Group indication of spatially adjacent UEs
By sending group proximity messages through the UE, the base station optimizes beam configuration and communication, solving the UE mobility and proximity management problems in beamforming communication, and improving system efficiency and signaling efficiency.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202080063429.9
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Patents(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2020-09-15
- Filing Date
- 2020-09-16
- Publication Date
- 2024-12-13
- Estimated Expiration
- 2040-09-16
AI Technical Summary
When existing wireless communication systems perform beamforming communication, it is difficult to effectively manage mobility and proximity between user equipment (UEs), resulting in increased beam measurement and reporting overhead, affecting system efficiency.
A group proximity message is sent to the base station through a user equipment (UE), indicating that the UE groups that are located within a defined proximity range to each other. The base station performs beam configuration and communication based on this message, reduces beam measurement and reporting overhead, and optimizes beam scanning signaling.
It improves the management efficiency of the base station for UE groups, reduces resource consumption for beam measurement and reporting, and improves the signaling efficiency and data transmission performance of the system.
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Figure CN114375584B_ABST
Abstract
Description
[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0002] This patent application claims priority to U.S. patent application No. 17 / 021,873, entitled “GROUP INDICATION OF SPATIALLY PROXIMATE UES,” filed by ZHOU et al. on September 15, 2020, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 901,604, entitled “GROUP INDICATION OF SPATIALLY PROXIMATE UES,” filed by ZHOU et al. on September 17, 2019 and assigned to the assignee of this case. Technical Field
[0003] The following relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to group indication of spatially proximate UEs. Background Art
[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of 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, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems that may be referred to as new radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ techniques 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 many base stations or network access nodes, each of which simultaneously supports communication for multiple communication devices, which may be referred to as user equipment (UE).
[0005] A base station may communicate with a UE using beamforming communications. Techniques for managing UE mobility and proximity while performing beamforming communications may be improved. Summary of the invention
[0006] The described technology relates to improved methods, systems, devices and apparatuses for supporting group indication of spatially adjacent user equipment (UE). In general, the described technology provides for managing adjacent UEs. A base station can support beamforming communications with multiple UEs. In some cases, such as if the UEs are adjacent, each beam of a base station can serve multiple UEs. Each UE may not use a large amount of bandwidth for its payload, so the UEs can be frequency-division multiplexed on the same beam. Grouping spatially close UEs can provide some benefits to the base station. For example, when the base station performs beam scanning, the grouped UEs can be scanned together as a group.
[0007] To help the base station identify the UE group, the UE may send a group proximity message to the base station. The group proximity message may indicate that there are groups of UEs that are adjacent to each other. In some cases, the group proximity message may include an approximate value of the UE proximity, such as, the UE is within a specific radius. The group proximity message may include information of the UEs in the group (such as, the identifier of the UE), the identifier of the group, a proximity metric (such as, the group radius), the leader UE identifier, the UE position, or any combination thereof. For example, by sending another group proximity message, the group information may be dynamically updated. The base station may receive the group proximity message and communicate with the group of UEs based on the group proximity message. In some cases, by indicating the group of UEs, the base station is able to reduce the beam measurement and reporting overhead. For example, the base station may configure only a subset of UEs in the group for beam measurement and reporting, and the base station may use the same beam for each UE in the group. In some cases, a reference signal for UE beam measurement may be signaled to the UE of the group (e.g., only one UE of the group), and each UE in the group may measure the reference signal. In some cases, the group proximity message may reduce the beam scanning signaling overhead of the base station. For example, the base station may update the beam scanning pattern for a group of UEs rather than signaling the change to each UE individually.
[0008] A method of wireless communication by a first UE is described. The method may include sending a group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including the first UE and a second UE are within a defined proximity of each other, receiving a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message, and communicating with a base station based on the beam configuration.
[0009] An apparatus for wireless communication by a first UE 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: send a group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including the first UE and the second UE are within a defined proximity of each other, receive a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message, and communicate with a base station based on the beam configuration.
[0010] Another apparatus for wireless communication by a first UE is described. The apparatus may include means for sending a group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including the first UE and a second UE are within a defined proximity of each other, means for receiving a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message, and means for communicating with a base station based on the beam configuration.
[0011] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication by a first UE is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to: send a group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including the first UE and a second UE are within a defined proximity of each other, receive a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message, and communicate with a base station based on the beam configuration.
[0012] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, receiving a beam configuration may include operations, features, components, or instructions for receiving a beam configuration indicating a beam measurement report configuration for a group of UEs.
[0013] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, communicating with a base station may include operations, features, components, or instructions for sending, by a first UE, a beam measurement report of a group of UEs to the base station based on a beam measurement report configuration.
[0014] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for monitoring data transmission or controlling transmission from a base station via a beam selected for transmission to a group of UEs based on a beam measurement report.
[0015] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, receiving a beam configuration may include operations, features, components, or instructions for receiving a beam configuration indicating a beam measurement report configuration for a first subset of a group of UEs, the first subset including a first UE.
[0016] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, communicating with a base station may include operations, features, components, or instructions for sending, by a first UE, a first subset of beam measurement reports to the base station based on a beam measurement report configuration.
[0017] Some examples of the methods, devices, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for monitoring data transmission or controlling transmission from the base station via a beam selected for transmission to the first subset based on the beam measurement report.
[0018] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, a first UE and a second UE may be at respective edges of a formation of a group, and wherein a beam may be selected by a base station for each UE in the group based on a relative position of the respective UEs in the group.
[0019] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, receiving a beam configuration may include operations, features, components, or instructions for receiving a broadcast message or a multicast message for a group of UEs indicating a beam selected by a base station for each UE in the group of UEs, wherein communication with the base station may be based on the broadcast message or the multicast message.
[0020] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, a broadcast message or a multicast message may include downlink control information (DCI) or a media access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE).
[0021] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the DCI may include a group common DCI.
[0022] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, a group-common DCI may be scrambled using a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) associated with a group of UEs.
[0023] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, sending the group proximity message may include operations, features, components, or instructions for sending a group identifier of a group of UEs.
[0024] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, sending a group proximity message may include operations, features, components, or instructions for sending group information of a group of UEs.
[0025] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the group information includes one or more of UE identifiers of one or more UEs within the group of UEs, proximity metric data, group radius data, a leader identifier, UE location data, or any combination thereof.
[0026] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, receiving a beam configuration may include operations, features, components, or instructions for receiving a beam configuration indicating a beam scanning pattern for a group of UEs, wherein communication with a base station may be performed according to the beam scanning pattern.
[0027] A method of wireless communication by a base station is described. The method may include receiving a group proximity message indicating that a group of user equipment (UE) including a first UE and a second UE is within a defined proximity of each other, sending a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message, and communicating with the group of UEs based on the beam configuration.
[0028] An apparatus for wireless communication by 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 group proximity message indicating that a group of user equipment (UE) including a first UE and a second UE is within a defined proximity of each other, send a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message, and communicate with the group of UEs based on the beam configuration.
[0029] Another apparatus for wireless communication by a base station is described. The apparatus may include means for receiving a group proximity message indicating that a group of user equipment (UE) including a first UE and a second UE are located within a defined proximity of each other, means for sending a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message, and means for communicating with the group of UEs based on the beam configuration.
[0030] A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication by a base station is described. The code may include code executable by a processor to: receive a group proximity message indicating that a group of user equipment (UE) including a first UE and a second UE is located within a defined proximity of each other, send a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message, and communicate with the group of UEs based on the beam configuration.
[0031] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, transmitting a beam configuration may include operations, features, components, or instructions for transmitting a beam configuration indicating a beam measurement report configuration for a group of UEs.
[0032] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, group communications with UEs may include operations, features, components, or instructions for receiving a beam measurement report for a group of UEs from a first UE of the group of UEs based on a beam measurement report configuration.
[0033] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may also include operations, features, components, or instructions for sending data transmissions or control transmissions to one or more UEs of the group of UEs via selecting a beam for transmission to the group of UEs based on a beam measurement report.
[0034] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, transmitting a beam configuration may include operations, features, components, or instructions for transmitting a beam configuration indicating a first beam measurement report configuration for a first subset of a group of UEs and a second beam measurement report configuration for a second subset of the group of UEs.
[0035] Some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein may further include operations, features, components, or instructions for selecting a beam for each UE in the group based on the relative positions of the respective UEs in the group.
[0036] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, group communications with UEs may include operations, features, components, or instructions for receiving a first beam measurement report of a first subset from a first UE of the group of UEs based on a first beam measurement report configuration, and receiving a second beam measurement report of a second subset from a second UE of the group of UEs based on a second beam measurement report configuration.
[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 first data transmission or a first control transmission from a base station to a first subset via a first beam selected for transmission to the first subset based on a first beam measurement report, and sending a second data transmission or a second control transmission from the base station to a second subset via a second beam selected for transmission to the second subset based on a second beam measurement report.
[0038] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, receiving a group proximity message may include operations, features, components, or instructions for receiving a group proximity message indicating movement sequence information of one or more UEs in a group of UEs.
[0039] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, receiving the group proximity message may include operations, features, components, or instructions for receiving a group identifier for a group of UEs.
[0040] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, receiving a group proximity message may include operations, features, components, or instructions for receiving a set of UE identifiers associated with a group identifier, wherein the set of UE identifiers may correspond to a first UE and a second UE.
[0041] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, receiving the group proximity message may include operations, features, components, or instructions for receiving group information for a group of UEs.
[0042] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the group information includes one or more of UE identifiers of one or more UEs within the group of UEs, proximity metric data, group radius data, a leader identifier, UE location data, or any combination thereof.
[0043] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, a group proximity message may indicate that a group of UEs including a first UE and a second UE are within a defined proximity of each other based on UE location data of one or more UEs within the group of UEs.
[0044] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, transmitting a beam configuration may include operations, features, components, or instructions for transmitting a beam configuration indicating a beam scanning pattern for a group of UEs, wherein group communications with the UEs may be based on the beam scanning pattern.
[0045] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, transmitting a beam configuration may include operations, features, components, or instructions for sending a broadcast message or a multicast message to a group of UEs indicating a beam selected by a base station for each UE in the group of UEs, wherein group communication with the UEs may be based on the broadcast message or the multicast message.
[0046] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the broadcast message or the multicast message may include a DCI or a MAC-CE.
[0047] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, the DCI may include a group common DCI.
[0048] In some examples of the methods, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable media described herein, a group-common DCI may be scrambled using an RNTI associated with a group of UEs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0049] Figure 1 An example of a system for wireless communication supporting group indication of spatially neighboring UEs according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.
[0050] Figure 2 An example of a wireless communication system according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.
[0051] Figure 3 An example of a process flow according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.
[0052] Figure 4 and Figure 5 A block diagram of a device according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.
[0053] Figure 6 A block diagram of a communications manager according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.
[0054] Figure 7 A diagram of a system including an apparatus according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.
[0055] Figure 8 and Fig. 9 A block diagram of a device according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.
[0056] Fig.10 A block diagram of a communications manager according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.
[0057] Fig.11 A diagram of a system including an apparatus according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.
[0058] Figures 12 to 15 A flow chart illustrating a method according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0059] A base station may support beamforming communications with multiple user equipments (UEs). In some cases, each beam of a base station may serve multiple UEs. For example, if multiple UEs are adjacent, or the antenna array is divided into multiple sub-array MIMO (MU-MIMO) for multi-user (MU), each beam may serve multiple UEs. In some cases, a UE may not use a large amount of bandwidth for its payload. In this example, UEs may be grouped and served by a common beam by frequency division multiplexing the grouped UEs, so that each UE of the group is allocated a different portion of the bandwidth on the beam. Grouping spatially close UEs may provide some benefits to the base station. For example, when the base station performs beam scanning, the grouped UEs may be scanned together as a group. Therefore, there may be some advantages for the base station to identify the group of UEs 115. The technology described herein supports enhanced management of UE proximity and grouping.
[0060] For example, a UE may send a group proximity message to a base station. The group proximity message may indicate that there is a group of UEs that are adjacent to each other. In an example, the group of UEs may be in a car, on a moving robot, or on different vehicles in a queue. In some cases, the indication may include an approximation of the proximity of the UE, such as that the UE is within a certain radius. The UE may detect that other UEs are very close based on, for example, device-to-device (D2D) communication, detection of the same beacon signal, or being preconfigured as a group of related devices. The group proximity message may include information about the UEs in the group. For example, the indication may include an identifier of the UE, an identifier of the group, a proximity metric such as a group radius, a leading UE identifier, a UE location, or any combination thereof. For example, the group information may be dynamically updated by sending another group proximity message.
[0061] The base station may receive the group proximity message and communicate with the group of UEs 115 based on the group proximity message. In some cases, by indicating the group of UEs, the base station is able to reduce beam measurement and reporting overhead. For example, the base station may configure only a subset of the UEs in the group for beam measurement and reporting, and then the base station may use the same beam for each UE in the group. In some cases, a reference signal for UE beam measurement may be signaled to the UEs of the group (e.g., only one UE of the group), and each UE in the group may measure the reference signal. In some cases, the group proximity message may reduce the beam scanning signaling overhead of the base station. For example, the base station may update the beam scanning pattern of the group of UEs instead of signaling the change to each UE individually.
[0062] Aspects of the present disclosure are initially described in the context of a wireless communication system. Aspects of the present disclosure are further illustrated and described by reference to apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flow charts related to group indication of spatially proximate UEs.
[0063] Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication system 100 supporting group indication of spatially neighboring UEs 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 LTE-Advanced (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.
[0064] 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 those 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 cell base stations 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.
[0065] Each base station 105 may be associated with a particular geographic coverage area 110 in which communications with various UEs 115 are supported. Each base station 105 may provide communications coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110 via a communications link 125, and the communications link 125 between the base station 105 and the UE 115 may utilize one or more carriers. The communications 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.
[0066] 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 type of cell, or various combinations thereof. In some examples, the base station 105 can be mobile and thus 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 by different base stations 105. The wireless communication system 100 may include, for example, a heterogeneous LTE / LTE-A / LTE-APro or NR network in which different types of base stations 105 provide coverage for various geographic coverage areas 110.
[0067] The term "cell" refers to a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station 105 (e.g., on 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 via 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 that may provide access to different types of devices (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), etc.). 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.
[0068] UE 115 may be dispersed throughout the wireless communication system 100, and each UE 115 may be fixed or mobile. UE 115 may also be referred to as a mobile device, a wireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriber device, or some other suitable term, where "device" may also be referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client. UE 115 may 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 may 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 may be implemented in various items such as appliances, vehicles, meters, etc.
[0069] 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. Application examples of MTC devices include smart metering, inventory monitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, healthcare monitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological event monitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing, physical access control, and transaction-based business charging.
[0070] Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ operating modes that reduce power consumption, such as half-duplex communications (e.g., a mode that supports one-way communication via transmission or reception but not simultaneous transmission and reception). In some examples, half-duplex communications may be performed at a reduced peak rate. Other power saving techniques for UE 115 include entering a power saving "deep sleep" mode when not engaged in active communications, or operating on a limited bandwidth (e.g., in accordance with 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 for these functions.
[0071] In some cases, the UE 115 is also able to communicate directly with other UEs 115 (e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) or device-to-device (D2D) protocol). One or more UEs 115 of a group of UEs 115 utilizing D2D communication may be within a geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 105. Other UEs 115 in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 105, or otherwise unable to receive transmissions from the base station 105. In some cases, a group of UEs 115 communicating via D2D communication may utilize 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 facilitates scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication is performed between UEs 115 without involving the base station 105.
[0072] The base stations 105 may communicate with the core network 130 and 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 interface). The base stations 105 may communicate with each other directly (e.g., directly between the base stations 105) or indirectly (e.g., via the core network 130) on a backhaul link 134 (e.g., via X2, Xn, or other interface).
[0073] The core network 130 may provide user authentication, access authorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (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 of UEs 115 served by base stations 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 network operator IP services. Operator IP services may include access to the Internet, an intranet, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), or a packet switched (PS) streaming service.
[0074] At least some network devices, such as base stations 105, may include subcomponents, such as access network entities, which may be examples of access node controllers (ANCs). Each access network entity may communicate with UE 115 through a number of other access network transport entities, which may be referred to as radio heads, smart radio heads, or transmit / receive points (TRPs). In some configurations, the various functions of each access network entity or base station 105 may be distributed across various network devices (e.g., radio heads and access network controllers) or merged into a single network device (e.g., base station 105).
[0075] 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 300 MHz to 3 GHz is referred to as the ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because the wavelengths are in the range of about one decimeter to one meter in length. UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings and environmental features. However, the waves can penetrate structures sufficiently to allow macro cells to provide services to UEs 115 located indoors. Transmission of UHF waves may be associated with smaller antennas and shorter ranges (e.g., less than 100 km) compared to transmission of smaller frequencies and longer waves using the high frequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portion of the spectrum below 300 MHz.
[0076] The wireless communication system 100 may also operate in the Super High Frequency (SHF) region (also known as the centimeter band) using frequency bands 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 opportunistically by devices that can tolerate interference from other users.
[0077] The wireless communication system 100 can also operate in the extremely high frequency (EHF) region of the spectrum (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz), which is also called the millimeter wave band. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 can support millimeter wave (mmW) communications between the UE 115 and the base station 105, and the EHF antennas of each device can be even smaller and closer than the UHF antennas. In some cases, this can facilitate the use of antenna arrays within the UE 115. However, the propagation of EHF transmissions may be subject to even greater atmospheric attenuation and a shorter range than SHF or UHF transmissions. The technology disclosed herein can be used for transmissions using one or more different frequency regions, and the bands specified for use on different frequency regions may vary from country to country or regulatory agency.
[0078] In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 can use licensed and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. For example, the wireless communication system 100 can adopt 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 adopt a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure to ensure that the frequency channel is clear before transmitting data. In some cases, operations in unlicensed bands can be based on a carrier aggregation configuration (e.g., LAA) combined with component carriers operating in licensed bands. 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 both.
[0079] In some examples, the base station 105 or the UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas, which may be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity, receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications, 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 communications may employ multipath signal propagation to improve spectral efficiency by transmitting or receiving multiple signals via different spatial layers, which may be referred to as spatial multiplexing. For example, multiple signals may be transmitted by a transmitting device via different antennas or different antenna combinations. Similarly, multiple signals may be received by a receiving device via different antennas or different antenna combinations. Each of the multiple signals may be referred to as a separate 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) that transmits multiple spatial layers to the same receiving device, and multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) that transmits multiple spatial layers to multiple devices.
[0080] Beamforming, which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signal processing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., a base station 105 or a UE 115) to shape or control 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 may be achieved by combining signals transmitted via antenna elements of an antenna array so that signals propagating in a particular direction relative to the antenna array experience constructive interference while other signals experience destructive interference. Adjustment of signals transmitted via antenna elements may include the transmitting device or the receiving device applying a particular amplitude and phase offset to a signal carried via each antenna element associated with the device. The adjustment associated with each antenna element may be defined by a set of beamforming weights associated with a particular direction (e.g., relative to the antenna array of the transmitting device or the receiving device, or relative to some other direction).
[0081] In one example, the base station 105 may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays to perform 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 to identify (e.g., by the base station 105 or a receiving device such as the UE 115) a beam direction for subsequent transmission and / or reception by the base station 105.
[0082] 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 an 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 employ similar techniques to transmit signals multiple times in different directions (e.g., to identify a beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by UE 115), or to transmit signals in a single direction (e.g., to transmit data to a receiving device).
[0083] A receiving device (e.g., UE 115, which may be an example of a mmW receiving device) may try multiple receive beams when receiving various signals from base station 105, such as synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals. For example, the receiving device may try multiple receive directions by receiving via different antenna subarrays, by processing signals received according to different antenna subarrays, by receiving according to different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, or by processing signals received according to different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an 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 receive along a single beam direction using a single receive beam (e.g., when receiving a data signal). The single receive beam may be aligned with a beam direction determined based on listening according to different receive beam directions (e.g., a beam direction determined to have the highest signal strength, the highest signal-to-noise ratio, or otherwise acceptable signal quality based on listening according to multiple beam directions).
[0084] In some cases, the antennas of a base station 105 or a UE 115 may be located within one or more antenna arrays that may 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 at different geographic locations. A base station 105 may have an antenna array with many 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 may support various MIMO or beamforming operations.
[0085] 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 at the bearer layer or the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer can be based on IP. The radio link control (RLC) layer can perform packet segmentation and reorganization to communicate on the logical channel. The media access control (MAC) layer can perform priority processing and multiplex the logical channel into the transport channel. 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 base station 105 or the core network 130 that supports the radio bearer of the user plane data for UE 115. At the physical layer, the transport channel can be mapped to the physical channel.
[0086] In some cases, UE 115 and base station 105 can support retransmission of data to increase the possibility of successfully receiving data. HARQ feedback is a technique to increase the possibility of correctly receiving data on 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 radio 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 a previous symbol 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.
[0087] The time interval in LTE or NR can be expressed as a multiple of a basic time unit, for example, the basic time unit can refer to a sampling period Ts = 1 / 30,720,000 seconds. The time interval of the communication resource can be organized according to radio frames each having a duration of 10 milliseconds (ms), where the frame period can be expressed as Tf = 307,200Ts. The radio frame can be identified by a system frame number (SFN) ranging from 0 to 1023. Each frame may include 10 subframes numbered from 0 to 9, and each subframe may have a duration of 1ms. A subframe can be further divided into 2 time slots, each time slot has a duration of 0.5ms, and each time slot may contain 6 or 7 modulation symbol periods (for example, depending on the length of the cyclic prefix attached to the front of each symbol period). Excluding the cyclic prefix, each symbol period may contain 2048 sampling periods. In some cases, a subframe may be the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communication system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI). In other cases, the minimum scheduling unit of the wireless communication system 100 may be shorter than a subframe or may be dynamically selected (e.g., in bursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs) or in selected component carriers using sTTIs).
[0088] In some wireless communication systems, a time slot may be further divided into multiple mini-slots containing one or more symbols. In some cases, a symbol of a mini-slot or a mini-slot may be the minimum unit of scheduling. For example, the duration of each symbol may vary depending on the subcarrier spacing or the frequency band of operation. In addition, some wireless communication systems may implement time slot aggregation, where multiple time slots or mini-slots are aggregated together and used for communication between UE 115 and base station 105.
[0089] The term "carrier" refers to a set of radio frequency spectrum resources having a defined physical layer structure for supporting communications on the communication link 125. For example, a carrier of the communication link 125 may include a portion of a radio frequency spectrum band that operates according to a physical layer channel of a given radio access technology. Each physical layer channel may carry user data, control information, or other signaling. A carrier may be associated with a predefined 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 according to a channel grid for discovery by a UE 115. A carrier may be a downlink or an uplink (e.g., in FDD mode), or may be configured to carry downlink and uplink communications (e.g., in TDD mode). In some examples, a signal waveform transmitted on a 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)).
[0090] The organization structure of the carrier may be different for different radio access technologies (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR). For example, communications on a carrier may be organized according to TTIs or time slots, each of which may include user data and control information or signaling to support decoding of the user data. A carrier may 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 may also have acquisition signaling or control signaling to coordinate operations for other carriers.
[0091] Physical channels may be multiplexed on a carrier according to various techniques. Physical control channels and physical data channels may be multiplexed on a downlink carrier, for example, using a time division multiplexing (TDM) technique, a frequency division multiplexing (FDM) technique, or a hybrid TDM-FDM technique. In some examples, control information transmitted in a physical control channel may be distributed in a cascaded manner between different control regions (e.g., between a common control region or common search space and one or more UE-specific control regions or UE-specific search spaces).
[0092] A carrier may be associated with a particular bandwidth of the radio spectrum, and in some examples, the carrier bandwidth may be referred to as the "system bandwidth" of the carrier or wireless communication system 100. For example, the carrier bandwidth may be one of many predetermined bandwidths of a carrier for a particular radio access technology (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, or 80 MHz). In some examples, each served 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 predefined portion or range (e.g., a set of subcarriers or RBs) within a carrier (e.g., an "in-band" deployment of a narrowband protocol type).
[0093] In a system using MCM technology, a resource element may consist of a symbol period (e.g., the duration of a modulation symbol) and a subcarrier, where the symbol period and the subcarrier spacing are inversely related. 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 for UE 115. In a MIMO system, wireless communication resources may refer to a combination of radio frequency spectrum resources, time resources, and space resources (e.g., space layers), and the use of multiple space layers may further increase the data rate for communicating with UE 115.
[0094] 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 specific carrier bandwidth, or may be configured to support communication on one carrier bandwidth in a carrier bandwidth set. In some examples, wireless communication system 100 may include base stations 105 and / or UE 115 that support simultaneous communication via carriers associated with more than one different carrier bandwidths.
[0095] 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 and TDD component carriers.
[0096] In some cases, the wireless communication system 100 can utilize 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 an unlicensed spectrum or a 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 that can be used by a UE 115 that is unable to monitor the entire carrier bandwidth or is otherwise configured to use a limited carrier bandwidth (e.g., for power conservation).
[0097] In some cases, an eCC may use a different symbol duration than other component carriers, which may include using a reduced symbol duration compared to the symbol duration of other component carriers. The shorter symbol duration may be associated with an increased or decreased spacing between adjacent subcarriers. A device using an eCC, such as a UE 115 or a base station 105, may transmit a wideband signal with a reduced symbol duration (e.g., 16.67 microseconds) (e.g., based on a frequency channel or carrier bandwidth of 20, 40, 60, 80 MHz, etc.). 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) may be variable.
[0098] The wireless communication system 100 may be an NR system that may utilize any combination of licensed, shared, and unlicensed frequency bands, etc. The flexibility of eCC symbol duration and subcarrier spacing may allow the use of eCC across multiple spectrums. In some examples, NR shared spectrum may improve spectrum utilization and spectrum efficiency, particularly through dynamic vertical (e.g., across frequency domain) and horizontal (e.g., across time domain) sharing of resources.
[0099] The base station 105 may wirelessly communicate with multiple UEs 115 using beamforming communications. In some cases, each beam of the base station 105 may serve multiple UEs 115, such as if the UEs 115 are in close proximity. Each UE 115 may not use a large amount of bandwidth for its payload, so the UEs 115 may be frequency-division multiplexed on the same beam. Grouping UEs 115 that are spatially close may provide some benefits to the base station 105. For example, when the base station 105 performs beam scanning, the grouped UEs 115 may be scanned together as a group.
[0100] To help the base station 105 identify the UE group, the UE 115 may send a group proximity message to the base station 105. The group proximity message may indicate that there are groups of UEs 115 that are in proximity to each other. In some cases, the group proximity message may include an approximation of the proximity of the UEs 115, such as the UEs 115 being within a certain radius. The group proximity message may include information of the UEs 115 in the group (such as an identifier of the UE 115), an identifier of the group, a proximity metric such as a group radius, a leader UE identifier, a UE location, or any combination thereof. The group information may be dynamically updated, for example, by sending another group proximity message.
[0101] The base station 105 may receive the group proximity message and communicate with the group of UEs 115 based on the group proximity message. In some cases, by indicating the group of UEs 115, the base station 105 is able to reduce beam measurement and reporting overhead. For example, the base station 105 may configure only a subset of the UEs 115 in the group for beam measurement and reporting, and then the base station 105 may use the same beam for each UE 115 in the group. In some cases, a reference signal for UE beam measurement may be signaled to the UEs 115 of the group (e.g., only one UE 115 of the group), and each UE 115 in the group may measure the reference signal. In some cases, the group proximity message may reduce the beam scanning signaling overhead of the base station. For example, the base station 105 may update the beam scanning pattern of the group of UEs 115 instead of signaling the change to each UE 115 individually.
[0102] Figure 2An example of a wireless communication system 200 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 can include a base station 105-a and a UE 115, which can be as described with reference to Figure 1 Corresponding examples of base station 105 and UE 115 are described.
[0103] The wireless communication system 200 may support beamforming communications. For example, the base station 105-a may transmit directionally to the UE 115 using the transmit beam 205, and the UE 115 may monitor the transmission directionally using the receive beam. In an example, the base station 105-a may communicate with two UEs 115 in different directions from the base station 105-a. The base station 105-a may transmit to the first UE 115 using a first beam, and the base station 105-a may transmit to the second UE 115 using a second beam.
[0104] In some cases, each beam 205 (e.g., each base station beam) can serve multiple UEs 115. For example, when the UEs 115 are densely distributed (e.g., multiple UEs 115 are in close proximity) or when the antenna array is divided into multiple sub-arrays for multi-user (MU) MIMO (MU-MIMO), each beam can serve multiple UEs 115. In an example, a first beam 205-a can serve a first group 210-a of UEs 115, and a second beam 205-b can serve a second group 210-b of UEs 115. The first group 210-a of UEs 115 may include three UEs 115 (e.g., UE1, UE2, and UE3). The second group 210-b of UEs 115 may also include three UEs 115 (e.g., UE4, UE5, and UE6). In other examples, the groups 210 of UEs 115 may include different numbers of UEs 115.
[0105] In some cases, UE 115 may not use a large amount of bandwidth for its payload. For example, in an Internet of Things (IOT) system, such as an Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) system, a scheduled UE may use a smaller bandwidth than the bandwidth allocated for its payload (e.g., a large bandwidth may not be required for its payload). Therefore, UE 115 may be grouped so that the grouped UE 115 can be served by the same beam or a close beam (e.g., close in space) by frequency division multiplexing to save the spatial dimension for multiplexing UE 115 in different directions. For example, a first group 210-a of UE 115 may be adjacent to each other and each use a relatively small amount of bandwidth for communication. Therefore, base station 105-a can communicate with a first group 210-a of UE 115 using a first beam 205-a, and each UE 115 of the first group 210-a may be allocated a different part of the bandwidth on the first beam 205-a.
[0106] Grouping spatially close UEs 115 can provide some benefits for the base station 105 to perform multi-beam scanning. For example, the grouped UEs 115 can be scanned together as a group. In some cases, the group formation can be updated based on UE and environmental mobility. For example, if UE1 is initially closest to the base station 105-a but moves to a position that is spatially farthest compared to other UEs 115 in the first group 210-a (e.g., compared to UE2 and UE3), the base station 105-a can manage and track the positions and relative positions of the UEs 115 in the first group 210-a (e.g., based on positioning reports sent by the UEs 115). The wireless communication system 200 can support techniques for managing UE and UE group proximity and positions.
[0107] For example, UE 115 may indicate to base station 105-a that there is a group 210 of UE 115 that is close to each other. UE 115 may send a group proximity message to indicate the group 210 of UE 115. In an example, a first group 210-a of UE 115 may be in a car, on a moving robot, or on different vehicles in a queue. UE1 in the first group 210-a of UE 115 may send an indication of the proximity of UE1, UE2, and UE3 to base station 105-a. In some cases, the indication may include an approximation of the proximity of UE 115, such as UE 115 being included within a certain radius (e.g., within X meters). For example, the radius may be a group radius. In some cases, a device may be considered high density within a radius of one meter, while a device may be considered normal density if it is included within a radius of two meters. In some examples, multiple UE 115 of group 210 may send a group proximity message of group 210 to base station 105-a.
[0108] UE 115 can use a variety of different techniques to detect the presence of other UE 115 in proximity. For example, UE 115 can communicate using device-to-device (D2D) communication, and two UE 115 can determine that they are in close spatial proximity based on D2D range estimation. In some cases, two UE 115 can detect the same beacon (e.g., from a single vehicle), and UE 115 can determine that they can each detect the beacon. In some cases, a fixed group of UE 115 can be installed on the same mobile object. In some examples, a fixed group of UE 115 can be preconfigured to identify a fixed group. In some cases, the UE 115 of group 210 can form a communication group, such as a UE 115 used in a vehicle platoon.
[0109] The group proximity message indicating the group 210 may include information of the UEs 115 in the group 210. For example, the indication may include an identifier of the UE 115, a proximity metric such as a group radius (e.g., proximity metric data), a leader UE ID, a UE location, or any combination thereof. In some cases, the leader UE may be identified based on proximity or other factors (e.g., capabilities, device type, etc.). The group information may be dynamically updated. For example, if a UE 115 leaves the proximity range of the group 210 (e.g., moves to a location outside the group radius), the UE 115 of the group 210 (e.g., a UE 115 that leaves the proximity range of the group 210, another UE 115 of the group 210) may send another indication including an indicator that one or more UEs 115 have left the group 210. The proximity indication of the UE may help the base station 105-a because the base station 105-a may not need to continuously poll for positioning data from each UE 115.
[0110] The base station 105-a may receive a group proximity message and communicate with the group 210 of UEs 115 based on the information in the group proximity message. In some aspects, the group proximity message may indicate that the group 210 of UEs 115 is located within a defined proximity to each other based on UE location data of one or more UEs 115 within the group 210 of UEs 115. In some examples, the base station 105-a may receive a set of UE identifiers associated with (e.g., belonging to) a particular group identifier. The base station 105-a may determine neighboring UEs 115 (e.g., based on a threshold, e.g., within a group radius) based on UE location data (e.g., a positioning report) provided by each UE 115. In some cases, by indicating the group 210 of UEs 115, the base station 105-a is able to reduce beam measurement and reporting overhead. For example, if the UE angular spread (e.g., from the base station 105-a to the UEs 115 in the group 210) is less than the base station beam width, the base station 105-a may send a beam configuration that configures a subset of the UEs 115 in the group 210 for beam measurement and reporting. The base station 105-a may then use the same base station beam 205 for all UEs 115 in the group 210.
[0111] For example, UE1, UE2, and UE3 in the first group 210-a may be close enough together (e.g., based on proximity, e.g., within a group radius) so that the UE angular spread measured at the base station 105-a is less than the width of the beam 205 of the base station 105-a. For example, if each UE 115 in the first group 210-a has a separate beam 205, the beams will overlap significantly given the beam width and proximity of the UE 115. Therefore, instead, the base station 105-a may send a beam configuration that configures only UE1 of the first group 210-a for beam measurement and reporting. The base station 105-a may select the first beam 205-a and use the first beam 205-a for each UE 115 in the first group 210-a. In some cases, the base station 105-a may determine to configure UE1 for beam measurement and reporting based on the proximity, capability, signal strength, or other factors of UE1.
[0112] A reference signal for UE beam measurement may be signaled to the UEs 115 of the first group 210-a, e.g., only one UE 115 (e.g., UE1) of the first group 210-a, and each UE 115 in the first group 210-a may measure the reference signal. For example, the base station 105-a may send a reference signal for UE beam refinement to UE1, and the same reference signal may be measured by UE2 and UE3. If the UEs 115 in the group 210 move in a predetermined pattern, the same predetermined beam switching sequence may be applied to the UE group. For example, if the group 210 of UEs 115 moves in the same direction (e.g., and maintains similar proximity, e.g., a proximity range within a threshold), the base station 105-a may switch beams and use a new beam for each UE 115 in the group 210. For example, the base station 105-a may switch from using a separate beam for each UE 115 to using the same beam for each UE 115 in the group 210.
[0113] For some UE group formations (e.g., in a vehicle platoon), the base station 105-a may send a beam configuration to configure a subset of the UEs 115 in the group 210 for beam measurement and reporting, such as the UEs 115 at the edge of the formation. In an example, two UEs 115 at two edges of the formation of the group 210 of UEs 115 may be configured for beam measurement and reporting, and other UEs 115 in the group 210 may not be configured for beam measurement and reporting. Based on the beams determined for the two UEs 115, the base station 105-a may select a beam 205 for each UE 115 in the group 210 based on their relative positions in the formation. In some aspects, the base station 105-a may provide the beam configuration for the group 210 of UEs 115 via a multicast message or a broadcast message for the group 210 of UEs 115. The multicast message or broadcast message may indicate the beam 205 selected by the base station 105-a for each UE 115 in the group 210 of UEs 115. In some aspects, the broadcast or multicast message may include group-common downlink control information (DCI) or a media access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE). In some examples, the DCI may include a group-common DCI associated with the group 210. In some aspects, the group-common DCI may be scrambled based on a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) associated with all UEs 115 in the group 210. The RNTI may be indicated by the base station 105-a to each UE 115 in the group 210.
[0114] In some cases, the group proximity message can reduce the beam scanning signaling overhead of the base station 105-a. The base station 105-a can update (e.g., via signaling) the same beam scanning pattern for the group 210 of UEs 115 to save separate signaling overhead. For example, instead of indicating an updated beam scanning pattern for each UE 115 in the first group 210-a, the base station 105-a can send a beam configuration that provides an indication of the updated beam scanning pattern to the UEs 115 of the first group 210-a (e.g., only to UE1). UE1 can then indicate the updated beam scanning pattern to other UEs 115 in the first group 210-a. The base station 105-a can then perform a beam scanning process according to the indicated beam scanning pattern to enable the base station 105-a, the UEs in the first group 210-a, or both to select beams for uplink and downlink transmissions.
[0115] Figure 3 An example of a process flow 300 according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In some examples, the process flow 300 can implement aspects of the wireless communication system 100. The process flow 300 includes a UE 115-a and a base station 105-b, which can be as described in reference Figure 1 1 and 105. UE 115-a may be spatially close to other UEs 115, forming a group 305 of UEs 115. Group 305 may include the UEs 115 and base stations 105 as described above. Figure 2 Aspects of group 210 of UEs 115 are described.
[0116] UE 115-a may identify other UEs 115 in the vicinity. For example, UE 115-a may detect other UEs 115 in the vicinity based on D2D communication, receiving a public beacon signal, etc. At 310, UE 115-a may send a group proximity message indicating that a group 305 of UEs 115 including UE 115-a and at least a second UE 115 are within a defined proximity of each other. For example, the UEs 115 of group 305 may be within a radius of one meter (e.g., for high density) or two meters (e.g., for normal density). The group proximity message may be sent to base station 105-b. In some other examples, the group proximity message may be sent to a relay node or an intermediate communication device that manages group 305.
[0117] In some cases, the group proximity message may include a group identifier for the group of UEs. In some examples, the group proximity message may include group information for the group of UEs 115. In some cases, the group information includes UE identifiers of one or more UEs within the group of UEs, proximity metric data, group radius data, a leader identifier, UE location data, or any combination thereof. At 315, UE 115-a may receive a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message. At 320, UE 115-a may communicate with base station 105-b based on the beam configuration.
[0118] In some cases, beam configuration may reduce beam measurement and reporting overhead for base station 105-b. For example, base station 105-b may configure UEs 115 of group 305 using beam configuration, e.g., only one UE of group 305 (e.g., UE 115-a) for beam measurement and reporting, and base station 105-b may select the same beam for all UEs 115 in group 305 based on beam measurement and reporting of UE 115-a. Base station 105-a may configure UEs 115 of group 305, e.g., only one UE 115 of group 305, if the UE angular spread of UEs 115 in group 305 is less than the width of the beam used by base station 105-a.
[0119] For example, the beam configuration may indicate a beam measurement report configuration for the group 305 of UEs 115. Then, at 320, UE 115-a may send a beam measurement report for the group 305 of UEs 115 to the base station based on the beam measurement report configuration. In some cases, UE 115-a may monitor data transmissions or control transmissions from base station 105-b via beams selected for transmission to the group 305 of UEs 115 based on the beam measurement report.
[0120] In another example, for certain UE group formations, the base station 105-b may use the beam configuration to configure a subset of the UEs 115 in the group 305 for beam measurement and reporting. For example, the base station 105-b may configure the UE 115-a and the second UE 115 for beam measurement and reporting, but the other UEs 115 in the group may not be configured for beam measurement and reporting. In an example, the beam configuration may indicate a first beam measurement report configuration for a first subset of the group of UEs and a second beam measurement report configuration for a second subset of the group of UEs. Then, at 320, the UE 115-a may send a first beam measurement report for the first subset to the base station 105-a based on the first beam measurement report configuration, and the UEs in the second subset may send a second beam measurement report for the second subset to the base station 105-a based on the second beam measurement report configuration. UE 115-a may monitor data transmission or control transmission from base station 105-b via a beam selected by base station 105-b for transmission to the first subset based on the first beam measurement report. UEs in the second subset may similarly monitor data transmission or control transmission from base station 105-b via a beam selected by base station 105-b for transmission to the second subset based on the second beam measurement report.
[0121] In addition, the base station 105-a may send a beam configuration 315 to the UE 115-a that provides an indication of the beam scanning pattern. The UE 115-a may then indicate the beam scanning pattern to other UEs 115 in the group. The base station 105-b may then perform a beam scanning procedure according to the indicated beam scanning pattern to enable the base station 105-b, the UEs in the group, or both, to select a beam for transmitting uplink and / or downlink transmissions at 320.
[0122] Figure 4 A block diagram 400 of a device 405 according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 405 may be an example of aspects of a UE 115 as described herein. The device 405 may include a receiver 410, a communication manager 415, and a transmitter 420. The device 405 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).
[0123] The receiver 410 may receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to group indications of spatially neighboring UEs, etc.). The information may be delivered to other components of the device 405. The receiver 410 may be a reference Figure 7 Examples of aspects of transceiver 720 are described. Receiver 410 may use a single antenna or a set of antennas.
[0124] The communication manager 415 may send a group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including the first UE and the second UE are located within a defined proximity range of each other, receive a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message, and communicate with the base station based on the beam configuration. The communication manager 415 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 710 described herein.
[0125] The communication manager 415 or its subcomponents may be implemented in hardware, in code (e.g., software or firmware) executed by a processor, or any combination thereof. If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functions of the communication manager 415 or its subcomponents may be performed by a general purpose processor, a DSP, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device designed to perform the functions described in the present disclosure, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof.
[0126] The communication manager 415 or its subcomponents can be physically located in various locations, including being distributed so that portions of the functionality are implemented by one or more physical components at different physical locations. In some examples, the communication manager 415 or its subcomponents can be separate and distinct components according to various aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, the communication manager 415 or its subcomponents can be combined with one or more other hardware components, including but not limited to input / output (I / O) components according to various aspects of the present disclosure, a transceiver, a network server, another computing device, one or more other components described in the present disclosure, or a combination thereof.
[0127] Transmitter 420 can transmit signals generated by other components of device 405. In some examples, transmitter 420 can be collocated with receiver 410 in a transceiver module. For example, transmitter 420 can be a reference Figure 7 Examples of aspects of the transceiver 720 are described. The transmitter 420 may use a single antenna or a set of antennas.
[0128] Figure 5 A block diagram 500 of a device 505 according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 505 may be an example of aspects of the device 405 or UE 115 as described herein. The device 505 may include a receiver 510, a communication manager 515, and a transmitter 535. The device 505 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).
[0129] The receiver 510 may receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to group indications of spatially adjacent UEs, etc.). The information may be delivered to other components of the device 505. The receiver 510 may be a reference Figure 7 Examples of aspects of transceiver 720 are described. Receiver 510 may use a single antenna or a set of antennas.
[0130] Communications manager 515 may be an example of aspects of communications manager 415 as described herein. Communications manager 515 may include group proximity messaging component 520, beam configuration component 525, and beamforming communications component 530. Communications manager 515 may be an example of aspects of communications manager 710 as described herein.
[0131] The group proximity message sending component 520 can send a group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including the first UE and the second UE are located within a defined proximity range of each other. The beam configuration component 525 can receive a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message. The beamforming communication component 530 can communicate with the base station based on the beam configuration.
[0132] Transmitter 535 can transmit signals generated by other components of device 505. In some examples, transmitter 535 can be collocated with receiver 510 in a transceiver module. For example, transmitter 535 can be a reference Figure 7 Examples of aspects of the transceiver 720 are described. The transmitter 535 may use a single antenna or a set of antennas.
[0133] Figure 6 Block diagram 600 of a communication manager 605 is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Communication manager 605 may be an example of aspects of communication manager 415, communication manager 515, or communication manager 710 described herein. Communication manager 605 may include group proximity messaging component 610, beam configuration component 615, beamforming communication component 620, beam measurement reporting component 625, and beam scanning pattern component 630. Each of these modules may be in communication with each other, directly or indirectly (e.g., via one or more buses).
[0134] The group proximity message sending component 610 may send a group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including a first UE and a second UE are located within a defined proximity range of each other. In some examples, the group proximity message sending component 610 may send a group identifier of the group of UEs. In some examples, the group proximity message sending component 610 may send group information of the group of group UEs. In some cases, the group information includes one or more UE identifiers of one or more UEs within the group of UEs, proximity metric data, group radius data, a leader identifier, UE location data, or any combination thereof.
[0135] Beam configuration component 615 can receive a beam configuration for a group of UEs based on the group proximity message.Beamforming communication component 620 can communicate with a base station based on the beam configuration.
[0136] The beam measurement reporting component 625 may receive a beam configuration indicating a beam measurement reporting configuration for a group of UEs. In some examples, the beam measurement reporting component 625 may send a beam measurement report for a group of UEs to a base station by a first UE based on the beam measurement reporting configuration. In some examples, the beam measurement reporting component 625 may monitor data transmission or control transmission from the base station via a beam selected for transmission to the group of UEs based on the beam measurement report.
[0137] In some examples, the beam measurement reporting component 625 may receive a beam configuration indicating a beam measurement reporting configuration for a first subset of a group of UEs, the first subset including a first UE.
[0138] In some examples, the beam measurement reporting component 625 can be configured by the first UE to send a beam measurement report of the first subset to the base station. In some examples, the beam measurement reporting component 625 can monitor data transmission or control transmission from the base station via a beam selected for transmission to the first subset based on the beam measurement report.
[0139] In some examples, the beam measurement reporting component 625 can receive a broadcast message or a multicast message for a group of UEs, indicating a beam selected by a base station for each UE in the group of UEs, wherein the communication with the base station can be based on the broadcast message or the multicast message. In some cases, the broadcast message or the multicast message can include a DCI or a MAC-CE. In some cases, the DCI can include a group-common DCI. In some cases, the group-common DCI can be scrambled using an RNTI associated with the group of UEs.
[0140] In some cases, the first UE and the second UE are located at respective edges of a formation of a group of UEs, and wherein the base station selects a beam for each UE in the group based on a relative position of the respective UE in the group of UEs.
[0141] The beam scanning pattern component 630 can receive a beam configuration indicating a beam scanning pattern for a group of UEs, wherein communication with the base station is conducted according to the beam scanning pattern.
[0142] Figure 7 A diagram of a system 700 including a device 705 according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 705 may be a component of or include an example of components of a device 405, a device 505, or a UE 115 as described herein. The device 705 may include components for two-way voice and data communications, including components for sending and receiving communications, including a communications manager 710, an I / O controller 715, a transceiver 720, an antenna 725, a memory 730, and a processor 740. These components may be in electronic communication via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 745).
[0143] The communication manager 710 can send a group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including a first UE and a second UE are located within a defined proximity range of each other, receive a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message, and communicate with a base station based on the beam configuration.
[0144] I / O controller 715 can manage input and output signals for device 705. I / O controller 715 can also manage peripheral devices that are not integrated into device 705. In some cases, I / O controller 715 can represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral device. In some cases, I / O controller 715 can utilize a computer such as a Or other known operating systems. In other cases, I / O controller 715 can represent or interact with a modem, keyboard, mouse, touch screen, or similar device. In some cases, I / O controller 715 can be implemented as part of a processor. In some cases, a user can interact with device 705 via I / O controller 715 or via hardware components controlled by I / O controller 715.
[0145] The transceiver 720 can communicate bidirectionally via one or more antennas, wired or wireless links as described above. For example, the transceiver 720 can represent a wireless transceiver and can communicate bidirectionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 720 can also include a modem that modulates packets and provides the modulated packets to the antenna for transmission and demodulates packets received from the antenna.
[0146] In some cases, a wireless device may include a single antenna 725. However, in some cases, a device may have more than one antenna 725 that are capable of sending or receiving multiple wireless transmissions in parallel.
[0147] The memory 730 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM). The memory 730 may store computer-readable computer executable code 735 including instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform various functions described herein. In some cases, the memory 730 may contain, among other things, a BIOS that may control basic hardware or software operations, such as interaction with peripheral components or devices.
[0148] The processor 740 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 740 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In other cases, the memory controller may be integrated into the processor 740. The processor 740 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 730) to cause the device 705 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks that support group indication of spatially adjacent UEs).
[0149] The code 735 may include instructions for implementing aspects of the present disclosure, including instructions for supporting wireless communications. The code 735 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 735 may not be directly executable by the processor 740, but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform the functions described herein.
[0150] Figure 8 A block diagram 800 of a device 805 according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 805 may be an example of aspects of a base station 105 as described herein. The device 805 may include a receiver 810, a communication manager 815, and a transmitter 820. The device 805 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).
[0151] The receiver 810 may receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to group indications of spatially neighboring UEs, etc.). The information may be delivered to other components of the device 805. The receiver 810 may be a reference Fig.11 Examples of aspects of the transceiver 1120 are described. The receiver 810 may use a single antenna or a set of antennas.
[0152] The communication manager 815 may receive a group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including a first UE and a second UE are within a defined proximity of each other, send a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message, and communicate with the group of UEs based on the beam configuration. The communication manager 815 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 1110 described herein.
[0153] The communication manager 815 or its subcomponents may be implemented in hardware, in code (e.g., software or firmware) executed by a processor, or any combination thereof. If implemented in code executed by a processor, the functions of the communication manager 815 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 designed to perform the functions described in the present disclosure, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof.
[0154] The actions performed by the communication manager 815 as described herein may be implemented to achieve one or more potential advantages. One implementation may allow the base station 105 to reduce the overhead for managing the beamforming configuration of the neighboring UEs 115. By receiving the group proximity message from the UE 115, the base station 105 may perform efficient signaling by indicating the beamforming configuration of the group of UEs 115 rather than indicating the beamforming configuration of each UE 115 individually. For example, the UEs 115 may be close enough that the base station 105 is able to frequency-division multiplex the UEs 115 on the same beam. The base station 105 may then perform only one beam update and, in some cases, send beam update information for a single UE 115. In addition, the base station 105 may configure a subset of the UEs 115 in the group, and in some cases, a single UE 115, for beam measurement and reporting. This may provide measurement information of the same granularity or approximately the same granularity, with a significant reduction in the overhead of signaling.
[0155] The communication manager 815 or its subcomponents can be physically located in a variety of locations, including being distributed so that portions of the functionality are implemented by one or more physical components at different physical locations. In some examples, the communication manager 815 or its subcomponents can be separate and distinct components according to various aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, the communication manager 815 or its subcomponents can be combined with one or more other hardware components, including but not limited to input / output (I / O) components according to various aspects of the present disclosure, a transceiver, a network server, another computing device, one or more other components described in the present disclosure, or a combination thereof.
[0156] Transmitter 820 can transmit signals generated by other components of device 805. In some examples, transmitter 820 can be collocated with receiver 810 in a transceiver module. For example, transmitter 820 can be a reference Fig.11 Examples of aspects of the transceiver 1120 are described. The transmitter 820 may use a single antenna or a set of antennas.
[0157] Fig. 9 A block diagram 900 of a device 905 according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 905 may be an example of aspects of the device 805 or the base station 105 as described herein. The device 905 may include a receiver 910, a communication manager 915, and a transmitter 935. The device 905 may also include a processor. Each of these components may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses).
[0158] The receiver 910 may receive information such as packets, user data, or control information associated with various information channels (e.g., control channels, data channels, and information related to group indications of spatially neighboring UEs, etc.). The information may be delivered to other components of the device 905. The receiver 910 may be a reference Fig.11 Examples of aspects of the transceiver 1120 are described. The receiver 910 may use a single antenna or a set of antennas.
[0159] The communication manager 915 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 815 as described herein. The communication manager 915 may include a group proximity message receiving component 920, a beam configuration sending component 925, and a beamforming communication component 930. The communication manager 915 may be an example of aspects of the communication manager 1110 described herein.
[0160] The group proximity message receiving component 920 can receive a group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including a first UE and a second UE are located within a defined proximity of each other. The beam configuration sending component 925 can send a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message. The beamforming communication component 930 can communicate with the group of UEs based on the beam configuration.
[0161] Transmitter 935 can transmit signals generated by other components of device 905. In some examples, transmitter 935 can be collocated with receiver 910 in a transceiver module. For example, transmitter 935 can be a reference Fig.11 Examples of aspects of the transceiver 1120 are described. The transmitter 935 may use a single antenna or a set of antennas.
[0162] Fig.10Block diagram 1000 of a communication manager 1005 according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The communication manager 1005 can be an example of aspects of the communication manager 815, the communication manager 915, or the communication manager 1110 described herein. The communication manager 1005 can include a group proximity message receiving component 1010, a beam configuration sending component 1015, a beamforming communication component 1020, a beam measurement report configuration component 1025, and a beam scanning pattern component 1030. Each of these modules can be in communication with each other (e.g., via one or more buses), directly or indirectly.
[0163] The group proximity message receiving component 1010 can receive a group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including a first UE and a second UE are located within a defined proximity of each other. In some examples, the group proximity message receiving component 1010 can receive a group proximity message indicating movement sequence information of one or more UEs in the group of UEs.
[0164] In some examples, the group proximity message receiving component 1010 may receive a group identifier of a group of UEs. In some examples, the group proximity message receiving component 1010 may receive a set of UE identifiers associated with the group identifier, wherein the set of UE identifiers may correspond to a first UE and a second UE. In some examples, the group proximity message receiving component 1010 may receive group information of a group of UEs. In some cases, the group information includes one or more of UE identifiers of one or more UEs within the group of UEs, proximity metric data, group radius data, a leader identifier, UE location data, or any combination thereof. In some cases, the group proximity message may indicate that the group of UEs including the first UE and the second UE is located within a defined proximity range of each other based on the UE location data of one or more UEs within the group of UEs.
[0165] Beam configuration transmitting component 1015 can transmit a beam configuration for a group of UEs based on the group proximity message.Beamforming communicating component 1020 can communicate with the group of UEs based on the beam configuration.
[0166] Beam measurement report configuring component 1025 may send a beam configuration indicating a beam measurement report configuration for a group of UEs. In some examples, beam measurement report configuring component 1025 may receive a beam measurement report for the group of UEs based on the beam measurement report configuration from a first UE of the group of UEs.
[0167] In some examples, beam measurement report configuring component 1025 can send a data transmission or a control transmission to one or more UEs of the group of UEs by selecting a beam for transmission to the group of UEs based on the beam measurement report.
[0168] In some examples, beam measurement report configuration component 1025 may send a beam configuration indicating a first beam measurement report configuration for a first subset of the group of UEs and a second beam measurement report configuration for a second subset of the group of UEs.
[0169] In some examples, beam measurement report configuring component 1025 can select a beam for each UE in the group based on the relative positions of the respective UEs in the group. In some examples, beam measurement report configuring component 1025 can receive a first beam measurement report based on a first subset of a first beam measurement report configuration from a first UE of the group of UEs.
[0170] In some examples, beam measurement report configuring component 1025 can receive a second beam measurement report for a second subset based on a second beam measurement report configuration from a second UE of the group of UEs. In some examples, beam measurement report configuring component 1025 can send a first data transmission or a first control transmission from the base station to the first subset via selecting a first beam for transmission to the first subset based on the first beam measurement report.
[0171] In some examples, beam measurement report configuring component 1025 can send a second data transmission or a second control transmission from the base station to the second subset by selecting a second beam for transmission to the second subset based on the second beam measurement report.
[0172] The beam scanning pattern component 1030 can send a beam configuration indicating a beam scanning pattern for a group of UEs, wherein communication with the group of UEs is conducted according to the beam scanning pattern.
[0173] In some examples, the beam scanning pattern component 1030 can send a broadcast message or a multicast message for a group of UEs indicating a beam selected by the base station for each UE in the group of UEs, wherein the communication with the group of UEs can be based on the broadcast message or the multicast message. In some cases, the broadcast message or the multicast message can include a DCI or a MAC-CE. In some cases, the DCI can include a group-common DCI. In some cases, the group-common DCI can be scrambled using an RNTI associated with the group of UEs.
[0174] Fig.11A diagram of a system 1100 including a device 1105 according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The device 1105 may be a component of or include an example of components of a device 805, a device 905, or a base station 105 as described herein. The device 1105 may include components for two-way voice and data communications, including components for sending and receiving communications, including a communications manager 1110, a network communications manager 1115, a transceiver 1120, an antenna 1125, a memory 1130, a processor 1140, and an inter-station communications manager 1145. These components may be in electronic communication via one or more buses (e.g., a bus 1150).
[0175] The communication manager 1110 can receive a group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including a first UE and a second UE are within a defined proximity range of each other, send a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message, and communicate with the group of UEs based on the beam configuration.
[0176] The network communications manager 1115 may manage communications with the core network (eg, via one or more wired backhaul links). For example, the network communications manager 1115 may manage the forwarding of data communications for client devices such as one or more UEs 115.
[0177] The transceiver 1120 can communicate bidirectionally via one or more antennas, wired or wireless links as described above. For example, the transceiver 1120 can represent a wireless transceiver and can communicate bidirectionally with another wireless transceiver. The transceiver 1120 can also include a modem for modulating packets and providing the modulated packets to an antenna for transmission and demodulating packets received from the antenna.
[0178] In some cases, a wireless device may include a single antenna 1125. However, in some cases, a device may have more than one antenna 1125, which may be capable of sending or receiving multiple wireless transmissions in parallel.
[0179] Memory 1130 may include RAM, ROM, or a combination thereof. Memory 1130 may store computer readable code 1135 including instructions that, when executed by a processor (e.g., processor 1140), cause the device to perform various functions described herein. In some cases, memory 1130 may contain, among other things, a BIOS that may control basic hardware or software operations, such as interaction with peripheral components or devices.
[0180] Processor 1140 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 1140 may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller. In some cases, the memory controller may be integrated into processor 1140. Processor 1140 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory (e.g., memory 1130) to cause device 1105 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks that support group indication of spatially adjacent UEs).
[0181] The inter-site communication manager 1145 may manage communications with other base stations 105 and may include a controller or scheduler for controlling communications with UE 115 in collaboration with other base stations 105. For example, the inter-site communication manager 1145 may coordinate scheduling of transmissions to UE 115 for various interference mitigation techniques, such as beamforming or joint transmission. In some examples, the inter-site communication manager 1145 may provide an X2 interface within an LTE / LTE-A wireless communication network technology to provide communications between base stations 105.
[0182] The actions performed by the communication manager 1110 as described herein may be implemented to achieve one or more potential advantages at the components of the device 1105. For example, by grouping UEs 115 together and reducing signaling overhead for beam management, power efficiency and resource efficiency at the device 1105 may be improved. For example, the device 1105 may have less overhead allocated to beam management signaling, so that the device 1105 may increase data throughput.
[0183] The code 1135 may include instructions to implement aspects of the present disclosure, including instructions to support wireless communications. The code 1135 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 1135 may not be directly executable by the processor 1140, but may enable a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform the functions described herein.
[0184] Fig.12 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1200 according to aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1200 may be implemented by the UE 115 or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1200 may be implemented by the UE 115 or its components as described herein. Figures 4 to 7 The communication manager described herein performs. In 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.
[0185] At 1205, the UE may send a group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including the first UE and the second UE are within a defined proximity of each other. The operations of 1205 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1205 may be described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The described group proximity messaging component is performed.
[0186] At 1210, the UE may receive a beam configuration for a group of UEs based on a group proximity message. The operations of 1210 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1210 may be as described in reference to Figures 4 to 7 The described beam configuration component is performed.
[0187] At 1215, the UE may communicate with the base station based on the beam configuration. The operations of 1215 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1215 may be as described in reference to Figures 4 to 7 The described beamforming communication components are performed.
[0188] Fig.13 1300 according to aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1300 may be implemented by the UE 115 or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1300 may be implemented by the UE 115 or its components as described herein. Figures 4 to 7 The communication manager described herein performs. In 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.
[0189] At 1305, the UE may send a group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including the first UE and the second UE are located within a defined proximity of each other. The operations of 1305 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1305 may be described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 The described group proximity messaging component is performed.
[0190] At 1310, the UE may receive a beam configuration for a group of UEs based on a group proximity message. The operations of 1310 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1310 may be as described in reference to Figures 4 to 7 The described beam configuration component is performed.
[0191] At 1315, the UE may send a beam measurement report for a group of UEs to the base station based on the beam measurement report configuration by the first UE. The operation of 1315 may be performed according to the method described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operation of 1315 may be as described in reference to Figures 4 to 7The beam measurement reporting component described is performed.
[0192] Fig.14 1400 according to aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1400 may be implemented by the base station 105 or its components as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1400 may be implemented by the base station 105 or its components as described herein. Figures 8 to 11 The communication manager described herein performs. 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.
[0193] At 1405, the base station may receive a group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including a first UE and a second UE are located within a defined proximity of each other. The operations of 1405 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1405 may be as described in reference to Figures 8 to 11 The described group proximity message receiving component is executed.
[0194] At 1410, the base station may send a beam configuration for a group of UEs based on a group proximity message. The operations of 1410 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1410 may be as described in reference to Figures 8 to 11 The described beam configuration is performed by a transmitting component.
[0195] At 1415, the base station may communicate with the group of UEs based on the beam configuration. The operations of 1415 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1415 may be as described in reference to Figures 8 to 11 The described beamforming communication components are performed.
[0196] Fig.15 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method 1500 according to aspects of the present disclosure. The operations of the method 1500 may be implemented by the base station 105 or components thereof as described herein. For example, the operations of the method 1500 may be implemented by the base station 105 or components thereof as described herein. Figures 8 to 11 The communication manager described herein performs. 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.
[0197] At 1505, the base station may receive a group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including a first UE and a second UE are located within a defined proximity of each other. The operations of 1505 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1505 may be described with reference to Figures 8 to 11 The described group proximity message receiving component is executed.
[0198] At 1510, the base station may send a beam configuration for a group of UEs based on a group proximity message. The operations of 1510 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1510 may be as described in reference to Figures 8 to 11 The described beam configuration is performed by a transmitting component.
[0199] At 1515, the base station may receive a beam measurement report for the group of UEs based on the beam measurement report configuration from a first UE of the group of UEs. The operations of 1515 may be performed according to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1515 may be as described in reference to Figures 8 to 11 The described beam measurement reporting configuration component is performed.
[0200] It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possible implementations, and that the operations and steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified, and other implementations are possible. Furthermore, aspects from two or more methods may be combined.
[0201] The technology described herein can be used for 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 can be generally referred to as CDMA20001X, 1X, etc. IS-856 (TIA-856) is generally referred to as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, high rate 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).
[0202] 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), IEEE802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE802.20, 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 may be described for example purposes, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR terminology may be used in many descriptions, the techniques described herein may be applicable beyond LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR applications.
[0203] A macro cell typically covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access to UEs with service subscriptions from a network provider. Small cells may be associated with base stations with lower power than macro cells, and small cells may operate in the same or different frequency bands (e.g., licensed, unlicensed, etc.) as macro cells. According to various examples, small cells may include pico cells, femto cells, and micro cells. For example, a pico cell may cover a small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access to UEs with service subscriptions from a network provider. 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 of users in a 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 support communications using one or more component carriers.
[0204] The wireless communication systems described herein may support synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may be roughly consistent in time. For asynchronous operation, the base stations may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may be inconsistent in time. The techniques described herein may be used for synchronous operation or asynchronous operation.
[0205] The information and signals described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.
[0206] The various illustrative blocks and modules described in conjunction with the disclosure herein may be implemented or executed with 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 in the 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 digital signal processor (DSP) and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).
[0207] The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes 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 can be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or any combination of these. Features that implement the functions may also be physically located in different locations, including being distributed so that parts of the functions are implemented in different physical locations.
[0208] Computer-readable media include non-transitory computer storage media and communication media, which include any media that help transfer a computer program from one place to another.Non-transitory storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general or special computer.As an example and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage devices, disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transitory media that can be used to carry or store the required program code components in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a general or special computer or a general or special processor.In addition, any connection is properly referred to as a computer-readable medium.For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, a server or other remote source using a coaxial cable, an optical fiber cable, a twisted pair, a digital subscriber line (DSL) or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwaves, then coaxial cable, optical fiber cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwaves are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include CDs, laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, where discs usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.
[0209] As used herein, "or" as used in a list of items in a claim (e.g., a list of items beginning with a phrase such as "at least one of..." or "one or more of...") means 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). In addition, as used herein, the phrase "based on" should not be interpreted as a reference 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. In other words, as used herein, the phrase "based on" should be interpreted in the same manner as the phrase "based at least in part on."
[0210] In the drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference label. In addition, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label with a dash 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.
[0211] The description set forth herein describes example configurations in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and does not represent all examples that may be implemented or within the scope of the claims. The term "exemplary" as used herein means "used as an example, instance, or illustration," rather than "preferred" or "superior to other examples." The detailed description includes specific details to provide an understanding of the described techniques. However, these techniques may be practiced without these specific details. In some cases, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.
[0212] The description herein is provided to enable those skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to the present disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may 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 given the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
Claims
1. A method for wireless communication performed by a first user equipment UE, comprising: communicating with a second UE to determine spatial proximity between the first UE and the second UE; sending a group proximity message based at least in part on the determined spatial proximity, the group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including the first UE and the second UE are within a defined proximity of each other; receiving a beam configuration for the group of UEs based at least in part on the group proximity message; as well as communicating with a base station based at least in part on the beam configuration; The beam configuration indicates a beam measurement report configuration of the group of UEs, and the method further includes: receiving a reference signal for beam measurement by the first UE, and the reference signal is measured by the second UE in the group of UEs.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Communicating with the base station includes: A beam measurement report for the group of UEs is sent by the first UE to the base station based at least in part on the beam measurement report configuration.
3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: Monitoring data transmissions or control transmissions from the base station via beams selected for transmission to the group of UEs based at least in part on the beam measurement reports.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Receiving the beam configuration further comprises: The beam configuration is received via a broadcast message or a multicast message for the group of UEs, wherein communicating with the base station is at least partially based on the broadcast message or the multicast message.
5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The broadcast message or the multicast message includes downlink control information DCI or a medium access control MAC control element MAC-CE.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The DCI includes a group common DCI.
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The group common DCI is scrambled using a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) associated with the group of UEs.
8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Sending the group proximity message includes: A group identifier of the group of the UE is sent.
9. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Sending the group proximity message includes: Send group information of the UE group.
10. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The group information includes one or more of: UE identifiers of one or more UEs within the group of UEs, proximity metric data, group radius data, a leader identifier, UE location data, or any combination thereof.
11. A method for wireless communication by a base station, comprising: receiving a group proximity message indicating that a group of user equipments UE including a first UE and a second UE are located within a defined proximity of each other; transmitting a beam configuration for the group of UEs based at least in part on the group proximity message; as well as communicating with the group of UEs based at least in part on the beam configuration; The beam configuration indicates a beam measurement report configuration of the group of UEs, and the method further includes: A reference signal for beam measurement is sent to the first UE, and the reference signal is measured by the second UE in the group of UEs.
12. The method according to claim 11, wherein: The group communication with the UE includes: Based at least in part on the beam measurement report configuration, a beam measurement report for the group of UEs is received from the first UE of the group of UEs.
13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: A data transmission or a control transmission is sent to one or more UEs of the group of UEs via selecting a beam for transmission to the group of UEs based at least in part on the beam measurement report.
14. The method according to claim 11, wherein: Receiving the group proximity message comprises: The group proximity message indicating movement sequence information of one or more UEs in the group of UEs is received.
15. The method according to claim 11, wherein: Receiving the group proximity message comprises: A group identifier of the group of UEs is received.
16. The method according to claim 15, wherein: Receiving the group proximity message comprises: A set of UE identifiers associated with the group identifier is received, wherein the set of UE identifiers corresponds to the first UE and the second UE.
17. The method according to claim 11, wherein: Receiving the group proximity message comprises: Receive group information of the group of the UE.
18. The method according to claim 17, wherein: The group information includes one or more of: UE identifiers of one or more UEs within the group of UEs, proximity metric data, group radius data, a leader identifier, UE location data, or any combination thereof.
19. The method according to claim 17, wherein: The group proximity message indicates that the group of UEs including the first UE and the second UE are located within the defined proximity of each other based at least in part on UE location data of one or more UEs within the group of UEs.
20. The method according to claim 11, wherein: Transmitting the beam configuration further comprises: The beam configuration is sent via a broadcast message or a multicast message for the group of UEs, wherein group communication with the UEs is at least partially based on the broadcast message or the multicast message.
21. The method according to claim 20, wherein: The broadcast message or the multicast message includes downlink control information DCI or a medium access control MAC control element MAC-CE.
22. The method according to claim 21, wherein: The DCI includes a group common DCI.
23. The method of claim 22, further comprising scrambling the group common DCI using a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) associated with the group of UEs.
24. An apparatus for wireless communication performed by a first user equipment UE, comprising: means for communicating with a second UE to determine spatial proximity between the first UE and the second UE; means for sending a group proximity message based at least in part on the determined spatial proximity, the group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including the first UE and the second UE are within a defined proximity of each other; means for receiving a beam configuration for the group of UEs based at least in part on the group proximity message, wherein the beam configuration indicates a beam measurement reporting configuration for the group of UEs; and means for communicating with a base station based at least in part on the beam configuration; Means for receiving a reference signal for beam measurement, and the reference signal is measured by the second UE in the group of UEs.
25. The device according to claim 24, wherein: The means for communicating with the base station further comprises: Means for sending a beam measurement report for the group of UEs to the base station based at least in part on the beam measurement reporting configuration.
26. The apparatus according to claim 25, further comprising: Means for monitoring data transmission or control transmission from the base station via a beam selected for transmission to the group of UEs based at least in part on the beam measurement report.
27. The device according to claim 24, wherein: The beam configuration is received via a broadcast message or a multicast message for the group of UEs, wherein the means for communicating with the base station further comprises means for communicating with the base station based at least in part on the broadcast message or the multicast message.
28. The device according to claim 27, wherein The broadcast message or the multicast message includes downlink control information DCI or a medium access control MAC control element MAC-CE.
29. The device according to claim 28, wherein The DCI includes a group common DCI.
30. The device according to claim 29, wherein: The group common DCI is scrambled using a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) associated with the group of UEs.
31. The device according to claim 24, wherein: The means for sending the group proximity message further comprises: Means for sending a group identifier of the group of UEs.
32. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein: The means for sending the group proximity message further comprises: A component for sending group information of the UE group.
33. The device according to claim 32, wherein: The group information includes one or more of: UE identifiers of one or more UEs within the group of UEs, proximity metric data, group radius data, a leader identifier, UE location data, or any combination thereof.
34. An apparatus for wireless communication by a base station, comprising: means for receiving a group proximity message indicating that a group of user equipments UE including a first UE and a second UE are located within a defined proximity of each other; means for transmitting a beam configuration for the group of UEs based at least in part on the group proximity message, wherein the beam configuration indicates a beam measurement reporting configuration for the group of UEs; and means for communicating with the group of UEs based at least in part on the beam configuration; The device also includes: means for sending a reference signal for beam measurement to the first UE, and the reference signal is measured by the second UE in the group of UEs.
35. The device according to claim 34, wherein The means for communicating with the group of UEs further comprises: Means for receiving, from the first UE of the group of UEs, a beam measurement report for the group of UEs based at least in part on the beam measurement reporting configuration.
36. The apparatus of claim 35, further comprising: Means for sending a data transmission or a control transmission to one or more UEs of the group of UEs via selecting a beam for transmission to the group of UEs based at least in part on the beam measurement report.
37. The device according to claim 34, wherein: The means for receiving the group proximity message further comprises: Means for receiving the group proximity message indicating movement sequence information of one or more UEs in the group of UEs.
38. The device according to claim 34, wherein: The means for receiving the group proximity message further comprises: Means for receiving a group identifier for the group of UEs.
39. The device according to claim 38, wherein The means for receiving the group proximity message further comprises: Means for receiving a set of UE identifiers associated with the group identifier, wherein the set of UE identifiers corresponds to the first UE and the second UE.
40. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein: The means for receiving the group proximity message further comprises: A means for receiving group information of the group of UEs.
41. The device according to claim 40, wherein The group information includes one or more of: UE identifiers of one or more UEs within the group of UEs, proximity metric data, group radius data, a leader identifier, UE location data, or any combination thereof.
42. The device according to claim 40, wherein: The group proximity message indicates that the group of UEs including the first UE and the second UE are within the defined proximity of each other based at least in part on UE location data of one or more UEs within the group of UEs.
43. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein: The beam configuration is sent via a broadcast message or a multicast message for the group of UEs, wherein the means for communicating with the group of UEs is based at least in part on the broadcast message or the multicast message.
44. The device according to claim 43, wherein The broadcast message or the multicast message includes downlink control information DCI or a medium access control MAC control element MAC-CE.
45. The device according to claim 44, wherein The DCI includes a group common DCI.
46. The apparatus of claim 45, further comprising: Means for scrambling the group common DCI using a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) associated with the group of UEs.
47. An apparatus for wireless communication performed by a first user equipment UE, comprising: processor, a memory coupled to the processor; as well as Instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the device to perform the following: communicating with a second UE to determine spatial proximity between the first UE and the second UE; sending a group proximity message based at least in part on the determined spatial proximity, the group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including the first UE and the second UE are within a defined proximity of each other; receiving a beam configuration for the group of UEs based at least in part on the group proximity message; as well as communicating with a base station based at least in part on the beam configuration; The beam configuration indicates a beam measurement report configuration of the group of UEs, and the device further includes an instruction for causing the device to execute the following: A reference signal for beam measurement is received and measured by the second UE in the group of UEs.
48. 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 device to perform the following: receiving a group proximity message indicating that a group of user equipments UE including a first UE and a second UE are located within a defined proximity of each other; transmitting a beam configuration for the group of UEs based at least in part on the group proximity message; as well as communicating with the group of UEs based at least in part on the beam configuration; The beam configuration indicates a beam measurement report configuration of the group of UEs, and the device further includes an instruction for causing the device to execute the following: A reference signal for beam measurement is sent to the first UE, and the reference signal is measured by the second UE in the group of UEs.
49. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication by a first user equipment UE, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to: communicating with a second UE to determine a spatial proximity between the first UE and the second UE; sending a group proximity message based at least in part on the determined spatial proximity, the group proximity message indicating that a group of UEs including the first UE and the second UE are within a defined proximity of each other; receiving a beam configuration for the group of UEs based at least in part on the group proximity message; as well as communicating with a base station based at least in part on the beam configuration; The beam configuration indicates a beam measurement report configuration of the group of UEs, and the code further includes instructions executable by the processor as follows: A reference signal for beam measurement is received and measured by the second UE in the group of UEs.
50. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication by a base station, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to: receiving a group proximity message indicating that a group of user equipments UE including a first UE and a second UE are located within a defined proximity of each other; transmitting a beam configuration for the group of UEs based at least in part on the group proximity message; and communicating with the group of UEs based at least in part on the beam configuration; in, The beam configuration indicates a beam measurement report configuration of the group of UEs, and the code further includes instructions executable by the processor as follows: A reference signal for beam measurement is sent to the first UE, and the reference signal is measured by the second UE in the group of UEs.
