the rank. For example, for a rank K (e.g., K may be equal to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, etc.), the UE 310 may select the number N of transmit beam sets, and the transmit beam set may include the number Q of selected transmit beams. In some examples, the number Q of transmit beams in each transmit beam set may be equal to the rank K associated with the transmit beam set. For example, for rank-1, the UE 310 may select one transmit beam to be included in the transmit beam set. For rank-2, the UE 310 may select two transmit beams to be included in the transmit beam set.

[0122] The UE 310 may determine the number N of transmit beam sets selected for a given rank. In some aspects, the number N of transmit beam sets may be selected so that the transmit beam sets have the highest approximate sum rate for each rank as defined by Equation 3, Equation 4, or Equation 5, or a combination thereof.

[0123] Equation 3 provides an example of determining the number N of transmit beam sets for a rank-1 system.

[0124]

[0125] In Formula 3, the terms r1 and r2 may refer to the receive beams used by UE 310, and the term t may refer to the transmit beams used by base station 305. The terms α and β may refer to optimization parameters. In some examples, the term α may be 1 or zero. In some examples, the term β may refer to noise power.

[0126] Formula 4 provides an example of determining the number N of transmit beam sets for a rank-2 system. Formula 5 provides an alternative example of determining the number N of transmit beam sets for a rank-2 system.

[0127]

[0128]

[0129] In Formulas 4 and 5, the terms r1 and r2 may refer to the receive beams used by UE 310, and the terms t1 and t2 may refer to the transmit beams used by base station 305. The terms α and β may refer to optimization parameters. In some examples, the term α may be 1 or zero. In some examples, the term β and the term γ may refer to noise power. In some examples, the term "rank" may be equal to the number of ranks of the system, which in this example may be 2.

[0130] In some aspects, Formulas 4 and 5 may be applied to ranks higher than rank - 2. For example, Formulas 4 and 5 may be applied to rank - 3, rank - 4, rank - 5, rank - 6, rank - 7, rank - 8, and so on.

[0131] To identify the transmit beams to be included in the transmit beam set for a given rank, UE 310 may use various methods. In some examples, UE 310 may use an exhaustive search algorithm. In some examples, UE 310 may use a greedy search algorithm.

[0132] In an exhaustive search algorithm, UE 310 may estimate all possible combinations of transmit beams for a selected rank. In an example where the selected rank is rank-2, UE 310 may estimate signal quality parameters for each combination of transmit beams selected for the first antenna panel and the second antenna panel.

[0133] In the greedy search algorithm, the UE 310 may apply local optimal selection at each stage with the goal of finding the global optimum. The UE 310 may initialize the greedy algorithm with a set of candidate transmit beams and other variables. An example of initializing the greedy algorithm for a rank-2 example may be represented by Formula 6.

[0134] P = {0,1}: panel index set for rank-2 example

[0135] T={0,1,...N TxBeams -1} : Transmit beam index set on the base station (6)

[0136] R p ={0,1,...N p,RxBeams -1}:UE receive beam index set on UE antenna panel p

[0137] Based on the initialization set, the UE 310 can find the best (e.g., based on a criterion such as a signal quality parameter) Tx-Rx beam pair among the pairs, regardless of the UE antenna panels involved. In some examples, at the nth iteration, the UE 310 can find the nth best (e.g., based on the same criterion or another criterion) transmit beam among the remaining beams. An example of an algorithm for performing this process for a rank-2 system can be represented by Equation 7.

[0138]

[0139] UE 310 may determine the second best Tx-Rx beam pair for the unselected UE antenna panels (eg, based on criteria such as signal quality parameters). An example of an algorithm for performing this process for a rank-2 system may be represented by Equation 8.

[0140]

[0141] The UE 310 may repeat the first selection (an example of which is represented by Formula 7) and the second selection (an example of which is represented by Formula 8) until the selected number of transmit beam sets is selected.

[0142] In some examples, as part of a greedy algorithm, the UE 310 may identify a set of transmit beams including a plurality of transmit beams, and select a transmit beam set for the plurality of transmit beam sets (e.g., iteratively). In some examples, the selection may include selecting a transmit beam with the highest signal quality from the set of transmit beams for one of the plurality of antenna panels, selecting a transmit beam with the second highest signal quality from the set of transmit beams for one or more additional antenna panels in the plurality of antenna panels, and removing the selected transmit beam from the set of transmit beams. The UE may continue the selection (e.g., iteratively) to identify each transmit beam set. References herein Figure 5A An example is described in which the UE 310 identifies a group of transmission beams and selects the transmission beam set.

[0143] In some aspects, Formulas 6, 7, and 8 may be applied to ranks higher than rank - 2. For example, Formulas 6, 7, and 8 may be applied to rank - 3, rank - 4, rank - 5, rank - 6, rank - 7, rank - 8, and so on.

[0144] At 340, UE 310 may optionally select a rank for future transmissions from base station 305 to UE 310. In this example, UE 310 may report a signal quality parameter, ratio, or other information for the selected rank (e.g., via report message 345). In this example, report message 345 may include an indication of the selected rank. In some examples, report message 345 may include a rank index. In some examples, report message 345 may include one or more transmission configuration indexes indicating the rank.

[0145] At 350, the base station 305 may optionally select a rank for future transmissions from the base station 305 to the UE 310. In such an example, the UE 310 may report a signal quality parameter, ratio, or other information for multiple ranks (e.g., via a report message 345). The base station 305 may select the rank based on the information in the report message 345. In some implementations, each rank may have a different number of candidate groups. For example, the information for rank-1 in the report message 345 may include N1 transmit beam sets, and the information for rank-2 in the report message 345 may include N2 transmit beam sets, and so on.

[0146] The UE 310 may generate a report message 345 indicating a signal quality parameter of a transmit beam set and information about inter-beam interference of a plurality of selected transmit beam sets. Figure 5BExamples of the fields of report message 345 are described in more detail.

[0147] In a first example, the report message 345 may include a signal quality parameter for each of the selected transmit beams and a signal quality parameter for the interfering transmit beam. For example, in a rank-2 example, the report message 345 may include a first field indicating a signal quality parameter for a first transmit beam selected for a first antenna panel on a first antenna panel, a second field indicating a signal quality parameter for a second transmit beam (e.g., a beam interfering with the first transmit beam) on the first antenna panel, a third field indicating a signal quality parameter for a second transmit beam selected for the second antenna panel on a second antenna panel, and a fourth field indicating a signal quality parameter for a first transmit beam (e.g., a beam interfering with the second transmit beam) on the second antenna panel. In a rank-2 example, the report message 345 may include two fields for signal quality parameters for each antenna panel (e.g., a first field for a selected transmit beam and a third field for an interfering beam). In higher rank examples, such as rank-3, the report message 345 may include a greater number of fields than in lower rank examples. For example, in the rank-3 example, the report message 345 may include the following information for each antenna panel: a first field indicating the transmit beam selected for this antenna panel, a second field indicating the first interference beam for this antenna panel, and a third field indicating the second interference beam for this antenna panel. That is, for the first example, a total of nine fields may be included in the report message 345 for rank-3. Other configurations for rank-2 and other higher ranks are within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0148] In a second example, the report message 345 may include a signal quality ratio based on a comparison between the signal quality parameter of the selected transmit beam and the signal quality parameter of the interference beam. In some examples, the signal quality ratio may be an example of a SIR. Figure 5BExample #2 row of describes an example of a formula for determining a signal quality ratio. In the rank-2 example, the report message 345 may include one field for each antenna panel. The first field may be used for a ratio associated with the first antenna panel, and the second field may be used for a ratio associated with the second antenna panel. In some examples, in higher rank examples, such as rank-3, the report message 345 may include a single field for each antenna panel. In such an example, the ratio may include interference from multiple potential interference beams. In some higher rank examples, such as rank-3, the report message 345 may include more than one field for each antenna panel. For example, in the rank-3 example, the report message 345 may include the following information for each antenna panel: a first field indicating the ratio between the selected transmit beam and the first interference beam, and a second field indicating the ratio between the selected transmit beam and the second interference beam. That is, for the second example, a total of six fields may be included in the report message 345 for rank-3. Other configurations for rank-2 and other higher ranks are within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0149] In a third example, the report message 345 may include a signal quality parameter based on the selected transmit beam, the signal quality parameter of the interference beam, and other noise (eg, Figure 5B In some examples, the signal quality ratio may be an example of SINR. Figure 5B Example #3 of row 345 describes an example of a formula for determining a signal quality ratio. In the rank-2 example, the report message 345 may include one field for each antenna panel. The first field may be used for a ratio associated with the first antenna panel, and the second field may be used for a ratio associated with the second antenna panel. In some examples, in higher rank examples, such as rank-3, the report message 345 may include a single field for each antenna panel. In such an example, the ratio may include interference from multiple potential interfering beams (e.g., the sum of interference from multiple interfering beams) and noise γ. In some higher rank examples, such as rank-3, the report message 345 may include more than one field for each antenna panel. For example, in the rank-3 example, the report message 345 may include the following information for each antenna panel: a first field indicating the ratio between the selected transmit beam and the first interfering beam (e.g., plus the noise γ), and a second field indicating the ratio between the selected transmit beam and the second interfering beam (e.g., plus the noise γ). That is, for the rank-3 example, the report message 345 may include six measurements for a set of three antenna panels (eg, two measurements for each antenna panel).Other configurations for rank-2 and other higher ranks are within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0150] At 355, the base station 305 can determine one or more transmit beams for transmission based on the received report message 345. In some aspects, the base station 305 can use information about inter-beam interference received from the UE 310 as part of the determination. In some other aspects, the base station 305 can use additional information, such as scheduling information including inter-cell interference or inter-user interference. In some examples, the base station 305 can apply an approximate total rate formula similar to one or more formulas described above and applied by the UE 310.

[0151] The base station 305 may use the selected transmit beam to send information 360 to the UE 310. The information 360 may include, for example, packets or data associated with each information channel (e.g., a data channel). In some examples, the UE 310 may select a receive beam for these transmissions based on the selected transmit beam. In some examples, the base station 305 may use signaling to communicate the selected transmit beam to the UE 310.

[0152] Figure 4 An example of an antenna module 400 supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In some examples, the antenna module 400 may be implemented as described in reference Figure 1 and 2 In some examples, aspects of the antenna module 400 may be as described with reference to Figure 2 An example of an antenna panel 225 is depicted. In some examples, antenna module 400 can be incorporated into a transmitting device or a receiving device (eg, a UE or a base station) as described herein.

[0153] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating example hardware components of a wireless device according to example aspects of the present disclosure. The components illustrated may include components for antenna element selection and / or beamforming for wireless signal transmission. In addition, Figure 4Some components shown in (e.g., modems, communication managers, oscillators, etc.) may be shared with one or more other antenna modules included in a transmitting device or a receiving device. It should be noted that there are many structures for antenna element selection and beamforming, examples of which are shown here. Antenna module 400 includes a modem (modulator / demodulator) 402, a digital to analog converter (DAC) 405, a first mixer 406, a second mixer 408, and a splitter 410. Antenna module 400 also includes a plurality of first amplifiers 412, a plurality of phase shifters 415, a plurality of second amplifiers 416, and an antenna array 418 including a plurality of antenna elements (AE) 420. Transmit lines or other waveguides, wires, traces, etc. are shown to connect the components to show how the signals to be transmitted propagate between the components. Boxes 422, 425, 426, and 428 indicate areas in which different types of signals propagate or are processed in antenna module 400. Specifically, block 422 indicates an area where digital baseband signals propagate or are processed, block 425 indicates an area where analog baseband signals propagate or are processed, block 426 indicates an area where analog intermediate frequency (IF) signals propagate or are processed, and block 428 indicates an area where analog radio frequency (RF) signals propagate or are processed. The structure also includes a local oscillator A 430, a local oscillator B 432, and a communication manager 435.

[0154] Each of the antenna elements 420 may include one or more sub-elements (not shown) for transmitting or receiving RF signals. For example, a single antenna element 420 may include a first sub-element that is cross-polarized with a second sub-element and can be used to independently send cross-polarized signals (e.g., at different ranks or layers). The antenna elements 420 may include patch antennas or other types of antennas arranged in a linear, two-dimensional, or other manner. The spacing between the antenna elements 420 may allow signals with desired wavelengths that are separately sent by the antenna elements 420 to interact or interfere (e.g., form a desired beam). For example, given an expected range of wavelengths or frequencies, the spacing may provide a quarter wavelength, half a wavelength, or other fractional wavelength spacing between adjacent antenna elements 420 to allow the signals sent by the separate antenna elements 420 within the expected range to interact or interfere.

[0155] The modem 402 processes and generates a digital baseband signal, and may also control the operation of the DAC 405, the first mixer 406 and the second mixer 408, the splitter 410, the first amplifier 412, the phase shifter 415 and / or the second amplifier 416 to transmit the signal via one or more or all of the antenna elements 420. The modem 402 may process the signal and control the operation according to a communication standard such as the wireless standard discussed herein. The DAC 405 may convert the digital baseband signal received from the modem 402 (and to be transmitted) into an analog baseband signal. The first mixer 406 uses the local oscillator A 430 to up-convert the analog baseband signal to an analog IF signal within the IF. For example, the first mixer 406 may mix the signal with an oscillating signal generated by the local oscillator A 430 to "move" the baseband analog signal to the IF. In some examples, some processing or filtering (not shown) may occur at the IF. The second mixer 408 uses the local oscillator B 432 to up-convert the analog IF signal to an analog RF signal. Similar to the first mixer, the second mixer 408 can mix the signal with an oscillating signal generated by local oscillator B 432 to "move" the IF analog signal to the RF or frequency at which the signal is to be transmitted or received. The modem 402 and / or the communication manager 435 can adjust the frequency of local oscillator A 430 and / or local oscillator B 432 so that the desired IF and / or RF frequency is generated and facilitates processing and transmission of the signal within the desired bandwidth.

[0156] In the antenna module 400 shown, the signal up-converted by the second mixer 408 can be divided or copied into multiple signals by the splitter 410. As shown by the splitter 410 in the block 428, the splitter 410 in the antenna module 400 can split the RF signal into multiple identical or nearly identical RF signals. In other examples, the split can occur on any type of signal, including baseband digital, baseband analog or IF analog signals. Each of these signals can correspond to an antenna element 420. The signals corresponding to the individual antenna elements 420 of the antenna array 418 can be propagated and processed by amplifiers 412, 416, phase shifters 415 and / or other elements corresponding to the individual antenna elements 420. In one example, the splitter 410 can be an active splitter connected to a power source and can provide a certain gain so that the RF signal output on the splitter 410 is at a power level equal to or higher than the signal entering the splitter 410. In another example, the splitter 410 may be a passive splitter that is not connected to a power source, and the RF signal output on the splitter 410 is at a lower power level than the signal entering the splitter 410 .

[0157] The RF signal output generated by the splitter 410 can enter an amplifier such as the first amplifier 412, or a phase shifter 415 corresponding to the antenna element 420. The first amplifier 412 and the second amplifier 416 can be included or omitted, for example, based on the implementation, and are shown in dashed lines. In an example implementation, both the first amplifier 412 and the second amplifier 416 exist. In another implementation, neither the first amplifier 412 nor the second amplifier 416 exists. In other example implementations, one of the first amplifier 412 or the second amplifier 416 can exist, but the other does not exist. In an example where the splitter 410 is an active splitter, the first amplifier 412 can be omitted. As an example where the phase shifter 415 is an active phase shifter configured to provide gain, the second amplifier 416 can be omitted. The first amplifier 412 and the second amplifier 416 can provide a desired level of positive gain or negative gain. Positive gain (positive dB) can be used to increase the amplitude of the signal for transmission of a particular antenna element 420. Negative gain (negative dB) can be used to reduce the amplitude and / or suppress the transmission of a particular antenna element 420 signal. Each of the first amplifier 412 and the second amplifier 416 may be independently controlled (e.g., by the modem 402 or the communication manager 435) to provide independent control of the gain for each antenna element 420. For example, the modem 402 and / or the communication manager 435 may have at least one control line connected to each of the splitter 410, the first amplifier 412, the phase shifter 415, and / or the second amplifier 416, which may be used to configure the gain to provide a desired amount of gain to each component and, thereby, to each antenna element 420.

[0158] Phase shifter 415 can provide a configurable phase shift or phase offset to the corresponding RF signal to be transmitted. Phase shifter 415 can be a passive phase shifter that is not directly connected to a power supply. In some cases, a passive phase shifter may cause some insertion loss. The second amplifier 416 can enhance the signal to compensate for the insertion loss. Phase shifter 415 can be an active phase shifter connected to a power supply so that the active phase shifter provides a certain amount of gain or prevents insertion loss. The settings of each of the phase shifters 415 can be independent of each other. For example, each of the phase shifters 415 can be set to provide a desired phase shift amount, the same phase shift amount, or some other configuration. The modem 402 and / or the communication manager 435 can have at least one control line connected to each of the phase shifters 415, which can be used to configure the phase shifter 415 to provide a desired phase shift amount or phase offset between the antenna elements 420.

[0159] In the antenna module 400 shown, the RF signal received by the antenna element 420 can be provided to one or more of the third amplifier 456 to enhance the signal strength. The third amplifier 456 can be connected to the antenna array 418 described herein, for example, for TDD operation. The third amplifier 456 can be connected to different antenna arrays (e.g., different antenna arrays similar to the antenna array 418). Each RF signal (amplified or not amplified by the third amplifier 456) can be input to the phase shifter 454 to provide a configurable phase shift or phase offset for the RF signal. The phase shifter 454 can be an active phase shifter or a passive phase shifter. The settings of the phase shifter 454 can be independent of each other. For example, each of the phase shifters 454 can be set to provide a desired phase shift amount, the same phase shift amount, or some other configuration. The modem 402 and / or the communication manager 435 can have at least one control line connected to each of the phase shifters 454, which can be used to configure the phase shifter 454 to provide a desired phase shift amount or phase offset between the antenna elements 420.

[0160] The output of the phase shifter 454 (e.g., the phase-shifted RF signal) can be input to one or more fourth amplifiers 452 for signal amplification. The fourth amplifier 452 can be individually configured to provide a configured gain amount. The fourth amplifier 452 can be individually configured to provide a gain amount to ensure that the signal input from the fourth amplifier 452 to the combiner 450 has the same amplitude. The fourth amplifier 452 and the third amplifier 456 can be included or omitted, for example, based on the implementation, and are shown in dotted lines. In an example implementation, the fourth amplifier 452 and the third amplifier 456 can both exist. In another implementation, the fourth amplifier 452 and the third amplifier 456 can both not exist. In other example implementations, one of the fourth amplifier 452 or the third amplifier 456 can exist, but the other does not exist.

[0161] In the antenna module 400 shown, the signal outputs of the phase shifter 454 (via the fourth amplifier 452 (when present)) can be combined on the combiner 450. As shown by the combiner 450 in the block 428, the combiner 450 in the architecture combines the RF signals into signals. The combiner 450 can be a passive combiner, for example, not connected to a power source, which may result in some insertion loss. The combiner 450 can be an active combiner, for example, connected to a power source, which may result in some signal gain. In an example where the combiner 450 is an active combiner, the combiner 450 can provide a different (e.g., configurable) amount of gain for each input signal so that when the input signals are combined, they have the same amplitude. In an example where the combiner 450 is an active combiner (e.g., capable of providing signal amplification), the fourth amplifier 452 can be omitted.

[0162] The output of combiner 450 may be input to mixers 458 and 457. Mixers 458 and 457 may typically down-convert the received RF signal using inputs from local oscillator D 472 and local oscillator C 470, respectively, to produce an intermediate frequency or baseband signal carrying coded and modulated information. The output of mixers 458 and 457 may be input to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 455 for conversion to an analog signal. The analog signal output from ADC 455 may be input to modem 402 for baseband processing, such as decoding, deinterleaving, etc.

[0163] The antenna module 400 is described as an example to illustrate a structure for sending and / or receiving signals. It should be understood that the antenna module 400 and / or each part of the antenna module 400 can be repeated multiple times within the structure to accommodate or provide any number of RF chains, antenna elements and / or antenna panels. More generally, in an example implementation of an antenna panel, the antenna panel can include any group of antenna elements that are subject to the same power control. In this way, all antenna elements 420 included in the antenna array 418 can be examples of antenna panels. For example, in the case where one or more antenna elements 420 can be controlled by two different circuits, the antenna panel can also include a virtual antenna panel. In one example, the DAC 405, mixer 406, mixer 408, splitter 410, first amplifier 412, transmit phase shifter 415, and / or second amplifier 416 under the control of the modem 402 or the communication manager 435 (and similarly the third amplifier 456, receive phase shifter 454, fourth amplifier 452, combiner 450, mixer 458, mixer 457, and / or ADC 455 under the control of the modem 402 or the communication manager 435) are connected to the DAC 405, mixer 406, mixer 408, splitter 410, first amplifier 412, transmit phase shifter 415, and / or second amplifier 416 under the control of the modem 402 or the communication manager 435) Figure 4 The n individual circuits similar to the chain shown are connected to one or more antenna elements 420, and even in the case of n or fewer antenna arrays, there may be n virtual antenna panels. Additionally or alternatively, the beamforming network may include circuits capable of forming beams in an array of antennas, such as a DAC 405, a mixer 406, a mixer 408, a splitter 410, a first amplifier 412, a transmit phase shifter 415, and / or a second amplifier 416 under the control of a modem 402 or a communications manager 435 (and similarly a third amplifier 456, a receive phase shifter 454, a fourth amplifier 452, a combiner 450, a mixer 458, a mixer 457, and / or an ADC 455 under the control of a modem 402 or communications manager 435). Such a beamforming network may be connected to multiple antenna elements. A given number of antenna elements controllable by n beamforming networks may define n virtual antenna panels. In addition, many alternative structures are possible and contemplated.

[0164] For example, although a single antenna array 418 is shown, two, three or more antenna arrays may be included, each including one or more corresponding amplifiers, phase shifters, splitters, mixers, DACs, ADCs and / or modems. For example, a single UE may include two, three, four or more antenna panels or virtual antenna panels for sending or receiving signals at different physical locations on the UE or in different directions. In addition, mixers, splitters, amplifiers, phase shifters and other components may be located in different signal type areas (e.g., different from blocks 422, 425, 426 and / or 428) in different implemented structures. For example, in different examples, the signal to be transmitted may be divided into multiple signals at any one of analog RF, analog IF, analog baseband or digital baseband frequencies. Similarly, amplification and / or phase shifting may also occur at different frequencies. For example, in some contemplated implementations, one or more of the splitter 410 , the first amplifier 412 , the second amplifier 416 , or the phase shifter 415 may be located between the DAC 405 and the first mixer 406 , or between the first mixer 406 and the second mixer 408 .

[0165] In one example, the functionality of one or more of these components can be combined into one component. For example, the phase shifter 415 can perform amplification, and any of the first amplifier 412 and / or the second amplifier 416 can be included or omitted. As another example, the phase shift can be implemented by the second mixer 408, so that the separate phase shifter 415 can be omitted. This technique is sometimes referred to as local oscillator (LO) phase shifting. In an example implementation of this configuration, there can be multiple IF to RF mixers within the second mixer 408 (e.g., for each antenna element chain), and the local oscillator B 432 can provide a different local oscillator signal (with a different phase offset) to each IF to RF mixer.

[0166] Modem 402 and / or communications manager 435 may control Figure 4One or more of the other components of the antenna array 418 are used to select one or more antenna elements 420 and / or form beams to transmit one or more signals. For example, by controlling the amplitude of one or more corresponding amplifiers (such as the first amplifier 412 and / or the second amplifier 416), the antenna elements 420 can be independently selected or not selected for transmitting a signal (or multiple signals). Beamforming includes generating beams using multiple signals on different antenna elements, wherein one or more or all of the multiple signals are phase-shifted relative to each other. The shaped beams can carry physical or higher-layer reference signals or information. When each of the multiple signals is transmitted from the respective antenna elements 420, the transmitted signals interact, interfere (constructively and destructively interfere) and amplify each other to form the final beam. The shape (such as the amplitude, width and / or the presence of side lobes) and direction (such as the angle of the beam relative to the surface of the antenna array 418) can be dynamically controlled by applying a phase shift or phase offset of the multiple signals relative to each other by the first amplifier 412 and applying an amplitude change of the multiple signals relative to each other by the first amplifier 412 and / or the second amplifier 416.

[0167] In some examples, as discussed herein, multiple antenna panels (such as antenna module 400) can be present at a UE, and each of the multiple antenna panels can have an associated set of beams supported at the antenna panel.

[0168] Figure 5A and 5B An example of a transmit beam set and content of a report message supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 5A represents the transmit beam set for the rank-2 example, and Figure 5B It indicates that based on Figure 5A The selected transmit beam shown may be included in a report message (e.g., reference Figure 3 Different examples of fields and information in a report message 345) are described.

[0169] Figure 5AAn example diagram 505 of supporting a beam selection process for a multi-stream environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. Diagram 505 includes a Tx-Rx beam pair for a transmit beam set including six transmit beams (e.g., Tx Beam 0 to Tx Beam 5), a first receive beam set including three receive beams (e.g., Rx Beam 0 to Rx Beam 2) on a first antenna panel (e.g., UE Rx Panel 0), and a second receive beam set including three receive beams (e.g., Rx Beam 0 to Rx Beam 2) on a second antenna panel (e.g., UE Rx Panel 1). The exemplary example of Diagram 505 is an example for rank-2. Features of this example can be applied to examples of higher ranks (e.g., examples of rank-3, rank-4, rank-5, rank-6, rank-7, rank-8, etc.).

[0170] Diagram 505 indicates that the UE selects a first transmit beam (e.g., Tx Beam 2) for a first antenna panel (e.g., UE Rx Panel 0) and selects a second transmit beam (e.g., Tx Beam 4) for a second antenna panel (e.g., UE Rx Panel 1). For example, as part of the greedy algorithm described herein, the UE may identify a set of transmit beams (e.g., Tx Beam 0 to Tx Beam 5) including a plurality of transmit beams, and select a transmit beam set for the plurality of transmit beam sets (e.g., iteratively). In some examples, the selection may include selecting a transmit beam (e.g., Tx Beam 2) having the highest signal quality from the set of transmit beams for one of the plurality of antenna panels (e.g., UE Rx Panel 0), selecting a transmit beam (e.g., Tx Beam 4) having the second highest signal quality from the set of transmit beams for one or more other antenna panels (e.g., UE Rx Panel 1) of the plurality of antenna panels, and removing the selected transmit beam from the set of transmit beams. The UE may continue this selection (e.g., iteratively) to identify each transmit beam set.

[0171] In a multi-stream environment, the base station may transmit using a first transmit beam and a second transmit beam simultaneously. Therefore, a first antenna panel using a first receive beam may detect some interference from a second transmit beam, and a second antenna panel using a second receive beam may detect some interference from the first transmit beam. Diagram 505 visually depicts an example relationship between a selected transmit beam and inter-beam interference detectable by a UE.

[0172] Figure 5B An example of a report message 550 supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. For three different examples (eg, example #1, example #2, and example #3), the report message 550 includes a message for reporting a reference. Figure 5A The report message 550 may be a reference to an example of a rank-2. Figure 3345 described herein. The exemplary example of the report message is for an example of rank-2. Features of this example can be applied to examples of higher ranks (e.g., examples of rank-3, rank-4, rank-5, rank-6, rank-7, rank-8, etc.). In some cases, the ratio examples described herein (e.g., Examples 2 and 3) can provide more efficient reporting compared to some beam selection processes. For example, using the ratio examples described herein, the number of selected transmit beams N TxBeams To the number of measurements N M It can be as follows: TxBeams ,N M}={2,2},{3,6},{4,12}, so that the exponential growth can be equal to ((N TxBeams -1)×N Txbeams ). In contrast, in some beam selection processes, the number of selected transmit beams N TxBeams To the number of measurements N M It can be as follows: TxBeams ,N M}={2,4},{3,9},{4,16}, so that the exponential growth can be equal to (N Txbeams ) 2 In some examples, report message 550 may include fields for a single example (eg, example #1, example #2, or example #3). In some examples, report message 550 may include fields from multiple examples simultaneously.

[0173] The first example (eg, example #1) may include a field for reporting a signal quality parameter separately for each selected transmit beam and each interfering transmit beam. The first example (eg, example #1) may correspond to reference Figure 3 A first example of a report message 345 is described.

[0174] A second example (e.g., example #2) may include a field for reporting a signal quality ratio for each antenna panel. A second example (e.g., example #2) may correspond to reference Figure 3 A second example of a report message 345 is described.

[0175] A third example (e.g., Example #3) may include a field reporting a signal quality ratio for each antenna panel. The term γ in the formula may refer to a noise factor. The third example (e.g., Example #3) may correspond to reference Figure 3 A third example of a report message 345 is depicted.

[0176] Figure 6A block diagram 600 of a device 605 supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 605 may be an example of aspects of the UE 115 described herein. The device 605 may include a receiver 610, a communication manager 615, and a transmitter 620. The device 605 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0177] The receiver 610 may receive information, such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information about beam selection processes for multi-flow environments, etc.). The information may be transmitted to other components of the device 605. The receiver 610 may be a reference Fig. 9 Examples of aspects of the transceiver 920 are described. The receiver 610 may use a single antenna or a group of antennas.

[0178] The communication manager 615 may receive a reference signal associated with a set of transmit beams from a base station, select a set of transmit beam sets associated with a beam selection process based on receiving one or more reference signals, wherein the set of transmit beam sets includes a first transmit beam set, the first transmit beam set includes a first transmit beam associated with a first receive beam and a second transmit beam associated with a second receive beam, and send a message indicating signal quality information of each transmit beam set in the set of transmit beam sets to the base station based on selecting the set of transmit beam sets, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam, and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam. The communication manager 615 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 910 described herein.

[0179] The communication manager 615 or its subcomponents may be implemented as hardware, code executed by a processor (e.g., software or firmware), or any combination thereof. If implemented as code executed by a processor, the functions of the communication manager 615 or its subcomponents may be performed by a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described in the present disclosure.

[0180] The communication manager 615 or its subcomponents may be physically located in different locations, including distributed, such that portions of the functionality are implemented by one or more physical components at different physical locations. In some examples, the communication manager 615 or its subcomponents may be separate and distinct components, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, the communication manager 615 or its subcomponents may be combined with one or more other hardware components, including, but not limited to, input / output (I / O) components, transceivers, network servers, another computing device, one or more other components described in the present disclosure, or a combination thereof, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0181] Transmitter 620 can transmit signals generated by other components of device 605. In some examples, transmitter 620 can be co-located with receiver 610 in a transceiver module. For example, transmitter 620 can be a reference Fig. 9 Examples of aspects of the transceiver 920 are described. The transmitter 620 may use a single antenna or a group of antennas.

[0182] Figure 7 A block diagram 700 of a device 705 supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 705 may be an example of aspects of the device 605 or UE 115 described herein. The device 705 may include a receiver 710, a communication manager 715, and a transmitter 735. The device 705 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0183] The receiver 710 may receive signaling 740, such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information about a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment, etc.). The signaling 740 may include a report configuration message, which may include a set of bits indicating whether the device 705 is to measure or provide reports associated with the multi-flow environment as part of the beam selection process. In some aspects, the report configuration message may include a set of bits indicating the information that the device 705 is to measure and report. For example, the report configuration message may include a set of bits indicating the type of signal quality parameter (e.g., RSRP or ratio) that the device 705 is to include in the report message (e.g., report message 765). In some cases, the report configuration message may be an example of system information, downlink control information, or an RRC message. The report configuration message may include a reference to Figure 3 Examples of aspects of the report configuration message 315 are described.

[0184] Information in the signaling 740 received from another device (e.g., base station 105) can be communicated to other components of device 705, such as communication manager 715. For example, receiver 710 can provide a report configuration message 745 to communication manager 715. Receiver 710 can be a reference Fig. 9 Examples of aspects of the transceiver 920 are described. The receiver 710 may use a single antenna or a group of antennas.

[0185] The communication manager 715 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 615 described herein. The communication manager 715 may include a reference signal manager 720, a transmit beam set manager 725, and a reporting manager 730. The communication manager 715 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 910 described herein.

[0186] The reference signal manager 720 may receive a reference signal associated with a set of transmit beams from a base station (e.g., via the receiver 710). For example, the signaling 740 may include a reference signal associated with the set of transmit beams. The reference signal manager 720 may receive a reference signal 750 from the receiver 710. The reference signal manager 720 may output reference signal information 755 to the reporting manager 730 and the transmit beam set manager 725. The reference signal information 755 may include a set of bits indicating a value of the reference signal 750. The reference signal information 755 may include a set of bits indicating a signal characteristic (e.g., amplitude, phase, frequency, waveform) of the reference signal 750.

[0187] The transmit beam set manager 725 may select a set of transmit beam sets associated with a beam selection process based on receiving one or more reference signals, wherein the set of transmit beam sets includes a first transmit beam set, the first transmit beam set including a first transmit beam associated with a first receive beam and a second transmit beam associated with a second receive beam. For example, the transmit beam set manager 725 may receive a reference signal 750 from the receiver 710. In some aspects, the transmit beam set manager 725 may receive reference signal information 755 from the reference signal manager 720. The transmit beam set manager 725 may select the set of transmit beam sets based on the reference signal 750, the reference signal information 755, or both. The transmit beam set manager 725 may output beam selection information 760 indicating the selected set of transmit beam sets to the report manager 730. The beam selection information 760 may include a set of bits indicating a beam set and a beam included in the beam set (e.g., a set of bits indicating an identifier associated with the beam and the beam set).

[0188] The report manager 730 may send a message indicating signal quality information of each transmit beam set in the set of transmit beam sets to the base station based on selecting the set of transmit beam sets, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam. The report manager 730 may receive beam selection information 760 indicating the selected set of transmit beam sets from the transmit beam set manager 725. The report manager 730 may receive a report configuration message 745 from the receiver 710. The report manager 730 may transmit a report message 765 indicating the selected set of transmit beam sets to other components of the device 705 for processing. The report message 765 may include a group of bits indicating the selected set of transmit beam sets. The report message 765 may include a group of bits indicating the selected set of transmit beam sets and the signal quality information of each of the transmit beam sets. In some cases, reporting manager 730 may transmit reporting message 765 (or other information based on the information included in reporting message 765 ) to transmitter 735 .

[0189] Transmitter 735 can transmit signals generated by other components of device 705. In some examples, transmitter 735 can be co-located with receiver 710 in a transceiver module. For example, transmitter 735 can be a reference Fig. 9 An example of aspects of the transceiver 920 described herein. The transmitter 735 may use a single antenna or a group of antennas. In an example, the transmitter 735 may receive the report message 765 and may identify the time-frequency resource on which the report message 765 is to be transmitted. The transmitter 1135 may modulate the information on the identified time-frequency resource in order to transmit the report message 765.

[0190] Figure 8 A block diagram 800 of a communication manager 805 supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The communication manager 805 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 615, the communication manager 715, or the communication manager 910 described herein. The communication manager 805 may include a reference signal manager 810, a transmit beam set manager 815, a reporting manager 820, a rank manager 825, a signal quality manager 830, a transmit beam manager 835, a configuration manager 840, and a selection manager 845. Each of these components may be in communication with each other (e.g., via one or more buses) directly or indirectly.

[0191] The reference signal manager 810 may receive information 811 from a base station (e.g., via the receiver 710), such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information about retuning for flexible resource allocation, etc.). In an example, the information 811 may include a reference signal associated with a set of transmit beams (e.g., the reference signal 750). In some examples, the reference signal manager 810 may receive a first reference signal on a first antenna panel coupled to a radio frequency chain. In some examples, the reference signal manager 810 may receive a second reference signal on a second antenna panel coupled to a second radio frequency chain.

[0192] In some aspects, the reference signal manager 810 may output reference signal information 812 to the reporting manager 820 and the transmit beam set manager 815. The reference signal information 812 may include a set of bits indicating a value of a reference signal. The reference signal information 812 may include a set of bits indicating a signal characteristic (e.g., amplitude, phase, frequency, waveform) of the reference signal.

[0193] The transmit beam set manager 815 may select a set of transmit beam sets associated with a beam selection process based on receiving one or more reference signals, wherein the set of transmit beam sets includes a first transmit beam set, the first transmit beam set including a first transmit beam associated with a first receive beam and a second transmit beam associated with a second receive beam. In some cases, signal quality information for the first transmit beam set is based on a third signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the second receive beam and a fourth signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the second receive beam. In some cases, the first transmit beam is selected for a first antenna panel and the second transmit beam is selected for a second antenna panel.

[0194] In some aspects, the transmit beam set manager 815 may receive reference signal information 812 from the reference signal manager 810. The transmit beam set manager 815 may select the set of transmit beam sets based on the reference signal information 812, the transmit information 836, and the selection information 846. The transmit beam set manager 815 may output beam selection information 816 indicating the selected set of transmit beam sets to the report manager 820. The beam selection information 816 may include a set of bits indicating a beam set and beams included in the beam set (e.g., a set of bits indicating identifiers associated with the beams and the beam set).

[0195] The report manager 820 may send a message indicating signal quality information of each transmit beam set in the set of transmit beam sets to the base station based on selecting the set of transmit beam sets, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam, and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam. In some cases, the message includes a first field indicating the first signal quality parameter, a second field indicating the second signal quality parameter, a third field indicating the third signal quality parameter, and a fourth field indicating the fourth signal quality parameter. In some examples, the report manager 820 may receive beam selection information 816 indicating the selected set of transmit beam sets from the transmit beam set manager 815. The report manager 820 may receive report configuration information 842 from the configuration manager 840. The report manager 820 may output a report message 821 indicating the selected set of transmit beam sets. The report message 821 may include a group of bits indicating the selected set of transmit beam sets and the signal quality information of each of the transmit beam sets.

[0196] The rank manager 825 may receive information 826 from a base station (e.g., via the receiver 710), such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information about retuning for flexible resource allocation, etc.). In an example, the information 826 may include one or more transmissions. The rank manager 825 may identify a set of ranks for one or more transmissions, wherein selecting the set of transmit beam sets (e.g., at the transmit beam set manager 815) includes selecting one or more transmit beam sets for each rank in the set of ranks. In some examples, the rank manager 825 may select a rank from the set of ranks to report to the base station, wherein the signal quality information of the message includes signal quality information associated with the selected rank in the set of ranks. In some examples, the rank manager 825 may identify a transmit configuration index associated with the set of transmit beams, wherein the report message 821 output by the report manager 820 indicates the selected subset of the transmit configuration indexes. In some examples, the rank manager 825 may output rank information 827 to the selection manager 845, the transmit beam manager 835, and the signal quality manager 830. The rank information 827 may include a set of bits indicating the set rank of one or more transmissions. In some aspects, the rank information 827 may include a set of bits indicating a transmission configuration index.

[0197] The signal quality manager 830 may identify a first signal quality ratio between the first signal quality parameter and the second signal quality parameter, and a second signal quality ratio between the third signal quality parameter and the fourth signal quality parameter, wherein the report message 821 includes a first field indicating the first signal quality ratio and a second field indicating the second signal quality ratio.

[0198] In some examples, the signal quality manager 830 may receive information 811 from a base station (e.g., via the receiver 710), such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information about retuning for flexible resource allocation, etc.). In an example, the information 811 may include a reference signal associated with a set of transmit beams (e.g., reference signal 750). The signal quality manager 830 may identify a first signal quality ratio between a first signal quality parameter and a combination of a second signal quality parameter and a first noise measurement associated with a first receive beam, and a second signal quality ratio between a third signal quality parameter and a combination of a fourth signal quality parameter and a second noise measurement associated with a second receive beam, wherein a report message 821 output on the report manager 820 includes a first field indicating the first signal quality ratio and a second field indicating the second signal quality ratio. In some cases, the first receive beam is associated with a first antenna panel of a user device, and the second receive beam is associated with a second antenna panel of the user device.

[0199] In some cases, the signal quality information of the report message 821 includes signal quality information 831 associated with each rank of a set of ranks of one or more transmissions. In some examples, the signal quality manager 830 may receive rank information 827 indicating the set of ranks of one or more transmissions from the rank manager 825. In some examples, the signal quality manager 830 receives report configuration information 842 from the configuration manager 840. In some examples, the signal quality manager 830 may output the signal quality information 831 to the report manager 820. The signal quality information 831 may include a set of bits indicating a signal quality metric (e.g., a signal quality ratio).

[0200] The transmit beam manager 835 may identify a rank for one or more transmissions. In some examples, the transmit beam manager 835 may identify a number of transmit beams in each transmit beam set in the set of transmit beam sets based on identifying the rank, wherein the set of transmit beam sets is selected (e.g., at the transmit beam set manager 815) based on identifying the number of transmit beams in each transmit beam set. In some examples, the transmit beam manager 835 may receive rank information 827 indicating the set of ranks for the one or more transmissions from the rank manager 825. The transmit beam manager 835 may output transmit information 836 including a set of bits indicating the identified rank(s) of the transmission(s). In some aspects, the transmit information 836 may include a set of bits indicating the identified number of transmit beams in each transmit beam set.

[0201] The configuration manager 840 may receive information 841 from a base station (e.g., via the receiver 710), such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information about retuning for flexible resource allocation, etc.). In an example, the information 841 may include a report configuration for a beam selection process, wherein the selection of the set of transmit beam sets at the transmit beam set manager 815 is based on receiving the report configuration. In some aspects, the configuration manager 840 may output report configuration information 842 to the transmit beam set manager 815, the signal quality manager 830, and the report manager 820. The report configuration information 842 may include a set of bits indicating the report configuration.

[0202] The selection manager 845 may evaluate each combination of each of the set of transmit beams received via each of the set of receive beams, wherein selecting the set of transmit beam sets at the transmit beam set manager 815 is based on evaluating each combination. In some examples, the selection manager 845 may identify a set of transmit beams that includes the set of transmit beams. In some examples, the selection manager 845 may select a transmit beam set for the set of transmit beam sets. In some examples, the selection manager 845 may select a transmit beam set with a second highest signal quality from the set of transmit beams for one or more additional antenna panels in the set of antenna panels. In some examples, the selection manager 845 may remove the selected transmit beam from the set of transmit beams. In some examples, the selection manager 845 may receive rank information 827 indicating the rank of the set of one or more transmits from the rank manager 825. The selection manager 845 may output selection information 846 including a set of bits indicating the selected transmit beam set.

[0203] Fig. 9 A diagram of a system 900 including a device 905 supporting a beam selection process for a multi-stream environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 905 may be an example of a component of the device 605, device 705, or UE 115 described herein, or include a component of the device 605, device 705, or UE 115 described herein. The device 905 may include components for two-way voice and data communications, including components for sending and receiving communications, including a communication manager 910, an I / O controller 915, a transceiver 920, an antenna 925, a memory 930, and a processor 940. These components may communicate electronically via one or more buses (e.g., bus 945).

[0204] The communication manager 910 can receive a reference signal associated with a group of transmit beams from a base station, select a group of transmit beam sets associated with a beam selection process based on receiving one or more reference signals, wherein the group of transmit beam sets includes a first transmit beam set, the first transmit beam set includes a first transmit beam associated with a first receive beam and a second transmit beam associated with a second receive beam, and send a message indicating signal quality information of each transmit beam set in the group of transmit beam sets to the base station based on selecting the group of transmit beam sets, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam, and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam.

[0205] I / O controller 915 can manage input and output signals for device 905. I / O controller 915 can also manage peripheral devices rather than devices integrated into device 905. In some cases, I / O controller 915 can represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral device. In some cases, I / O controller 915 can use an operating system, such as Or another known operating system. In other cases, I / O controller 915 can represent or interact with a modem, keyboard, mouse, touch screen, or similar device. In some cases, I / O controller 915 can be implemented as part of a processor. In some cases, a user can interact with device 905 via I / O controller 915 or a hardware component controlled by I / O controller 915.

[0206] The transceiver 920 can communicate bidirectionally via one or more antennas, wired or wireless links as described above. For example, the transceiver 920 can represent a wireless transceiver and can communicate bidirectionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 920 can also include a modem to modulate packets and provide the modulated packets to the antenna for transmission, and demodulate the packets received from the antenna.

[0207] In some cases, a wireless device may include a single antenna 925. However, in some cases, a device may have more than one antenna 925, capable of sending or receiving multiple wireless transmissions simultaneously.

[0208] The memory 930 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM). The memory 930 may store computer-readable, computer-executable code 935, which includes instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform the functions described herein. In some cases, the memory 930 may include, among other things, a BIOS that may control basic hardware or software operations, such as interaction with peripheral components or devices.

[0209] The processor 940 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof). In some cases, the processor 940 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In other cases, the memory controller may be integrated into the processor 940. The processor 940 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 930) to cause the device 905 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks that support a beam selection process for a multi-stream environment).

[0210] The code 935 may include instructions to implement aspects of the present disclosure, including instructions to support wireless communications. The code 935 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as a system memory or other type of memory. In some cases, the code 935 may not be directly executed by the processor 940, but rather causes the computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform the functions described herein.

[0211] Fig.10 A block diagram 1000 of a device 1005 supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 1005 may be an example of aspects of a base station 105 as described herein. The device 1005 may include a receiver 1010, a communication manager 1015, and a transmitter 1020. The device 1005 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0212] The receiver 1010 may receive information, such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information about a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment, etc.). The information may be transmitted to other components of the device 1005. For example, the receiver 1010 may be a reference Fig.13 Examples of aspects of the transceiver 1320 are described. The receiver 1010 may use a single antenna or a group of antennas.

[0213] The communication manager 1015 may receive a message indicating signal quality information of a set of transmit beam sets from a user device, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set including the first transmit beam and the second transmit beam is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam, select one or more transmit beams from the set of transmit beam sets for communicating information with the user device based on receiving the message, and communicate information with the user device using the one or more transmit beams. The communication manager 1015 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 1310 described herein.

[0214] The communication manager 1015 or its subcomponents may be implemented as hardware, code executed by a processor (e.g., software or firmware), or any combination thereof. If implemented as code executed by a processor, the functions of the communication manager 1015 or its subcomponents may be performed by a general purpose processor, a DSP, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described in the present disclosure.

[0215] The communication manager 1015 or its subcomponents may be physically located in different locations, including a distributed arrangement such that portions of the functionality are implemented by one or more physical components at different physical locations. In some examples, according to aspects of the present disclosure, the communication manager 1015 or its subcomponents may be separate and distinct components. In some examples, according to aspects of the present disclosure, the communication manager 1015 or its subcomponents may be combined with one or more other hardware components, including but not limited to input / output (I / O) components, transceivers, network servers, another computing device, one or more other components described in the present disclosure, or a combination thereof.

[0216] Transmitter 1020 can transmit signals generated by other components of device 1005. In some examples, transmitter 1020 can be co-located with receiver 1010 in a transceiver module. For example, transmitter 1020 can be a reference Fig.13 Examples of aspects of the transceiver 1320 are described. The transmitter 1020 may use a single antenna or a group of antennas.

[0217] Fig.11A block diagram 1100 of a device 1105 supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 1105 may be an example of aspects of the device 1005 or base station 105 described herein. The device 1105 may include a receiver 1110, a communication manager 1115, and a transmitter 1135. The device 1105 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0218] The receiver 1110 may receive signaling 1140, such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information about a beam selection process for a multi-stream environment, etc.). The signaling 1140 may include a report message, which may include a set of bits indicating a signal quality parameter of a transmit beam set. In some aspects, the signaling 1140 may include beam set information, which may include a set of bits indicating the transmit beam set. In some aspects, the report message may include inter-beam interference information regarding inter-beam interference of multiple transmit beam sets that the device 1105 may use to communicate with a user device (e.g., UE 115). The inter-beam interference information may include a set of bits indicating a corresponding amount of interference associated with the transmit beam set. The report message may include a reference Figure 3 Examples of aspects of report message 345 are described.

[0219] Information in signaling 1140 received from another device (e.g., UE 115) may be communicated to other components of device 1105, such as communication manager 1115. For example, receiver 1110 may provide report message 1145 and beam set information 1150 to communication manager 1115. Receiver 1110 may be a reference Fig.13 Examples of aspects of transceiver 1320 are described. Receiver 1110 may use a single antenna or a group of antennas.

[0220] The communication manager 1115 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 1015 described herein. The communication manager 1115 may include a reporting manager 1120, a transmit beam manager 1125, and an information manager 1130. The communication manager 1115 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 1310 described herein.

[0221] The report manager 1120 may receive a message (e.g., report message 1145) indicating signal quality information of a set of transmit beam sets from a user equipment (e.g., UE 115), wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set including the first transmit beam and the second transmit beam is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam, and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam. For example, the report manager 1120 may receive the report message 1145 and the beam set information 1150 from the receiver 1110. The report manager 1120 may output inter-beam interference information 1155 to the transmit beam manager 1125 and the information manager 1130 based on the report message 1145 and the beam set information 1150. The inter-beam interference information 1155 may include a group of bits indicating signal quality information of the transmit beam and the transmit beam set.

[0222] The transmit beam manager 1125 may select one or more transmit beams from the set of transmit beams for communicating information 1165 with the user equipment based on receiving the report message 1145. For example, the transmit beam manager 1125 may select one or more transmit beams based on the inter-beam interference information 1155 received from the report manager 1120. The transmit beam manager 1125 may output beam selection information 1160 to the transmitter 1135. The beam selection information 1160 may include a set of bits indicating the one or more selected transmit beams for communicating information 1165 with the user equipment.

[0223] The information manager 1130 may communicate information 1165 with the user equipment using one or more selected transmit beams. The information 1165 may include, for example, packets, user data, or control information associated with each information channel (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information on a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment, etc.).

[0224] Transmitter 1135 can transmit signals generated by other components of device 1105. In some examples, transmitter 1135 can be co-located with receiver 1110 in a transceiver module. For example, transmitter 1135 can be a reference Fig.13 An example of aspects of the transceiver 1320 is described. The transmitter 1135 may use a single antenna or a group of antennas. In an example, the transmitter 1135 may receive information 1165 and may identify a selected transmit beam to transmit the information 1165. In some examples, the transmitter 1135 may receive information 1165 and may identify a time-frequency resource to transmit the information 1165. The transmitter 1135 may modulate the information on the identified time-frequency resource to transmit the information 1165.

[0225] Fig.12A block diagram 1200 of a communication manager 1205 supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The communication manager 1205 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 1015, the communication manager 1115, or the communication manager 1310 described herein. The communication manager 1205 may include a report manager 1210, a transmit beam manager 1215, an information manager 1220, a rank manager 1225, a reference signal manager 1230, and a configuration manager 1235. Each of these components may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via one or more buses).

[0226] The report manager 1210 may receive information 1211 from a user device (e.g., via the receiver 1110), such as a group associated with each information channel (e.g., a data channel and information about retuning for flexible resource allocation, etc.). In an example, the information 1211 may include a message (e.g., a report message 1145) indicating signal quality information of a set of transmit beam sets, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set including the first transmit beam and the second transmit beam is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam, and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam. In some examples, the report manager 1210 may receive a message (e.g., a plurality of report messages 1145) from a group of user devices, wherein the group of user devices includes the user device, wherein identifying one or more transmit beams is based on receiving the message from the group of user devices. In some cases, the signal quality information of the message (or messages) includes signal quality information of a transmit beam set associated with a set of ranks. In some cases, the message (or messages) includes a first field indicating a first signal quality parameter for the first transmit beam, and a second field indicating a second signal quality parameter for the second transmit beam. In some cases, the message (or messages) includes a field indicating a signal quality ratio of the first transmit beam to the second transmit beam in the first transmit beam set. In some cases, the signal quality ratio includes a signal-to-interference ratio of the first transmit beam to the second transmit beam. In some cases, the signal quality ratio includes a ratio of the first signal quality parameter to the sum of the second signal quality parameter and a noise measurement associated with the first receive beam.

[0227] In some aspects, the reporting manager 1210 may output inter-beam interference information 1212 to a transmit beam manager 1215. The inter-beam interference information 1212 may include a set of bits indicating a value of a reference signal. The inter-beam interference information 1212 may include a set of bits indicating signal quality information (e.g., signal quality parameters, signal quality ratios) for transmit beams and transmit beam sets as described herein.

[0228] The transmit beam manager 1215 may select one or more transmit beams from the group of transmit beam sets based on receiving the message (e.g., report message 1145) for communicating information with the user equipment. In some aspects, the transmit beam set manager 1215 may receive inter-beam interference information 1212 and rank information 1226. The transmit beam manager 1215 may select the group of transmit beam sets based on the inter-beam interference information 1212 and the rank information 1226. The transmit beam manager 1215 may output beam selection information 1216 (e.g., to the information manager 1220). The beam selection information 1216 may include a set of bits indicating a beam set and a selected beam included in the beam set (e.g., a set of bits indicating an identifier associated with the beam and the beam set). The beam selection information 1216 may include a set of bits indicating one or more selected transmit beams for communicating information with the user equipment.

[0229] The information manager 1220 may communicate beam selection information 1216 with the user equipment using one or more transmit beams in signaling 1221. The signaling 1221 may include, for example, packets, user data, or control information associated with each information channel (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information about a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment, etc.).

[0230] The rank manager 1225 may receive information 1211 from a user device (e.g., via the receiver 1110), such as a group associated with each information channel (e.g., a data channel and information about retuning for flexible resource allocation, etc.). In an example, the information 1211 may include a message as described herein (e.g., a report message 1145). The rank manager 1225 may select a rank from a set of ranks of one or more transmissions based on receiving the message, wherein the selection of one or more transmission beams (e.g., at the transmit beam manager 1215) is based on selecting the rank. In some examples, the rank manager 1225 may identify a transmit configuration index associated with each beam in the set of transmit beams. In some examples, the rank manager 1225 may identify a subset of transmit configuration indexes for one or more transmit beams based on receiving the message, wherein the selection of one or more transmit beams is based on identifying the subset of transmit configuration indexes. In some aspects, the rank manager 1225 may output rank information 1226 to the transmit beam manager 1215. The rank information 1226 may include a set of bits indicating the set of ranks of one or more transmissions. In some aspects, the rank information 1226 may include a set of bits indicating a transmission configuration index.

[0231] The reference signal manager 1230 may send signaling 1231, such as a reference signal, to the user equipment (eg, via the transmitter 1135), wherein receiving the message (eg, a report message) is based on sending the reference signal.

[0232] The configuration manager 1235 may send signaling 1236 to the user equipment (e.g., via the transmitter 1135), such as a packet or control information associated with each information channel (e.g., a data channel and information about retuning for flexible resource allocation, etc.). In an example, the signaling 1231 may include a report configuration for a beam selection process, wherein receiving the message (e.g., a report message) is based on sending the report configuration.

[0233] Fig.13 A diagram of a system 1300 including a device 1305 supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 1305 may be an example of, or include components of, the device 1005, device 1105, or base station 105 described herein. The device 1305 may include components for two-way voice and data communications, including components for sending and receiving communications, including a communication manager 1310, a network communication manager 1315, a transceiver 1320, an antenna 1325, a memory 1330, a processor 1340, and an inter-station communication manager 1345. These components may communicate electronically via one or more buses (e.g., bus 1350).

[0234] The communication manager 1310 can receive a message indicating signal quality information of a group of transmit beam sets from a user device, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set including a first transmit beam and a second transmit beam is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via a first receive beam, and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam, select one or more transmit beams from the group of transmit beam sets for communicating information with the user device based on receiving the message, and communicate information with the user device using the one or more transmit beams.

[0235] The network communications manager 1315 may manage communications with the core network (eg, via one or more wired backhaul links). For example, the network communications manager 1315 may manage the transmission of data communications for client devices such as one or more UEs 115.

[0236] The transceiver 1320 can communicate bidirectionally via one or more antennas, wired or wireless links as described above. For example, the transceiver 1320 can represent a wireless transceiver and can communicate bidirectionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 1320 can also include a modem to modulate packets and provide the modulated packets to the antenna for transmission, and demodulate packets received from the antenna.

[0237] In some cases, a wireless device may include a single antenna 1325. However, in some cases, a device may have more than one antenna 1325, capable of sending or receiving multiple wireless transmissions simultaneously.

[0238] Memory 1330 may include RAM, ROM, or a combination thereof. Memory 1330 may store computer readable code 1335, which includes instructions that, when executed by a processor (e.g., processor 1340), cause the device to perform the functions described herein. In some cases, memory 1330 may include, among other things, a BIOS that may control basic hardware or software operations, such as interaction with peripheral components or devices.

[0239] Processor 1340 may include an intelligent hardware device (e.g., a general purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof). In some cases, processor 1340 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some cases, the memory controller may be integrated into processor 1340. Processor 1340 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 1330) to cause device 1305 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks that support a beam selection process for a multi-stream environment).

[0240] The inter-site communication manager 1345 can manage communications with other base stations 105 and can include a controller or scheduler for coordinating with other base stations 105 to control communications with UE 115. For example, the inter-site communication manager 1345 can coordinate the scheduling of transmissions to UE 115 for interference suppression techniques such as beamforming or joint transmission. In some examples, the inter-site communication manager 1345 can provide an X2 interface within an LTE / LTE-A wireless communication network technology to provide communications between base stations 105.

[0241] The code 1335 may include instructions to implement aspects of the present disclosure, including supporting wireless communications. The code 1335 may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as a system memory or other type of memory. In some cases, the code 1335 may not be directly executed by the processor 1340, but causes the computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform the functions described herein.

[0242] Fig.14 1400 for supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1400 may be implemented by the UE 115 or its components described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1400 may be implemented by reference to Figures 6 to 9In some examples, the UE may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may use dedicated hardware to perform aspects of the functions described below.

[0243] At 1405, the UE may receive a reference signal associated with a set of transmit beams from a base station. The operations of 1405 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1405 may be performed by reference to Figures 6 to 9 The reference signal manager described here is implemented.

[0244] At 1410, the UE may select a set of transmit beam sets associated with a beam selection process based on receiving one or more reference signals, wherein the set of transmit beam sets includes a first transmit beam set, the first transmit beam set includes a first transmit beam associated with a first receive beam and a second transmit beam associated with a second receive beam. The operations of 1410 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1410 may be performed by reference to Figures 6 to 9 The transmit beam set manager described herein is used to perform the above operations.

[0245] At 1415, the UE may send a message indicating signal quality information of each transmit beam set in the set of transmit beam sets to the base station based on selecting the set of transmit beam sets, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam. The operations of 1415 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1415 may be performed by reference to Figures 6 to 9 Describes the report manager to execute.

[0246] Fig.15 1 is a flow chart of a method 1500 for supporting a beam selection process for a multi-flow environment according to aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1500 may be implemented by the base station 105 or its components described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1500 may be implemented by reference to Figures 10 to 13 In some examples, the base station may execute a set of instructions to control the functional elements of the base station to perform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, the base station may use dedicated hardware to perform aspects of the functions described below.

[0247] At 1505, a base station may receive a message indicating signal quality information of a set of transmit beam sets from a user equipment, wherein the signal quality information of a first transmit beam set including a first transmit beam and a second transmit beam is based on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via a first receive beam, and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam. The operations of 1505 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1505 may be performed by reference to Figures 10 to 13 Describes the report manager to execute.

[0248] At 1510, the base station may select one or more transmit beams from the set of transmit beams based on receiving the message for communicating information with the user equipment. The operations of 1510 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1510 may be described with reference to Figures 10 to 13 The transmit beam manager described is used to perform the above operations.

[0249] At 1515, the base station may communicate information to the user equipment using one or more transmit beams. The operations of 1515 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1515 may be described with reference to Figures 10 to 13 Describes the information manager to perform.

[0250] It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possible implementations, that operations and steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified, and that other implementations are possible. Furthermore, aspects from two or more methods may be combined.

[0251] The technology described herein can be used in various wireless communication systems, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), and other systems. CDMA systems can implement radio technologies such as CDMA2000, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), etc. CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. IS-2000 versions are commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1X, 1X, etc. IS-856 (TIA-856) is commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, High Speed ​​Packet Data (HRPD), etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. TDMA systems can implement radio technologies such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).

[0252] OFDMA systems can implement radio technologies such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are parts of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). LTE, LTE-A, and LTE-A Pro are versions of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR, and GSM are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). The technology described herein can be used for the systems and radio technologies mentioned herein as well as other systems and radio technologies. Although aspects of LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR systems are described for example purposes and the LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR terminology is used extensively in the description, the techniques described herein may be applicable beyond LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR applications.

[0253] A macro cell typically covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow UEs with service subscriptions to access the network provider without restriction. Compared to a macro cell, a small cell may be associated with a base station of less power, and the small cell may operate in the same or different frequency bands (e.g., licensed, unlicensed, etc.) as the macro cell. According to various examples, a small cell may include a pico cell, a femto cell, and a micro cell. For example, a pico cell may cover a small geographic area and may allow UEs with service subscriptions to access the network provider without restriction. A femto cell may also cover a small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may provide restricted access to UEs associated with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs for users in the home, etc.). An eNB for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro eNB. An eNB for a small cell may be referred to as a small cell eNB, a pico eNB, a femto eNB, or a home eNB. An eNB may support one or more (e.g., two, three, four, etc.) cells and may also use one or more component carriers to support communications.

[0254] The wireless communication systems described herein may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, base stations may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may be roughly aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, base stations may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used for either synchronous or asynchronous operation.

[0255] The information and signals described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques or technologies. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips cited throughout the specification may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0256] The various exemplary blocks and modules described in conjunction with the present disclosure may be implemented or performed by a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but as an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

[0257] The functions described herein may be implemented as hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented as software executed by a processor, the function may be implemented as one or more instructions stored or sent on a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, the functions described herein may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hard wiring, or any such combination. Features that implement the functions may also be physically located in different locations, including a distributed arrangement such that parts of the functions are implemented in different physical locations.

[0258] Computer-readable medium includes both non-transitory computer storage medium and communication medium, and communication medium includes any medium that is convenient for computer program to be transmitted from one place to another place.Non-transitory storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by general or special computer.As an example and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable medium can include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, CD (CD) ROM or other CD storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage device or can be used for carrying or storing desired program code parts in the form of instruction or data structure and can be accessed by general or special computer or general or special processor Any other non-transitory medium.Any connection can also be appropriately referred to as computer-readable medium.For example, if software uses coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) or wireless technology such as infrared, radio and microwave to send from website, server or other remote source, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technology such as infrared, radio and microwave are also included in the definition of medium. Disks and optical disks used herein include CDs, laser disks, optical disks, digital versatile disks (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray disks, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while optical disks use lasers to reproduce data optically. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0259] As used herein, including in the claims, "or" used in a list of items (e.g., a list of items beginning with a phrase such as "at least one" or "one or more") indicates an inclusive list, so that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). The phrase "based on" as used herein should also not be understood to refer to a closed set of conditions. For example, an exemplary step described as "based on condition A" can be based on both condition A and condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The phrase "based on" as used herein should be interpreted in the same manner as the phrase "based at least in part on".

[0260] In the drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference label. In addition, different components of the same type may be distinguished by a hyphen following the reference label and a second label that distinguishes the similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description applies to any similar component having the same first reference label, regardless of the second reference label or other subsequent reference labels.

[0261] The description set forth herein in conjunction with the accompanying drawings describes example configurations and does not represent all examples that may be implemented or fall within the scope of the claims. The term "exemplary" as used herein means "used as an example, instance, or illustration" and is not "preferred" or "advantageous over other examples". The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques. However, these techniques may be implemented without these specific details. In some cases, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to avoid confusing the concepts of the described examples.

[0262] The description is provided to enable those skilled in the art to implement or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may also be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should be granted the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication on a user device, comprising: receiving, from a base station, a reference signal associated with a plurality of transmit beams; selecting a plurality of transmit beam sets associated with a beam selection process based at least in part on receiving one or more of the reference signals, wherein the plurality of transmit beam sets include a first transmit beam set including a first transmit beam associated with a first receive beam and a different second transmit beam associated with a different second receive beam, wherein the first receive beam is associated with a first antenna panel of the user device and the second receive beam is associated with a different second antenna panel of the user device; as well as sending, based at least in part on selecting the plurality of transmit beam sets, a message indicating signal quality information for each of the plurality of transmit beam sets to the base station, wherein the signal quality information for the first transmit beam set is based at least in part on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam, The transmission beams from each transmission beam set can be received at the user equipment at the same time, and the transmission beams from different transmission beam sets cannot be received at the user equipment at the same time.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set is based at least in part on a third signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the second receive beam and a fourth signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the second receive beam.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the message comprises a first field indicating the first signal quality parameter, a second field indicating the second signal quality parameter, a third field indicating the third signal quality parameter, and a fourth field indicating the fourth signal quality parameter.

4. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: A first signal quality ratio between the first signal quality parameter and the second signal quality parameter and a second signal quality ratio between the third signal quality parameter and the fourth signal quality parameter are identified, wherein the message includes a first field indicating the first signal quality ratio and a second field indicating the second signal quality ratio.

5. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: identifying a first signal quality ratio between the first signal quality parameter and a combination of the second signal quality parameter and a first noise measurement associated with the first receive beam, and a second signal quality ratio between the third signal quality parameter and a combination of the fourth signal quality parameter and a second noise measurement associated with the second receive beam, wherein the message includes a first field indicating the first signal quality ratio and a second field indicating the second signal quality ratio.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A plurality of ranks are identified for one or more transmissions, wherein selecting the plurality of transmit beam sets comprises selecting one or more transmit beam sets for each of the plurality of ranks.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A rank is selected from a plurality of ranks for reporting to the base station, wherein the signal quality information of the message includes signal quality information associated with the selected rank of the plurality of ranks.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Transmit configuration indexes associated with the plurality of transmit beams are identified, wherein the message indicates a selected subset of the transmit configuration indexes.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: identifying a rank for one or more transmissions; as well as Based at least in part on identifying the rank, identifying a number of transmit beams in each of the plurality of transmit beam sets, wherein selecting the plurality of transmit beam sets is based at least in part on identifying the number of transmit beams in each transmit beam set.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A reporting configuration for the beam selection process is received from the base station, wherein selecting the plurality of transmit beam sets is based at least in part on receiving the reporting configuration.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the signal quality information of the message comprises signal quality information associated with each rank of a plurality of ranks of one or more transmissions.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the reference signal further comprises: receiving a first reference signal on a first antenna panel coupled to a first radio frequency chain; as well as receiving a second reference signal on a second antenna panel coupled to a second radio frequency chain, The first transmit beam is selected for the first antenna panel, and the second transmit beam is selected for the second antenna panel.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the plurality of transmit beam sets further comprises: identifying a set of transmit beams comprising the plurality of transmit beams; Selecting a transmit beam set for the multiple transmit beam sets, the selecting comprising: selecting, for one of the plurality of antenna panels, a transmit beam having a highest signal quality from the set of transmit beams; selecting, for one or more additional antenna panels of the plurality of antenna panels, a transmit beam having a next highest signal quality from the set of transmit beams; and The selected transmit beam is removed from the set of transmit beams.

14. A method for wireless communication on a base station, comprising: receiving a message indicating signal quality information of a plurality of transmit beam sets from a user equipment, wherein the plurality of transmit beam sets comprises a first transmit beam set, the first transmit beam set comprising a first transmit beam associated with a first receive beam of the user equipment and a different second transmit beam associated with a different second receive beam of the user equipment, wherein the first receive beam is associated with a first antenna panel of the user equipment and the second receive beam is associated with a different second antenna panel of the user equipment, and wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set is based at least in part on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam; Based at least in part on receiving the message, select one or more transmit beams from the plurality of transmit beam sets for communicating information with the user equipment; as well as communicating the information with the user equipment using the one or more transmit beams, The transmission beams from each transmission beam set can be received at the user equipment at the same time, and the transmission beams from different transmission beam sets cannot be received at the user equipment at the same time.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the message comprises a first field indicating the first signal quality parameter of the first transmit beam, and a second field indicating the second signal quality parameter of the second transmit beam. 16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the message comprises a field indicating a signal quality ratio of the first transmit beam to the second transmit beam of the first transmit beam set.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the signal quality ratio comprises a signal-to-interference ratio of the first transmit beam to the second transmit beam.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the signal quality ratio comprises a ratio of the first signal quality parameter to a sum of the second signal quality parameter and a noise measurement associated with the first receive beam.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the signal quality information of the message comprises signal quality information of transmit beam sets associated with a plurality of ranks.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising: Based at least in part on receiving the message, a rank is selected for one or more transmissions from a plurality of ranks, wherein selecting the one or more transmit beams is based at least in part on selecting the rank.

21. The method of claim 14, further comprising: identifying a transmit configuration index associated with each beam in the plurality of transmit beam sets; as well as Based at least in part on receiving the message, a subset of transmit configuration indices is identified for the one or more transmit beams, wherein selecting the one or more transmit beams is based at least in part on identifying the subset of transmit configuration indices.

22. The method of claim 14, further comprising: A reference signal is sent to the user equipment, wherein receiving the message is based at least in part on sending the reference signal.

23. The method of claim 14, further comprising: A reporting configuration for a beam selection process is sent to the user equipment, wherein receiving the message is based at least in part on sending the reporting configuration.

24. The method of claim 14, further comprising: Messages are received from a plurality of user devices, wherein the plurality of user devices includes the user device, wherein identifying the one or more transmit beams is based at least in part on receiving the messages from the plurality of user devices.

25. An apparatus for wireless communication on a user equipment, comprising: means for receiving, from a base station, a reference signal associated with a plurality of transmit beams; means for selecting a plurality of transmit beam sets associated with a beam selection process based at least in part on receiving one or more of the reference signals, wherein the plurality of transmit beam sets comprises a first transmit beam set comprising a first transmit beam associated with a first receive beam and a different second transmit beam associated with a different second receive beam, wherein the first receive beam is associated with a first antenna panel of the user equipment and the second receive beam is associated with a different second antenna panel of the user equipment; as well as means for transmitting, to the base station, a message indicating signal quality information for each of the plurality of transmit beam sets based at least in part on selecting the plurality of transmit beam sets, wherein the signal quality information for the first transmit beam set is based at least in part on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam, The transmission beams from each transmission beam set can be received at the user equipment at the same time, and the transmission beams from different transmission beam sets cannot be received at the user equipment at the same time.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set is based at least in part on a third signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the second receive beam and a fourth signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the second receive beam.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the message comprises a first field indicating the first signal quality parameter, a second field indicating the second signal quality parameter, a third field indicating the third signal quality parameter, and a fourth field indicating the fourth signal quality parameter.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising: means for identifying a first signal quality ratio between the first signal quality parameter and the second signal quality parameter and a second signal quality ratio between the third signal quality parameter and the fourth signal quality parameter, wherein the message comprises a first field indicating the first signal quality ratio and a second field indicating the second signal quality ratio.

29. An apparatus for wireless communication on a base station, comprising: means for receiving a message indicating signal quality information of a plurality of transmit beam sets from a user equipment, wherein the plurality of transmit beam sets comprises a first transmit beam set, the first transmit beam set comprising a first transmit beam associated with a first receive beam of the user equipment and a different second transmit beam associated with a different second receive beam of the user equipment, wherein the first receive beam is associated with a first antenna panel of the user equipment and the second receive beam is associated with a different second antenna panel of the user equipment, wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set is based at least in part on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam; means for selecting one or more transmit beams from the plurality of transmit beam sets for communicating information with the user equipment based at least in part on receiving the message; as well as means for communicating said information with said user equipment using said one or more transmit beams, The transmission beams from each transmission beam set can be received at the user equipment at the same time, and the transmission beams from different transmission beam sets cannot be received at the user equipment at the same time.

30. An apparatus for wireless communication by a user equipment, comprising: processor; a memory coupled to the processor; as well as instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: receiving, from a base station, a reference signal associated with a plurality of transmit beams; selecting a plurality of transmit beam sets associated with a beam selection process based at least in part on receiving one or more of the reference signals, wherein the plurality of transmit beam sets include a first transmit beam set including a first transmit beam associated with a first receive beam and a different second transmit beam associated with a different second receive beam, wherein the first receive beam is associated with a first antenna panel of the user device and the second receive beam is associated with a different second antenna panel of the user device; as well as sending, based at least in part on selecting the plurality of transmit beam sets, a message indicating signal quality information for each of the plurality of transmit beam sets to the base station, wherein the signal quality information for the first transmit beam set is based at least in part on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam, The transmission beams from each transmission beam set can be received at the user equipment at the same time, and the transmission beams from different transmission beam sets cannot be received at the user equipment at the same time.

31. An apparatus for wireless communication by a base station, comprising: processor; a memory coupled to the processor; as well as instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: receiving a message indicating signal quality information of a plurality of transmit beam sets from a user equipment, wherein the plurality of transmit beam sets comprises a first transmit beam set, the first transmit beam set comprising a first transmit beam associated with a first receive beam of the user equipment and a different second transmit beam associated with a different second receive beam of the user equipment, wherein the first receive beam is associated with a first antenna panel of the user equipment and the second receive beam is associated with a different second antenna panel of the user equipment, and wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set is based at least in part on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam; Based at least in part on receiving the message, select one or more transmit beams from the plurality of transmit beam sets for communicating information with the user equipment; as well as communicating the information with the user equipment using the one or more transmit beams, The transmission beams from each transmission beam set can be received at the user equipment at the same time, and the transmission beams from different transmission beam sets cannot be received at the user equipment at the same time.

32. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for wireless communications storing instructions that cause a processor to: receiving, from a base station, a reference signal associated with a plurality of transmit beams; selecting a plurality of transmit beam sets associated with a beam selection process based at least in part on receiving one or more of the reference signals, wherein the plurality of transmit beam sets include a first transmit beam set including a first transmit beam associated with a first receive beam and a different second transmit beam associated with a different second receive beam, wherein the first receive beam is associated with a first antenna panel of a user device and the second receive beam is associated with a different second antenna panel of the user device; and sending, based at least in part on selecting the plurality of transmit beam sets, a message indicating signal quality information for each of the plurality of transmit beam sets to the base station, wherein the signal quality information for the first transmit beam set is based at least in part on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam, The transmission beams from each transmission beam set can be received at the user equipment at the same time, and the transmission beams from different transmission beam sets cannot be received at the user equipment at the same time.

33. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for wireless communications storing instructions that cause a processor to: receiving a message indicating signal quality information of a plurality of transmit beam sets from a user equipment, wherein the plurality of transmit beam sets comprises a first transmit beam set, the first transmit beam set comprising a first transmit beam associated with a first receive beam of the user equipment and a different second transmit beam associated with a different second receive beam of the user equipment, wherein the first receive beam is associated with a first antenna panel of the user equipment and the second receive beam is associated with a different second antenna panel of the user equipment, and wherein the signal quality information of the first transmit beam set is based at least in part on a first signal quality parameter associated with receiving the first transmit beam via the first receive beam and a second signal quality parameter associated with receiving the second transmit beam via the first receive beam; Based at least in part on receiving the message, select one or more transmit beams from the plurality of transmit beam sets for communicating information with the user equipment; as well as communicating the information with the user equipment using the one or more transmit beams, The transmission beams from each transmission beam set can be received at the user equipment at the same time, and the transmission beams from different transmission beam sets cannot be received at the user equipment at the same time.

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