Techniques for communication using multi-directional beams in millimeter-wave wireless communication

Abstract

Some aspects described herein relate to reporting an indication related to an ability to generate antenna weights for multi-beams to a node, receiving a number of reference signals from the node in response to the indication, and generating a plurality of antenna weights for communication with a base station based at least in part on the number of reference signals received from the base station.

Description

[0001] Cross - Reference to Related Applications

[0002] This patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 943,057, filed on December 3, 2019, entitled "TECHNIQUES FOR COMMUNICATING USING MULTIPLE BEAMS IN MILLIMETER WAVE WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS", and U.S. Patent Application No. 17 / 109,058, filed on December 1, 2020, entitled "TECHNIQUES FOR COMMUNICATING USING MULTIPLE BEAMS IN MILLIMETER WAVE WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS". Both of the above - mentioned applications are assigned to the assignee of the present application and are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes. Field of the Disclosure

[0003] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to communication using multiple beams. 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 may be multiple - access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple - access systems include code - division multiple - access (CDMA) systems, time - division multiple - access (TDMA) systems, frequency - division multiple - access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequency - division multiple - access (OFDMA) systems, as well as single - carrier frequency - division multiple - access (SC - FDMA) systems.

[0005] These multiple - access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at the urban, national, regional, and even global levels. For example, fifth - generation (5G) wireless communication technology (which may also be referred to as 5G New Radio (5G NR)) is envisioned to extend and support various usage scenarios and applications associated with the current generation of mobile networks. In one aspect, 5G communication technology may include: enhanced mobile broadband that addresses use cases for human - centric access to multimedia content, services, and data; ultra - reliable low - latency communication (URLLC) with certain latency and reliability specifications; and massive machine - type communication, which may allow the transmission of a large number of connected devices and a relatively small amount of non - latency - sensitive information. However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues to grow, further improvements to 5G communication technology and other technologies may be needed.

[0006] In some wireless communication technologies such as 5G, nodes communicating with each other can perform beamforming on the communication to send signals in certain spatial directions and / or receive signals in certain spatial directions to improve the audibility and / or quality of the communication. For example, a node can apply a beamforming matrix to apply weighted power to antenna resources to achieve the spatial directions of sending and / or receiving signals. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] A simplified summary of one or more aspects is presented below to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all expected aspects and is neither intended to identify important or key elements of all aspects nor to delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description presented later.

[0008] According to an example, a wireless communication method is provided. The method includes reporting an indication related to the ability to generate antenna weights for multiple beams to a base station, receiving, in response to the indication, the number of reference signals from the base station, where the number of reference signals is continuous or discontinuous in time, and generating multiple antenna weights for communication with the base station at least partially based on the number of reference signals received from the base station.

[0009] One or more of the above examples may further include, where the ability includes the ability to estimate the relative phase between antenna elements when generating multiple antenna weights.

[0010] One or more of the above examples may further include, where the ability includes the ability to estimate signal strength or amplitude or quality when generating multiple antenna weights.

[0011] One or more of the above examples may further include, where the reported indication includes a dynamic report based on a status or one or more determined performance metrics.

[0012] One or more of the above examples may further include, where one or more of the determined performance metrics include at least one of the following: processing power for generating multiple antenna weights, power for operating a transceiver when generating multiple antenna weights, thermal measurements, beamforming architecture, bus latency, memory overhead, or performance improvement metrics.

[0013] One or more of the above examples may further include, where the reported indication includes a static report, a semi-static report, or a dynamic report.

[0014] One or more of the above examples may further include, where the indication includes a first indication of the ability to generate multiple antenna weights and a second indication of the number of antenna elements in an active antenna subarray.

[0015] One or more of the above examples may further include, where the indication includes the number of reference signals requested from a base station.

[0016] One or more of the above examples may further include receiving, from a base station, an indication of the number of reference signals allocated by the base station.

[0017] One or more of the above examples may further include communicating with a base station using multi-beams generated from multiple antenna weights.

[0018] In another example, a wireless communication method is provided that includes receiving, from a user equipment (UE), an indication related to at least one of the ability to generate antenna weights for multi-beams and the number of antenna elements in an active antenna subarray, determining, at least in part based on the indication, the number of reference signals to be allocated to the UE for generating antenna weights for multi-beam communication, where the number of reference signals is continuous or discontinuous in time, and transmitting the number of reference signals to the UE to facilitate antenna weight generation for multi-beam communication with a base station.

[0019] One or more of the above examples may further include, where the ability includes a first ability to use relative phase estimation between antenna elements when generating multiple antenna weights, and where determining the number of reference signals includes determining a number of reference signals for the first ability that is less than that for a second ability to use signal strength or amplitude or quality estimation when generating multiple antenna weights.

[0020] One or more of the above examples may further include, where the ability includes a first ability to use signal strength or amplitude or quality estimation when generating multiple antenna weights, and where determining the number of reference signals includes determining a number of reference signals for the first ability that is more than that for a second ability to use phase estimation when generating multiple antenna weights.

[0021] One or more of the above examples may further include, where the indication includes a first indication of the ability to generate multiple antenna weights and a second indication of the number of antenna elements in an active antenna subarray.

[0022] One or more of the above examples may further include, where the indication includes a requested number of reference signals requested by the UE, and where determining the number of reference signals is at least in part based on the requested number of reference signals.

[0023] One or more of the above examples may further include transmitting an indication of the number of reference signals to the UE.

[0024] In other examples, a device for wireless communication is provided that includes a transceiver, a memory configured to store instructions, and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions to perform the operations of the methods and examples described above and further described herein. In another aspect, a device for wireless communication is provided that includes components for performing the operations of the methods and examples described above and further described herein. In yet another aspect, a computer-readable medium is provided that includes code executable by one or more processors to perform the operations of the methods and examples described above and further described herein.

[0025] For example, a device for wireless communication is provided that includes a transceiver, a memory configured to store instructions, and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The one or more processors are configured to report an indication related to the ability to generate antenna weights for multi-beam communication to a base station, receive, in response to the indication, a number of reference signals from the base station, where the number of reference signals is continuous or discontinuous in time, and generate a plurality of antenna weights for communication with the base station based at least in part on the number of reference signals received from the base station.

[0026] One or more of the above examples may further include, wherein the ability includes the ability to estimate the relative phase between antenna elements when generating a plurality of antenna weights.

[0027] One or more of the above examples may further include, wherein the ability includes the ability to estimate signal strength or amplitude or quality when generating a plurality of antenna weights.

[0028] One or more of the above examples may further include, wherein the one or more processors are configured to report the indication as a dynamic report based on a state or one or more determined performance metrics.

[0029] One or more of the above examples may further include, wherein the one or more determined performance metrics include at least one of the following: processing power for generating a plurality of antenna weights, power for operating the transceiver when generating a plurality of antenna weights, thermal measurements, beamforming architecture, bus latency, memory overhead, or a performance improvement metric.

[0030] One or more of the above examples may further include, wherein the one or more processors are configured to report the indication as a static report, a semi-static report, or a dynamic report.

[0031] One or more of the above examples may further include, wherein the indication includes a first indication of the ability to generate a plurality of antenna weights and a second indication of the number of antenna elements in an active antenna subarray.

[0032] One or more of the above examples may further include, where indicates the number of reference signals requested from the base station.

[0033] One or more of the above examples may further include, where one or more processors are further configured to receive from the base station an indication of the number of reference signals allocated by the base station.

[0034] One or more of the above examples may further include, where one or more processors are further configured to communicate with the base station using multi-beams generated from multiple antenna weights.

[0035] In another example, a device for wireless communication is provided, which includes a transceiver, a memory configured to store instructions, and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory. The one or more processors are configured to receive from the UE an indication related to at least one of the ability to generate antenna weights for multi-beam communication or the number of antenna elements in an active antenna subarray available for multi-beam communication, determine at least in part based on the indication the number of reference signals to be allocated to the UE for antenna weight generation for multi-beam communication, where the number of reference signals is continuous or discontinuous in time, and send the number of reference signals to the UE to facilitate antenna weight generation for multi-beam communication.

[0036] One or more of the above examples may further include, where the ability includes a first ability to use relative phase estimation between antenna elements when generating multiple antenna weights, and where one or more processors are configured to determine the number of reference signals to be less for the first ability than for a second ability to use signal strength or amplitude or quality estimation when generating multiple antenna weights.

[0037] One or more of the above examples may further include, where the ability includes a first ability to use signal strength or amplitude or quality estimation when generating multiple antenna weights, and where one or more processors are configured to determine the number of reference signals to be more for the first ability than for a second ability to use phase estimation when generating multiple antenna weights.

[0038] One or more of the above examples may further include, where the indication includes a first indication of the ability to generate multiple antenna weights and a second indication of the number of antenna elements in the active antenna subarray.

[0039] To achieve the foregoing and related purposes, one or more aspects include the features that are fully described hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of one or more aspects. However, these features merely represent several of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects may be employed, and this description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] Aspects of the disclosure will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are provided to illustrate, and not to limit, aspects of the disclosure, where like reference numerals represent like elements, and in which:

[0041] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;

[0042] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a UE in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;

[0043] Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a base station in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;

[0044] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method for generating multi-directional beams for wireless communication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;

[0045] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method for configuring reference signals for transmission to a node; and

[0046] Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a MIMO communication system including a base station and a UE in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] Aspects will now be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth for purposes of explanation in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more aspects. It is evident, however, that such aspects may be practiced without these specific details.

[0048] The described features generally relate to the use of multi-directional beams in communications between nodes in a wireless network. In some wireless communication technologies, such as fifth-generation (5G) New Radio (NR), nodes can use directional beamforming to steer beams via clusters in the channel. For example, a cluster can be defined as an object in the wireless channel environment that causes energy to be reflected or diffracted from one node to another (e.g., from a base station to a user device, or vice versa). In some cases, the diffraction may be temporary (e.g., caused by energy diffracted around the corners of an object), and thus the desire for clustering may also be temporary. For example, a node may apply power to antennas in an array (or subarray) to cause signals to be transmitted and / or received in a certain direction, and the node generally determines a single directional beam with the desired signal characteristics. The node can then communicate using the single directional beam while ignoring (or not capturing) energy from other weaker / less dominant clusters in the channel. In some embodiments, a node may have at least one backup / standby beam to switch to in the event of obstruction on the current / serving beam (e.g., caused by the channel environment or the movement of one or more objects in the node, as described above).

[0049] Various aspects described herein relate to providing multi-directional beam communication between nodes of a wireless network, wherein one node can transmit and / or another node can receive concurrently via multi-directional beams. In one example, a node can report capability information to another node, wherein the capability information can indicate whether (and how) the node can participate in determining multi-directional beams for multi-directional beam communication. In another example, the capability information can include one or more parameters related to multi-directional beam communication, such as the number of antenna elements in an active antenna array (or subarray), a request for the number of reference signals (RSs) from which beam weights are to be derived, and the like. Other nodes can determine the number of RSs to be sent based on the capability information, and multi-directional beam communication can be established based on the capability information and / or the RSs, as further described herein.

[0050] Multi-directional beam communication can include communication based on a single set of beam weights that result in a beam pattern having multiple directions, multiple concurrent beams each having multiple directions, etc. In one example, a node can form antenna resources (such as a combination of phase shifters and amplitude controls) to generate a single set of beam weights with multi-direction support, which can be associated with a single beam having multiple peaks in different directions, where a peak can refer to the spatial direction of a signal having a threshold signal strength or quality. In another example, a node can form antenna resources to concurrently generate multiple sets of beam weights each having a single peak in a certain spatial direction. As used herein, the terms "multi-directional beam", "multi-beam", or "multiple beams" are intended to refer to any of the above forms of multi-directional beam communication or substantially any scenario in which antenna resources can be beamformed to generate one or more sets of beam weights having more than one peak or spatial direction. For example, the beam weights of a multi-beam can produce multiple distinguishable or separable peaks in the beam pattern space, or the coverage area of the generated beam pattern is wider than that of a beam with progressive phase shift, where the coverage area of the multi-beam is defined as the area in the beam space within a threshold condition of the peak array gain.

[0051] In the examples described herein, multi-directional beam communication can improve the throughput and / or reliability of communication between nodes. In some examples, one node can be a user equipment (UE), and the other node can be a base station (e.g., gNB), or both nodes can be UEs in 5G NR or other wireless communication technologies, etc. Other scenarios in which the proposed invention may be useful include nodes composed of customer premise equipment (CPE), repeaters (intelligent or simple / easy), relays or sidelink nodes, transmit receive points (TRP), etc.

[0052] The features described below will be presented with reference to Figures 1-6 more detail.

[0053] As used in this application, the terms "component", "module", "system", etc. are intended to include computer-related entities, such as but not limited to hardware, software, combinations of hardware and software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be but is not limited to a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, an execution thread, a program, and / or a computer. By way of illustration, an application running on a computing device and the computing device can both be components. One or more components can reside in a process and / or an execution thread, and a component can be located on one computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. Further, these components can execute from various computer-readable media having various data structures stored thereon. A component can communicate with other systems in a signal by way of local and / or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (such as data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, a distributed system, and / or across a network such as the Internet). Software should be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, execution threads, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

[0054] The techniques described herein can be used for various wireless communication systems such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, and other systems. The terms "system" and "network" can generally be used interchangeably. CDMA systems can implement radio technologies such as CDMA2000, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), etc. CDMA2000 covers standards such as IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856. IS-2000 Release 0 and Release A are commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1X, 1X, etc. IS-856 (TIA-856) is commonly 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). OFDMA systems can implement radio technologies such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM TMSuch as radio technologies. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). 3GPP Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are new versions of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organization called the "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documents from an organization called the "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). The technologies described herein can be used in the above-mentioned systems and radio technologies and other systems and radio technologies, including cellular (e.g., LTE) communications on shared radio spectrum bands. However, for purposes of illustration, the following description describes the LTE / LTE-A system and uses LTE terminology in most of the following description, but these technologies are also applicable to beyond LTE / LTE-A applications (e.g., 5th Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) networks or other next-generation communication systems).

[0055] The following description provides examples and does not limit the scope, applicability, or examples set forth in the claims. Changes may be made to the function and arrangement of the elements discussed without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Various procedures or components may be omitted, replaced, or added as appropriate for the various examples. For instance, the methods described may be performed in a different order than described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Additionally, features described with respect to some examples may be combined in other examples.

[0056] Aspects or features will be presented with respect to systems that may include multiple devices, components, modules, etc. It should be understood and appreciated that various systems may include additional devices, components, modules, etc. and / or may not include all of the devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in conjunction with the figures. Combinations of these methods may also be used.

[0057] Figure 1FIG. is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and an access network 100. A wireless communication system (also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) can include base stations 102, UEs 104, an evolved packet core (EPC) 160, and / or a 5G core (5GC) 190. The base stations 102 can include macro cells (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cells (low-power cellular base stations). Macro cells can include base stations. Small cells can include femtocells, picocells, and microcells. In an example, the base stations 102 can also include gNBs 180, as further described herein. In one example, some nodes of the wireless communication system can have a modem 240 and a communication component 242 for performing multi-beam communication, which can be based on an indication of the multi-beam communication capability. Additionally, some nodes can have a modem 340 and a configuration component 342 for configuring the node to perform multi-beam communication, which can include sending multiple RSs to the node for establishing antenna weights, as described herein. Although the UE 104 is shown as having a modem 240 and a communication component 242 and the base station 102 is shown as having a modem 340 and a configuration component 342, this is an illustrative example, and substantially any node or any type of node can include a modem 240 and a communication component 242 and / or a modem 340 and a configuration component 342 for providing the corresponding functions described herein.

[0058] The base stations 102 configured for 4G LTE (which can be collectively referred to as the evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN)) can interact with the EPC 160 via a backhaul link 132 (e.g., using the S1 interface). The base stations 102 configured for 5G NR (which can be collectively referred to as the next-generation RAN (NG-RAN)) can interact with the 5GC 190 via a backhaul link 184. In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 can perform one or more of the following functions: transmission of user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, non-access stratum (NAS) message distribution, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network (RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and device tracking, radio access network information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and warning information delivery. The base stations 102 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via the EPC 160 or 5GC 190) via a backhaul link 134 (e.g., using the X2 interface). The backhaul link 134 can be wired or wireless.

[0059] Base station 102 may communicate wirelessly with one or more UEs 104. Each of the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographical coverage area 110. There may be overlapping geographical coverage areas 110. For example, small cell 102' may have a coverage area 110' that overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macro base stations 102. A network including both small cells and macro cells may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. The heterogeneous network may also include a Home evolved Node B (eNB) (HeNB), which may serve a restricted group, which may be referred to as a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG). The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include an uplink (UL) (also referred to as a reverse link) transmission from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or a downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmission from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link may be over one or more carriers. The base station 102 / UE 104 may use a spectrum of up to Yx MHz (e.g., for x component carriers) with each carrier having a bandwidth of up to Y MHz (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100, 400, etc. MHz) allocated in carrier aggregation for transmission in the DL and / or UL directions. The carriers may be adjacent to each other or may not be adjacent. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric for the DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for the DL than for the UL). The component carriers may include a primary component carrier and one or more secondary component carriers. The primary component carrier may be referred to as the Primary Cell (PCell) and the secondary component carriers may be referred to as Secondary Cells (SCells).

[0060] In another example, certain UEs 104 may communicate with each other using device-to-device (D2D) communication links 158. The D2D communication links 158 may use DL / UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication links 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as the Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH), Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH), Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), and Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH). D2D communication may be through various wireless D2D communication systems, such as, for example, FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, LTE, or NR.

[0061] The wireless communication system may also include a Wi-Fi access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in the 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the STA 152 / AP 150 may perform a Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) before communication to determine whether the channel is available.

[0062] The small cell 102' may operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed spectrum, the small cell 102' may adopt NR and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as that used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. The small cell 102' adopting NR in the unlicensed spectrum may expand the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network.

[0063] The base station 102, whether it is a small cell 102' or a large cell (e.g., macro base station), may include an eNB, a gNodeB (gNB), or other types of base stations. Some base stations such as the gNB 180 may operate in the traditional sub-6 GHz spectrum, millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies, and / or near mmW frequencies to communicate with the UE 104. When the gNB 180 operates in mmW or near mmW frequencies, the gNB 180 may be referred to as a mmW base station. The Extremely High Frequency (EHF) is a part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. The range of EHF is from 30 GHz to 300 GHz, and the wavelength is between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. The radio waves in this frequency band may be called millimeter waves. Near mmW may extend down to the 3 GHz frequency with a wavelength of 100 millimeters. The Super High Frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz and is also called centimeter waves. Communications using the mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands have extremely high path loss and short distances. The mmW base station 180 may utilize beamforming 182 with the UE 104 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short distances. The base station 102 mentioned in this article may include the gNB 180.

[0064] The EPC 160 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, a Serving Gateway 166, a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) Gateway 168, a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC) 170, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 172. The MME 162 may communicate with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 is a control node that processes signaling between the UE 104 and the EPC 160. Generally, the MME 162 provides bearer and connection management. All User Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transported through the Serving Gateway 166, which itself is connected to the PDN Gateway 172. The PDN Gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. The PDN Gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 are connected to an IP service 176. The IP service 176 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a PS streaming service, and / or other IP services. The BM-SC 170 may provide functions for MBMS user service provisioning and delivery. The BM-SC 170 may serve as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmissions, may be used to authorize and initiate MBMS bearer services within a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and may be used to schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS Gateway 168 may be used to distribute MBMS traffic to base stations 102 belonging to a Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) area for a particular broadcast service, and may be responsible for session management (start / stop) and collecting charging information related to eMBMS.

[0065] The 5GC 190 may include an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 192, other AMFs 193, a Session Management Function (SMF) 194, and a User Plane Function (UPF) 195. The AMF 192 may communicate with a Unified Data Management (UDM) 196. The AMF 192 may be a control node that processes signaling between the UE 104 and the 5GC 190. Generally, the AMF 192 may provide QoS flow and session management. User Internet Protocol (IP) packets (e.g., from one or more UEs 104) may be transported through the UPF 195. The UPF 195 may provide UE IP address allocation and other functions for one or more UEs. The UPF 195 is connected to an IP service 197. The IP service 197 may include the Internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a PS streaming service, and / or other IP services.

[0066] A base station may also be referred to as a gNB, Node B, evolved Node B (eNB), access point, base station transceiver station, radio base station, radio transceiver, transceiver function, basic service set (BSS), extended service set (ESS), transmission and reception point (TRP), or some other suitable term. The base station 102 provides an access point for the UE 104 to the EPC 160 or 5GC 190. Examples of the UE 104 include cellular phones, smart phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite radios, positioning systems (e.g., satellite, terrestrial), multimedia devices, video devices, digital audio players (e.g., MP3 players), cameras, game consoles, tablet computers, smart devices, robots, drones, industrial / manufacturing devices, wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart clothing, smart glasses, virtual reality goggles, smart wristbands, smart jewelry (e.g., smart rings, smart bracelets)), vehicle / vehicle-mounted devices, meters (e.g., parking meters, electricity meters, gas meters, water meters, flow meters), air pumps, large or small kitchen appliances, medical / healthcare devices, implants, sensors / actuators, displays, or any other similar functional devices. Some of the UEs 104 may be referred to as IoT devices (e.g., meters, pumps, monitors, cameras, industrial / manufacturing devices, appliances, vehicles, robots, drones, etc.). IoT UEs may include machine type communication (MTC) / enhanced MTC (eMTC, also known as Category (CAT)-M, Cat M1) UEs, NB-IoT (also known as CAT NB1) UEs, and other types of UEs. In the present disclosure, eMTC and NB-IoT may refer to future technologies that can evolve from these technologies or can be based on these technologies. For example, eMTC may include FeMTC (further eMTC), eFeMTC (enhanced further eMTC), mMTC (massive MTC), etc., and NB-IoT may include eNB-IoT (enhanced NB-IoT), FeNB-IoT (further enhanced NB-IoT), etc. The UE 104 may also be referred to as a station, mobile station, subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, mobile phone, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other suitable term.

[0067] In an example, the communication component 242 of the UE 104 can indicate (e.g., via a transmission to the base station 102) a capability for performing multi-beam communication, which can include an indication of the capability, the number of antenna elements in an active antenna array (or subarray) of the UE 104, the number of RSs requested, etc. The configuration component 342 of the base station 102 can determine the number of RSs to send to the UE 104 based on the received capability and can send the RSs to the UE 104. The communication component 242 can receive the RSs and can use the RSs to estimate antenna weights for beamformed communications sent to or received from the base station 102 using multi-beam communication.

[0068] Now turn Figures 2-6 , various aspects are depicted with reference to one or more components and one or more methods that can perform the actions or operations described herein, where aspects in dashed lines may be optional. Figures 4-5 The operations described in the foregoing are presented in a particular order and / or performed by example components, but it should be understood that the order of actions and the components performing the actions may vary depending on the implementation. Furthermore, it should be understood that the following actions, functions, and / or described components may be performed by a specially programmed processor, a processor executing specially programmed software or computer-readable media, or by any other combination of hardware components and / or software components capable of performing the described actions or functions.

[0069] Reference Figure 2 , an example of an embodiment of the UE 104 may include various components (some of which have been described above and are further described herein), including components such as one or more processors 212 and memory 216 and a transceiver 202 communicating via one or more buses 244, which may operate in conjunction with a modem 240 and / or a communication component 242 to perform multi-beam communication. For example, the multi-beam communication may be based on a capability indicating multi-beam communication, as described herein. In addition, the UE 104 may include a UE device, or may include UE functionality of other devices (such as other customer premises equipment (CPE), repeaters, transponders, etc.).

[0070] In one aspect, one or more processors 212 may include a modem 240 and / or may be part of a modem 240 that uses one or more modem processors. Accordingly, various functions associated with the communication component 242 may be included in the modem 240 and / or the processor 212, and in one aspect may be performed by a single processor, while in other aspects, different functions may be performed by a combination of two or more different processors. For example, in one aspect, one or more processors 212 may include any one or any combination of a modem processor, or a baseband processor, or a digital signal processor, or a transmit processor, or a receive processor, or a transceiver processor associated with the transceiver 202. In other aspects, some features of the one or more processors 212 and / or the modem 240 associated with the communication component 242 may be performed by the transceiver 202.

[0071] In addition, the memory 216 may be configured to store data used herein and / or a local version of an application 275 executed by at least one processor 212 or one or more of the communication component 242 and / or its subcomponents. The memory 216 may include any type of computer-readable medium that can be used by a computer or at least one processor 212, such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic tape, magnetic disk, optical disk, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, and any combination thereof. In one aspect, for example, the memory 216 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores one or more computer-executable codes defining one or more of the communication component 242 and / or its subcomponents and / or data associated therewith when the UE 104 is operating at least one processor 212 to execute one or more of the communication component 242 and / or its subcomponents.

[0072] The transceiver 202 may include at least one receiver 206 and at least one transmitter 208. The receiver 206 may include hardware and / or software executable by a processor for receiving data, the code including instructions and being stored in a memory (e.g., a computer-readable medium). The receiver 206 may be, for example, a radio frequency (RF) receiver. In one aspect, the receiver 206 may receive signals transmitted by at least one base station 102. Additionally, the receiver 206 may process such received signals and may also obtain measurements of the signals, such as but not limited to Ec / Io, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received power (RSRP), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), etc. The transmitter 208 may include hardware and / or software executable by a processor for transmitting data, the code including instructions and being stored in a memory (e.g., a computer-readable medium). Suitable examples of the transmitter 208 may include but are not limited to RF transmitters.

[0073] Additionally, in one aspect, the UE 104 may include an RF front end 288 that may communicate operatively with one or more antennas 265 and the transceiver 202 for receiving and transmitting radio transmissions, such as wireless communications transmitted by at least one base station 102 or wireless transmissions transmitted by the UE 104. The RF front end 288 may be connected to one or more antennas 265 and may include one or more low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) 290, one or more switches 292, one or more power amplifiers (PAs) 298, and one or more filters 296 for transmitting and receiving RF signals.

[0074] In one aspect, the LNA 290 may amplify the received signal at a desired output level. In one aspect, each LNA 290 may have specified minimum and maximum gain values. In one aspect, the RF front end 288 may use one or more switches 292 to select a particular LNA 290 and its specified gain value based on the desired gain value for a particular application.

[0075] Furthermore, for example, one or more PAs 298 may be used by the RF front end 288 to amplify the signal at a desired output power level for RF output. In one aspect, each PA 298 may have specified minimum and maximum gain values. In one aspect, the RF front end 288 may use one or more switches 292 to select a particular PA 298 and its specified gain value based on the desired gain value for a particular application.

[0076] In addition, for example, one or more filters 296 may be used by the RF front end 288 to filter the received signals to obtain an input RF signal. Similarly, in one aspect, for example, the corresponding filters 296 may be used to filter the output from the corresponding PA 298 to generate an output signal for transmission. In one aspect, each filter 296 may be connected to a specific LNA 290 and / or PA 298. In one aspect, the RF front end 288 may use one or more switches 292 to select a transmit or receive path using the specified filters 296, LNA 290, and / or PA 298 based on a configuration specified by the transceiver 202 and / or the processor 212.

[0077] Thus, the transceiver 202 may be configured to transmit and receive wireless signals via the RF front end 288 through one or more antennas 265. In one aspect, the transceiver may be tuned to operate at a specified frequency such that the UE 104 can communicate with, for example, one or more base stations 102 or one or more cells associated with one or more base stations 102. In one aspect, for example, the modem 240 may configure the transceiver 202 to operate at a specified frequency and power level based on the UE configuration of the UE 104 and the communication protocol used by the modem 240.

[0078] In one aspect, the modem 240 may be a multi-band multi-mode modem that can process digital data and communicate with the transceiver 202 such that the digital data is transmitted and received using the transceiver 202. In one aspect, the modem 240 may be multi-band and configured to support multiple frequency bands of a specific communication protocol. In one aspect, the modem 240 may be multi-mode and configured to support multiple operating networks and communication protocols. In one aspect, the modem 240 may control one or more components of the UE 104 (e.g., the RF front end 288, the transceiver 202) based on a specified modem configuration to enable the reception and / or transmission of signals from the network. In one aspect, the modem configuration may be based on the mode of the modem and the frequency band used. In another aspect, the modem configuration may be based on UE configuration information associated with the UE 104 provided by the network during cell selection and / or cell reselection.

[0079] In one aspect, the communication component 242 may optionally include a capability indication component 252 for indicating the capability regarding multi-beam communication, an RS reception component 254 for receiving multiple RSs from a node for estimating antenna weights for generating beams, and / or a beam component 256 for generating multi-directional beams for communicating with the node, as described herein.

[0080] In one aspect, one or more of the processors 212 may correspond to one or more of the processors described in connection with the UE in Figure 6 Similarly, the memory 216 may correspond to the memory described in connection with the UE in Figure 6 .

[0081] Referring to Figure 3 , an example of an implementation of the base station 102 (e.g., the base station 102 and / or gNB 180 as described above) may include various components, some of which have been described above, but including components such as one or more processors 312, a memory 316, and a transceiver 302 that communicate via one or more buses 344, which may operate in conjunction with a modem 340 and a configuration component 342 to configure the node to perform multi-beam communication. For example, multi-beam communication may include sending multiple RSs to the node for establishing antenna weights, as described herein.

[0082] The transceiver 302, the receiver 306, the transmitter 308, one or more processors 312, the memory 316, the application 375, the bus 344, the RF front end 388, the LNA 390, the switch 392, the filter 396, the PA 398, and one or more antennas 365 may be the same as or similar to the corresponding components of the UE 104 as described above, but are configured or otherwise programmed for base station operations as opposed to UE operations.

[0083] In one aspect, the configuration component 342 may optionally include a capability determination component 352 for determining the capabilities of the node for multi-beam communication, and / or an RS transmission component 354 for sending multiple RSs to the node for estimating antenna weights to generate multi-beams for concurrent communication with the node, as described herein.

[0084] In one aspect, one or more of the processors 312 may correspond to one or more of the processors described in connection with the base station in Figure 6 Similarly, the memory 316 may correspond to the memory described in connection with the base station in Figure 6 .

[0085] Figure 4 A flowchart illustrating an example of a method 400 for performing multi-beam communication is shown. Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating an example of a method 500 for configuring a node to perform multi-beam communication is shown. For ease of explanation, methods 400 and 500 are described in conjunction with each other, but methods 400 and 500 do not need to be combined to be performed. In an example, a UE (e.g., UE 104) may use Figure 1 and Figure 2one or more of the components described in to perform the functions described in method 400. The UE 104 may include a UE device or may include UE functionality of other devices (such as other CPEs, repeaters, transponders, etc.). In another example, the base station 102, another UE (e.g., communicating with the UE 104 in D2D or sidelink), etc., may use Figure 1 and Figure 3 one or more of the components described in to perform the functions described in method 500.

[0086] In method 400, at block 402, an indication related to the ability to generate antenna weights for multi-beam communication may be reported to a node. In one aspect, the ability indication component 252, e.g., in conjunction with (one or more of) the processors 212, the memory 216, the transceiver 202, the communication component 242, etc., may report an indication related to the ability to generate antenna weights for multi-beam communication (e.g., of the UE 104) to a node (e.g., the base station 102). For example, the ability may relate to the ability to communicate using multi-beams. In an example, a multi-beam may refer to a beam having multiple spatial directions or peaks, or multiple beams (as described) concurrently used in communication (e.g., in transmitting or receiving communication), such that the node indicating the ability may support beamforming antenna resources to create one or more multi-directional beams. For example, when using multi-beams, the node may beamform antenna resources such as amplitude control and phase shifter combinations to generate multi-directional beams to capture energy from multiple clusters. In an example, each beam or peak in the multi-directional beam may use different antenna resources (e.g., different sets of one or more antenna elements or sub-arrays) to create the multi-directional beam, or some of the same antenna resources may be used, which may be beamformed to achieve the multi-directional beam.

[0087] For example, the capability indication component 252 may send an indication of capabilities to a node (e.g., a base station), which may be based on a request for capability information received from the node. Additionally, for example, the capability indication component 252 may send an indication in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer signal or other signal to indicate capabilities to other nodes. In one example, the capability indication component 252 may send the capability indication as part of a random access procedure or other signaling procedure with another node. Additionally, for example, the capability indication component 252 may send the indication as static or semi-static signaling, which is sent when establishing communication with the base station 102, or is sent based on an initial and / or periodic request from the base station. In another example, the capability indication component 252 may send the indication as dynamic signaling, which may be based on detecting one or more triggers or events at the UE 104, such as according to the state of the UE (e.g., idle or inactive state, connected or active state, etc.), a performance trade-off determined for using multi-beam communication (e.g., power for receiving an associated reference signal versus power saved by additional throughput using multi-beams, etc.).

[0088] In one example, the capability indication component 252 may dynamically report the indication based on determining a performance trade-off. For example, the capability indication component 252 may dynamically report the indication based on the multi-beam weight processing power at the UE 104, which may include determining the processing resources available at the UE 104 for antenna weights dedicated to estimating multi-beam communication (e.g., as a total amount of processing resources, the number of unutilized processing resources, the type of processor or other hardware, memory capacity, buffer status, etc.). For example, in the case where the processing resources decrease or increase relative to a threshold, the capability indication component 252 may report an updated indication of the capabilities for multi-beam communication to the base station 102. In another example, the capability indication component 252 may dynamically report the indication based on the power required to continuously power the radio resources at the UE 104. For example, in the case where the required power decreases or increases relative to a threshold (or the available power, battery level, etc. at the UE 104 decreases or increases relative to the threshold and / or relative to the power required to power the radio resources), the capability indication component 252 may report an updated indication of the capabilities for multi-beam communication to the base station 102. In another example, the capability indication component 252 may dynamically report the indication based on determining one or more operating parameters of the UE 104 and / or comparing the one or more operating parameters with one or more thresholds. For example, the one or more operating parameters may include thermal considerations and / or measurements at the UE 104, beamforming architecture, bus latency, memory overhead, a performance improvement metric (e.g., SNR) (relative to the corresponding thresholds). In one example, the capability indication component 252 may update the indication when the parameter value reaches or falls below a threshold, etc.

[0089] For example, the capability information may include one or more parameters based on which the number of RSs to be sent to UE 104 for determining multi-directional beams to be used in multi-beam communication can be determined. For example, the one or more parameters may include an indication of the capability for generating multi-beam antenna weights, an indication of the number of active antenna elements in an array or sub-array of UE 104, the number of RSs requested from a node (e.g., base station 102), and the like. In one example, UE 104 may include a plurality of antenna sub-arrays positioned around UE 104 to provide diversity for communication using antenna elements. For example, in the case where one or more sub-arrays are blocked or are experiencing lower signal power or quality measurements, another sub-array may be used for communication. Each sub-array may have a plurality of antenna elements, and thus indicating the capability may include indicating the number of antenna elements in one or more active antenna sub-arrays. This indication of the number of antenna elements may imply the ability to perform multi-beam communication using the antenna elements in one or more active antenna sub-arrays.

[0090] In an example, the ability indication may include an indication of whether UE 104 supports phase estimation or only one of signal strength, quality, and / or amplitude estimation when estimating antenna weights for beamforming communication. For example, supporting phase estimation may refer to the ability of UE 104 to estimate the phase and amplitude of a beam-based signal, which may use more resources than estimating signal strength / quality. For example, only supporting signal strength, quality, and / or amplitude estimation may refer to the ability of UE 104 to estimate RSRP, SINR, or other strength, quality, or amplitude measurements based on second-order statistics (e.g., without phase information). In an example, the ability may be determined based on other parameters of UE104, such as available processing power or other resources, the type or category of UE 104, or its corresponding antenna / radio resources, etc. In an example, generally speaking, the ability to support phase estimation may be more desirable, but there may be some trade-offs. For example, compared to estimation based on signal strength, quality, or amplitude, phase estimation may allow for faster channel estimation (e.g., based on a smaller number of RSs). For example, phase estimation may be based on the processing of I / Q samples at radio frequency (RF) ports, intermediate frequency (IF) ports, local oscillator (LO), etc. (depending on the beamforming architecture), which may result in higher storage overhead, software / firmware overhead, bus latency, higher processing power consumption, higher heat, etc. Estimation based on signal strength, quality, or amplitude, which may be supported in some current wireless communication technologies, may have lower complexity, processing power, and result in lower heat overhead. Since estimation based on signal strength, quality, or amplitude may use more RSs, it may result in better performance than phase-based estimation, but at the cost of increased device power to keep radio resources active. In any case, the ability information of whether to support phase estimation or only signal strength, quality, or amplitude estimation can be used to determine the number of RSs to be configured for UE 104.

[0091] In an example, different types or categories of UEs may have different abilities (e.g., in one example, the indication of ability may be or may include the type or category of the UE). For example, low, medium, or high-tier devices may not have the ability for phase-based estimation at all, while premium-tier devices may have this ability. Additionally, for example, for premium-tier devices, the ability may depend on device state, use case, conditions, etc., and the device may switch back and forth between the ability for phase-based estimation and the ability for estimation based on signal strength, quality, or amplitude (e.g., and the base station 102 / gNB may be transparent to such a switch, or UE 104 may notify the base station 102 / gNB of the switch via the ability indication, etc.).

[0092] In method 500, at block 502, an indication related to the ability to generate antenna weights for multi-beam communication or the number of antenna elements in an active antenna subarray that can be used for multi-beam communication may be received from a node. In one aspect, the ability determination component 352 (e.g., in conjunction with (one or more) processors 312, memory 316, transceiver 302, configuration component 342, etc.) may receive from a node (e.g., UE 104) an indication related to the ability to generate antenna weights for multi-beam communication or the number of antenna elements in an active antenna subarray that can be used for multi-beam communication. For example, the ability determination component 352 may receive the indication from a node (e.g., UE 104) in RRC signaling or other signaling (e.g., as part of a random access procedure or other procedure). Additionally, as described in the example, the ability determination component 352 may receive the indication in static, semi-static, and / or dynamic signaling from UE 104, as described above. Further, as described, the indication may include ability information related to generating multi-beam antenna weights (e.g., it may include an indication of whether phase estimation or only signal strength, quality, or amplitude estimation is supported), an indication of the number of antenna elements in one or more active antenna subarrays, the number of RSs requested by UE 104, etc.

[0093] In method 500, at block 504, the number of RSs to be allocated to a node for antenna weight generation for multi-beam communication may be determined. In one aspect, the RS transmission component 354 (e.g., in conjunction with (one or more) processors 312, memory 316, transceiver 302, configuration component 342, etc.) may determine, at least in part based on the indication, the number of RSs to be allocated to a node (e.g., UE 104) for antenna weight generation for multi-beam communication. For example, the RS transmission component 354 may determine to allocate different numbers of RSs based on an ability indication of whether UE 104 supports phase estimation and / or only signal strength, quality, or amplitude estimation (e.g., only RSRP / SINR estimation) for antenna weights, where this information is included in the ability indication received at block 502. For example, the RS transmission component 354 may determine to allocate a smaller number of RSs for phase estimation ability than for only intensity, quality, or amplitude estimation. In another example, the RS transmission component 354 may determine to allocate different numbers of RSs based on an ability indication of the number of antenna elements in one or more active antenna subarrays at UE 104, as described above (e.g., a higher number of antenna elements may be given more RSs compared to a lower number). In yet another example, the RS transmission component 354 may determine to allocate different numbers of RSs based on an ability indication of the requested number of RSs. For example, the RS transmission component 354 may fulfill the requested number of RSs, or may limit the number of RSs using the requested RS information (e.g., additionally based on network-level considerations), etc.

[0094] In addition, for example, the RS transmission component 354 may determine the number of RSs as consecutive or non-consecutive RSs (e.g., consecutive or non-consecutive in time, such as consecutive or non-consecutive OFDM symbols, consecutive or non-consecutive transmission opportunities of a signal, where the transmission opportunity may span symbols, etc.). In one example, considering a 4×1 antenna array at a device, an RS structure for multi-beam estimation using phase-based estimation may use four RSs, which may be transmitted at four different consecutive or non-consecutive time instances (e.g., OFDM symbols or other time units). Thus, in the example, the RS transmission component 354 may determine the number of RSs based on (e.g., or equal to) the number of antennas in one or more active sub-arrays at the UE 104, where the UE 104 indicates the phase estimation capability. For estimation based on signal strength, quality, and / or amplitude, more than four RSs may be used for a 4×1 array (e.g., 10 RSs). For an antenna array of a certain size, the determination of the number of RSs may be based on a specific formula. In any case, for example, the RS transmission component 354 may determine the number of RSs based on a specific formula that is a function of the number of antennas in one or more active sub-arrays at the UE 104, where the UE 104 indicates the signal strength, quality, or amplitude estimation capability.

[0095] In method 500, at block 506, the number of RSs may be sent to a node to facilitate antenna weight generation for multi-beam communication. In one aspect, the RS transmission component 354 (e.g., in conjunction with (one or more of) the processors 312, the memory 316, the transceiver 302, the configuration component 342, etc.) may send the number of RSs to a node (e.g., the UE 104) to facilitate antenna weight generation for multi-beam communication. For example, the RS transmission component 354 may send the number of RSs, which may be consecutive or non-consecutive (e.g., in time, in the RS transmission opportunity, etc.). In the example, the RS transmission component 354 may send the number of RSs as different beams with different directivities, which may be used by the node (e.g., the UE 104) to determine which one or more multi-directional beams to use when concurrently transmitting wireless communication to the base station 102 or concurrently receiving wireless communication from the base station 102. For example, the number of RSs may be greater than the number of RSs that the node (e.g., the UE 104) can use for communication, thus allowing the node to select a beam based on a desired subset of RSs. For example, the RSs may include a certain type of RS suitable for beam detection / determination at the node (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB), which may include a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), etc., a downlink channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), etc.).

[0096] In addition, in the example, the RS transmission component 354 may determine the number of RSs to be transmitted based on a beamforming pattern (such as first using a wider beam to a narrower beam to allow a node (e.g., UE 104) to detect the desired wider beam, and then one or more narrower beams within the wider beam that may be desired at the node). The RS transmission component 354 may determine the number of RSs to be transmitted as beams based on an indication received from the node (e.g., at block 502) and based on the beamforming pattern. For example, the RS transmission component 354 may transmit the number of RSs as beams based on a codebook specified at the base station 102 (e.g., hard-coded or otherwise configured in the base station 102 based on the wireless communication technology). The RS transmission component 354 may transmit multiple wider beams, each having a direction and an angular distribution in the area. For each wider beam, the RS transmission component 354 may transmit one or more narrower beams in one or more directions and within a narrower angular distribution within the angular distribution covered by the associated wider beam. In any case, the RS transmission component 354 may determine the number of beams to be transmitted based on the received capability indication.

[0097] In method 400, at block 404, the number of reference signals may be received from the node in response to the indication. In one aspect, the RS reception component 254 (e.g., in conjunction with (one or more) processors 212, memory 216, transceiver 202, communication component 242, etc.) may receive the number of reference signals from the node (e.g., base station 102) in response to the indication (e.g., the indication reported at block 402). As described, for example, the RS reception component 254 may receive the number of reference signals from the node (e.g., base station 102) that are continuous or discontinuous in time or at the RS transmission occasion. In addition, for example, the RS reception component 254 may receive the number of reference signals including a wider beam based on a codebook and / or one or more associated narrower beams, etc. The RS may be an indication of a beam supported by the node (e.g., base station 102) for transmitting communication to the UE 104 and / or receiving communication from the UE 104 (as part of multi-beam communication or otherwise as described). In addition, for example, the RS reception component 254 may receive the number of reference signals using the associated beam (e.g., by performing different beamforming on antenna resources for receiving each reference signal), which may include different reception beams for each reference signal in the reference signals based on the capability indication.

[0098] In method 400, at block 406, multiple antenna weights can be generated for communicating with a node, at least in part, based on the number of RSs. In one aspect, beam component 256 (e.g., in conjunction with (one or more) processors 212, memory 216, transceiver 202, communication component 242, etc.) can generate multiple antenna weights, at least in part, based on the number of RSs for communicating with a node (e.g., base station 102). For example, beam component 256 can determine which of the multiple RSs have desired signal characteristics, which can be based on phase estimation, signal strength, quality, or amplitude estimation, etc., as described above (e.g., based on the indicated capabilities). In an example, beam component 256 can determine multiple (e.g., two or more) of the number of RSs for generating a beam for communicating with a node (e.g., base station 102), and can determine the antenna weights for the beam to be generated based on the number of RSs. For example, beam component 256 can calculate the antenna weights based on determining the reciprocity characteristics of the corresponding RSs. For example, for a given RS, beam component 256 can generate a reciprocal beam for receiving communication from a node (e.g., base station 102) and / or transmitting communication to the node. For example, beam component 256 can determine a given reciprocal beam to be directed in the direction from which the RS was received at block 404. Generating multi-directional beams in this regard can facilitate concurrent multi-beam communication, where UE 104 can transmit communication using multi-directional beams or receive communication using multi-directional beams, which can generally improve the quality or throughput of communication, provide a desired backup beam when another beam is interfered with or at least partially blocked, etc.

[0099] In this regard, in method 400, optionally at block 408, multi-directional beams can be used to communicate with a node based on each of a plurality of antenna weights. In one aspect, beam component 256 (e.g., in conjunction with (one or more) processors 212, memory 216, transceiver 202, communication component 242, etc.) can communicate with a node (e.g., base station 102) using multi-directional beams based on each of a plurality of antenna weights. For example, beam component 256 can transmit communications to base station 102 by beamforming antennas in one or more active antenna arrays (or sub-arrays) concurrently using the plurality of antenna weights generated at block 406 to transmit concurrent beams or beams having multiple directions to base station 102. For example, the transmitted multi-directional beams can include reference signals, communications transmitted via an uplink control channel or an uplink data channel, etc. In another example, beam component 256 can receive communications from base station 102 by beamforming antennas in one or more active antenna arrays (or sub-arrays) concurrently using the plurality of antenna weights generated in block 406 to receive multi-directional beams from base station 102. For example, the received multi-directional beams can include reference signals, communications received via a downlink control channel or an uplink data channel, etc.

[0100] In method 500, optionally at block 508, an indication of the number of RSs allocated to a node can be sent to the node. In one aspect, configuration component 342 (e.g., in conjunction with (one or more) processors 312, memory 316, transceiver 302, etc.) can send an indication of the number of RSs allocated to a node (e.g., UE 104). For example, configuration component 342 can indicate the number of RSs so that the node (e.g., UE 104) knows how many RSs to expect from base station 102. In another example, configuration component 342 can indicate other configuration information for receiving RSs, such as the symbols through which the RSs are transmitted, the pattern for transmitting the RSs (e.g., wider then narrower RSs, as described above), the codebook used in determining the RSs to be transmitted, etc. For example, configuration component 342 can send this information in RRC signaling, dedicated control signaling (e.g., downlink control information (DCI)), etc.

[0101] In method 400, optionally at block 410, an indication of the number of RSs allocated by a node may be received from the node. In one aspect, a communication component 242, e.g., in conjunction with (one or more) processors 212, memory 216, transceiver 202, communication component 242, etc., may receive from a node (e.g., base station 102) an indication of the number of RSs allocated by the node. For example, communication component 242 may receive an indication of a value that is an integer value representing a count of the number of RSs that the node will transmit to UE 104. Additionally, in an example, communication component 242 may receive from the node other configuration information for receiving RSs, such as the symbols over which the RSs are transmitted, the pattern for transmitting RSs (e.g., wider then narrower RSs, as described above), the codebook used in determining the RSs to be transmitted, etc. For example, communication component 242 may receive this information from a node (e.g., base station 102) in RRC signaling, dedicated control signaling (e.g., DCI), etc. An RS reception component 254 may receive a number of reference signals (e.g., as described with reference to block 404) based on the received indication of the number of RSs and / or other configuration information. In one example, RS reception component 254 may use this information to determine the number of RSs to receive (e.g., at block 404) and resources over which to receive the RSs, etc.

[0102] Figure 6 is a block diagram of a MIMO communication system 600 including a base station 102 and a UE 104 in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The MIMO communication system 600 may illustrate aspects of the wireless communication access network 100 described with reference to Figure 1 The base station 102 may be an example of aspects of the base station 102 described with reference to Figure 1 In addition, the UE 104 may communicate with another UE over sidelink resources using similar functionality described herein for communication between the UE 104 and the base station 102.

[0103] The base station 102 may be equipped with antennas 634 and 635, and the UE 104 may be equipped with antennas 652 and 653. In the MIMO communication system 600, the base station 102 is capable of transmitting data over multiple communication links at the same time. Each communication link may be referred to as a "layer", and the "rank" of a communication link may indicate the number of layers used for communication. For example, in a 2x2 MIMO communication system where the base station 102 transmits two "layers", the rank of the communication link between the base station 102 and the UE 104 is two.

[0104] At base station 102, a transmit (Tx) processor 620 may receive data from a data source. The transmit processor 620 may process the data. The transmit processor 620 may also generate control symbols or reference symbols. A transmit MIMO processor 630 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding), if applicable, on the data symbols, control symbols, or reference symbols, and may provide an output symbol stream to transmit modulators / demodulators 632 and 633. Each of the transmit modulators / demodulators 632 to 633 may process the respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each of the transmit modulators / demodulators 632 to 633 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a DL signal. In one example, the DL signals from the transmit modulators / demodulators 632 and 633 may be transmitted via antennas 634 and 635, respectively.

[0105] UE 104 may be an example of aspects of the UE 104 described with reference to Figures 1-2 . At UE 104, UE antennas 652 and 653 may receive the DL signals from base station 102 and may provide the received signals to transmit modulators / demodulators 654 and 655, respectively. Each of the transmit modulators / demodulators 654 to 655 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) the respective received signal to obtain an input sample. Each of the transmit modulators / demodulators 654 to 655 may further process the input sample (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 656 may obtain the received symbols from the transmit modulators / demodulators 654 and 655, perform MIMO detection, if applicable, on the received symbols, and provide detected symbols. A receive (Rx) processor 658 may process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for UE 104 to a data output, and provide decoded control information to a processor 680 or a memory 682.

[0106] In some instances, processor 680 may execute stored instructions to instantiate communication component 242 (see, e.g., Figure 1 and Figure 2 ).

[0107] On the uplink (UL), at the UE 104, a transmit processor 664 may receive and process data from a data source. The transmit processor 664 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals. Symbols from the transmit processor 664 may be precoded by a transmit MIMO processor 666 (if applicable), further processed by modulators / demodulators 654 and 655 (e.g., for SC-FDMA, etc.), and transmitted to the base station 102 according to communication parameters received from the base station 102. At the base station 102, the UL signal from the UE 104 may be received by antennas 634 and 635, processed by modulators / demodulators 632 and 633, detected by a MIMO detector 636 (if applicable), and further processed by a receive processor 638. The receive processor 638 may provide the decoded data to a data output and to a processor 640 or a memory 642.

[0108] In some instances, the processor 640 may execute stored instructions to instantiate a configuration component 342 (see, e.g., Figure 1 and Figure 3 ).

[0109] The components of the UE 104 may be implemented individually or jointly with one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) adapted to perform some or all of the applicable functions in hardware. Each of the mentioned modules may be a component for performing one or more functions related to the operation of the MIMO communication system 600. Similarly, the components of the base station 102 may be implemented individually or jointly with one or more ASICs adapted to perform some or all of the applicable functions in hardware. Each of the mentioned components may be a component for performing one or more functions related to the operation of the MIMO communication system 600.

[0110] The following aspects are merely illustrative, and aspects thereof may be combined with aspects of other embodiments or teachings described herein without limitation.

[0111] Aspect 1 is a method for wireless communication, including reporting an indication related to an ability to generate antenna weights for multiple beams to a base station, receiving, in response to the indication, a number of reference signals from the base station, where the number of reference signals is continuous or discontinuous in time, and generating a plurality of antenna weights at least partially based on the number of reference signals received from the base station for communicating with the base station based on multiple concurrent beams.

[0112] In aspect 2, the method according to aspect 1 includes, where the ability includes an ability to estimate a relative phase between antenna elements when generating a plurality of antenna weights.

[0113] In aspect 3, the method according to any one of aspects 1 or 2 includes, wherein the capability includes the capability to estimate only the signal strength or amplitude or quality when generating multiple antenna weights.

[0114] In aspect 4, the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 3 includes, wherein the reporting indication includes a dynamic report based on a status or performance metric.

[0115] In aspect 5, the method according to aspect 4 includes, wherein the performance metric includes at least one of the following: processing power for generating multiple beam weights, power for operating a transceiver during the process of generating multiple beam weights, thermal measurement, beamforming architecture, bus latency, memory overhead, or a performance improvement metric.

[0116] In aspect 6, the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 5 includes, wherein the reporting indication includes a static report, a semi-static report, or a dynamic report.

[0117] In aspect 7, the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 6 includes, wherein the indication includes a first indication of the capability to generate multiple antenna weights and a second indication of the number of antenna elements in an active antenna subarray.

[0118] In aspect 8, the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 7 includes, wherein the indication includes the number of reference signals requested from a base station.

[0119] In aspect 9, the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 8 includes receiving from a base station an indication of the number of reference signals allocated by the base station.

[0120] In aspect 10, the method according to any one of aspects 1 to 9 includes communicating with a base station using multiple concurrent beams based on each of the multiple antenna weights.

[0121] Aspect 11 is a method for wireless communication, including receiving from a user equipment (UE) an indication related to at least one of the capability to generate antenna weights for multi-beams or the number of antenna elements in an active antenna subarray, determining at least partially based on the indication the number of reference signals to be allocated to the UE for antenna weight generation for multi-beam communication, wherein the number of reference signals is continuous or discontinuous in time, and sending the number of reference signals to the UE to facilitate antenna weight generation for use in multi-beam communication based on multiple concurrent beams.

[0122] In aspect 12, the method according to aspect 11 includes, wherein the capability includes the capability of using relative phase estimation between antenna elements when generating multiple antenna weights, and wherein determining the number of reference signals includes determining a number of reference signals that is less than the number of reference signals used when generating multiple antenna weights using only signal strength or amplitude or quality estimation.

[0123] In aspect 13, the method according to any one of aspects 11 or 12 includes, wherein the capability includes the capability of using only signal strength or amplitude or quality estimation when generating multiple antenna weights, and wherein determining the number of reference signals includes determining a number of reference signals that is greater than the number of reference signals used when generating multiple antenna weights using phase estimation.

[0124] In aspect 14, the method according to any one of aspects 11 to 13 includes, wherein the indication includes a first indication of the capability of generating multiple antenna weights and a second indication of the number of antenna elements in an active antenna subarray.

[0125] In aspect 15, the method according to any one of aspects 11 to 14 includes, wherein the indication includes a requested number of reference signals requested by the UE, and wherein determining the number of reference signals is at least partially based on the requested number of reference signals.

[0126] In aspect 16, the method according to any one of aspects 11 to 15 includes sending an indication of the number of reference signals to the UE.

[0127] Aspect 17 is an apparatus for wireless communication, including a transceiver, a memory configured to store instructions, and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute the instructions to perform the operations of one or more methods according to any one of aspects 1 to 16.

[0128] Aspect 18 is an apparatus for wireless communication, including components for performing the operations of one or more methods according to any one of aspects 1 to 16.

[0129] Aspect 19 is a computer-readable medium, including code executable by one or more processors to perform the operations of one or more methods according to any one of aspects 1 to 16.

[0130] The detailed description set forth above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings describes exemplary embodiments and does not represent the only embodiments that may be implemented or that are within the scope of the claims. The term "exemplary" as used herein means "serving as an example, instance, or illustration" and is not intended to be preferred or better than other embodiments. The detailed description includes specific details for providing an understanding of the described technology. However, the technology may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described embodiments.

[0131] Any of a variety of different technologies and techniques may be used to represent information and signals. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, computer-executable code or instructions stored on a computer-readable medium, or any combination thereof.

[0132] The various illustrative blocks and components described in connection with the present disclosure may be implemented or performed with a special-purpose programmed device, such as, but not limited to, a processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A special-purpose programmed processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A special-purpose programmed processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0133] The functions described herein can be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions can be stored on or transmitted via a non-transitory computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. Other examples and implementations are within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, the above functions can be implemented using software executed by a specially programmed processor, hardware, hardwiring, or any combination of these. The features implementing the functions can also be physically located in different places, including being distributed such that portions of the functions are implemented in different physical locations. Additionally, the term "or" is intended to mean an inclusive "or" rather than an exclusive "or". That is, unless otherwise stated or clear from the context, phrases such as "X employs A or B" are intended to mean any natural inclusive arrangement. That is, any of the following cases satisfies, for example, the phrase "X employs A or B": X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B. Further, as used herein, including in the claims, the "or" used in a list of items beginning with "at least one" represents a disjunctive list such that, for example, "at least one of A, B, or C" means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (A and B and C).

[0134] Computer-readable media includes computer storage media and communication media (including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another). Storage media can be any available media accessible by a general or special purpose computer. By way of example and not limitation, computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that is accessible by a general or special purpose computer, or a general or special purpose processor. Additionally, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of the medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically and discs reproduce data optically. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0135] The foregoing description of the present disclosure enables those skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the common principles defined herein can be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, although the elements of the described aspects and / or embodiments may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless a limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. Additionally, unless otherwise stated, all or part of any aspect and / or embodiment may be used in conjunction with all or part of any other aspect and / or embodiment. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication, comprising: reporting a first indication of the ability to generate a plurality of antenna weights for multi-beam communication and a second indication of the number of antenna elements in an active antenna subarray to a network node, wherein the ability includes a first ability to use relative phase estimation across antenna elements when generating the plurality of antenna weights; receiving, in response to the first indication and the second indication, the number of reference signals from the network node, wherein the number of reference signals is continuous or discontinuous in time, and wherein the number of reference signals includes a smaller number of reference signals for the first ability than for a second ability to use signal strength or amplitude or quality estimation when generating the plurality of antenna weights; and generating, at least in part based on the number of reference signals received from the network node, a plurality of antenna weights for communication with the network node, wherein the plurality of antenna weights generate multi-beams.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The ability includes the ability to estimate the relative phase across antenna elements when generating the plurality of antenna weights.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The ability includes the ability to estimate signal strength or amplitude or quality when generating the plurality of antenna weights.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein Reporting the first indication and / or the second indication includes dynamic reporting based on a status or one or more determined performance metrics.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The one or more determined performance metrics include at least one of the following: processing power for generating the plurality of antenna weights, power for operating a transceiver when generating the plurality of antenna weights, thermal measurements, beamforming architecture, bus latency, memory overhead, or performance improvement metrics.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein Reporting the first indication and / or the second indication includes static reporting, semi-static reporting, or dynamic reporting.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first indication and / or the second indication includes the number of reference signals requested from the network node.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving an indication of the number of reference signals assigned by the network node from the network node.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising communicating with the network node using the multi-beams generated from the plurality of antenna weights.

10. A method for wireless communication, comprising: receiving, from a user equipment UE, a first indication of the ability to generate a plurality of antenna weights for multi-beam communication and a second indication of the number of antenna elements in an active antenna subarray, wherein the ability includes a first ability to use relative phase estimation across antenna elements when generating the plurality of antenna weights; determining, at least in part based on the first indication and the second indication, the number of reference signals to be allocated to the UE for antenna weight generation for the multi-beam communication, wherein the number of reference signals is continuous or discontinuous in time, and wherein determining the number of reference signals includes determining a smaller number of reference signals for the first ability than for a second ability to use signal strength or amplitude or quality estimation when generating the plurality of antenna weights; and Send the number of the reference signals to the UE to facilitate antenna weight generation for the multi-beam communication.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein, The first indication and / or the second indication includes the requested number of reference signals requested by the UE, and wherein the number of the reference signals is determined at least in part based on the requested number of the reference signals.

12. The method according to claim 10, further comprising sending an indication of the number of the reference signals to the UE.

13. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: A transceiver; A memory configured to store instructions; And One or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: Report a first indication of the ability to generate a plurality of antenna weights for multi-beam communication and a second indication of the number of antenna elements in an active antenna subarray to a network node, wherein the ability includes a first ability to use relative phase estimation between antenna elements when generating the plurality of antenna weights; In response to the first indication and the second indication, receive the number of reference signals from the network node, wherein the number of the reference signals is continuous or discontinuous in time, and wherein the number of the reference signals includes a smaller number of reference signals for the first ability than for a second ability to use signal strength or amplitude or quality estimation when generating the plurality of antenna weights; and Generate a plurality of antenna weights for communication with the network node at least in part based on the number of the reference signals received from the network node, wherein the plurality of antenna weights generate multi-beams.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein, The ability includes the ability to estimate the relative phase between antenna elements when generating the plurality of antenna weights.

15. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein, The ability includes the ability to estimate signal strength or amplitude or quality when generating the plurality of antenna weights.

16. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein, The one or more processors are configured to report the first indication and / or the second indication as a dynamic report based on a state or one or more determined performance metrics.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein, The one or more determined performance metrics include at least one of the following: processing power for generating the plurality of antenna weights, power for operating the transceiver when generating the plurality of antenna weights, thermal measurements, beamforming architecture, bus latency, memory overhead, or performance improvement metrics.

18. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein, The one or more processors are configured to report the first indication and / or the second indication as a static report, a semi-static report, or a dynamic report.

19. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein, The first indication and / or the second indication includes the number of the reference signals requested from the network node.

20. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein, The one or more processors are further configured to receive an indication of the number of the reference signals allocated by the network node from the network node.

21. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein The one or more processors are further configured to communicate with the network node using the multi-beams generated from the plurality of antenna weights.

22. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: A transceiver; A memory configured to store instructions; And One or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: Receive a first indication of the ability to generate a plurality of antenna weights for multi-beam communication and a second indication of the number of antenna elements in an active antenna subarray from a user equipment (UE), wherein the ability includes a first ability to use relative phase estimation between antenna elements when generating the plurality of antenna weights; Determine, at least in part based on the first indication and the second indication, the number of reference signals to be allocated to the UE for antenna weight generation for the multi-beam communication, wherein the number of reference signals is continuous or discontinuous in time, and wherein determining the number of reference signals includes determining a number of reference signals for the first ability that is less than a number of reference signals for a second ability to use signal strength or amplitude or quality estimation when generating the plurality of antenna weights; and Transmit the number of reference signals to the UE to facilitate antenna weight generation for the multi-beam communication.

23. A computer-readable medium having program code stored thereon, wherein, The program code can be run by one or more processors of a user equipment to cause the one or more processors to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

24. A computer-readable medium having program code stored thereon, wherein, The program code can be run by one or more processors of a network node to cause the one or more processors to perform the method according to any one of claims 10 to 12.

25. A computer program product comprising computer-readable instructions which, when run by one or more processors of a user equipment, cause the one or more processors to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

26. A computer program product comprising computer-readable instructions which, when run by one or more processors of a network node, cause the one or more processors to perform the method according to any one of claims 10 to 12.

Images