UE autonomous beam selection

Abstract

A wireless communication technique including autonomous beam selection performed by a mobile device is discussed. The mobile device may receive a first SSB on a current serving receive beam and receive other SSBs on different receive beams. The mobile device may switch beams autonomously during communication without instructions from another device. The UE may adjust from one beam to another beam while performing wireless communication using a current serving receive beam to perform wireless communication using a second receive beam. Switching may occur after determining that the quality of wireless communication performed using a second receive beam on which the second SSB is received is higher than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current serving receive beam on which the first SSB is received. Other features are also described.

Description

[0001] Claiming priority under 35 USC § 119

[0002] This patent application claims priority to non-provisional application No. 16 / 779,283, filed on January 31, 2020, entitled “UE AUTONOMOUS BEAM SELECTION,” which is assigned to the assignee of this application and is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] In general, aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to autonomous beam selection techniques (e.g., performed by mobile devices in wireless communication systems). Certain embodiments of the techniques discussed below may enable and provide enhanced communication features and techniques for communication systems, including helping devices identify and / or select beams for communication, high data rates, high capacity, spectral efficiency, high reliability, wider coverage, low latency, and power efficient device operation. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, etc. Wireless networks may be multiple-access networks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available network resources.

[0005] A wireless communication network may include multiple base stations or Node Bs that can support communications for multiple user equipments (UEs). A UE may communicate with a base station via a downlink and an uplink. A downlink (or forward link) refers to a communication link from a base station to a UE, and an uplink (or reverse link) refers to a communication link from a UE to a base station.

[0006] The base station may send data and control information to the UE on the downlink, and / or may receive data and control information from the UE on the uplink. On the downlink, the transmission from the base station may encounter interference caused by transmissions from neighboring base stations or from other wireless radio frequency (RF) transmitters. On the uplink, the transmission from the UE may encounter interference from uplink transmissions of other UEs communicating with the neighboring base stations or from other wireless RF transmitters. This interference may degrade the performance on both the downlink and uplink.

[0007] As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to grow, the potential for interference and congested networks increases with more UEs accessing long-range wireless communication networks and more short-range wireless systems being deployed in communities. Research and development continue to drive the advancement of wireless technologies, not only to meet the growing demand for mobile broadband access, but also to improve and enhance the user experience with mobile communications. Summary of the invention

[0008] The following summarizes some aspects of the present disclosure to provide a basic understanding of the technology discussed. This summary is not an exhaustive review of all expected features of the present disclosure, and is neither intended to identify key or important elements of all aspects of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to describe the scope of any or all aspects of the present disclosure. Its sole purpose is to provide some concepts of one or more aspects of the present disclosure in an overview form as a prelude to a more detailed description given later.

[0009] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for wireless communication is provided. For example, the method may include: receiving, by a UE, a first synchronization signal block (SSB) on a first receiving beam (or a current serving receiving beam). The method may also include: receiving, by a UE, one or more SSBs on one or more receiving beams. The one or more SSBs may be received on different beams in the one or more receiving beams. The method may also include: determining, by the UE, that the quality of wireless communication performed using another or second receiving beam on which a second SSB is received is higher than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current serving receiving beam on which the first SSB is received. The second SSB may be one of the one or more SSBs. The method may also include: switching, by the UE, from performing wireless communication using the current serving receiving beam to performing wireless communication using the second receiving beam. Such switching may be based on or after the following operation: determining that the quality of wireless communication performed using the second receiving beam is higher than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current serving receiving beam.

[0010] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a device configured for wireless communication is provided. The device may include: a unit for receiving a first synchronization signal block (SSB) on a first receiving beam (or a current serving receiving beam). The device may also include: a unit for receiving one or more SSBs on one or more receiving beams. The one or more SSBs may be received on different beams in the one or more receiving beams. The device may also include: a unit for determining that the quality of wireless communication performed using another or second receiving beam on which the second SSB is received is higher than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current serving receiving beam on which the first SSB is received. The second SSB may be one of the one or more SSBs. The device may also include: a unit for switching from performing wireless communication using the current serving receiving beam to performing wireless communication using the second receiving beam. Such switching may be based on or after the following operation: determining that the quality of wireless communication performed using the second receiving beam is higher than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current serving receiving beam.

[0011] In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having a program code recorded thereon is provided. The program code may include program code executable by a computer to cause the computer to perform the following operations: receiving a first synchronization signal block (SSB) on a first receiving beam (or a current serving receiving beam). The program code may also include program code executable by a computer to cause the computer to perform the following operations: receiving one or more SSBs on one or more receiving beams. The one or more SSBs may be received on different beams in the one or more receiving beams. The program code may also include program code executable by a computer to cause the computer to perform the following operations: determining that the quality of wireless communication performed using another or second receiving beam on which the second SSB is received is higher than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current serving receiving beam on which the first SSB is received. The second SSB may be one of the one or more SSBs. The program code may also include program code executable by a computer to cause the computer to perform the following operations: switching from performing wireless communication using the current serving receiving beam to performing wireless communication using the second receiving beam. Such switching may be based on or after determining that the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receiving beam is higher than the quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receiving beam.

[0012] In another aspect of the present disclosure, a device configured for wireless communication is provided. The device includes: at least one processor; and a memory coupled to the at least one processor. The at least one processor may be configured to: receive a first synchronization signal block (SSB) on a first receive beam (or a current serving receive beam). The at least one processor may also be configured to: receive one or more SSBs on one or more receive beams. The one or more SSBs may be received on different beams in the one or more receive beams. The at least one processor may also be configured to: determine that the quality of wireless communication performed using another or second receive beam on which the second SSB is received is higher than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current serving receive beam on which the first SSB is received. The second SSB may be one of the one or more SSBs. The at least one processor may also be configured to: switch from performing wireless communication using the current serving receive beam to performing wireless communication using the second receive beam. Such switching may be based on or after the following operation: determining that the quality of wireless communication performed using the second receive beam is higher than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current serving receive beam.

[0013] For those skilled in the art, other aspects, features and embodiments will become apparent after reviewing the following description of specific exemplary embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Although features may be discussed with respect to certain embodiments and drawings below, all embodiments may include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, although one or more embodiments may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used according to the various embodiments discussed herein. In a similar manner, although exemplary embodiments may be discussed as equipment, system or method embodiments below, exemplary embodiments may be implemented in various devices, systems and methods. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present disclosure may be achieved by reference to the following drawings. In the drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference numerals. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference numeral with a dash and a second mark for distinguishing among similar components. If only the first reference numeral is used in the specification, the description applies to any of the similar components having the same first reference numeral, without regard to the second reference numeral.

[0015] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing details of a wireless communication system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 2is a block diagram conceptually illustrating a design of a base station / gNB and a UE configured according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of wireless communications performed in a wireless communication system according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating a method for performing autonomous beam selection in a wireless communication system according to some aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 5 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating a design of a UE configured according to some aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The specific embodiments described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings are intended as descriptions of various possible configurations and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Specifically, the specific embodiments include specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the subject matter of the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these specific details are not required in every case, and in some instances, for the sake of clarity, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form.

[0021] In general, the present disclosure relates to providing or participating in communication between two or more wireless devices in one or more wireless communication systems (also referred to as wireless communication networks). In various embodiments, the techniques and apparatus may be used for wireless communication networks such as code division multiple access (CDMA) networks, time division multiple access (TDMA) networks, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, 5th generation (5G) or new radio (NR) networks (sometimes referred to as "5G NR" networks / systems / devices), and other communication networks. As described herein, the terms "network" and "system" may be used interchangeably.

[0022] For example, a CDMA network may implement a radio technology such as Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and Low Code Rate (LCR). CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards.

[0023] For example, a TDMA network can implement a radio technology such as GSM. 3GPP defines standards for the GSM EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) Radio Access Network (RAN), also denoted as GERAN. GERAN, together with the network connecting base stations (e.g., Ater and Abis interfaces) and base station controllers (A interfaces, etc.), is the radio component of GSM / EDGE. The radio access network represents the component of the GSM network, through which phone calls and packet data are routed from the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and the Internet to user handsets (also referred to as user terminals or user equipment (UE)) and from user handsets to the PSTN and the Internet. The network of a mobile phone operator may include one or more GERANs, and in the case of a UMTS / GSM network, GERAN may be coupled to a universal terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN). The operator network may also include one or more LTE networks and / or one or more other networks. Various network types may use different radio access technologies (RATs) and radio access networks (RANs).

[0024] OFDMA network can realize radio technology such as Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE802.20, Flash OFDM, etc. UTRA, E-UTRA and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). In particular, Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a version of UMTS using E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS and LTE are described in documents provided by an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP), and cdma2000 is described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). These various radio technologies and standards are known or are being developed. For example, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration between telecommunication association groups to define a globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone specification. 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP plan to improve the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) mobile phone standard. 3GPP may define specifications for the next generation of mobile networks, mobile systems, and mobile devices. The present disclosure relates to the evolution of wireless technologies from LTE, 4G, 5G, NR and beyond with shared access to wireless spectrum between networks using some new and different radio access technologies or radio air interfaces.

[0025] 5G networks are expected to enable diverse deployments, diverse spectrums, and diverse services and devices using a unified air interface based on OFDM. To achieve these goals, in addition to developing new radio technologies for 5G NR networks, further enhancements to LTE and LTE-A are also considered. 5G NR will be able to expand to provide: (1) coverage for the massive Internet of Things (IoT) with ultra-high density (e.g., ~1M nodes / km2), ultra-low complexity (e.g., ~10s of bits / second), ultra-low energy (e.g., ~10+ years of battery life), and deep coverage with the ability to reach challenging locations; (2) including mission-critical control with strong security for protecting sensitive personal, financial, or confidential information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., ~99.9999% reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., ~1ms), and users with a wide range of mobility or lack of mobility; and (3) with enhanced mobile broadband including extremely high capacity (e.g., ~10Tbps / km2), extreme data rates (e.g., multi-Gbps rates, 100+Mbps user experienced rates), and deep awareness with improved discovery and optimization.

[0026] 5G NR devices, networks, and systems can be implemented to use optimized OFDM-based waveform features. These features may include: scalable numerology and transmission time intervals (TTIs); a common flexible framework to efficiently multiplex services and features using dynamic, low-latency time division duplex (TDD) / frequency division duplex (FDD) designs; and improved wireless technologies such as massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), robust millimeter wave (mmWave) transmission, advanced channel coding, and device-centric mobility. The scalability of the digital scheme in 5G NR (with scaling of subcarrier spacing) can efficiently address the operation of different services across different spectrums and different deployments. For example, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments of less than 3GHz FDD / TDD implementations, the subcarrier spacing can occur, for example, at 15kHz on bandwidths such as 1, 5, 10, 20MHz. For other various outdoor and small cell coverage deployments of TDD greater than 3GHz, the subcarrier spacing can occur at 30kHz on 80 / 100MHz bandwidths. For various other indoor broadband implementations using TDD on the unlicensed portion of the 5 GHz band, subcarrier spacing may occur at 60 kHz over a 160 MHz bandwidth. Finally, for various deployments transmitting with the mmWave component of TDD at 28 GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur at 120 kHz over a 500 MHz bandwidth.

[0027] 5G NR's scalable digital scheme facilitates scalable TTIs for different latency and quality of service (QoS) requirements. For example, shorter TTIs can be used for low latency and high reliability, while longer TTIs can be used for higher spectral efficiency. Efficient multiplexing of long TTIs and short TTIs allows transmissions to start on symbol boundaries. 5G NR also anticipates a self-contained integrated subframe design in which uplink / downlink scheduling information, data, and acknowledgments are in the same subframe. The self-contained integrated subframe supports communications in unlicensed or contention-based shared spectrum, adaptive uplink / downlink (which can be flexibly configured on a per-cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink and downlink to meet current business needs).

[0028] For clarity, certain aspects of the apparatus and techniques may be described below with reference to exemplary LTE implementations or in an LTE-centric manner, and LTE terminology may be used as an illustrative example in portions of the description below; however, the description is not intended to be limited to LTE applications. In fact, the present disclosure relates to shared access to wireless spectrum between networks using different radio access technologies or radio air interfaces, such as those of 5G NR.

[0029] Furthermore, it should be understood that in operation, a wireless communication network adapted according to the concepts herein can operate using any combination of licensed spectrum or unlicensed spectrum depending on load and availability. Therefore, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the systems, devices and methods described herein can be applied to other communication systems and applications besides the specific examples provided.

[0030] Although various aspects and embodiments are described in this application by illustrating some examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that additional implementations and use cases may occur in many different arrangements and scenarios. The innovations described herein may be implemented across many different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and packaging arrangements. For example, embodiments and / or uses may be implemented via integrated chip embodiments and / or other devices based on non-module components (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial devices, retail / purchasing devices, medical devices, AI-enabled devices, etc.). Although some examples may or may not be specifically for use cases or applications, there may be a variety of applicability of the described innovations. The range of implementations can range from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations, and further to aggregated, distributed, or OEM devices or systems that integrate one or more described aspects. In some practical settings, the device integrating the described aspects and features may also necessarily include additional components and features for implementing and implementing the claimed and described embodiments. It is intended that the innovations described herein may be implemented in a wide variety of implementations, including both large / small devices of varying sizes, shapes, and structures, chip-level components, multi-component systems (e.g., RF chains, communication interfaces, processors), distributed arrangements, end-user devices, etc.

[0031] Figure 1 1 shows a wireless network 100 for communication according to some embodiments. The wireless network 100 may, for example, include a 5G wireless network. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, Figure 1 The components appearing in may have related counterparts in other network arrangements, including, for example, cellular network arrangements and non-cellular network arrangements (eg, device-to-device, or peer-to-peer, or ad hoc network arrangements, etc.).

[0032] exist Figure 1The wireless network 100 shown in includes a plurality of base stations 105 and other network entities. A base station may be a station that communicates with a UE, and may also be referred to as an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation eNB (gNB), an access point, etc. Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage for a specific geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" may refer to the specific geographic coverage area of ​​a base station and / or a base station subsystem serving a coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In the implementation of the wireless network 100 herein, the base station 105 may be associated with the same operator or different operators (e.g., the wireless network 100 may include multiple operator wireless networks), and may use one or more frequencies in the same frequency as a neighboring cell (e.g., one or more frequency bands in a licensed spectrum, an unlicensed spectrum, or a combination thereof) to provide wireless communication. In some examples, a single base station 105 or UE 115 may be operated by more than one network operating entity. In other examples, each base station 105 and UE 115 may be operated by a single network operating entity.

[0033] A base station may provide communication coverage for macro cells or small cells (such as pico cells or femto cells) and / or other types of cells. A macro cell typically covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions with a network provider. Small cells (such as pico cells) will typically cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions with a network provider. Small cells (such as femto cells) will also typically cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a residence) and, in addition to unrestricted access, may also provide restricted access by UEs associated with a femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEs for users in a residence, etc.). A base station for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro base station. A base station for a small cell may be referred to as a small cell base station, a pico base station, a femto base station, or a home base station. In Figure 1 In the example shown in , base stations 105d and 105e are conventional macro base stations, while base stations 105a-105c are macro base stations implemented using one of 3-dimensional (3D) MIMO, full-dimensional (FD) MIMO, or massive MIMO. Base stations 105a-105c use their higher-dimensional MIMO capabilities to use 3D beamforming in both elevation and azimuth beamforming to increase coverage and capacity. Base station 105f is a small cell base station, which can be a home node or a portable access point. The base station can support one or more (e.g., two, three, four, etc.) cells.

[0034] The wireless network 100 may support synchronous operation or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the base stations may have different frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may not be aligned in time. In some scenarios, the network may be enabled or configured to handle dynamic switching between synchronous operation or asynchronous operation. In this way, the network may employ different uses of various timing / frequency arrangements.

[0035] UE 115 is dispersed throughout the wireless network 100, and each UE can be stationary or mobile. It should be appreciated that, although in the standards and specifications issued by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), mobile devices are generally referred to as user equipment (UE), such devices may also be referred to as mobile stations (MS), user stations, mobile units, user units, wireless units, remote units, mobile devices, wireless devices, wireless communication devices, remote devices, mobile user stations, access terminals (AT), mobile terminals, wireless terminals, remote terminals, mobile phones, terminals, user agents, mobile clients, clients or some other appropriate terms by those skilled in the art. Within this document, a "mobile" device or UE does not necessarily need to have the ability to move, and may be stationary. Some non-limiting examples of mobile devices may include embodiments of one or more of UE 115, including mobile phone cellular (cell) phones, smart phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, laptop computers, personal computers (PCs), notebook computers, netbooks, smart books, tablet computers, and personal digital assistants (PDAs). The mobile device may additionally be an "Internet of Things" (IoT) or "Internet of Everything" (IoE) device, such as a car or other vehicle, a satellite radio unit, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a logistics controller, a drone, a multi-wing aircraft, a quad-wing aircraft, a smart energy or security device, a solar panel or solar array, municipal lighting, water or other infrastructure; industrial automation and enterprise equipment; consumer and wearable devices, such as glasses, wearable cameras, smart watches, health or fitness trackers, mammal implantable devices, gesture tracking devices, medical devices, digital audio players (e.g., MP3 players), cameras, game consoles, etc.; and digital home or smart home devices, such as home audio, video and multimedia devices, appliances, sensors, vending machines, smart lighting, home security systems, smart meters, etc. In one aspect, the UE may be a device that includes a universal integrated circuit card (UICC). In another aspect, the UE 115 may be a device that does not include a UICC. In some aspects, a UE that does not include a UICC may also be referred to as an IoE device. Figure 1The UEs 115a-115d in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 are examples of mobile smart phone type devices accessing the wireless network 100. The UE may also be a machine specifically configured for connected communications (including machine type communications (MTC), enhanced MTC (eMTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), etc.). Figure 1 UEs 115e-115k shown in FIG. 1 are examples of various machines that access wireless network 100 and are configured for communication.

[0036] A mobile device, such as UE 115, may be able to communicate with any type of base station, whether macro, pico, femto, repeater, etc. Figure 1 In the embodiment of the present invention, lightning (e.g., communication link) indicates wireless transmission between a UE and a serving base station (which is a base station designated to serve the UE on a downlink and / or uplink), or an expected transmission between base stations and a backhaul transmission between base stations. Backhaul communication between base stations of the wireless network 100 may occur using wired and / or wireless communication links.

[0037] In operation at the wireless network 100, base stations 105a-105c use 3D beamforming and cooperative spatial techniques (such as coordinated multi-point (CoMP) or multi-connectivity) to serve UEs 115a and 115b. Macro base station 105d performs backhaul communications with base stations 105a-105c and small cells (base station 105f). Macro base station 105d also transmits multicast services that are subscribed to and received by UEs 115c and 115d. Such multicast services may include mobile TV or streaming video, or may include other services for providing community information, such as weather emergencies or alerts (such as Amber Alerts or Gray Alerts).

[0038] The wireless network 100 of various embodiments supports mission-critical communications using ultra-reliable and redundant links for mission-critical devices (such as UE 115e, which is a drone). The redundant communication links with UE 115e include from macro base stations 105d and 105e and from small cell base station 105f. Other machine-type devices (such as UE 115f (thermometer), UE 115g (smart meter), and UE 115h (wearable device)) can communicate directly with base stations (such as small cell base station 105f and macro base station 105e) through the wireless network 100, or by communicating with another user device that relays its information to the network (such as UE 115f transmitting temperature measurement information to the smart meter (UE 115g), which is then reported to the network through the small cell base station 105f) in a multi-hop configuration. The wireless network 100 may also provide additional network efficiencies through dynamic, low-latency TDD / FDD communications, such as in a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) mesh network between UEs 115i-115k communicating with a macro base station 105e.

[0039] Figure 2 Base station 105 and UE 115 (which may be Figure 1 For a restricted association scenario (as mentioned above), base station 105 may be Figure 1 105f, and UE 115 may be UE 115c or 115D operating in the service area of ​​base station 105f. UE 115c or 115D will be included in the list of accessible UEs for small cell base station 105f in order to access small cell base station 105f. Base station 105 may also be some other type of base station. Figure 2 As shown in FIG. 1 , the base station 105 may be equipped with antennas 234a through 234t and the UE 115 may be equipped with antennas 252a through 252r to facilitate wireless communication.

[0040] At the base station 105, the transmit processor 220 may receive data from the data source 212 and control information from the controller / processor 240. The control information may be for a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), a physical hybrid ARQ (automatic repeat request) indicator channel (PHICH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH), an MTC physical downlink control channel (MPDCCH), etc. The data may be for a PDSCH, etc. The transmit processor 220 may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and the control information, respectively, to obtain data symbols and control symbols. The transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols, such as for a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) and a cell-specific reference signal. The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide output symbol streams to modulators (MODs) 232a to 232t. Each modulator 232 may process a corresponding output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 may additionally or alternatively process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signals from modulators 232a through 232t may be transmitted via antennas 234a through 234t, respectively.

[0041] At the UE 115, antennas 252a to 252r can receive downlink signals from the base station 105 and can provide received signals to demodulators (DEMOD) 254a to 254r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 can condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a corresponding received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 254 can further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. The MIMO detector 256 can obtain received symbols from the demodulators 254a to 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols (if applicable), and provide detected symbols. The receive processor 258 can process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE 115 to the data sink 260, and provide decoded control information to the controller / processor 280.

[0042] On the uplink, at the UE 115, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 (e.g., for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) and control information from a controller / processor 280 (e.g., for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)). The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals. The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 (if applicable), further processed by modulators 254a through 254r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the base station 105. At the base station 105, the uplink signal from the UE 115 may be received by the antenna 234, processed by the demodulator 232, detected by the MIMO detector 236 (if applicable), and further processed by the receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by the UE 115. Processor 238 may provide decoded data to a data sink 239 and decoded control information to controller / processor 240 .

[0043] The controllers / processors 240 and 280 may direct the operation at the base station 105 and the UE 115, respectively. The controller / processor 240 and / or other processors and modules at the base station 105, and / or the controller / processor 28 and / or other processors and modules at the UE 115 may perform or direct the execution of various processes for the techniques described herein, such as performing or directing the execution of the various processes described herein. Figure 4 Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for base station 105 and UE 115, respectively. Scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0044] Wireless communication systems operated by different network operating entities (e.g., network operators) may share spectrum. In some instances, a network operating entity may be configured to use the entire designated shared spectrum for at least one time period before another network operating entity uses the entire designated shared spectrum for a different time period. Thus, to allow network operating entities to use the entire designated shared spectrum and to mitigate interfering communications between different network operating entities, certain resources (e.g., time) may be divided and allocated to different network operating entities for certain types of communications.

[0045] For example, a network operation entity may be allocated certain time resources that are reserved for exclusive communication by the network operation entity using the entire shared spectrum. A network operation entity may also be allocated other time resources in which the entity is given priority over other network operation entities for communication using the shared spectrum. These time resources that are prioritized for use by the network operation entity may be utilized on an opportunistic basis by other network operation entities if the prioritized network operation entities do not utilize these resources. Additional time resources may be allocated for use by any network operator on an opportunistic basis.

[0046] Access to the shared spectrum and arbitration of time resources among different network operating entities may be centrally controlled by a separate entity, autonomously determined through a predefined arbitration scheme, or dynamically determined based on interactions between wireless nodes of the network operator.

[0047] In some cases, the UE 115 and the base station 105 may operate in a shared radio frequency spectrum band (which may include licensed or unlicensed (e.g., contention-based) spectrum). In the unlicensed frequency portion of the shared radio frequency spectrum band, the UE 115 or the base station 105 may typically perform a medium sensing process to contend for access to the spectrum. For example, the UE 115 or the base station 105 may perform a listen-before-talk (LBT) process (such as a clear channel assessment (CCA)) before communicating to determine whether the shared channel is available. CCA may include an energy detection process to determine whether there are any other active transmissions. For example, the device may infer that a change in the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of the power meter indicates that the channel is occupied. In particular, a signal power that is concentrated in a certain bandwidth and exceeds a predetermined background noise may indicate another wireless transmitter. CCA may also include detection of a specific sequence that indicates the use of the channel. For example, another device may send a specific preamble before sending a data sequence. In some cases, the LBT process may include the wireless node adjusting its own backoff window based on the amount of energy detected on the channel and / or acknowledgement / negative acknowledgement (ACK / NACK) feedback for packets it itself sent as a proxy for collisions.

[0048] like Figure 1-2 As shown in , base stations and mobile devices can each be equipped with multiple antennas to send and / or receive information. In some aspects of the present disclosure, base stations and mobile devices can use multiple antennas for beamforming. Beamforming can refer to configuring multiple antennas to form beams through which information can be sent and / or received more efficiently and / or more effectively.

[0049] Figure 3is a diagram illustrating an example of wireless communications performed in a wireless communication system according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 3 , base station 302 communicates with first mobile device 304 and second mobile device 306 via different beams in different beamforming directions. As indicated by beam set 308, base station 302 can communicate via any of a plurality of directional beams. As indicated by beam set 310, first mobile device 304 can communicate via any of a plurality of directional beams. As indicated by beam set 312, second mobile device 306 can communicate via any of a plurality of directional beams. Thus, at a given point in time, base station 302 can communicate with first mobile device 304 via a first beam in first beamforming direction 314, and communicate with second mobile device 306 via a second beam in second beamforming direction 316. Figure 3 As shown in FIG. 1 , in some aspects of the disclosure, the beamforming directions from the base station 302 to the first mobile device 304 and the second mobile device 306 can be different.

[0050] In some aspects of the present disclosure, a base station transmit beam and a corresponding mobile device receive beam may be used to establish a communication link, in this case a downlink communication link, between a base station and a mobile device. For example, a BS transmit beam 321 and a UE receive beam 322 associated with a beamforming direction 314 may be used to establish a downlink communication link. Figure 3 A communication link can be established using a BS transmit beam 331 and a UE receive beam 332 associated with a beamforming direction 316. Figure 3 An uplink communication link may be established similarly, for example using a base station receive beam and a mobile device transmit beam.

[0051] The quality and reliability of an established communication link may change over time. For example, as the mobile device moves, the properties of the corresponding channel of the established communication link may change. As a result, the beam initially used to establish the communication link may no longer be the beam that produces the best communication link, e.g., a communication link that meets certain quality and reliability criteria or thresholds.

[0052] The communication link can be monitored and managed during the communication operation. For example, the communication link can be used to identify the initial beam to be used for wireless communication and prevent beam failure and / or final communication link failure. Generally, there can be two common methods of monitoring and / or managing radio communication links: (1) communication link monitoring and / or management based on synchronization signal blocks (SSBs); and (2) communication link monitoring and / or management based on channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs). Generally, a base station (e.g., a gNB) can notify a mobile device (e.g., a UE) of which type of communication link management should be used, assuming that the communication link management scheme is actually supported by the network gNB and / or UE. The above two communication link management techniques can be used by the base station and / or mobile device to identify the initial best beam to be used by the base station and / or mobile device for wireless communication, such as a serving beam. However, ultimately, as described in the previous paragraph, the initially selected serving beam may become a worse beam than other beams available to the mobile device.

[0053] Typical options for switching a mobile device from using an initially established, currently serving beam to another "better" beam typically require assistance from a base station. For example, one option may include the mobile device sending a report to the base station including SSB measurements associated with the beam used for wireless communication. And the base station may instruct the mobile device to switch to a better beam identified by the base station after reading the report. However, when the base station does not support SSB-based or CSI-RS-based communication link monitoring / management, the mobile device may not switch to a better beam and may continue to use a beam with low quality and / or reliability. As a result, a communication link failure (radio link failure) may eventually occur.

[0054] Aspects of the present disclosure provide autonomous device beam management and / or beam switching. Beam adjustment or change from one beam to another beam may occur during communication operations (e.g., due to dynamic channel conditions). Control of beam adjustment may occur at a UE or mobile device without intervention of a control or scheduling entity (e.g., a base station). According to some deployments, a communication device may autonomously include a mobile device. That is, for example, a mobile device or UE may actively and under its own control change the beam used for communication. Enabling a UE or mobile device to change beams without assistance or instructions from a network base station enables the UE to switch beams efficiently and in a timely manner.

[0055] The UE may deploy or utilize various features for beam changes. Beam changes may occur during communication operations, in preparation for communication operations, or in other situations. In some deployments, beam switching may generally involve monitoring SSBs associated with available beams to be used for wireless communication. Such monitoring can help determine whether there is an SSB and associated beam with better quality than the beam that was initially established and currently served that can be used for wireless communication. In some aspects of the present disclosure, the mobile device may perform monitoring even when the network base station and / or mobile device do not support SSB-based communication link management. In addition or alternatively, when the network base station instructs the mobile device to use CSI-RS-based communication link management, the mobile device may adopt beam monitoring or switching. According to some aspects of the present disclosure, when the mobile device determines that a better quality SSB and associated beam are available, the mobile device may perform contention-based RACH for the identified better SSB. In such an arrangement, a mobile device using contention-based RACH may notify the base station (e.g., gNB) of the SSB that the UE is now using for wireless communication. This enables the base station to consider beam updates in subsequent communications with the UE.

[0056] Figure 4 4 is a block diagram illustrating a method for performing autonomous beam selection in a wireless communication system according to some aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 1-3 5 and various aspects of the present disclosure described herein can be implemented, such as in a mobile device. For example, referring to Figure 2 , the controller / processor 280 of the UE 115 may control the UE 115 to perform the method 400. Figure 5 An example block of method 400 is depicted with reference to UE 115 shown in FIG.

[0057] Figure 5 1 is a block diagram illustrating a UE 115 configured according to one aspect of the present disclosure. The UE 115 may include various structures, hardware, and components, such as for Figure 2 115. For example, the UE 115 includes a controller / processor 280 that operates to execute logic or computer instructions stored in a memory 282. The controller / processor 280 may also control components of the UE 115 that provide features and functions of the UE 115. The UE 115 transmits and receives signals via wireless radios 501a-r and antennas 252a-r under the control of the controller / processor 280. For the purpose of controlling communication operations, digital signals obtained from sampling received analog wireless signals may be provided to the controller / processor 280. The wireless radios 501a-r include a plurality of antennas 252a-r and a plurality of antennas 252a-r. Figure 21. Various components and hardware are shown for UE 115 in FIG. 1, including modulators / demodulators 254a-r, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, and TX MIMO processor 266.

[0058] At block 402, method 400 includes receiving, by the UE or a processor of the UE, a first SSB on a first beam. As shown at block 402, the first beam may be a current serving receive beam used by the UE for communication operations. In some scenarios, the first beam may be a new beam. In some example deployments, the UE 115 may receive the first SSB on the current serving receive beam under the control of the controller / processor 280. The UE may also receive additional SSBs because SSBs may be received from various transmit beams on various receive beams. Specific reference Figure 2 In some aspects of the present disclosure, a unit for receiving a first SSB on a current serving receive beam may include UE 115, and more specifically, include components of UE 115, such as, for example, controller / processor 280 and components of UE 115 that are controlled / directed by controller / processor 280 so that UE 115 receives the first SSB on the current serving receive beam.

[0059] According to some aspects of the present disclosure, the SSB may include various control or data information. In some cases, the mobile device may receive and use the information to establish a communication link (e.g., with a base station or another communication device). For example, the SSB may include a base station identifier that identifies the base station that sends the SSB. The SSB may also include a beam identifier that identifies the beam used by the base station to send the SSB. According to some aspects of the present disclosure, each received SSB may be associated with a single base station transmit beam. In other scenarios, the received SSB may be associated with other communication devices, such as various base stations. A communication device (such as a UE) may also use one or more SSBs to take into account possible beam adjustments or switching.

[0060] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the current service receiving beam may refer to one or more beams used for communication at different times. For example, the current service beam may refer to the beam currently in use. As shown at block 402, the current service receiving beam may refer to a previously identified mobile device receiving beam. In some scenarios, in addition or alternatively, the current service receiving beam may be a beam used by a mobile device during an initial access process (e.g., to establish a current communication link between a mobile device and a base station for wireless communication). For example, a previously identified mobile device receiving beam may be used to establish a current communication link. In such an arrangement, the mobile device may continue to use the same mobile device receiving beam used to establish the current communication link for continued wireless communication between the mobile device and the base station. In some cases, this may be done as long as the communication link is still in operation (e.g., before a potential or experienced communication link failure). Therefore, in some aspects of the present disclosure, the current service receiving beam may be, for example, a mobile device receiving beam used to establish a current communication link between a mobile device and a base station during an initial access process and continued to be used for current wireless communication between the mobile device and the base station.

[0061] According to some aspects of the present disclosure, the current serving receive beam may have been previously identified. The identification may be based on a variety of factors or criteria. For example, the identification may be based on processing of an SSB received by a mobile device from a base station (e.g., an SSB received during an initial access procedure). In another aspect of the present disclosure, the current serving receive beam may have been previously identified based on processing of a CSI-RS received by a mobile device from a base station (e.g., a CSI-RS received during an initial access procedure).

[0062] In some aspects of the present disclosure, receiving a first SSB on a current serving receive beam (e.g., at block 402) may refer to subsequent reception of the SSB on the current serving receive beam. For example, receiving a first SSB on a current serving receive beam (e.g., at block 402) may include subsequent reception of the SSB on the current serving receive beam after the mobile device has performed an initial access procedure to establish a communication link and identified a current serving receive beam to be used by the mobile device for wireless communication with a base station.

[0063] At box 404, method 400 includes: receiving, by the UE or a processor of the UE, one or more SSBs on one or more receive beams. In some aspects of the present disclosure, each of the one or more SSBs may be received on a different beam in the one or more receive beams. In addition, during communication operations or in preparation for communication operations, the use of one or more beams may be dynamic. During communication operations, the number of beams and beams may change over time (e.g., caused by autonomous beam adjustment and / or switching). As an example of actions performed at box 404, the UE 115 may receive one or more SSBs on one or more receive beams under the control of the controller / processor 280. Specific reference Figure 2 In some aspects of the present disclosure, a unit for receiving one or more SSBs on one or more receive beams may include UE 115, and more specifically, components of UE 115, such as, for example, controller / processor 280 and components of UE 115 that are controlled / directed by controller / processor 280 so that UE 115 receives one or more SSBs on one or more receive beams.

[0064] For communication purposes, SSBs may be received in various ways. For example, in some aspects of the present disclosure, each received SSB (e.g., each SSB of one or more received SSBs) may be received on a single mobile device receive beam, e.g., a single receive beam of the one or more receive beams. In other words, each received SSB may be associated with a single mobile device receive beam. For example, a first SSB of the one or more received SSBs may be received on a first mobile device receive beam of the one or more receive beams, and a second SSB of the one or more received SSBs may be received on a second mobile device receive beam of the one or more receive beams.

[0065] SSB reception may occur in multiple time and / or state arrangements. For example, according to some aspects of the present disclosure, receiving one or more SSBs on one or more receive beams may be performed at various time instances, such as at box 404. According to some examples, reception may occur before and / or after a communication link is established. In some arrangements, a communication link may have been established between a mobile device and a base station, and the mobile device has identified a current serving receive beam for performing wireless communications with the base station. In other words, receiving one or more SSBs on one or more receive beams may refer to subsequent reception performed after an initial access process for establishing wireless communications has been performed. Therefore, in some aspects of the present disclosure, at the time when a mobile device receives one or more SSBs on one or more receive beams (such as at box 404), the mobile device may already have a current serving receive beam that is being used for wireless communications.

[0066] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, receiving one or more SSBs on one or more receive beams (such as at box 404) may include receiving various reception methods. In fact, in some arrangements, receiving may also include subsequent reception of SSBs on a current serving receive beam. For example, receiving one or more SSBs on one or more receive beams (such as at box 404) may include: subsequent reception of SSBs on a current serving receive beam after the mobile device has performed an initial access process to establish a communication link and identified the current serving receive beam to be used by the mobile device for wireless communication with a base station. Therefore, in one aspect of the present disclosure, the current serving receive beam may be a portion of the one or more receive beams mentioned at box 404, and the SSBs received on the current serving receive beam may be a portion of the one or more SSBs mentioned at box 404.

[0067] SSB selection may be based on multiple parameters. In some cases, the selection may be related to a parameter threshold. For example, the threshold may be set at a desired level or state to produce an acceptable and / or unacceptable communication quality state or level. As shown at box 406, method 400 includes: determining, by a UE or a processor of the UE, that the quality of wireless communication performed using a second receive beam on which a second SSB is received is higher than the quality of wireless communication performed using a current serving receive beam on which a first SSB is received. In some aspects of the present disclosure, the second SSB may be one of the one or more SSBs mentioned at box 404, and the second receive beam may be one of the one or more receive beams mentioned at box 404. As an example of an action performed at box 406, the UE 115 may determine, under the control of the controller / processor 280, that the quality of wireless communication performed using a second receive beam on which a second SSB is received is better than the quality of wireless communication performed using a current serving receive beam on which a first SSB is received. Specific reference Figure 2 In some aspects of the present disclosure, a unit for determining that the quality of wireless communication performed using a second receive beam on which a second SSB is received is better than the quality of wireless communication performed using a current serving receive beam on which a first SSB is received may include UE 115, and more specifically, includes components of UE 115, for example, a controller / processor 280 and components of UE 115 that are controlled / directed by the controller / processor 280 so that UE 115 determines that the quality of wireless communication performed using a second receive beam on which a second SSB is received is better than the quality of wireless communication performed using a current serving receive beam on which a first SSB is received.

[0068] The candidate beams for selection may involve multiple beams. The beam selection for communication may be a new beam, a previously established beam, or both. In some aspects of the present disclosure, such as at block 406, the second receive beam on which the second SSB is received may be a different receive beam than the currently serving receive beam on which the first SSB is received. Similarly, the second SSB may be different from the first SSB.

[0069] According to some aspects of the present disclosure, a mobile device may determine the quality of wireless communication performed using a particular receive beam by measuring the power of an SSB received on the particular receive beam. In some aspects of the present disclosure, the power measurement of an SSB received on a particular receive beam measured by a mobile device may be referred to as a reference signal reference power (RSRP) measurement of the particular receive beam. For example, a mobile device may determine the quality of wireless communication performed using a current serving receive beam by measuring the power of an SSB received on the current serving receive beam. The power measurement may be referred to as the RSRP of the SSB received on the current serving receive beam. Similarly, a mobile device may determine the quality of wireless communication performed using a second receive beam by measuring the power of an SSB received on a second receive beam. The power measurement may be referred to as the RSRP of the SSB received on the second receive beam. Therefore, in some aspects of the present disclosure, the quality of wireless communication performed using the current serving receive beam (e.g., as mentioned at block 406) may be indicated by a first RSRP measurement (e.g., power measurement) of a first SSB performed by a mobile device. Similarly, in some aspects of the present disclosure, the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam (e.g., as mentioned at block 406) can be indicated by a second RSRP measurement (e.g., a power measurement) of the second SSB performed by the mobile device. Thus, according to some aspects of the present disclosure, determining that the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is higher than the quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam (e.g., at block 406) can include determining that the second RSRP is higher than the first RSRP by a threshold.

[0070] The determination of box 406 can be based on various metrics measured from the SSB. For example, although the mobile device receives instructions for monitoring at least one CSI-RS, according to some aspects of the present disclosure, the determination that the quality of wireless communication performed using the second receive beam is higher than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current serving receive beam (such as at box 406) can still be based on the first metric and the second metric measured from the first SSB and the second SSB, respectively. In particular, the mobile device may have previously received instructions for monitoring at least one CSI-RS. For example, the mobile device may have received instructions for monitoring at least one CSI-RS as part of instructions from a base station to the mobile device for performing CSI-RS-based communication link monitoring and / or management. Therefore, in some aspects of the present disclosure, the mobile device may receive and process at least one CSI-RS to perform communication link monitoring and / or management. In one aspect of the present disclosure, the current serving receive beam may have been previously identified based on processing of the CSI-RS received by the mobile device from the base station.

[0071] In some aspects of the present disclosure, despite receiving instructions to monitor at least one CSI-RS, the UE may still determine a better beam based on metrics measured from the SSB. For example, in one aspect of the present disclosure, despite the received instructions to monitor at least one CSI-RS, the mobile device may still determine that the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is better than the quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam based on first metrics and second metrics measured from the first SSB and the second SSB, respectively (such as at box 406). For example, the first metric may be an RSRP measurement measured from an SSB received on the current serving receive beam, and the second metric may be an RSRP measurement measured from an SSB received on the second receive beam. As described at box 406, these SSB-based metrics may be used by the mobile device to determine that the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is better than the quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam.

[0072] In some aspects of the present disclosure, despite the lack of support for SSB-based communication link management by the base station, the UE may still determine a better beam based on a metric measured from the SSB. For example, in one aspect of the present disclosure, despite the lack of support for performing communication link management based on processing of the SSB or based on processing of information obtained from processing of the SSB, the determination performed at box 406 may still be based on the first metric and the second metric measured from the first SSB and the second SSB, respectively. For example, in one aspect of the present disclosure, a base station (e.g., a base station that sends a first SSB received by a mobile device on a currently serving receive beam (such as at box 402)) may not support performing communication link monitoring and / or management based on processing of the SSB or based on processing of information obtained from processing of the SSB, because the base station is only configured to perform CSI-RS-based communication link monitoring and / or management. Therefore, in some aspects of the present disclosure, even if the base station may be configured to send an SSB, the base station may not be configured or may not be able to perform SSB-based communication link monitoring and / or management.

[0073] The SSBs may be processed in various scenarios to determine a better beam. For example, as previously mentioned, despite the base station's lack of support for performing communication link management based on processing of the SSBs or based on processing of information obtained from processing of the SSBs, the mobile device may still perform the determination action of box 406 based on first and second metrics measured from the first SSB and the second SSB, respectively. As described above, the first metric may be an RSRP measurement measured from an SSB received on a currently serving receive beam, and the second metric may be an RSRP measurement measured from an SSB received on a second receive beam. As described at box 406, these SSB-based metrics may be used by the mobile device to determine that the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is better than the quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam.

[0074] In some aspects of the present disclosure, a mobile device may be configured to perform beam failure detection (BFD) and beam failure recovery (BFR) procedures. For example, a mobile device may perform a BFD procedure to detect a failure of wireless communications performed using a current serving receive beam, and may initiate or perform a BFR procedure to identify another beam through which the mobile device can continue wireless communications, thereby recovering from the detected failure of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam. Similarly, a base station may be configured to assist a mobile device in recovering from a failure of wireless communications performed using a current serving receive beam, for example, by notifying the mobile device of one or more other beams that the mobile device can use for reliable communication when the mobile device has detected a failure of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam.

[0075] Beam quality determination can occur in a variety of ways. According to some aspects of the present disclosure, a determination that the quality of wireless communications performed using a second receive beam is higher than the quality of wireless communications performed using a current serving receive beam (such as at box 406) can be made before a beam failure recovery process is initiated for the current serving receive beam. For example, in one aspect of the present disclosure, the determination (such as at box 406) can be made before the mobile device detects a failure of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam using a BFD process. Therefore, the determination (such as at box 406) can also be made before a BFR process is initiated for the current serving receive beam. In some aspects of the present disclosure, the determination (such as at box 406) can be made while the communication link is still in operation (e.g., before indicating a communication link failure).

[0076] Beam adjustment or switching can be deployed in a variety of ways. Typically, the adjustment or switching can be determined partially and / or entirely based on beam quality. As an example, at box 408, method 400 includes: switching, by the UE or a processor of the UE, from performing wireless communications using a current serving receive beam to performing wireless communications using a second receive beam. Such switching can be based on or after determining that the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is higher than the quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam. As an example, the UE 115 can, under the control of the controller / processor 280, switch from performing wireless communications using the current serving receive beam to performing wireless communications using the second receive beam after determining that the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is better than the quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam.

[0077] Specific reference Figure 2 In some aspects of the present disclosure, a unit for switching from performing wireless communication using a current serving receive beam to performing wireless communication using a second receive beam after determining that the quality of the wireless communication performed using the second receive beam is better than the quality of the wireless communication performed using the current serving receive beam may include UE 115, and more specifically, includes components of UE 115, such as, for example, controller / processor 280 and components of UE 115 that are controlled / directed by controller / processor 280 so that UE 115 switches from performing wireless communication using a current serving receive beam to performing wireless communication using the second receive beam after determining that the quality of the wireless communication performed using the second receive beam is better than the quality of the wireless communication performed using the current serving receive beam.

[0078] The UE may determine which beam is better based on the RSRP metric associated with the second receive beam or the current service receive beam. For example, in some aspects of the present disclosure, the mobile device may determine that the quality of wireless communication performed using the second receive beam is better than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current service receive beam (such as at box 406) by determining that the second RSRP is higher than the first RSRP by a threshold. Based on such a determination, the mobile device may switch from performing wireless communication using the current service receive beam to performing wireless communication using the second receive beam. In particular, as previously described, the current service receive beam may refer to, for example, a mobile device receive beam used to establish a current communication link between a mobile device and a base station during an initial access process and continue to be used for current wireless communication between the mobile device and the base station. However, after determining that the quality of wireless communication performed using the second receive beam is better than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current service receive beam, the mobile device may start or initiate the process to start wireless communication using the second receive beam. Therefore, the second receive beam may become the current service receive beam of the mobile device for subsequent wireless communication performed by the mobile device and the base station. The beam that was initially used as the currently serving receive beam may no longer be used for wireless communications, or at least not until another handover is performed by the mobile device.

[0079] Beam switching may be based on metrics measured from the SSB. For example, in some aspects of the present disclosure, despite the mobile device receiving instructions to monitor at least one CSI-RS, beam switching (such as the beam switching described at box 408) may still be based on first metrics and second metrics measured from the first SSB and the second SSB, respectively. In particular, in some aspects of the present disclosure, despite the mobile device receiving instructions to monitor at least one CSI-RS, the mobile device may still switch from performing wireless communications using the current serving receive beam to performing wireless communications using the second receive beam (such as at box 408) based on the first metrics and second metrics measured from the first SSB and the second SSB, respectively. As previously described with respect to the determination action of box 406, the first metric may be an RSRP measurement measured from the SSB received on the current serving receive beam, and the second metric may be an RSRP measurement measured from the SSB received on the second receive beam.

[0080] The SSB may be processed in various scenarios to determine whether to perform beam switching. For example, in other aspects of the present disclosure, beam switching (such as the beam switching described in box 408) may still be based on first metrics and second metrics measured from the first SSB and the second SSB, respectively, despite the base station's lack of support for performing communication link management based on processing of the SSB or based on processing of information obtained from processing of the SSB. In particular, in some aspects of the present disclosure, despite the base station's lack of support for performing communication link management based on processing of the SSB or based on processing of information obtained from processing of the SSB, the mobile device may still switch from performing wireless communication using the current serving receive beam to performing wireless communication using the second receive beam (such as at box 408) based on first metrics and second metrics measured from the first SSB and the second SSB, respectively. For example, as described above, the first metric may be an RSRP measurement measured from an SSB received on the current serving receive beam, and the second metric may be an RSRP measurement measured from an SSB received on the second receive beam.

[0081] In some aspects of the present disclosure, switching from performing wireless communications using a current serving receive beam to performing wireless communications using a second receive beam (e.g., at box 408) may occur before a beam failure recovery process is initiated for the current serving receive beam. For example, in one aspect of the present disclosure, the switch (e.g., at box 408) may occur before the mobile device detects a failure of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam using a BFD process. Thus, the switch (e.g., at box 408) may also occur before a BFR process is initiated for the current serving receive beam. In some aspects of the present disclosure, the switch (e.g., at box 408) may occur while the communication link is still in operation, e.g., before a communication link failure is indicated.

[0082] After switching to the second receive beam, the UE may send information using a transmit beam having the same directional pattern as the second receive beam. For example, according to some aspects of the present disclosure, after switching from performing wireless communications using the current serving receive beam to performing wireless communications using the second receive beam, the mobile device may send information using a contention-based random access channel (RACH) process and a transmit beam having the same directional pattern as the second receive beam. In particular, after switching from performing wireless communications using the current serving receive beam to performing wireless communications using the second receive beam, the mobile device may perform contention-based RACH communications with the base station using a transmit beam having the same directional pattern as the second receive beam. In some aspects of the present disclosure, the mobile device may send information to the base station using a contention-based RACH process and a transmit beam having the same directional pattern as the second receive beam or a transmit beam having a directional pattern determined or selected based on the directional pattern of the second receive beam to notify the base station of the SSB and the associated second receive beam that the mobile device is now using for wireless communications. According to some aspects of the present disclosure, the base station may take into account the fact that the mobile device is now using the designated SSB and the associated second receive beam in subsequent wireless communications performed by the base station with the mobile device.

[0083] In some aspects of the present disclosure, a transmit beam having the same directivity pattern as a second receive beam may be referred to as a transmit beam that is reciprocal with the second receive beam. Thus, a transmit beam used by a mobile device to transmit information to a base station using a contention-based RACH procedure after the mobile device has switched from performing wireless communications using a current serving receive beam to performing wireless communications using a second receive beam may be referred to as a reciprocal transmit beam of the second receive beam.

[0084] In other aspects of the present disclosure, a transmit beam used by a mobile device to transmit information to a base station using a contention-based RACH process may not have the same directivity pattern as a second receive beam. Instead, the directivity pattern of the transmit beam used to transmit information using a contention-based RACH process may be determined based on the directivity pattern of the second receive beam. For example, in one aspect of the present disclosure, the directivity pattern of the transmit beam used to transmit information using a contention-based RACH process may be determined to be within a certain degree of the directivity pattern of the second receive beam, or may be selected because it is within a certain degree of the directivity pattern of the second receive beam.

[0085] In some aspects, UE autonomous beam selection may include: the UE receives a first SSB on a current serving receive beam, and receives one or more SSBs on one or more receive beams. The one or more SSBs may be received on different beams among the one or more receive beams. UE autonomous beam selection may also include: the UE determines that the quality of wireless communication performed using a second receive beam on which a second SSB is received is higher than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current serving receive beam on which the first SSB is received. The second SSB may be one of the one or more SSBs. UE autonomous beam selection may also include: the UE switches from performing wireless communication using the current serving receive beam to performing wireless communication using the second receive beam. Such switching may be based on or after determining that the quality of wireless communication performed using the second receive beam is higher than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current serving receive beam.

[0086] UE autonomous beam selection may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of the aspects described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other procedures described elsewhere herein.

[0087] In a first aspect, the quality of wireless communication performed using a current serving receive beam may be indicated by a first RSRP measurement of a first SSB.

[0088] In a second aspect, either alone or in combination with the first aspect, the quality of wireless communication performed using the second receive beam may be indicated by a second RSRP measurement of the second SSB.

[0089] In the third aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first and second aspects, the UE determines that the quality of wireless communication performed using the second receiving beam is higher than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current serving receiving beam, which may include: the UE determines that the second RSRP is higher than the first RSRP by a threshold.

[0090] In a fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to third aspects, a UE may receive an instruction for monitoring at least one CSI-RS.

[0091] In the fifth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fourth aspects, despite instructions for monitoring at least one CSI-RS, determination that the quality of wireless communication performed using the second receiving beam is higher than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current serving receiving beam can still be based on the first metric and the second metric measured from the first SSB and the second SSB, respectively.

[0092] In the sixth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fifth aspects, the UE may send information using a contention-based random access channel (RACH) process after switching from performing wireless communication using a current serving receiving beam to performing wireless communication using a second receiving beam.

[0093] In the seventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to sixth aspects, the UE may send information using a transmit beam having the same directional pattern as the second receive beam after switching from performing wireless communication using a current serving receive beam to performing wireless communication using a second receive beam.

[0094] In the eighth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to seventh aspects, the determination that the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receiving beam is higher than the quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receiving beam may be performed before initiating a beam failure recovery procedure for the current serving receiving beam.

[0095] In a ninth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to eighth aspects, the UE may receive a first SSB on a first receive beam and a second SSB on a second receive beam.

[0096] In a tenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to ninth aspects, the first receive beam or the second receive beam may be configured as a current serving receive beam for wireless communication.

[0097] In the eleventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to tenth aspects, the UE may switch the current serving receiving beam to the other of the first receiving beam or the second receiving beam based on one or more threshold parameters associated with the first receiving beam and the second receiving beam.

[0098] In the twelfth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to eleventh aspects, the UE may define one or more threshold parameters based on reference signal power measurements or channel state information associated with the first receive beam and the second receive beam.

[0099] In the thirteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to twelfth aspects, the UE may determine, based on parameters associated with the first SSB and the second SSB, that the first receive beam or the second receive beam should be the current serving receive beam.

[0100] In a fourteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to thirteenth aspects, the wireless communication device may include a communication interface configured to receive a first SSB on a first receive beam and a second SSB on a second receive beam.

[0101] In a fifteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fourteenth aspects, the first receive beam or the second receive beam is configured as a current serving receive beam for wireless communication.

[0102] In the sixteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fifteenth aspects, the wireless communication device may include a processor configured to: switch a current service receiving beam to the other of the first receiving beam or the second receiving beam based on one or more threshold parameters associated with the first receiving beam and the second receiving beam.

[0103] In the seventeenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to sixteenth aspects, the processor of the wireless communication device can also be configured to: define one or more threshold parameters based on reference signal power measurements or channel state information associated with the first receive beam and the second receive beam.

[0104] In the eighteenth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to seventeen aspects, the communication interface of the wireless communication device may also be configured to: receive a switching instruction from a processor, and in response, switch a current receive beam to the other of the first receive beam or the second receive beam.

[0105] In the nineteenth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to eighteenth aspects, the processor of the wireless communication device can also be configured to: determine whether the first receiving beam or the second receiving beam should be the current serving receiving beam based on parameters associated with the first SSB and the second SSB.

[0106] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0107] The functional blocks and modules described herein (eg, Figure 2 The functional blocks and modules in the present invention may include processors, electronic devices, hardware devices, electronic components, logical circuits, memories, software codes, firmware codes, etc., or any combination thereof. In addition, the features discussed herein may be implemented via dedicated processor circuits, via executable instructions, and / or a combination thereof.

[0108] Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm processes (e.g., Figure 4The logic box in ( ) can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, boxes, modules, circuits and actions have been generally described above around their functions. As for whether such functions are implemented as hardware or software, it depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the entire system. Those skilled in the art can implement the described functions in a flexible manner for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing deviations from the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will also easily recognize that the order or combination of components, methods or interactions described herein are only examples, and the components, methods or interactions of various aspects of the present disclosure can be combined or performed in a manner different from those shown and described herein.

[0109] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure herein may be implemented or executed using a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative manner, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0110] The features of the method or algorithm described in conjunction with the disclosure herein can be directly embodied in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module can be present in a RAM memory, a flash memory, a ROM memory, an EPROM memory, an EEPROM memory, a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. In an alternative manner, the storage medium can be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be present in an ASIC. The ASIC can be present in a user terminal. In an alternative manner, the processor and the storage medium can be present in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0111] In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on a computer-readable medium or transmitted by a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, and communication media include any media that facilitates the transfer of computer programs from one place to another. Computer-readable storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a general or special-purpose computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other media that can be used to carry or store a desired program code unit in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a general or special-purpose computer or a general or special-purpose processor. In addition, connection may be appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is sent from a website, a server or other remote source using a coaxial cable, an optical fiber cable, a twisted pair or a digital subscriber line (DSL), coaxial cable, optical fiber cable, twisted pair or DSL are included in the definition of the medium. As used herein, disks and optical disks include compact disks (CDs), laser disks, optical disks, digital versatile disks (DVDs), hard disks, solid-state disks, and Blu-ray disks, wherein disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while optical disks typically reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0112] As used herein, including in the claims, the term "and / or," when used with a list of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items may be taken individually, or any combination of two or more of the listed items may be taken. For example, if a composition is described as comprising components A, B, and / or C, the composition may comprise: A alone; B alone; C alone; A and B combined; A and C combined; B and C combined; or A, B, and C combined. Furthermore, as used herein, including in the claims, "or," as used in a list of items ending with "at least one of..." indicates a disjunctive list, such that, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B, or C" means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C) or any combination of these items.

[0113] The foregoing description of the present disclosure is provided to enable those skilled in the art to implement or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the overall principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but to be given the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising: Receiving, by a user equipment (UE), an instruction to monitor at least one channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS); identifying, by the UE, a current serving receive beam based at least in part on the at least one CSI-RS; Receiving, by the UE, a first synchronization signal block (SSB) on the current serving receive beam; receiving, by the UE, one or more SSBs on one or more receive beams, wherein the one or more SSBs are received on different beams among the one or more receive beams; regardless of the instruction for monitoring the at least one CSI-RS, determining, by the UE based on first and second metrics measured from first and second SSBs, respectively, that quality of wireless communications performed using a second receive beam on which the second SSB is received is higher than quality of wireless communications performed using the currently serving receive beam identified based on the CSI-RS on which the first SSB is received; and The UE switches from performing wireless communication using the current serving receive beam to performing wireless communication using the second receive beam based on the SSB-based determination that the quality of wireless communication performed using the second receive beam is higher than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current serving receive beam identified based on the CSI-RS.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam is indicated by a first reference signal reference power (RSRP) measurement of the first SSB, and the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is indicated by a second RSRP measurement of the second SSB, and wherein determining that the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is higher than the quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam includes determining that the second RSRP is higher than the first RSRP by a threshold.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: After switching from performing wireless communication using the current serving receive beam to performing wireless communication using the second receive beam, information is transmitted using a contention-based random access channel (RACH) procedure and a transmit beam having the same directivity pattern as the second receive beam.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The determination that the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is higher than the quality of wireless communications performed using the currently serving receive beam is made prior to initiating a beam failure recovery procedure for the currently serving receive beam.

5. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, comprising: means for receiving an instruction for monitoring at least one channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS); means for identifying a current serving receive beam based at least in part on the at least one CSI-RS; means for receiving a first synchronization signal block (SSB) on the current serving receive beam; means for receiving one or more SSBs on one or more receive beams, wherein the one or more SSBs are received on different ones of the one or more receive beams; means for determining, regardless of the instruction for monitoring the at least one CSI-RS, based on first and second metrics measured from first and second SSBs, respectively, that quality of wireless communications performed using a second receive beam on which the second SSB is received is higher than quality of wireless communications performed using the currently serving receive beam identified based on the CSI-RS on which the first SSB is received; wherein the second SSB is one of the one or more SSBs; and A unit for switching from performing wireless communications using the current serving receive beam to performing wireless communications using the second receive beam based on the SSB-based determination that the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is higher than the quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam identified based on the CSI-RS.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein: The quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam is indicated by a first reference signal reference power (RSRP) measurement of the first SSB, and the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is indicated by a second RSRP measurement of the second SSB, and wherein the unit for determining that the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is higher than the quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam includes a unit for determining that the second RSRP is higher than the first RSRP by a threshold.

7. The apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: A unit for transmitting information using a contention-based random access channel (RACH) procedure and a transmit beam having the same directivity pattern as the second receive beam after switching from performing wireless communication using the current serving receive beam to performing wireless communication using the second receive beam.

8. The apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: Means for determining, before initiating a beam failure recovery procedure for the current serving receive beam, that a quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is higher than a quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having program code recorded thereon, the program code comprising: Program code executable by a computer to cause the computer to: receive instructions for monitoring at least one channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS); Program code executable by the computer to cause the computer to: identify a current serving receive beam based at least in part on the at least one CSI-RS; Program code executable by the computer to cause the computer to: receive a first synchronization signal block (SSB) on the current serving receive beam; Program code executable by the computer to cause the computer to: receive one or more SSBs on one or more receive beams, wherein the one or more SSBs are received on different ones of the one or more receive beams; program code executable by the computer to cause the computer to: determine, regardless of the instructions for monitoring the at least one CSI-RS, based on first and second metrics measured from first and second SSBs, respectively, that quality of wireless communications performed using a second receive beam on which the second SSB is received is higher than quality of wireless communications performed using the currently serving receive beam identified based on the CSI-RS on which the first SSB is received, wherein the second SSB is one of the one or more SSBs; and Program code executable by the computer to cause the computer to perform the following operations: based on the SSB-based determination that the quality of wireless communication performed using the second receiving beam is higher than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current serving receiving beam identified based on the CSI-RS, switching from performing wireless communication using the current serving receiving beam to performing wireless communication using the second receiving beam.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein: The quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam is indicated by a first reference signal reference power (RSRP) measurement of the first SSB, and the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is indicated by a second RSRP measurement of the second SSB, and wherein the program code executable by the computer to cause the computer to determine that the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is higher than the quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam includes program code executable by the computer to cause the computer to perform the following operations: determine that the second RSRP is higher than the first RSRP by a threshold.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9, further comprising: Program code executable by the computer to cause the computer to perform the following operations: after switching from performing wireless communication using the current serving receive beam to performing wireless communication using the second receive beam, sending information using a contention-based random access channel (RACH) process and a transmit beam having the same directional pattern as the second receive beam.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, further comprising: Program code executable by the computer to cause the computer to perform the following operations: before initiating a beam failure recovery process for the current serving receive beam, determine that the quality of wireless communication performed using the second receive beam is higher than the quality of wireless communication performed using the current serving receive beam.

13. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: at least one processor; as well as a memory coupled to the at least one processor, Wherein, the at least one processor is configured to: receiving an instruction to monitor at least one channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS); identifying a current serving receive beam based at least in part on the at least one CSI-RS; receiving a first synchronization signal block (SSB) on the current serving receive beam; receiving one or more SSBs on one or more receive beams, wherein the one or more SSBs are received on different ones of the one or more receive beams; regardless of the instructions for monitoring the at least one CSI-RS, determining based on first and second metrics measured from first and second SSBs, respectively, that quality of wireless communications performed using a second receive beam on which the second SSB is received is higher than quality of wireless communications performed using the currently serving receive beam identified based on the CSI-RS on which the first SSB is received; and Based on the SSB-based determination that the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is higher than the quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam identified based on the CSI-RS, switching from performing wireless communications using the current serving receive beam to performing wireless communications using the second receive beam.

14. The device according to claim 13, wherein: The quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam is indicated by a first reference signal reference power (RSRP) measurement of the first SSB, and the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is indicated by a second RSRP measurement of the second SSB, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine that the quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is higher than the quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam, including determining that the second RSRP is higher than the first RSRP by a threshold.

15. The device according to claim 13, wherein: The at least one processor is further configured to, after switching from performing wireless communications using the current serving receive beam to performing wireless communications using the second receive beam, transmit information using a contention-based random access channel (RACH) procedure and a transmit beam having the same directional pattern as the second receive beam.

16. The device according to claim 13, wherein: The at least one processor is further configured to, before initiating a beam failure recovery procedure for the current serving receive beam, determine that quality of wireless communications performed using the second receive beam is higher than quality of wireless communications performed using the current serving receive beam.

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