User equipment-assisted beam stretching

Abstract

Various aspects of this disclosure relate to assisted beam widening in a user equipment (UE) wireless communication system configured to employ beamforming. The UE can determine downlink channel characteristics by monitoring, receiving, and measuring appropriate downlink reference signals. Based on the channel characteristics, the UE can select a wide beam corresponding to a set of narrow beams. The UE can then transmit a report identifying the selected wide beam by indicating the direction and angular width of the selected wide beam. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also claimed and described.

Description

[0001] Priority requirements

[0002] This application claims priority and benefit from PCT application PCT / CN2020 / 102283 filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration on July 16, 2020, the entire contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference as if fully recorded below and for all applicable purposes. Technical Field

[0003] In summary, the techniques discussed below relate to wireless communication systems, and more specifically, to control signaling for employing beamwidth in networks configured for beamforming. Embodiments may provide and implement techniques for reducing control signaling overhead when employing beamwidth. Background Technology

[0004] Modern wireless communication systems typically employ beamforming or directional signal transmission or reception. For beamforming transmission, the amplitude and phase of each antenna element in the antenna array can be pre-coded or controlled to create the desired (e.g., directional) constructive and destructive interference in the wavefront. Generally, the more antenna elements used for beamforming, the narrower the resulting beam.

[0005] Beamforming has proven particularly useful in the millimeter-wave (mmW or mmWave) band, where signals may not penetrate well and can attenuate rapidly over distance. Here, mmWave typically refers to a high-frequency band above 24 GHz, which offers very large bandwidth.

[0006] In some cellular networks, beam management for beamforming can be implemented through beam scanning, beam detection and measurement, beam-level mobility, beam fault and recovery, and other beam management processes and procedures. In some examples, a cell can support beamforming by enabling mobile devices to distinguish different directional beams based on the characteristics of transmitted reference signals. For example, each beam may include a separate reference signal indicating a beam index. Here, the mobile device can measure such a reference signal and select an appropriate beam and / or perform its own beam scan. For downlink communication, after acquisition, the mobile device can measure the beam-specific reference signal and report channel information (e.g., report the best / preferred beam) to the base station. For uplink communication, the base station can measure the uplink reference signal transmission of the mobile device and select the best uplink beam for the mobile device accordingly.

[0007] With the increasing demand for mobile broadband access, research and development are constantly advancing wireless communication technologies, not only to meet the growing demand for mobile broadband access, but also to promote and improve the user experience of mobile communications. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The following provides a brief overview of one or more aspects of this disclosure to offer a basic understanding of such aspects. This overview is not an exhaustive summary of all anticipated features of this disclosure, nor is it intended to identify key or essential elements of all aspects of this disclosure, nor to describe the scope of any or all aspects of this disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of this disclosure in a concise form as a prelude to the more detailed description that follows.

[0009] In one example, a wireless communication method operable at a user equipment (UE) is provided, wherein the UE is configured to operate in a cell configured for downlink beamforming via a plurality of directional beams. The method includes: receiving a first reference signal on downlink resources. The method further includes: selecting a beam corresponding to one or more of the plurality of directional beams based on a set of one or more channel characteristics based on the reference signal. The method further includes: transmitting a report identifying the selected beam by indicating the direction and angular width of the selected beam.

[0010] In another example, a user equipment (UE) is provided, configured to conduct wireless communication in a cell configured for downlink beamforming using multiple directional beams. The UE includes: a unit for receiving a first reference signal on downlink resources. The UE also includes: a unit for selecting a beam corresponding to one or more of the multiple directional beams based on a set of one or more channel characteristics based on the reference signal. The UE further includes: a unit for transmitting a report identifying the selected beam by indicating the direction and angular width of the selected beam.

[0011] In another example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium is provided, containing computer-executable code operable at a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE is configured to operate in a cell configured for downlink beamforming via a plurality of directional beams. The non-transitory computer-readable medium includes code for causing the UE to receive a first reference signal on downlink resources. The non-transitory computer-readable medium also includes code for causing the UE to select a beam corresponding to one or more of the plurality of directional beams based on a set of one or more channel characteristics based on the reference signal. The non-transitory computer-readable medium further includes code for causing the UE to transmit a report identifying the selected beam by indicating the direction and angular width of the selected beam.

[0012] In another example, a user equipment (UE) is provided, configured to conduct wireless communication in a cell configured for downlink beamforming using multiple directional beams. The UE includes a processor, a transceiver communicatively coupled to the processor, and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor. The processor and memory are configured to: receive a first reference signal on downlink resources via the transceiver. The processor and memory are also configured to: select a beam corresponding to one or more of the multiple directional beams based on a set of one or more channel characteristics based on the reference signal. The processor and memory are further configured to: transmit a report identifying the selected beam via the transceiver by indicating the direction and angular width of the selected beam.

[0013] These and other aspects of the technology discussed herein will be more fully understood after reading the following detailed description. Other aspects, features, and embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the following description of specific, exemplary embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. While various advantages and features may be discussed with respect to certain embodiments and drawings in the following description, all embodiments may include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, while this specification discusses one or more embodiments as having certain advantageous features, one or more such features may also be used according to the various embodiments discussed herein. Similarly, while this specification discusses exemplary embodiments as embodiments of devices, systems, or methods, it should be understood that such exemplary embodiments may be implemented in a wide variety of devices, systems, and methods. Attached Figure Description

[0014] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system based on some aspects.

[0015] Figure 2 It is a conceptual view based on some aspects of a radio access network.

[0016] Figure 3 This is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communication system that supports multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication.

[0017] Figures 4A-4B This is a schematic diagram of the traditional beamwidth process.

[0018] Figure 5 This is a block diagram that conceptually illustrates an example of a hardware implementation of a scheduling entity based on some aspects of this disclosure.

[0019] Figure 6 This is a block diagram that conceptually illustrates examples of hardware implementations for a scheduled entity based on some aspects of this disclosure.

[0020] Figure 7 This is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example of the architecture of a device employing beamforming, based on some aspects of this disclosure.

[0021] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of user equipment (UE)-assisted beamwidth based on certain aspects.

[0022] Figure 9 This is a call flow diagram illustrating an example of UE-assisted beamwidth utilizing one-step Channel State Information (CSI) reports based on several aspects.

[0023] Figure 10 This is a call flow diagram illustrating an example of UE-assisted beamwidth utilizing a two-step CSI report based on several aspects.

[0024] Figure 11 This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for UE-assisted beamwidth according to some aspects of this disclosure.

[0025] Figure 12 This is a flowchart illustrating another exemplary process for UE-assisted beam widening according to some aspects of this disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0026] The specific embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are intended as a description of various configurations and are not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein can be practiced. To provide a thorough understanding of the various concepts, the specific embodiments include particular details. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that these concepts can be practiced without these particular details. In some instances, to avoid obscuring such concepts, well-known structures and components are provided in the form of block diagrams.

[0027] While this specification describes aspects and embodiments by way of example, those skilled in the art will understand that additional implementations and use cases can be implemented in many different arrangements and scenarios. The innovations described herein can be implemented across many different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and packaging arrangements. For example, various embodiments and / or uses can be implemented via integrated chip (IC) embodiments and other devices based on non-modular components (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / purchasing devices, medical devices, artificial intelligence (AI) enabled devices, etc.). While some examples may or may not be specific to a particular use case or application, a wide variety of applicability to the described innovations is possible. Implementations can span from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations, and further to aggregated, distributed, or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) devices or systems incorporating one or more aspects of the disclosed technology. In some practical settings, devices incorporating the described aspects and features may also need to include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described embodiments. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals must include multiple components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, radio frequency (RF) chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders / accumulators, etc.). It is anticipated that the disclosed technologies can be implemented in a wide variety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, end-user equipment, etc., with different sizes, shapes, and configurations.

[0028] Subsequent public disclosures presented a variety of concepts that could be implemented across a wide range of telecommunications systems, network architectures, and communication standards. See below. Figure 1 As illustrative and not limiting, this schematic diagram illustrates various aspects of this disclosure with reference to a wireless communication system 100. The wireless communication system 100 includes several interaction domains: a core network 102, a radio access network (RAN) 104, and a user equipment (UE) 106. With the wireless communication system 100, the UE 106 is able to perform data communication with an external data network 110 (such as, but not limited to, the Internet).

[0029] RAN 104 can implement any suitable wireless communication technology or method to provide radio access to UE 106. As an example, RAN 104 can operate according to the 3GPP New Radio (NR) specification (commonly referred to as 5G or 5G NR). In some examples, RAN 104 can operate according to a hybrid of 5G NR and the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (eUTRAN) standard (commonly referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE)). 3GPP refers to this hybrid RAN as Next Generation RAN or NG-RAN. Of course, many other examples can be used within the scope of this disclosure.

[0030] As shown, RAN 104 includes multiple base stations 108. Broadly speaking, a base station is a network element in a radio access network responsible for radio transmissions to or from a UE in one or more cells. In different technologies, standards, or contexts, those skilled in the art may refer to "base station" as a base transceiver (BTS), radio base station, radio transceiver, transceiver function, basic service set (BSS), extended service set (ESS), access point (AP), node B (NB), evolved node B (eNB), gNode B (gNB), or some other suitable term.

[0031] RAN 104 supports wireless communication for multiple mobile devices. Those skilled in the art may refer to a mobile device as a UE (as in the 3GPP specification), but may also refer to a UE as a mobile station (MS), subscriber station, mobile unit, user unit, radio unit, remote unit, mobile device, radio device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal (AT), mobile terminal, radio terminal, remote terminal, handheld device, terminal, user agent, mobile client, client, or any other suitable term. A UE can be an access device that provides network services. A UE can take many forms and may include a series of devices.

[0032] In this document, a “mobile” device (also referred to as a UE) does not necessarily need to be mobile and can be stationary. The term mobile device or mobile device broadly refers to a wide variety of devices and technologies. A UE may include many hardware structural components whose size, shape, and arrangement facilitate communication; such components may include antennas, antenna arrays, RF chains, amplifiers, one or more processors, etc., electrically coupled to each other. For example, some non-limiting examples of mobile devices include mobile stations, cellular phones, smartphones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal computers (PCs), notebooks, netbooks, smartbooks, tablet devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and a wide variety of embedded systems, for example, corresponding to the “Internet of Things” (IoT). Mobile devices may also be automobiles or other transport vehicles, remote sensors or actuators, robots or robotic devices, satellite radio equipment, Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, object tracking devices, drones, multi-rotor helicopters, quadcopter helicopters, remote control devices, consumer devices and / or wearable devices, such as glasses, wearable cameras, virtual reality devices, smartwatches, health or fitness trackers, digital audio players (e.g., MP3 players), cameras, game consoles, etc. Mobile devices can also be digital home or smart home devices, such as home audio, video and / or multimedia equipment, home appliances, vending machines, smart lighting, home security systems, smart meters, etc. Mobile devices can also be smart energy devices, security devices, solar panels or solar arrays, municipal infrastructure equipment controlling electricity (e.g., smart grids), lighting, water, etc.; industrial automation and enterprise equipment; logistics controllers; agricultural equipment; military defense equipment, vehicles, aircraft, ships, weapons, etc. Additionally, mobile devices can provide connected medical or telemedicine support (e.g., telehealth). Telemedicine devices can include telemedicine monitoring devices and telemedicine management devices, whose communications can be prioritized or accessed relative to other types of information, such as priority access to the transmission of critical service data, and / or QoS related to the transmission of critical service data.

[0033] Wireless communication between RAN 104 and UE 106 can be described as utilizing an air interface. Transmissions over the air interface from a base station (e.g., base station 108) to one or more UEs (e.g., UE 106) can be referred to as downlink (DL) transmissions. According to certain aspects of this disclosure, the term downlink can refer to point-to-multipoint transmissions originating from a scheduling entity (described further below; e.g., base station 108). Another way to describe this scheme is to use the term broadcast channel multiplexing. Transmissions from a UE (e.g., UE 106) to a base station (e.g., base station 108) can be referred to as uplink (UL) transmissions. According to another aspect of this disclosure, the term uplink can refer to point-to-point transmissions originating from a scheduled entity (described further below; e.g., UE 106).

[0034] In some examples, access to the air interface can be scheduled, where a scheduling entity (e.g., base station 108) allocates resources for communication among some or all of the devices and equipment within its service area or cell. In this disclosure, as further discussed below, the scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, allocating, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more scheduled entities. That is, for scheduled communication, UE 106 (which may be a scheduled entity) can utilize the resources allocated by scheduling entity 108.

[0035] Base station 108 cannot be the only entity that can act as a scheduling entity. That is, in some examples, a UE can act as a scheduling entity to schedule resources for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., one or more other UEs).

[0036] like Figure 1 As shown, scheduling entity 108 can broadcast downlink service 112 to one or more scheduled entities 106. In a broader sense, scheduling entity 108 is a node or device responsible for scheduling services (including downlink service 112, and in some examples, uplink service 116 from one or more scheduled entities 106 to scheduling entity 108) in a wireless communication network. On the other hand, scheduled entity 106 is a node or device that receives downlink control information 114 (including, but not limited to, scheduling information (e.g., permission), synchronization or timing information, or other control information from another entity in the wireless communication network, such as scheduling entity 108).

[0037] Typically, base station 108 may include a backhaul interface for communicating with the backhaul section 120 of a wireless communication system. Backhaul 120 can provide a link between base station 108 and core network 102. Furthermore, in some examples, the backhaul network can provide interconnection between the individual base stations 108. Various types of backhaul interfaces can be employed, such as a direct physical connection using any suitable transport network, a virtual network, etc.

[0038] Core network 102 may be part of wireless communication system 100 and may be independent of the radio access technology used in RAN 104. In some examples, core network 102 may be configured according to 5G standards (e.g., 5GC). In other examples, core network 102 may be configured according to 4G Evolved Packet Core (EPC) or any other suitable standard or configuration.

[0039] By using examples rather than restrictions Figure 2 A schematic diagram of RAN 200 is provided. In some examples, RAN 200 can be combined with the one described above and... Figure 1 The same as RAN 104 shown. The geographical area covered by RAN 200 can be divided into cellular areas (cells), and user equipment (UE) can uniquely identify a cellular area based on an identifier broadcast from an access point or base station. Figure 2 Macro cells 202, 204, and 206, and small cell 208 are shown. Each cell may include one or more sectors (not shown). A sector is a sub-area of ​​a cell. All sectors within a cell are served by the same base station. Radio links within a sector can be identified by a single logical identifier belonging to that sector. In a cell divided into sectors, multiple sectors within the cell can be formed using antenna groups, where each antenna is responsible for communicating with UEs in a portion of the cell.

[0040] Figure 2 Two base stations 210 and 212 in cells 202 and 204 are shown; and a third base station 214 controlling the Remote Radio Header (RRH) 216 in cell 206 is shown. That is, the base stations can have integrated antennas or can be connected to antennas or RRHs via feeder cables. In the example shown, cells 202, 204, and 206 can be referred to as macrocells because base stations 210, 212, and 214 support cells with large sizes. Furthermore, base station 218 is shown in a small cell 208 (e.g., microcell, picocell, femtocell, home base station, home node B, home eNodeB, etc.) that may overlap with one or more macrocells. In this example, cell 208 can be referred to as a small cell because base station 218 supports cells with relatively small sizes. The cell size can be determined based on system design and component constraints.

[0041] RAN 200 may include any number of radio base stations and cells. Furthermore, the RAN may include relay nodes to extend the size or coverage area of ​​a given cell. Base stations 210, 212, 214, and 218 provide radio access points to the core network for any number of mobile devices. In some examples, base stations 210, 212, 214, and / or 218 may be connected to the network described above and... Figure 1 The base station / scheduling entity 108 shown is the same.

[0042] Figure 2 It also includes a quadcopter or drone 220 that can be configured to act as a base station. That is, in some examples, the cell may not be stationary, and the geographical area of ​​the cell may move depending on the location of the mobile base station (such as the quadcopter 220).

[0043] Within RAN 200, a cell may include UEs capable of communicating with one or more sectors of each cell. Furthermore, each base station 210, 212, 214, 218, and 220 may be configured to provide access to the core network 102 (see [link to core network]) to all UEs within the corresponding cell. Figure 1 Access points. For example, UEs 222 and 224 can communicate with base station 210; UEs 226 and 228 can communicate with base station 212; UEs 230 and 232 can communicate with base station 214 via RRH 216; UE 234 can communicate with base station 218; and UE 236 can communicate with mobile base station 220. In some examples, UEs 222, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 236, 238, 240 and / or 242 can communicate with the access points described above and... Figure 1 The UE / scheduled entity 106 shown is the same.

[0044] In some examples, a mobile network node (e.g., a quadcopter 220) can be configured to act as a UE. For example, the quadcopter 220 can operate within cell 202 by communicating with base station 210.

[0045] In another aspect of RAN 200, sidelink signaling can be used between UEs without relying on scheduling or control information from a base station. For example, two or more UEs (e.g., UEs 226 and 228) can communicate with each other using peer-to-peer (P2P) or sidelink signaling 227 without relaying the communication through a base station (e.g., base station 212). In another example, UE 238 is shown communicating with UEs 240 and 242. Here, UE 238 can act as a scheduling entity or a primary sidelink device, while UE 240 or 242 can act as a scheduled entity or a non-primary (e.g., secondary) sidelink device. In yet another example, UEs can act as scheduling entities in device-to-device (D2D), peer-to-peer (P2P), or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) networks and / or mesh networks. In the mesh network example, in addition to communicating with scheduling entity 238, UEs 240 and UE 242 can optionally communicate directly with each other. Therefore, in a wireless communication system with scheduled access to time-frequency resources and with cellular, P2P, or mesh configurations, a scheduling entity and one or more scheduled entities can communicate using the scheduled resources.

[0046] The air interface in RAN 200 can utilize one or more duplex algorithms. Duplex refers to a point-to-point communication link in which two endpoints can communicate with each other in both directions. Full-duplex means that two endpoints can communicate with each other simultaneously. Half-duplex means that only one endpoint can send information to the other endpoint at a given time using the available resources. In wireless links, full-duplex channels typically rely on physical isolation between the transmitter and receiver, as well as appropriate interference cancellation techniques. Full-duplex simulations for wireless links are often implemented using Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) or Space Division Duplex (SDD). In FDD, transmissions in different directions operate on different carrier frequencies. In TDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated from each other using Time Division Multiplexing. That is, at some times, the channel is dedicated to transmission in one direction, and at other times, the channel is dedicated to transmission in the other direction, where the direction can change very rapidly (e.g., several times per time slot).

[0047] The air interface in the radio access network 200 can utilize one or more multiplexing and multiple access algorithms to enable simultaneous communication between various devices. For example, the 5G NR specification uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) to provide multiple access for UL transmissions from UEs 222 and 224 to base station 210, as well as multiplexing for DL ​​transmissions from base station 210 to UEs 222 and 224. Furthermore, for UL transmissions, the 5G NR specification provides support for Discrete Fourier Transform Extended OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) with CP (also known as Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA)). However, within the scope of this disclosure, multiplexing and multiple access are not limited to the above schemes. For example, the UE can use Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Sparse Code Multiple Access (SCMA), Resource Extended Multiple Access (RSMA), or other suitable multiple access schemes to provide UL multiple access. Additionally, the base station can use Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), Code Division Multiplexing (CDM), Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Sparse Code Multiplexing (SCM), or other suitable multiplexing schemes to multiplex DL transmissions destined for the UE.

[0048] In some examples, a frame may refer to a predetermined duration of a radio transmission (e.g., 10 ms). Furthermore, each frame may consist of a set of subframes (e.g., 10 subframes, each 1 ms long). A given carrier may include one set of frames in the UL and another set in the DL. Each subframe (e.g., a 1 ms subframe) may consist of one or more adjacent time slots. In some examples, time slots may be defined based on a specified number of OFDM symbols with a given cyclic prefix (CP) length. For example, a time slot may include 7 or 14 OFDM symbols with a nominal CP. Other examples may include micro-time slots with shorter durations (e.g., one or two OFDM symbols). In some cases, the base station may use resources scheduled for ongoing time slot transmissions for the same or different UEs to transmit these micro-time slots.

[0049] A portion of radio resources can be allocated to carry one or more physical channels, including control channels, shared channels, data channels, etc. Other radio resources may also carry pilot or reference signals. These pilot or reference signals can provide channel estimation for the receiving device to perform the corresponding channel, which enables coherent demodulation / detection of the control and / or data channels.

[0050] In DL transmission, the transmitting device (e.g., scheduling entity 108) can allocate DL resources to carry DL control information 114 destined for one or more scheduled entities 106, including one or more DL control channels that typically carry information originating from higher layers, such as the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), etc. Additionally, DL resources can be allocated to carry DL physical signals that do not typically carry information originating from higher layers. These DL physical signals may include the Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS); the Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS); the Demodulation Reference Signal (DM-RS); the Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PT-RS); the Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), etc.

[0051] The base station can transmit synchronization signals PSS and SSS (collectively referred to as SS) in the SS block, and in some examples PBCH. The SS block comprises four consecutive OFDM symbols numbered in ascending order from 0 to 3 via a time index. In the frequency domain, the SS block can be extended over 240 consecutive subcarriers, where the subcarriers are numbered in ascending order from 0 to 239 via a frequency index. Of course, this disclosure is not limited to this particular SS block configuration. Within the scope of this disclosure, other non-limiting examples may utilize more than two synchronization signals; may include one or more supplementary channels in addition to PBCH; may omit PBCH; and / or may use non-consecutive symbols for the SS block.

[0052] The PDCCH can carry downlink control information (DCI) for one or more UEs in the cell. This may include, but is not limited to, power control commands, scheduling information, permission and / or RE allocation for DL ​​and UL transmissions.

[0053] In UL transmission, the transmitting device (e.g., the scheduled entity 106) can utilize allocated UL resources to carry UL control information 118 (UCI). The UCI may originate from a higher layer and be routed to the scheduling entity 108 via one or more UL control channels (e.g., Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), etc.). Furthermore, the UL RE may carry UL physical signals that typically do not carry information originating from higher layers, such as demodulation reference signals (DM-RS), phase tracking reference signals (PT-RS), sounding reference signals (SRS), etc. In some examples, the control information 118 may include a scheduling request (SR), i.e., a request from the scheduling entity 108 to schedule uplink transmissions. Here, in response to an SR transmitted on control channel 118, the scheduling entity 108 may transmit downlink control information 114, which can schedule resources for uplink packet transmissions. UL control information may also include hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback, such as acknowledgment (ACK) or negative acknowledgment (NACK), channel state information (CSI) reports, or any other appropriate UL control information.

[0054] In addition to control information, one or more REs can be allocated for user data or service data (e.g., within a data area). Such services can be carried on one or more service channels (e.g., Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) for DL ​​transmissions; or Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) for UL transmissions).

[0055] To enable a UE to gain initial access to a cell, the RAN can provide system information (SI) characterizing the cell. The RAN can provide this system information using minimum system information (MSI) and other system information (OSI). The RAN can periodically broadcast MSI on the cell to provide the most basic information required for the UE's initial cell access and to allow the UE to access any OSI that the RAN can periodically or on demand. In some examples, the network can provide MSI on two different downlink channels. For example, the PBCH can carry a Master Information Block (MIB), and the PDSCH can carry System Information Block Type 1 (SIB1). Here, the MIB can provide the UE with parameters for monitoring the control resource set. The control resource set can then provide the UE with scheduling information corresponding to the PDSCH, such as the resource location of SIB1. In the art, SIB1 can be referred to as Residual Minimal System Information (RMSI).

[0056] OSI can include any SI that is not broadcast in MSI. In some examples, PDSCH can carry multiple SIBs, not limited to SIB1 discussed above. Here, RAN can provide OSI in these SIBs (e.g., SIB2 and above).

[0057] The channels or carriers described above are not necessarily all channels or carriers that can be used between the scheduling entity 108 and the scheduled entity 106, and those skilled in the art will recognize that other channels or carriers, such as other service, control and feedback channels, may be used in addition to those shown.

[0058] In some examples, the physical layer can typically multiplex and map these physical channels described above to transport channels for processing at the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer entity. The transport channel carries blocks of information called transport blocks (TBs). The transport block size (TBS), which can correspond to the number of information bits, can be a controlled parameter based on the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and the number of redundancies (RBs) in a given transmission.

[0059] In some aspects of this disclosure, the scheduling entity and / or the scheduled entity may be configured with multiple antennas for beamforming and / or multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques. Figure 3 An example of a wireless communication system 300 with multiple antennas supporting beamforming and / or MIMO is shown. The use of such multi-antenna technology enables the wireless communication system to utilize the spatial domain to support spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and transmit diversity.

[0060] Beamforming typically refers to directional signal transmission or reception. For beamforming transmission, the transmitting device can precode or control the amplitude and phase of each antenna in the antenna array to create a desired (e.g., directional) constructive and destructive interference pattern in the wavefront. In a MIMO system, transmitter 302 includes multiple transmit antennas 304 (e.g., N transmit antennas), and receiver 306 includes multiple receive antennas 308 (e.g., M receive antennas). Therefore, there are N×M signal paths 310 from transmit antennas 304 to receive antennas 308. Each of transmitter 302 and receiver 306 can be implemented, for example, within scheduling entity 108, scheduled entity 106, or any other suitable wireless communication device.

[0061] In MIMO systems, spatial multiplexing can be used to simultaneously transmit multiple different data streams (also referred to as layers) on the same time-frequency resources. In some examples, transmitter 302 can transmit multiple data streams to a single receiver. In this way, MIMO systems utilize the capacity gain and / or increased data rate associated with using multiple antennas in rich scattering environments where channel variations can be tracked. Here, receiver 306 can track these channel variations and provide corresponding feedback to transmitter 302. In the simplest case, such as Figure 3 As shown, rank 2 (i.e., including 2 data streams) spatial multiplexing transmission on a 2x2 MIMO antenna configuration will send two data streams via two transmit antennas 304. Signals from each transmit antenna 304 arrive at each receive antenna 308 along different signal paths 310. Receiver 306 can then use the received signals from each receive antenna 308 to reconstruct the data streams.

[0062] In some examples, a transmitter can send multiple data streams to multiple receivers. This is often referred to as multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). In this way, MU-MIMO systems utilize multipath signal propagation, increasing overall network capacity by increasing throughput and spectral efficiency while reducing the required transmission energy. This is achieved by transmitter 302 spatially precoding each data stream (i.e., multiplying the data stream with different weights and phase shifts) (in some examples, based on known channel state information), and then sending each spatially precoded stream to the receiving device via multiple transmit antennas using the same allocated time-frequency resources. The receiver (e.g., receiver 306) can send feedback including a quantized version of the channel, allowing transmitter 302 to schedule the receiver with good channel separation. The spatially precoded data streams arrive at the receiver with different spatial signatures, which allows the receiver (in some examples, combined with known channel state information) to separate these streams from each other and recover the data stream destined for that receiver. In another direction, multiple transmitters can each send spatially precoded data streams to a single receiver, allowing the receiver to identify the source of each spatially precoded data stream.

[0063] In a MIMO or MU-MIMO (commonly referred to as MIMO) system, the number of data streams or layers corresponds to the transmission rank. Typically, the rank of a MIMO system is limited by the number of transmit antennas 304 or receive antennas 308, whichever is lower. Furthermore, channel conditions at receiver 306 and other considerations (such as available resources at transmitter 302) can also affect the transmission rank. For example, a base station in the RAN (e.g., transmitter 302) can allocate a rank (and therefore, the number of data streams) for DL ​​transmission to a specific UE (e.g., receiver 306) based on a rank indicator (RI) sent to the base station. The UE can determine this RI based on antenna configuration (e.g., the number of transmit and receive antennas) and the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) measured on each receive antenna. For example, the RI can indicate the number of layers the UE can support under current channel conditions. The base station can use the RI, along with resource information (e.g., available resources and the amount of data to be scheduled for the UE), to allocate the DL transmission rank to the UE.

[0064] Transmitter 302 determines the precoding of the transmitted data stream or multiple data streams based on, for example, known channel state information of the channel on which it transmits the data stream. For example, transmitter 302 may transmit one or more appropriate reference signals (e.g., channel state information reference signals or CSI-RS) that receiver 306 can measure. Receiver 306 can then report the measured channel quality information (CQI) to transmitter 302. This CQI typically reports the current communication channel quality and, in some examples, the requested transport block size (TBS) for future transmissions to the receiver. In some examples, receiver 306 may also report a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) to transmitter 302. This PMI typically reports the preferred precoding matrix of receiver 306 for transmitter 302 to use and can be indexed to a predefined codebook. Transmitter 302 can then utilize this CQI / PMI to determine the appropriate precoding matrix for transmissions to receiver 306.

[0065] In a Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, UL and DL can be reciprocal because they each use different time slots with the same frequency bandwidth. Therefore, in a TDD system, transmitter 302 can allocate ranks for DL ​​MIMO transmissions based on UL SINR measurements (e.g., based on sounding reference signals (SRS) or other pilot signals transmitted from receiver 306). Based on the allocated ranks, transmitter 302 can then transmit Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RS) with separate sequences for each layer to provide multi-layer channel estimation. According to the CSI-RS, receiver 306 can measure channel quality across layers and resource blocks. Receiver 306 can then send CSI reports (including, for example, CQI, RI, and PMI) to transmitter 302 for updating ranks and allocating resources for future DL transmissions.

[0066] Beamforming typically refers to directional signal transmission or reception. For beamforming transmission, the amplitude and phase of each antenna element in an antenna array can be pre-coded or controlled to create desired (e.g., directional) constructive and destructive interference patterns in the wavefront. Generally, the more antenna elements used for beamforming, the narrower the generated beam. Beamforming has proven particularly useful in the millimeter-wave (mmW or mmWave) band, where signals may not penetrate well and can attenuate rapidly over distance. Here, mmWave typically refers to a high-frequency band above 24 GHz, which offers very large bandwidth.

[0067] In existing 3GPP 5G NR specifications, beam management for beamforming is implemented using a variety of functions and operations, including beam scanning, beam detection and measurement, beam-level mobility, and beam faulting and recovery. In some examples, a cell can support beamforming by enabling the UE to distinguish different directional beams based on the characteristics of the synchronization signal / PBCH block (SSB). For example, each beam may include a separate SSB indicating the beam index. Here, the UE can measure such an SSB and select an appropriate beam and / or perform its own beam scan. After acquisition, for DL ​​communication, the UE can measure beam-specific reference signals (e.g., CSI-RS) and report channel information (e.g., reporting the best / preferred beam) to the base station. For UL communication, the base station can measure the UE's UL reference signal transmission (e.g., SRS) and can accordingly select the best UL beam for the UE.

[0068] Some aspects of this disclosure relate to DL beam selection in beamforming cells. To provide further detail and examples, a conventional procedure for DL ​​beam selection in a wireless communication network configured according to the 3GPP specifications for 5G NR is described. However, this discussion is not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure to that RAT or that exemplary procedure set.

[0069] During conventional DL beamforming, the base station (e.g., gNB) can send a specific CSI report configuration message to the UE to configure the UE's CSI report. Furthermore, the gNB can transmit one or more reference signals (e.g., CSI-RS) on appropriate DL resources. The UE can determine the channel characteristics of the DL channel based on the CSI-RS and select an appropriate beam direction accordingly based on the measurement results. The UE can then generate and transmit a CSI report based on the CSI report configuration message, including the determined beam information. For example, the CSI report may include a Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), a Rank Indicator (RI), a Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), etc. In some examples, the UE can configure the PMI report based on one or more selected DL beams (e.g., narrow beams). The gNB can then generate the DL beam based on the UE's CSI report and use the generated beam to transmit data / signaling to the UE.

[0070] In a specific example, for DL ​​beam selection, the UE can generate a PMI report corresponding to one or more selected narrow beams. If the beam precoded based on the UE's PMI report propagates in the exact direction toward the UE, such a narrow beam can provide a large beamforming gain. The specific format of the PMI report can vary, and in some examples, it may include beam information in the form of codewords selected from an appropriate codebook (e.g., a Type 1 codebook or a Type 2 codebook).

[0071] For a Type 1 codebook, the UE's PMI report includes a set of codewords representing multiple narrow beams. Here, the Type 1 codebook provides a representation of each beam m as a beam weight composed of horizontal and vertical beam components. For example, a Type 1 codebook-based PMI report may include a set of codewords {u...} for one or more beams m and / or one or more layers l. m ,v l,m}. u m It is the codeword corresponding to the horizontal beam component of beam m:

[0072]

[0073] And, v l,m These are the codewords corresponding to the vertical beam components of beam m and layer l:

[0074]

[0075] In the above equation, N1 and N2 are the number of rows and columns of antenna elements in the antenna panel, respectively; and O1 and O2 are the oversampling factors in the vertical beam direction and the horizontal beam direction, respectively.

[0076] For Type 2 codebooks, the UE's PMI report includes a set of codewords representing a linearly weighted sum of narrow beams. Here, a Type 2 codebook-based PMI report may include a set of codewords representing a linearly weighted sum for one or more such narrow beams. as follows:

[0077]

[0078] Where v represents the component narrow beam, q represents the oversampling offset, n represents the non-oversampling narrow beam index, l represents the spatial layer, and p represents the amplitude weight. This represents the phase weight.

[0079] Now for reference Figure 4A -B describes a potential problem with such beamforming schemes when the UE's radio channel has rapid time variations. For stable channels (e.g., those experienced by slow or stationary UEs), the narrow beam selected by the UE as the optimal beam can remain optimal over extended periods. Therefore, the gNB can reliably configure its next DL PDSCH data transmission to that UE using the selected beam reported by the UE. However, it has been observed that beamforming gain and the index number of the strongest beam vary rapidly in high-speed channels. Especially in cases of long CSI reporting periods, high-speed channels can lead to a loss of beamforming gain and decoding errors. Figure 4A Example scenario 402 provides a conceptual illustration of a fast-moving UE 404 (e.g., a UE in a moving vehicle on road 406) employing beamforming as described above.

[0080] In the illustrated example scenario 402, a fast-moving UE 404 can select a narrow beam 408 of the gNB base station 410 and determine a CSI report identifying the selected beam 408 based on RS measurements at location / time A. The gNB 410 can receive the CSI report and generate a DL beam based on it. Accordingly, the gNB 410 can use the generated beam to send data / signaling to the UE. However, the inherent latency of this process is potentially multiple time slots in duration, including propagation delays of radio transmission in both directions, processing time at UE 404 and gNB 410, and, depending on the scheduler, delays of waiting for scheduled resources to become available for transmission on either side. During this time, the reported beam corresponding to location / time A may be substantially off-target from the actual beam received by the fast-moving UE 404 at location / time B, which could lead to transmission failure. Typically, beamforming gain decreases as the UE's speed increases.

[0081] Now for reference Figure 4B Example scenario 450 illustrates some aspects of conventional approaches to addressing these problems. Specifically, to address rapidly time-varying radio channels, such as those caused by a fast-moving UE 404, the gNB 410 can employ beam widening to generate a wider beam 452 for DL ​​transmission. Here, a wide beam 452 can refer to a beam with a larger angular width compared to a narrow beam (e.g., narrow beam 408). For example, a wide beam 452 can have a width corresponding to the combined angular width of two or more narrow beams 408. A narrow beam can be a directional beam indicated or indexed by a codebook such as a Type 1 codebook. In other words, the gNB 410 can apply appropriate precoding to the DL transmission to transmit a beam with a wider angular width. By providing a wide beam, the gNB 410 can provide beamforming gain that is generally more robust to beam direction changes compared to the beamforming gain of a narrow beam. For example, such a wide beam 452 can improve data transmission success rate and, therefore, increase the throughput of data transmission in rapidly time-varying radio channels. However, this robustness may lead to trade-offs, resulting in the cost of reduced peak beamforming gain.

[0082] By employing beam widening, the gNB can easily generate a wide beam covering the spatial location of the UE if it knows that location. As discussed above, TDD carriers can exhibit DL-UL reciprocity. Therefore, when communicating on a TDD carrier, the gNB can easily select the beam direction for DL ​​transmission to the UE based on its measurement of the UL reference signal (e.g., SRS) received from the UE. However, in FDD systems without DL-UL reciprocity or in TDD systems that do not exhibit DL-UL reciprocity, the gNB typically cannot determine the UE's spatial location or the UE's DL channel characteristics based on the UL reference signal. In these systems, the gNB can configure the UE to measure the DL channel based on the DL reference signal (e.g., CSI-RS) and report an appropriate PMI indicating the beam direction or beam selection based on the measurement result. When utilizing currently known beam widening procedures, the UE typically provides a CSI report based on DL channel measurements, which identifies a set of narrow beams corresponding to a preferred set of beam directions. gNB then generates a wide beam to cover the reported narrow beam.

[0083] However, for example, in the 3GPP specification for 5G NR, a PMI report with a given narrow beam can constitute a large amount of information. Therefore, especially when the number of reported beams is large, such beam widening can lead to a significant increase in the PMI report payload. This can reduce spectrum efficiency and cell coverage.

[0084] In various aspects, this disclosure provides UE-assisted beamforming with reduced PMI reporting payload. In some examples, by employing aspects of the currently disclosed UE-assisted beamforming, wireless communication networks can achieve the improved beamforming gain and performance provided by conventional beamforming without suffering the same losses in spectral efficiency and cell coverage caused by conventional beamforming.

[0085] Figure 5 This is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation of a scheduling entity 500 employing a processing system 514 and configured for UE-assisted beamwidth, according to some aspects of this disclosure. According to various aspects of this disclosure, the processing system 514, including one or more processors 504, can be used to implement elements or any portion of elements or any combination of elements. For example, the scheduling entity 500 may be as shown in... Figure 1 , 2 3, 4A and / or Figure 4B Any one or more user equipments (UEs) shown in the figures. In another example, scheduling entity 500 can be as shown in... Figure 1 , 2 3, 4A and / or Figure 4BAny one or more of the base stations, eNBs, or gNBs shown in the diagram.

[0086] Scheduling entity 500 may include a processing system 514 having one or more processors 504. Examples of processors 504 include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuitry, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functions described throughout this disclosure. In various examples, scheduling entity 500 may be configured to perform any one or more of the functions described herein. That is, processor 504, as used in scheduling entity 500, may be configured (e.g., in combination with memory 505) to implement the functions described below and Figure 8-12 Any one or more of the processes and procedures shown in the document.

[0087] Processing system 514 can be implemented using a bus architecture typically represented by bus 502. Depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of processing system 514, bus 502 may include any number of interconnect buses and bridges. Bus 502 communicatively couples together various circuits including one or more processors (typically represented by processor 504), memory 505, and computer-readable media (typically represented by computer-readable media 506). Furthermore, bus 502 may link various other circuits, such as clock sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further. Bus interface 508 provides an interface between bus 502 and transceiver 510. Transceiver 510 provides a communication interface or unit for communicating with various other devices via a transmission medium. Depending on the nature of the device, a user interface 512 (e.g., keyboard, display, speaker, microphone, joystick) may also be provided. Of course, such a user interface 512 is optional and may be omitted in some examples (e.g., base station).

[0088] In some aspects of this disclosure, processor 504 may include communication circuitry 540 configured for various functions, including transmitting downlink and / or receiving uplink, determining and implementing beamforming, etc. In other aspects, processor 504 may include UE mobility state determination circuitry 542 configured for various functions, including determining the mobility state of the UE and determining whether to employ beamforming based on the mobility state.

[0089] Processor 504 is responsible for managing bus 502 and general-purpose processing, including executing software stored on computer-readable medium 506. When executed by processor 504, the software causes processing system 514 to perform the various functions described below for any particular device. Processor 504 may also use computer-readable medium 506 and memory 505 to store data manipulated by processor 504 while executing the software.

[0090] One or more processors 504 in the processing system can execute software. Software, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other terms, should be broadly interpreted as instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subroutines, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc. Software may reside on computer-readable medium 506. Computer-readable medium 506 may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. For example, non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic tapes), optical disks (e.g., compressed optical disks (CDs) or digital versatile optical disks (DVDs)), smart cards, flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, or key drives), random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), registers, portable hard disks, and any other suitable medium for storing software and / or instructions that can be accessed and read by a computer. The computer-readable medium 506 may be located within the processing system 514, outside the processing system 514, or distributed across multiple entities including the processing system 514. The computer-readable medium 506 may be embodied in a computer program product. For example, a computer program product may be included in a computer-readable medium encapsulated in packaging material. Those skilled in the art will recognize how the functions described throughout this disclosure are best implemented, depending on the specific application and design constraints imposed on the system as a whole.

[0091] In one or more examples, the computer-readable medium 506 may store computer-executable code including communication instructions 560, which configures the scheduling entity 500 for various functions, including transmitting downlinks and / or receiving uplinks, determining and implementing beamforming, etc. The computer-readable medium 506 may also store computer-executable code including UE mobility state determination instructions 562, which configures the scheduling entity 500 for various functions, including determining the UE's mobility state and determining whether to employ beamforming based on the mobility state.

[0092] In one configuration, the apparatus 500 for wireless communication includes: units for transmitting downlink and / or receiving uplink, determining and implementing beamforming; and units for determining the mobility state of the UE and determining whether to employ beam widening based on the mobility state. In one aspect, the aforementioned units may be... Figure 5 The processor 504 shown is configured to perform the functions described by the aforementioned units. Alternatively, the aforementioned units may be circuits or any means configured to perform the functions described by the aforementioned units.

[0093] Of course, in the above example, the circuitry included in processor 504 is provided merely as an example, and other units for performing the described functions may be included in various aspects of this disclosure, including but not limited to instructions stored in computer-readable storage medium 506, or in Figure 1 , 2 3, 4A, 4B, 7, 8, 9 and / or Figure 10 Any other suitable device described in any of the figures, and utilizing, for example, the present article concerning... Figure 8-12 The described process and / or algorithm.

[0094] Figure 6 This is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example hardware implementation of an exemplary scheduled entity 600 for employing a processing system 614 and configured for UE-assisted beamwidth, according to some aspects of this disclosure. According to various aspects of this disclosure, the processing system 614 may include elements having one or more processors 604, or any portion of elements, or any combination of elements. For example, the scheduled entity 600 may be as shown in... Figure 1 , 2 3, 4A, 4B, 7, 9 and / or Figure 10 Any one or more of the user equipment (UE) shown in the figure.

[0095] Processing system 614 can be used with Figure 5 The processing system 514 shown is essentially the same, including a bus interface 608, a bus 602, a memory 605, a processor 604, and a computer-readable medium 606. Furthermore, the scheduled entity 600 may include a user interface 612 and a transceiver 610, which are substantially similar to those described above. Figure 5 Those described below. That is, as used in the scheduled entity 600, the processor 604 can be configured (e.g., in cooperation with the memory 605) to implement the following and Figure 8-12 Any one or more processes shown in the diagram.

[0096] In some aspects of this disclosure, processor 604 may include communication circuitry 640 configured (e.g., cooperating with memory 605) for various functions (e.g., including transmitting uplink information and / or receiving downlink information). For example, communication circuitry 640 may be configured to implement the following... Figure 11 One or more of the functions described (e.g., including box 1108) and / or combined below Figure 12 One or more of the functions described (e.g., including blocks 1202, 1210, 1220, and / or 1226). Processor 604 may also include channel characteristics circuitry 642 configured (e.g., in cooperation with memory 605) for various functions (e.g., including receiving a reference signal and determining channel characteristics based on the reference signal). For example, channel characteristics circuitry 642 may be configured to implement the following description... Figure 11 One or more of the functions described (e.g., including boxes 1102 and / or 1106) and / or the following regarding Figure 12 One or more of the described functions (e.g., including blocks 1204, 1206, 1222, 1224, and / or 1226). Processor 604 may also include beam selection and identification circuitry 644 configured (e.g., cooperating with memory 605) for various functions, such as: selecting a DL beam (e.g., a wide beam) based on channel characteristics; selecting a direction corresponding to the selected beam; selecting the angular width of the selected beam to cover multiple narrow beams; indicating the angular width of the selected beam based on horizontal and vertical components; and / or indicating the angular width of the selected beam based on the number of narrow beams covered by the selected wide beam. For example, beam selection and identification circuitry 644 may be configured to implement the following description... Figure 11 One or more of the functions described (e.g., including boxes 1106 and / or 1108) and / or the following regarding Figure 12 One or more of the functions described (e.g., including blocks 1210, 1212, 1214, 1216, 1218, and / or 1220). Processor 604 may also include mobility state determination circuitry 646 configured (e.g., in cooperation with memory 605) for various functions, such as: determining the mobility state of the scheduled entity 600 based on channel measurements, sensor data, or any other suitable parameters; and / or determining whether to report a wide beam or a narrow beam based on the mobility state. For example, mobility state determination circuitry 646 may be configured to implement the following description... Figure 12 One or more of the functions described (e.g., including box 1208).

[0097] Furthermore, the computer-readable medium 606 may store computer-executable code including communication instructions 660, which will be configured by the scheduled entity 600 for various functions, including sending downlinks and / or receiving uplinks. For example, the communication instructions 660 may be configured to cause the scheduled entity 600 to perform the following... Figure 11 One or more of the functions described (e.g., including box 1108) and / or the following regarding Figure 12 One or more of the described functions (e.g., including blocks 1202, 1210, 1220, and / or 1226). Furthermore, the computer-readable medium 606 may store computer-executable code including channel characteristic instructions 662, which will be configured by the scheduled entity 600 for various functions, including, for example, receiving a reference signal and determining channel characteristics based on the reference signal. For example, the channel characteristic instructions 662 may be configured to cause the scheduled entity 600 to perform the following description... Figure 11 One or more of the functions described (e.g., including boxes 1102 and / or 1106) and / or the following regarding Figure 12 One or more of the described functions (e.g., including blocks 1204, 1206, 1222, 1224, and / or 1226). Furthermore, the computer-readable medium 606 may store computer-executable code including beam selection and identification instructions 664, which will be configured by the scheduling entity 600 for various functions, including, for example: selecting a DL beam (e.g., a wide beam) based on channel characteristics; selecting a direction corresponding to the selected beam; selecting the angular width of the selected beam to cover multiple narrow beams; indicating the angular width of the selected beam based on horizontal and vertical components; and / or indicating the angular width of the selected beam based on the number of narrow beams covered by the selected wide beam. For example, the beam selection and identification instructions 664 may be configured to cause the scheduled entity 600 to implement the following description... Figure 11 One or more of the functions described (e.g., including boxes 1106 and / or 1108) and / or the following regarding Figure 12 One or more of the functions described (e.g., including blocks 1210, 1212, 1214, 1216, 1218, and / or 1220). Furthermore, the computer-readable medium 606 may store computer-executable code including a mobility state determination instruction 666, which will be configured by the scheduled entity 600 for various functions, including, for example: determining the mobility state of the scheduled entity 600 based on, for example, channel measurements, sensor data, or any other suitable parameters; and / or, based on the mobility state, determining whether to report a wide beam or a narrow beam. For example, the mobility state determination instruction 666 may be configured to cause the scheduled entity 600 to perform the following description... Figure 12One or more of the functions described (e.g., including box 1208).

[0098] In one configuration, the scheduled entity 600 for wireless communication includes: a unit for transmitting and receiving information; a unit for receiving reference signals; a unit for determining channel characteristics; a unit for selecting a beam; a unit for selecting direction, horizontal parameters, vertical parameters, and / or the number of beams indicating a wide beam; and a unit for determining the movement state of the scheduled entity 600. In one aspect, the aforementioned units may be... Figure 6 The processor 604 and / or shown Figure 7 The processor 734 shown is configured to perform the functions described through these aforementioned units. In another aspect, the aforementioned units may be circuits or any means configured to perform the functions described through these aforementioned units.

[0099] Of course, in the above examples, the circuitry included in processor 604 is provided merely as an example, and other units for performing the described functions may be included in various aspects of this disclosure, including but not limited to instructions stored in computer-readable medium 606, or in Figure 1 , 2 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 and / or Figure 10 Any of the figures described and utilized, for example, in this article regarding Figure 9 , 10 11 and / or Figure 12 Any other suitable device or unit for the described process and / or algorithm.

[0100] Figure 7 Examples of an architecture 700 supporting UE-assisted beamwidth are shown according to various aspects of this disclosure. In some examples, architecture 700 may implement aspects of wireless communication systems 100, 200, and / or 300. In some aspects, architecture 700 may be examples of transmitting devices (e.g., a first wireless device, scheduling entity 500, scheduled entity 600, UE, or base station) and / or receiving devices (e.g., a second wireless device, scheduling entity 500, scheduled entity 600, UE, or base station) as described herein.

[0101] In a broad sense, Figure 7This is a diagram illustrating example hardware components of a wireless device according to certain aspects of this disclosure. The components shown may include those that can be used for antenna element selection and / or for beamforming for wireless signal transmission. Many architectures exist for antenna element selection and phase shifting; only one example is shown here. Architecture 700 includes a modem (modulator / demodulator) 702, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 704, a first mixer 706, a second mixer 708, and a splitter 710. Architecture 700 also includes multiple first amplifiers 712, multiple phase shifters 714, multiple second amplifiers 716, and an antenna array 718 including multiple antenna elements 720. Transmission lines or other waveguides, wires, traces, etc., connecting the various components are shown to illustrate how signals to be transmitted propagate between the components. Boxes 722, 724, 726, and 728 indicate areas in architecture 700 where different types of signals propagate or are processed. Specifically, box 722 indicates the area for propagation or processing of digital baseband signals, box 724 indicates the area for propagation or processing of analog baseband signals, box 726 indicates the area for propagation or processing of analog intermediate frequency (IF) signals, and box 728 indicates the area for propagation or processing of analog radio frequency (RF) signals. The architecture also includes a local oscillator A 730, a local oscillator B 732, and a processor 734.

[0102] Each antenna element in antenna element 720 may include one or more sub-elements (not shown) for radiating or receiving RF signals. For example, a single antenna element 720 may include a first sub-element cross-polarized with a second sub-element, which can be used to independently transmit the cross-polarized signal. Antenna element 720 may include a patch antenna or other type of antenna arranged in a linear, two-dimensional, or other pattern. The spacing between antenna elements 720 may allow signals with desired wavelengths emitted by each antenna element 720 to interact or interfere (e.g., to form a desired beam). For example, given a desired wavelength or frequency range, the spacing may provide a quarter wavelength, half wavelength, or other fraction of the wavelength between adjacent antenna elements 720 to allow signals transmitted by individual antenna elements 720 within that desired range to interact or interfere.

[0103] Modem 702 processes and generates digital baseband signals and can also control the operation of DAC 704, first mixer 706 and second mixer 708, splitter 710, first amplifier 712, phase shifter 714 and / or second amplifier 716 to transmit signals via one or more of the antenna elements 720. Modem 702 can process signals and control operation according to communication standards (such as the wireless standards discussed herein). DAC 704 can convert the digital baseband signals received from (and to be transmitted) by modem 702 into analog baseband signals. First mixer 706 uses local oscillator A 730 to upconvert the analog baseband signals to an analog IF signal within the IF. For example, first mixer 706 can mix these signals with an oscillation signal generated by local oscillator A 730 to "shift" the baseband analog signal to the intermediate frequency. In some cases, certain processing or filtering (not shown) can be performed at the IF. The second mixer 708 uses a local oscillator B 732 to upconvert the analog IF signal to an analog RF signal. Similar to the first mixer, the second mixer 708 can mix these signals with an oscillation signal generated by the local oscillator B 732 to "shift" the IF analog signal to the frequency of the RF signal or the frequency of the transmitted or received signal. The modem 702 and / or processor 734 can adjust the frequencies of the local oscillator A 730 and / or the local oscillator B 732 to produce the desired IF and / or RF frequencies and use them to facilitate the processing and transmission of signals within the desired bandwidth.

[0104] In the illustrated architecture 700, the signal up-converted by the second mixer 708 is separated or replicated into multiple signals by the splitter 710. The splitter 710 in architecture 700 separates the RF signal into multiple identical or nearly identical RF signals, as indicated by their presence in block 728. In other examples, separation can occur with any other type of signal, including baseband digital signals, baseband analog signals, or IF analog signals. Each of these signals may correspond to an antenna element 720, and the signal propagates through amplifiers 712, 716, phase shifter 714, and / or other elements corresponding to the respective antenna element 720, and is processed by amplifiers 712, 716, phase shifter 714, and / or other elements corresponding to the respective antenna element 720 to provide to the respective antenna element 720 of the antenna array 718 and be transmitted by the respective antenna element 720. In one example, splitter 710 may be an active splitter connected to a power supply and providing a certain gain, such that the RF signal leaving splitter 710 is at a power level equal to or greater than that of the signal entering splitter 710. In another example, splitter 710 may be a passive splitter not connected to a power supply, and the RF signal leaving splitter 710 may be at a lower power level than that of the RF signal entering splitter 710.

[0105] After being separated by splitter 710, the resulting RF signal can enter an amplifier (such as first amplifier 712) or a phase shifter 714 corresponding to antenna element 720. First amplifier 712 and second amplifier 716 are shown with dashed lines because one or both may not be necessary in some implementations. In one implementation, both first amplifier 712 and second amplifier 716 are present. In another implementation, neither first amplifier 712 nor second amplifier 716 is present. In other implementations, one of the two amplifiers 712, 716 is present, but the other is absent. For example, if splitter 710 is an active splitter, first amplifier 712 may not be used. As a further example, if phase shifter 714 is an active phase shifter that can provide gain, second amplifier 716 may not be used. Amplifiers 712 and 716 can provide desired positive or negative gain levels. Positive gain (positive dB) can be used to increase the amplitude of the signal for radiation by a specific antenna element 720. Negative gain (negative dB) can be used to reduce the amplitude of a signal from a particular antenna and / or suppress its radiation. Each of the amplifiers 712, 716 can be controlled independently (e.g., via modem 702 or processor 734) to provide independent control over the gain of each antenna element 720. For example, modem 702 and / or processor 734 may have at least one control line connected to each of splitter 710, first amplifier 712, phase shifter 714, and / or second amplifier 716, which can be used to configure the gain to provide the desired amount of gain for each component and therefore each antenna element 720.

[0106] Phase shifter 714 can provide a configurable phase shift or phase offset to the corresponding RF signal to be transmitted. Phase shifter 714 can be a passive phase shifter that is not directly connected to a power supply. Passive phase shifters may introduce some insertion loss. Second amplifier 716 can boost the signal to compensate for the insertion loss. Phase shifter 714 can also be an active phase shifter connected to a power supply, such that an active phase shifter provides a certain amount of gain or prevents insertion loss. Each phase shifter 714 is configured independently, meaning that each phase shifter can be set to provide a desired number of phase shifts, the same number of phase shifts, or some other configuration. Modem 702 and / or processor 734 may have at least one control line connected to each phase shifter 714, and the control line can be used to configure phase shifter 714 to provide a desired number of phase shifts or phase offsets between antenna elements 720.

[0107] In the illustrated architecture 700, the RF signal received by antenna element 720 is provided to one or more first amplifiers in first amplifier 756 to enhance the signal strength. First amplifier 756 may be connected to the same antenna array 718 (e.g., for TDD operation). First amplifier 756 may be connected to different antenna arrays 718. The enhanced RF signal is input to one or more phase shifters in phase shifters 754 to provide a configurable phase shift or phase offset for the corresponding received RF signal. Phase shifters 754 may be active or passive phase shifters. The configuration of phase shifters 754 is independent, meaning that each phase shifter can be configured to provide a desired number of phase shifts, the same number of phase shifts, or some other configuration. Modem 702 and / or processor 734 may have at least one control line connected to each phase shifter 754, and the control line can be used to configure phase shifters 754 to provide a desired number of phase shifts or phase offsets between antenna elements 720.

[0108] The output of phase shifter 754 can be input to one or more second amplifiers 752 to amplify the phase-shifted received RF signal. Second amplifiers 752 can be individually configured to provide a configured amount of gain. Second amplifiers 752 can be individually configured to provide a certain amount of gain to ensure that the signals input to combiner 750 have the same amplitude. Amplifiers 752 and / or 756 are shown in dashed lines because they may not be necessary in some implementations. In one implementation, both amplifiers 752 and 756 are present. In another implementation, neither amplifier 752 nor amplifier 756 is present. In still other implementations, one of amplifiers 752 and 756 is present, but the other is absent.

[0109] In the illustrated architecture 700, the signal output from phase shifter 754 (via amplifier 752 if present) is combined in combiner 750. Combiner 750 in the architecture combines RF signals into a single signal, as indicated by its presence in block 728. Combiner 750 can be a passive combiner (e.g., not connected to a power supply), which may result in some insertion loss. Combiner 750 can also be an active combiner, for example, connected to a power supply, which may result in some signal gain. When combiner 750 is an active combiner, it can provide a different (e.g., configurable) amount of gain for each input signal, such that the input signals have the same amplitude when combined. When combiner 750 is an active combiner, because the active combiner can provide signal amplification, a second amplifier 752 may not be necessary.

[0110] The output of combiner 750 is fed into mixers 748 and 746. Mixers 748 and 746 typically use inputs from local oscillators 772 and 770, respectively, to down-convert the received RF signal to create an intermediate or baseband signal carrying encoded and modulated information. The outputs of mixers 748 and 746 are fed into an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 744 to convert the signal into an analog signal. The analog signal output from ADC 744 is fed into modem 702 for baseband processing (e.g., decoding, deinterleaving, etc.).

[0111] Architecture 700 is given by way of example only to illustrate an architecture for transmitting and / or receiving signals. It will be understood that architecture 700 and / or each part of architecture 700 can be repeated multiple times within the architecture to accommodate or provide any number of RF chains, antenna elements, and / or antenna panels. Furthermore, many alternative architectures are possible and contemplated. For example, while only a single antenna array 718 is shown, two, three, or more antenna arrays may be included, each having its own corresponding amplifier, phase shifter, splitter, mixer, DAC, ADC, and / or modem, one or more of these. For example, a single UE may include two, four, or more antenna arrays for transmitting or receiving signals at different physical locations on the UE or in different directions. Furthermore, in different implemented architectures, mixers, splitters, amplifiers, phase shifters, and other components may be located in different signal type regions (e.g., different boxes 722, 724, 726, 728). For example, in different examples, the signal to be transmitted may be split into multiple signals at analog RF, analog IF, analog baseband, or digital baseband frequencies. Similarly, amplification and / or phase shifting can also occur at different frequencies. For example, in some anticipated implementations, one or more of the splitter 710, amplifiers 712, 716, or phase shifter 714 can be located between DAC 704 and the first mixer 706, or between the first mixer 706 and the second mixer 708. In one example, the functionality of one or more of these components can be combined into a single component. For example, phase shifter 714 can perform amplification to include or replace the first amplifier 712 and / or the second amplifier 716. As another example, phase shifting can be implemented by the second mixer 708 to eliminate the need for a separate phase shifter 714. This technique is sometimes referred to as local oscillator (LO) phase shifting. In one implementation of this configuration, multiple IF-to-RF mixers can exist within the second mixer 708 (e.g., for each antenna element chain), and local oscillator B 732 will provide a different local oscillator signal (with different phase shifts) to each IF-to-RF mixer.

[0112] Modem 702 and / or processor 734 can control one or more of other components 704-772 to select one or more antenna elements 720 and / or form a beam for transmitting one or more signals. For example, antenna element 720 can be individually selected or deselected to transmit signals (or signals) by controlling the amplitude of one or more corresponding amplifiers (such as first amplifier 712 and / or second amplifier 716). Beamforming involves using multiple signals on different antenna elements to generate a beam, wherein one or more of the signals are phase-shifted relative to each other. The formed beam can carry physical or higher-level reference signals or information. When each of the multiple signals is radiated from the corresponding antenna element 720, the radiated signals interact, interfere (constructive and destructive interference), and amplify each other to form the resulting beam. Shape (such as amplitude, width and / or the presence of sidelobes) and orientation (such as the angle of the beam relative to the surface of the antenna array 718) can be dynamically controlled by modifying the phase shift or phase offset given by the phase shifter 714 and the amplitude given by the amplifiers 712, 716 of multiple signals relative to each other.

[0113] When architecture 700 is configured as a receiving device, processor 734 can send a first beam measurement report to a first wireless device, the first beam measurement report indicating a first set of beam measurements for a wireless channel between the first and second wireless devices. Processor 734 can receive from the first wireless device a cluster validity metric for at least one beam in the first beam measurement report. Processor 734 can send a second beam measurement report to the first wireless device, at least in part, based on the cluster validity metric, the second beam measurement report indicating a second set of beam measurements for the wireless channel, as discussed herein. When architecture 700 is configured as a transmitting device, processor 734 can receive the first beam measurement report from the second wireless device, the first beam measurement report indicating a first set of beam measurements for a wireless channel between the first and second wireless devices. Processor 734 can send a cluster validity metric for at least one beam in the first beam measurement report to the second wireless device. Processor 734 can receive from the second wireless device, in response to sending the cluster validity metric, a second beam measurement report indicating a second set of beam measurements for the wireless channel. As discussed herein, processor 734 may select the beam for transmission to the second wireless device based at least in part on the first beam measurement report and the second beam measurement report. Processor 734 may be located partially or wholly within one or more other components of architecture 700. For example, in at least one embodiment, processor 734 may be located within modem 702.

[0114] In various aspects, this disclosure provides UE-assisted beamforming with reduced PMI reporting payload. In some examples, by employing aspects of the currently disclosed UE-assisted beamforming, wireless communication networks can achieve the improved beamforming gain and performance provided by conventional beamforming without suffering the same losses in spectral efficiency and cell coverage caused by conventional beamforming.

[0115] In time-varying channels, wireless transmission signals can traverse a path from the transmitting node to the receiving node. For example, a DL signal can traverse a path from the gNB to the UE. In a multipath propagation channel, this path can be considered to consist of multiple subpaths. Here, subpaths correspond to clusters of adjacent scatterers. Since the set of scatterers in each cluster is adjacent to each other, they have similar angle of departure (AoD) values. In time-varying channels, the most important subpath may change over time. For example, in... Figure 8 In the diagram, base station 802 is shown transmitting multiple narrow DL beams 804 (which may be generated using, for example, a Type 1 codebook). The narrow DL beams 804 comprise a potential set of the most important subpaths for a given UE (not shown) within a given time period, which is the highlighted beam 806. For example, in... Figure 4A As shown in -B, the UE can be a fast-moving UE. Therefore, according to one aspect of this disclosure, for such a time-varying channel, the gNB 850 can provide a wide beam 852 (e.g., the direction of the coverage beam 806) covering all sub-paths of a given path, instead of applying a narrow beam corresponding to a single sub-path among the sub-paths of the given path. In this way, the gNB 850 can provide more reliable beamforming gain and more robust performance. The wide beam 852 has a beam direction 856 and a beamwidth 858.

[0116] For example, in one aspect of this disclosure, the UE can report a wide beam based on direction and corresponding beamwidth (e.g., angular width or angular span). Here, the UE can represent the beam direction by utilizing codewords based on the conventional Type 1 codebook described above or any other suitable pre-coding codebook. Furthermore, the UE can represent the beamwidth based on multiple indices (e.g., a set corresponding to consecutive or adjacent narrow beam indices). For example, the UE can report wide beam parameters by indicating the number of narrow beams centered on an identified narrow beam. Therefore, the UE can generate a PMI report indicating a wide beam that includes only a single codeword (or a set of codewords corresponding to a single narrow beam).

[0117] In another example, the UE can report such beam direction and beamwidth for multiple wide beams. For example, as described in some aspects of this disclosure, beam widening can be employed across multiple MIMO layers, where wide beam reporting information corresponds to each respective layer.

[0118] In some examples, the UE may utilize a one-step CSI reporting procedure to provide a CSI report as disclosed herein. Here, the UE may send a CSI report that includes wide beam parameters for a set of one or more beams, and also includes CQI / PMI / RI information.

[0119] In other examples, the UE can utilize a two-step CSI reporting procedure to provide a CSI report as disclosed herein. Here, the UE can send a first CSI report including wide-beam parameters for a set of one or more beams. Based on this report, the gNB can generate a wide beam and send a reference signal (e.g., CSI-RS) precoded by that wide beam. The UE can then determine CQI / PMI / RI information based on the wide beam and report it in a second CSI report.

[0120] Figure 9 This is a call flow diagram illustrating an exemplary call flow for UE-assisted beamwidth according to some aspects of this disclosure. As described below, in certain implementations within the scope of this disclosure, some or all of the shown features may be omitted, and some shown features may not be required for all implementations. In various examples, the call flow can... Figure 5 The scheduling entity 500 shown is... Figure 6 The operation is performed between the scheduled entities 600 shown. In some examples, UE 902 may correspond to scheduled entity 600, and gNB 904 may correspond to scheduling entity 500. Furthermore, one or both of UE 902 and / or gNB 904 may include circuitry and components of architecture 700.

[0121] As shown, it can be assumed that a link has been established between UE 902 and gNB 904 in the wireless communication network, such that the corresponding entities are configured to enable them to communicate via the wireless air interface (e.g., as described above). Figure 1 , 2 3, 4A and / or Figure 4B The gNB 904 can send a CSI report configuration message 906 to the UE 902 at any appropriate time. Using this message, the gNB 902 can configure the UE 902 to generate and send CSIs based on UE-assisted beamwidth as disclosed herein.

[0122] In some examples, gNB 904 can determine whether a CSI report for a given UE 902 should correspond to a narrow beam or a wide beam. For example, gNB 904 can determine the mobility state of UE 902. The mobility state can correspond to a choice between moving or stationary, and / or can be based on the speed or rate of UE 902. gNB 904 can determine the mobility state of the UE in any suitable manner, including but not limited to: receiving a UE report indicating its mobility state, estimating the UE's mobility state based on measurements of appropriate reference signals (e.g., SRS) transmitted by the UE, etc. Therefore, if UE 902 has a determined slow-moving or stationary mobility state, gNB 904 can configure UE 902 to generate and transmit a CSI report corresponding to a narrow beam. And, if UE 902 has a determined fast-moving mobility state (e.g., faster than an appropriate threshold), gNB 904 can configure UE 902 to generate and transmit a CSI report corresponding to a wide beam, as discussed herein.

[0123] In other examples, UE 902 may determine whether to send a CSI report corresponding to a narrow beam or a wide beam. For example, as described above, UE 902 may determine its own mobility state and configure its CSI report accordingly. In such an example where the UE can decide between reporting narrow or wide beam parameters, the CSI report configuration message 906 may include information elements to enable UE 902 to make that decision, and / or information to configure the UE's decision-making process.

[0124] Therefore, in various examples, gNB 904 can request UE 902 to report a given number of beam directions and the corresponding angular width for each beam direction. gNB 904 can provide this CSI report configuration message 906 in any suitable format and on any suitable channel. Some examples include gNB 904 sending the CSI report configuration message 906 via RRC signaling, via MAC-CE, via DCI, or some combination thereof.

[0125] Based on CSI report configuration message 906 and / or some other signaling or instruction, UE 902 can monitor a set of DL resources for a reference signal. According to one aspect of this disclosure, UE 902 can receive a reference signal 908 from gNB 904. In some examples, reference signal 908 can be a CSI-RS. In some examples, reference signal 908 can be an uncoded CSI-RS or a non-precoded CSI-RS. In some examples, reference signal 908 can include multiple non-precoded CSI-RS. For example, a multi-antenna gNB 904 configured for beamforming can transmit non-precoded CSI-RS on different resources from each corresponding antenna element. That is, gNB 904 can transmit each such CSI-RS using only one antenna or antenna element. UE 902 can be accordingly configured to receive and demultiplex such a set of CSI-RS and identify the gNB antenna corresponding to each CSI-RS. For example, UE 902 may determine the correspondence between a given CSI-RS and an antenna based on an antenna index that is explicitly signaled, an implicit antenna index that corresponds to the transmission resource index occupied by each corresponding CSI-RS, or in any other suitable manner.

[0126] At block 910, UE 902 can determine or select a set of one or more beam directions and the angular width of the corresponding beams based on reference signal 908. For example, for the selected beams, UE 902 can determine appropriate channel characteristics (such as a non-precoded channel matrix) based on reference signal 908 (e.g., a set of non-precoded CSI-RS). UE 902 can further calculate parameters corresponding to the beam directions and widths. For example, UE 902 can determine or select a suitable or optimal set or cluster of narrow beams based on the non-precoded channel matrix. UE 902 can accordingly select codewords from a codebook that maps codewords to the narrow beam set (or select a subset of two or more codewords from the codebook that maps codewords to the narrow beam set), the selected codewords (or subsets of codewords) corresponding to a beam in the narrow beam set or cluster (e.g., the center beam in the narrow beam set or cluster). UE 902 can also determine the angular width of the selected beam based on the number of narrow beams in the selected set / cluster.

[0127] As described above, UE 902 can perform the procedure described here corresponding to block 910 to select any appropriate number of beams corresponding to different MIMO layers.

[0128] UE 902 can then generate and send a report identifying the selected beams or beams (e.g., CSI report message 912) by indicating the direction and angular width of each selected beam. Here, CSI report message 912 may include at least one of CQI, PMI, and / or RI. In some examples, for instance, where UE 902 is configured to determine whether to report narrow or wide beam parameters based, for example, on its own mobility state, UE 902 may further send a flag or other appropriate information element to indicate whether the associated CSI report message 912 indicates narrow or wide beam parameters.

[0129] In some aspects, UE 902 can report wide beam in CSI report message 912 by providing a PMI that includes information identifying codewords from an appropriate narrow beam codebook. In some examples, the narrow beam codebook may correspond to a Type 1 codebook as described above. Here, the selected codeword may represent, indicate, or correspond to the beam direction of the selected wide beam. Furthermore, the PMI may include two beamwidth values ​​corresponding to the horizontal beam component and the vertical beam component, respectively. For example, the vertical beam component may correspond to parameter B1, while the horizontal beam component may correspond to parameter B2. Therefore, the wide beam configured according to CSI report message 912 can cover the codewords corresponding to the vertical beam component {mod(i1+b1,N1O1)} and the horizontal beam component {mod(i2+b2,N2O2)}, where i1 is the beam index of the central narrow vertical beam (e.g., indicating its beam direction), i2 is the beam index of the central narrow horizontal beam (e.g., indicating its beam direction), and b1 = {-B1,…,B1}, b2 = {-B2,…,B2}. In this way, by reporting the beam direction and width values ​​(i1,i2,B1,B2), compared to reporting a single codeword index (i1-B1,…,i1+B1,i2-B2,…,i2+B2) (i.e., reporting all beams one by one), UE 902 can significantly reduce the payload of CSI report message 912.

[0130] The UE can indicate the beam direction of the selected wide beam in a variety of ways. In some examples, as noted, the UE can use selected codewords from a codebook (e.g., a Type 1 codebook) to represent, indicate, or correspond to the direction of the selected wide beam. For example, i1 and i2 can represent the direction of the vertical beam component and the direction of the horizontal beam component, respectively, and each can be indicated by the codeword index of the oversampled discrete Fourier transform (DFT) matrix. For example, i1 and i2 can be indicated by the following equations (1) and (2):

[0131]

[0132] Where m = 0, ..., O1N1-1, and n = 0, ..., O2N2-1. In this option, the PMI report from the UE can include... Use 1 bit to represent i1, and include ... Each bit represents i2, where N1, N2, O1, and O2 can be configured in advance for the UE.

[0133] In some examples, the direction of the selected wide beam can be represented as a combination of a set of codewords from the oversampled DFT matrix (e.g., a subset of two or more codewords from the codebook). For example, i1 and i2 can be indicated by the following equations (3) and (4):

[0134]

[0135] Among them, w m and w n As defined in equations (1) and (2) above, α m and β n Quantization is performed using a certain number of bits (e.g., Q bits), where L1 represents the number of codewords combined to indicate the vertical direction, and L2 represents the number of codewords combined to indicate the horizontal direction. In this option, the PMI report from the UE may include... L1 bits are used to represent the selection of codewords used to indicate the direction of the vertical beam component; including Q bits are used to represent the selection of L2 codewords for indicating the direction of the horizontal beam component; and Q(L1+L2) bits are used to represent the combined weights.

[0136] In another aspect of this disclosure, the CSI report message 912 may include information for identifying multiple wide beams corresponding to multiple MIMO layers. Here, if UE 902 reports wide beams for multiple layers, UE 902 can do so by reporting the direction value (i) of each corresponding beam. 1,l ,i 2,l ) and beamwidth value B 1,l and B 2,l For each layer l, report such a wide beam.

[0137] When identifying multiple wide beams corresponding to multiple MIMO layers, the beam directions of the multiple wide beams can be indicated in various ways. In some examples, each layer operates independently, and the direction of the wide beam for each layer is indicated without sharing identification information across layers. For example, for each layer, the direction of the wide beam can be represented by i1 and i2 as defined by equations (1) and (2) above, respectively. In these examples, the PMI report from the UE may include Each bit is used to indicate i1 and i2. Alternatively, for each layer, the direction of the wide beam can be represented by i1 and i2 as defined by equations (3) and (4) above, respectively. In these examples, the PMI report from the UE may include Each bit is used to indicate i1 and i2.

[0138] In other examples, multiple (L) layers operate jointly, and the direction of the wide beam for each layer is indicated using shared identification information across the L layers. For example, the direction of a wide beam for each of the L layers can be represented by the same values ​​of i1 and i2 as defined by equations (3) and (4) above, respectively. Therefore, the determined values ​​of i1 and i2 are shared by multiple layers. In these examples, the PMI report from the UE may include L1 bits are used to represent the selection of the L1 codewords for the direction of the vertical beam component, and include L2 bits are used to represent the selection of L2 codewords for the direction of the horizontal beam component, and these selected codewords can be used in each layer of L. In addition, for each layer of L, the set of combined weights for each selected codeword can be reported, and LQ(L1+L2) bits are added to the PMI report to represent the combined weights.

[0139] Based on CSI report message 912, at box 914, gNB 904 can generate one or more beams (e.g., wide beams). For example, gNB 904 can determine the precoding matrix to be applied to the transmission to UE 902 based on the codewords and angular width in CSI report message 912. In another example, gNB 904 can determine the precoding matrix corresponding to the narrow beam by applying the codewords in CSI report message 912 to the precoding matrix index. gNB 904 can also determine the modified precoding matrix parameters for the wide beam based on the angular width in CSI report message 912. For example, gNB can determine a modified precoding matrix with a sufficient angular width to cover multiple narrow beams corresponding to the parameters indicating the number of narrow beams in CSI report message 912.

[0140] gNB 904 can then use the generated beam (e.g., one or more wide beams) to send DL data 916 to UE 902.

[0141] Figure 10This is a call flow diagram illustrating an exemplary call flow for UE-assisted beamwidth using a two-step CSI report, according to another aspect of this disclosure. As described below, in certain implementations within the scope of this disclosure, some or all of the shown features may be omitted, and some shown features may not be required for all implementations. In various examples, the call flow may... Figure 5 The scheduling entity 500 shown is... Figure 6 The operation is performed between the scheduled entities 600 shown. In some examples, UE 1002 may correspond to the scheduled entity 600, and gNB 1004 may correspond to the scheduling entity 500. Furthermore, one or both of UE 1002 and / or gNB 1004 may include circuitry and components of architecture 700.

[0142] Figure 10 The call flow shown is consistent with the description above and in Figure 9 The call flow shown in the diagram begins similarly. For example, CSI report configuration message 1006, CSI-RS 1008, and UE determination of wide beam parameters 1010 can correspond to the above-described... Figure 9 The message / process described in 906-910.

[0143] Here, similar to the message / procedure described above regarding CSI report information 912, UE 1002 can send CSI report message 1012, identifying the selected beam by indicating the direction and angular width of each selected beam. In response, gNB 1004 can configure the DL wide beam based on CSI report information 1012 and can send one or more reference signals (e.g., CSI-RS) 1016 pre-coded to correspond to the reported wide beam. At block 1018, UE 1002 can receive reference signal 1016 and determine one or more appropriate channel characteristics / parameters corresponding to the wide beam. Therefore, the UE can send a second or subsequent report (e.g., CSI report 1020) including CSI information (e.g., CQI, RI, and / or PMI) based on the received reference signal beamformed by the wide beam. Using this CSI information, at block 1022, gNB 1004 can determine one or more parameters for DL ​​transmission to UE 1002 using the wide beam. For example, gNB 1004 can determine the transmission format of PDSCH, including one or more of the following: number of layers, precoding matrix, modulation and coding scheme. gNB 1004 can then use the configured wide beam to transmit DL PDSCH 1024.

[0144] Figure 11This is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process 1100 for UE-assisted beamwidth according to some aspects of this disclosure. As described below, in certain implementations within the scope of this disclosure, some or all of the shown features may be omitted, and some shown features may not be required for all implementations. In some examples, process 1100 may be performed by, for example... Figure 6 The scheduled entity 600 shown in the figure and / or by Figure 7 The processor 734 and architecture 700 shown herein are used for execution. In some examples, process 1100 may be executed by any suitable means or unit for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0145] At box 1102, the UE can receive a reference signal on DL resources. For example, transceiver 610 of architecture 700 can monitor the DL resource set for the reference signal and can receive RS transmissions from a base station or gNB. In some examples, the reference signal can be CSI-RS. For example, as reference Figure 9 and Figure 10 The UE discussed (e.g., UE 902 or 1002) can receive CSI-RS 908 or 1008 from base station 904.

[0146] At block 1106, the UE can select a beam (e.g., a wide beam) corresponding to one or more directional beams (e.g., a narrow beam) based on channel characteristics based on a reference signal. In some examples, the UE can determine a set of one or more channel characteristics based on a reference signal. For example, the channel characteristics circuitry 642 at the scheduled entity 600 can determine a set of one or more appropriate channel characteristics (e.g., a non-precoded channel matrix) based on the received reference signal (e.g., a set of non-precoded CSI-RS). For example, as reference... Figure 9 and Figure 10 The UE discussed (e.g., UE 902 or 1002) may determine one or more channel characteristics based on the received CSI-RS as part of boxes 910 and 1010.

[0147] Then, the beam selection and identification circuitry 644 at the scheduled entity 600 can determine or select a set of one or more beam directions and the angular width of the corresponding beams based on a determined set of one or more channel characteristics. For example, the UE can determine or select an appropriate or optimal set or cluster of narrow beams based on a non-precoded channel matrix. The UE can accordingly select codewords from a codebook that maps codewords to narrow beam sets, the selected codewords corresponding to a beam in the narrow beam set or cluster (e.g., the center beam in the narrow beam set or cluster). In some examples, the UE can select multiple codewords from the codebook that maps codewords to narrow beam sets, the combination of selected codewords corresponding to a combination of narrow beam sets or clusters (e.g., and representing the direction generated by the combination of narrow beam sets or clusters). The UE can also determine the angular width of the selected beam based on the number of narrow beams in the selected set / cluster.

[0148] In some examples, within block 1106, the UE (e.g., beam selection and identification circuitry 644) can identify the selected (wide) beam based on the directional component and the angular width component, as described above regarding... Figure 9 and Figure 10 As described in boxes 910 and 1010 above. Figure 9 and Figure 10 As described in boxes 910 and 1010, the directional component can be indicated in a variety of ways. For example, the directional component can be indicated based on codewords from a codebook (e.g., a Type 1 codebook) having a vertical beam component (i1) and a horizontal beam component (i2). In these examples, components i1 and i2 can be defined by equations (1) and (2) above. In some examples, the directional component of the selected (wide) beam is indicated by a combination of multiple codewords from a codebook (e.g., a Type 2 codebook), and the combination of multiple codewords has a vertical beam component (i1) and a horizontal beam component (i2). In these examples, components i1 and i2 can be defined by equations (3) and (4) above. Also as described above, the angular width component can be indicated by beamwidth values ​​B1 and B2, where beamwidth value B1 is used for the vertical beam component and beamwidth value B2 is used for the horizontal beam component.

[0149] At box 1108, the UE can transmit a report (e.g., a CSI report) indicating the selected beam direction and the selected beam angular width. For example, transceiver 610 at the scheduled entity 600 can transmit a UL message including an appropriate report. Here, the CSI report message can include at least one of CQI, PMI, and / or RI. In some examples, the direction can be indicated by directional components i1 and i2, and the angular width can be indicated by beamwidth values ​​B1 and B2.

[0150] Figure 12 This is a flowchart illustrating an example process 1200 for UE-assisted beamwidth according to some aspects of this disclosure. As described below, in certain implementations within the scope of this disclosure, some or all of the shown features may be omitted, and some shown features may not be required for all implementations. In some examples, process 1200 may be performed by, for example... Figure 6 The scheduled entity 600 shown in the figure and / or by Figure 7 The processor 734 and architecture 700 shown herein are used for execution. In some examples, process 1200 may be executed by any suitable means or unit for performing the functions or algorithms described below.

[0151] At box 1202, the UE may receive a CSI report configuration message, which may include information for configuring the UE to generate and transmit CSI reports based on UE-assisted beamwidth as disclosed herein. For example, transceiver 610 at scheduled entity 600 may receive a DL message including CSI report configuration information. Using this message, the gNB may configure the UE to generate and transmit CSI reports based on UE-assisted beamwidth as disclosed herein.

[0152] At box 1204, the UE can monitor the DL resource set against a reference signal and therefore can receive the reference signal on the monitored DL resources. For example, transceiver 610 of architecture 700 can monitor the DL resource set against the reference signal and can receive RS transmissions from a base station or gNB. In some examples, the reference signal can be CSI-RS. For example, as per [reference to...] Figure 9 and Figure 10 The UE discussed (e.g., UE 902 or 1002) can receive CSI-RS 908 and 1008 from base station 904.

[0153] At box 1206, the UE can determine appropriate channel characteristics (e.g., a non-precoded channel matrix) based on reference signals. For example, the channel characteristics circuitry 642 at the scheduled entity 600 can determine one or more appropriate sets of channel characteristics (e.g., a non-precoded channel matrix) based on received reference signals (e.g., a set of non-precoded CSI-RS). For example, as per [reference to...] Figure 9 and Figure 10 The UE discussed (e.g., UE 902 or 1002) may determine one or more channel characteristics based on the received CSI-RS as part of boxes 910 and 1010.

[0154] At block 1208, the UE can determine whether to employ beamwidth based on various aspects of this disclosure. Here, in some examples, the processor 604 at the scheduled entity 600 can determine whether to employ beamwidth based on instructions received from the base station or gNB (e.g., in the CSI report configuration message received at block 1202). In other examples, the mobility state determination circuit 646 at the scheduled entity 600 can determine whether to employ beamwidth based on the UE's mobility state. In any case, if the UE determines not to employ beamwidth, the process can continue to block 1210. Here, the UE can select and report one or more narrow beams based on channel characteristics.

[0155] At block 1212, the UE can select a wide beam corresponding to one or more directional beams (e.g., narrow beams) based on determined channel characteristics. For example, the UE can determine or select an appropriate or optimal set or cluster of narrow beams based on a non-precoded channel matrix. For example, the beam selection and identification circuit 644 at the scheduled entity 600 can determine or select a set of one or more beam directions and the angular width of the corresponding beams based on a determined set of one or more channel characteristics. For example, the UE can determine or select an appropriate or optimal set or cluster of narrow beams based on a non-precoded channel matrix.

[0156] At box 1214, the UE can determine or select the directional component of the wide beam. For example, as mentioned above... Figure 9 and Figure 10 As described in boxes 910 and 1010, the directional component of a wide beam can be indicated in a variety of ways. For example, the directional component can be indicated based on a codeword from a codebook (e.g., a Type 1 codebook) having a vertical beam component (i1) and a horizontal beam component (i2). The UE can select a codeword (first codeword) corresponding to the selected (wide) beam from a codebook that maps codewords to narrow beams. Here, the beam selection and identification circuit 644 at the scheduled entity 600 can select a codeword corresponding to a beam in a narrow beam set or cluster (e.g., the center beam in the narrow beam set or cluster). In some examples, the narrow beam codebook can correspond to the Type 1 codebook described above. Here, the selected codeword can represent, indicate, or correspond to the beam direction of the selected wide beam. In these examples, the beam selection and identification circuit 644 can determine components i1 and i2 using equations (1) and (2) described above.

[0157] In some examples, the directional component of the selected (wide) beam is indicated by a combination of multiple codewords from a codebook (e.g., a Type 2 codebook), and the combination of multiple codewords has a vertical beam component (i1) and a horizontal beam component (i2). Here, the beam selection and identification circuit 644 at the scheduled entity 600 can select codewords corresponding to a set or cluster of narrow beams and combine these codewords. In these examples, the beam selection and identification circuit 644 can determine components i1 and i2 using equations (3) and (4) above.

[0158] At box 1216, the UE can determine or select the angular width of the selected beam to cover one or more directional beams (e.g., narrow beams) (e.g., based on the number of narrow beams in the selected set / cluster). Here, the beam selection and identification circuitry 644 at the scheduled entity 600 can determine or select an appropriate or optimal set or cluster of narrow beams based on a non-precoded channel matrix. The UE can also determine the angular width of the selected beam based on the number of narrow beams in the selected set / cluster. In some examples, the UE can determine two beamwidth values ​​(e.g., B1 and B2) corresponding to the horizontal and vertical beam components, respectively.

[0159] At block 1218, the UE can determine whether to select a beam for another MIMO layer. That is, the UE can perform the procedures described here corresponding to blocks 1212, 1214 and 1216 to select any appropriate number of beams corresponding to different MIMO layers (e.g., for L layers).

[0160] At box 1220, the UE can generate and transmit a CSI report identifying the selected beam. For example, transceiver 610 at the scheduled entity 600 can transmit a UL message including an appropriate report. Here, the CSI report may include codewords indicating the direction of each selected beam. In cases where the beam direction is indicated by a combination of multiple codewords, the CSI report may include L1 codewords indicating the vertical beam component and L2 codewords indicating the horizontal beam component. Furthermore, to indicate the angular width of the selected beam, the CSI report may further include: a first parameter and a second parameter corresponding to the horizontal and vertical components of each beam in the selected beam, respectively; or information regarding the number of directional beams included in one or more directional beams for each of the selected (wide) beams. In some examples, the CSI report may also include at least one of CQI, PMI, and / or RI. In some examples, each of the selected (wide) beams can be identified in the CSI report by directional components i1 and i2 (e.g., as defined by equations (1) and (2) or equations (3) and (4), and the angular width can be indicated by beamwidth values ​​B1 and B2. In some examples (e.g., where the UE is configured to select between wide and narrow beams based on the UE's mobility state), the CSI report may also include an indication of whether the selected beam is a wide or narrow beam.

[0161] Boxes 1222, 1224, and 1226 are optional and correspond to examples employing a two-step CSI report, such as those described above. Figure 10 As shown in the diagram. At block 1222, the UE can receive a second reference signal over a DL transmission configured according to the CSI report in block 1220. For example, transceiver 610 of architecture 700 can monitor the DL resource set for the reference signal and can receive RS transmissions from a base station or gNB. In some examples, the second reference signal may be CSI-RS.

[0162] At block 1224, the UE may determine a second channel characteristic and / or channel parameters based on a second reference signal. For example, the channel characteristic circuitry 642 at the scheduled entity 600 may determine a set of one or more appropriate channel characteristics (e.g., a channel matrix) based on the received reference signal (e.g., a CSI-RS set).

[0163] Furthermore, at box 1226, the UE may send a second CSI report, including one or more of CQI, PMI, and / or RI, based on the second channel characteristics. For example, transceiver 610 at the scheduled entity 600 may send a UL message including an appropriate report. In some examples, the second CSI report may include at least one of CQI, PMI, and / or RI.

[0164] Other examples with various characteristics:

[0165] Example 1: A method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium for UE operation in a cell utilizing downlink beamforming comprising multiple directional beams. The UE receives a first reference signal on downlink resources. The UE selects a beam corresponding to one or more of the multiple directional beams based on a set of one or more channel characteristics based on the reference signal. The UE also transmits a report identifying the selected beam by indicating the direction and angular width of the selected beam.

[0166] Example 2: According to the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium of Example 1, the UE further selects a first codeword corresponding to the selected beam from a codebook that maps multiple codewords to multiple directional beams. The UE indicates the direction of the selected beam by including the first codeword in the transmitted report.

[0167] Example 3: According to the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium of Example 1, wherein the UE further selects a subset of two or more codewords corresponding to the selected beam from a codebook that maps a plurality of codewords to a plurality of directional beams. The UE indicates the direction of the selected beam by representing the direction as a combination of the subsets of two or more codewords in a transmitted report.

[0168] Example 4: The method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any of Examples 1 to 3, wherein the UE further selects the angular width of the selected beam to cover one or more directional beams among a plurality of directional beams. The UE indicates the angular width of the selected beam by selecting at least one of the following: (i) including in the transmitted report a first parameter corresponding to the horizontal component of the selected beam and a second parameter corresponding to the vertical component of the selected beam, and (ii) indicating the angular width of the selected beam by indicating information about the number of directional beams included in the one or more directional beams.

[0169] Example 5: The method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any of Examples 1 to 4, wherein the UE further selects a plurality of wide beams corresponding to a plurality of layers, the plurality of wide beams including the selected beam. Here, the report also identifies the plurality of wide beams by indicating the respective orientation and respective angular width of the respective beams among the plurality of wide beams.

[0170] Example 6: The method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any of Examples 1 to 5, wherein the UE receives a second reference signal on a downlink transmission configured according to a transmitted report. The UE transmits a second report including at least one of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), or a rank indicator (RI) based on a second set of one or more channel characteristics based on the second reference signal.

[0171] Example 7: The method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any of Examples 1 to 6, wherein the UE receives a report configuration message, the report configuration message including information indicating whether the report to be sent should include one or more of the following: a wide beam corresponding to one or more directional beams; or a narrow beam corresponding to a selected directional beam among a plurality of directional beams.

[0172] Example 8: The method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any of Examples 1 to 7, wherein the UE determines, based on the UE's mobility state, whether the transmitted report should include one or more of the following: a wide beam corresponding to one or more directional beams; or a narrow beam corresponding to a selected directional beam among a plurality of directional beams.

[0173] Example 9: The method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any of Examples 1 to 8, wherein the report includes an indication of whether the selected beam is a wide beam corresponding to one or more directional beams or a narrow beam corresponding to the selected directional beam among a plurality of directional beams.

[0174] Example 10: The method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any of Examples 1 to 9, wherein the report further includes at least one of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), or a rank indicator (RI).

[0175] This disclosure provides some aspects of wireless communication networks with reference to exemplary implementations. As will be readily understood by those skilled in the art, the various aspects described herein can be extended to other telecommunications systems, network architectures, and communication standards.

[0176] For example, these aspects can be implemented in other systems defined by 3GPP, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), Evolved Packet System (EPS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and / or Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). These aspects can also be extended to systems defined by 3GPP2 (3rd Generation Partnership Project 2), such as CDMA2000 and / or Evolved Data Optimized (EV-DO). Other examples can be implemented in systems using IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Ultra Wideband (UWB), Bluetooth, and / or other suitable systems. The actual telecommunications standards, network architecture, and / or communication standards used will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0177] The term "exemplary" is used in this disclosure to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any implementation or aspect described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or superior to other aspects of this disclosure. Similarly, the term "aspects" does not require that all aspects of this disclosure include the features, advantages, or modes of operation discussed. The term "coupling" is used in this disclosure to refer to direct or indirect coupling between two objects. For example, if object A is physically in contact with object B, and object B is in contact with object C, then objects A and C can still be considered coupled to each other, even if they are not in direct physical contact. For example, a first object can be coupled to a second object, even if the first object never has direct physical contact with the second object. The terms "circuit" and "electronic circuit" are used broadly in this disclosure to include both hardware implementations of electronic devices and conductors (which, when connected and configured, perform the functions described in this disclosure, without limiting the type of electronic circuit) and software implementations of information and instructions (which, when executed by a processor, perform the functions described in this disclosure).

[0178] Figure 1-12 One or more of the components, steps, features, and / or functions shown may be rearranged and / or combined into a single component, step, feature, or function, or may be embodied in several components, steps, or functions. Furthermore, additional elements, components, steps, and / or functions may be added without departing from the novel features disclosed herein. Figure 1-12 The apparatuses, devices, and / or components shown may be configured to perform one or more of the methods, features, or steps described herein. The novel algorithms described herein may also be efficiently implemented in software and / or embedded in hardware.

[0179] It is to be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the disclosed methods is merely an example of exemplary processes. It is to be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in these methods may be rearranged according to design preferences. The appended method claims give elements of various steps in an exemplary order and are not intended to limit one to the given specific order or hierarchy unless expressly stated herein.

[0180] The applicant provides this specification to enable those skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be applied to other aspects. Therefore, the applicant does not intend to limit the claims to the aspects shown herein, but rather to impose the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein, unless specifically stated otherwise, the use of the singular to modify a component does not imply "one and only one," but may mean "one or more." Unless otherwise specifically stated, this disclosure uses the term "some" to refer to one or more. The phrase "at least one of" referring to the list of items refers to any combination of these items, including a single member. For example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to cover: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a and b and c. All structural and functional equivalents of components throughout the various aspects described herein that are known or to be known to those skilled in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be covered by the claims. Furthermore, the disclosure herein is not intended to be offered to the public, whether or not such disclosure is expressly recited in the claims.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication operable at a user equipment (UE), the UE being configured to operate in a cell configured for downlink beamforming via a plurality of directional beams, the method comprising: Receive the first reference signal on downlink resources; Based on a set of one or more channel characteristics based on the first reference signal, a beam corresponding to one or more of the plurality of directional beams is selected, wherein the angular width of the beam selected by the UE is greater than the angular width of a single directional beam; and A report identifying the beam selected by the UE is transmitted by indicating the direction and angular width of the selected beam, wherein the direction of the selected beam is indicated based on codewords mapped to a codebook of the plurality of directional beams, and wherein the codewords correspond to the vertical component and the horizontal component of the selected beam.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Select a first codeword corresponding to the selected beam from the codebook that maps multiple codewords to the multiple directional beams; as well as The direction of the selected beam is indicated by including the first codeword in the transmitted report.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: From the codebook that maps multiple codewords to said multiple directional beams, a subset of two or more codewords corresponding to the selected beam is selected, and The direction of the selected beam is indicated by representing the direction as a combination of subsets of the two or more codewords in the transmitted report.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Select the angular width of the selected beam to cover one or more of the plurality of directional beams; as well as The angular width of the selected beam is indicated by selecting at least one of the following: The transmitted report includes a first parameter corresponding to the horizontal component of the selected beam and a second parameter corresponding to the vertical component of the selected beam, and The angular width of the selected beam is indicated by indicating information about the number of directional beams included in the one or more directional beams.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Select multiple wide beams, including the selected beam, corresponding to multiple layers. The report also identifies the selected wide beams by indicating the corresponding direction and angular width of the corresponding beams among the multiple wide beams.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Receive a second reference signal on the downlink transmission configured according to the sent report; as well as Based on a second set of one or more channel characteristics based on the second reference signal, a second report is transmitted including at least one of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), or a rank indicator (RI).

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Receive a report configuration message, which includes information indicating whether the sent report should include one or more of the following: A wide beam corresponding to one or more directional beams; or A narrow beam corresponding to the selected directional beam among the plurality of directional beams.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Based on the UE's mobility status, determine whether the sent report should include one or more of the following: A wide beam corresponding to one or more directional beams; or A narrow beam corresponding to the selected directional beam among the plurality of directional beams.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The report includes an indication of whether the selected beam is a wide beam corresponding to one or more directional beams or a narrow beam corresponding to the selected directional beam among the plurality of directional beams.

10. A user equipment (UE) configured to conduct wireless communication in a cell configured for downlink beamforming via a plurality of directional beams, the UE comprising: A unit for receiving a first reference signal on downlink resources; A unit for selecting a beam corresponding to one or more directional beams from a plurality of directional beams based on a set of one or more channel characteristics based on the first reference signal, wherein the angular width of the beam selected by the UE is greater than the angular width of a single directional beam; and A unit for transmitting a report identifying a beam selected by the UE by indicating the direction and angular width of the selected beam, wherein the direction of the selected beam is indicated based on codewords mapped to a codebook of the plurality of directional beams, and wherein the codewords correspond to the vertical component and the horizontal component of the selected beam.

11. The UE according to claim 10, further comprising: A unit for selecting a first codeword corresponding to a selected beam from the codebook that maps multiple codewords to the multiple directional beams; as well as A unit for indicating the direction of the selected beam by including the first codeword in the transmitted report.

12. The UE according to claim 10, further comprising: A unit for selecting a subset of two or more codewords corresponding to a selected beam from a codebook that maps multiple codewords to said multiple directional beams, and A unit for indicating the direction of a selected beam by representing the direction as a combination of subsets of the two or more codewords in the transmitted report.

13. The UE according to claim 10, further comprising: A unit for selecting the angular width of the selected beam to cover one or more of the plurality of directional beams; as well as A unit for indicating the angular width of the selected beam by selecting at least one of the following: The transmitted report includes a first parameter corresponding to the horizontal component of the selected beam and a second parameter corresponding to the vertical component of the selected beam, and Information indicating the number of directional beams included in the one or more directional beams.

14. The UE according to claim 10, further comprising: Units used to select multiple wide beams, including the selected beam, corresponding to multiple layers. The report also identifies the selected wide beams by indicating the corresponding direction and angular width of the corresponding beams among the multiple wide beams.

15. The UE according to claim 10, further comprising: A unit for receiving a second reference signal on a downlink transmission configured according to a sent report; as well as A unit for transmitting a second report, including at least one of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), or a rank indicator (RI), based on a second set of one or more channel characteristics based on the second reference signal.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code operable at a user equipment (UE), the UE being configured to operate in a cell configured for downlink beamforming via a plurality of directional beams, the computer-executable code including code for causing the UE to perform the following operations: Receive the first reference signal on downlink resources; Based on a set of one or more channel characteristics based on the first reference signal, a beam corresponding to one or more of the plurality of directional beams is selected, wherein, The angular width of the beam selected by the UE is greater than the angular width of a single directional beam; as well as A report identifying the beam selected by the UE is transmitted by indicating the direction and angular width of the selected beam, wherein the direction of the selected beam is indicated based on codewords mapped to a codebook of the plurality of directional beams, and wherein the codewords correspond to the vertical component and the horizontal component of the selected beam.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein, The computer-executable code also includes code for causing the UE to perform the following operations: Select a first codeword corresponding to the selected beam from the codebook that maps multiple codewords to the multiple directional beams; as well as The direction of the selected beam is indicated by including the first codeword in the transmitted report.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein, The computer-executable code also includes code for causing the UE to perform the following operations: From the codebook that maps multiple codewords to said multiple directional beams, a subset of two or more codewords corresponding to the selected beam is selected, and The direction of the selected beam is indicated by representing the direction as a combination of subsets of the two or more codewords in the transmitted report.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein, The computer-executable code also includes code for causing the UE to perform the following operations: Select the angular width of the selected beam to cover one or more of the plurality of directional beams; and The angular width of the selected beam is indicated by selecting at least one of the following: The transmitted report includes a first parameter corresponding to the horizontal component of the selected beam and a second parameter corresponding to the vertical component of the selected beam, and Information indicating the number of directional beams included in the one or more directional beams.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein, The computer-executable code also includes code for causing the UE to perform the following operations: Select multiple wide beams, including the selected beam, corresponding to multiple layers. The report also identifies the selected wide beams by indicating the corresponding direction and angular width of the corresponding beams among the multiple wide beams.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 16, wherein, The computer-executable code also includes code for causing the UE to perform the following operations: Receive a second reference signal on the downlink transmission configured according to the sent report; as well as Based on a second set of one or more channel characteristics based on the second reference signal, a second report is transmitted including at least one of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), or a rank indicator (RI).

22. A user equipment (UE) configured to conduct wireless communication in a cell configured for downlink beamforming via a plurality of directional beams, the UE comprising: processor; A transceiver communicatively coupled to the processor; as well as The memory is communicatively coupled to the processor. The processor and the memory are configured as follows: The first reference signal is received on the downlink resources via the transceiver; Based on a set of one or more channel characteristics based on the first reference signal, a beam corresponding to one or more of the plurality of directional beams is selected, wherein the angular width of the beam selected by the UE is greater than the angular width of a single directional beam; and The transceiver transmits a report identifying the beam selected by the UE by indicating the direction and angular width of the selected beam, wherein the direction of the selected beam is indicated based on codewords mapped to a codebook of the plurality of directional beams, and wherein the codewords correspond to the vertical component and the horizontal component of the selected beam.

23. The UE according to claim 22, wherein, The processor and the memory are further configured to: Select a first codeword corresponding to the selected beam from the codebook that maps multiple codewords to the multiple directional beams; as well as The direction of the selected beam is indicated by including the first codeword in the transmitted report.

24. The UE according to claim 22, wherein, The processor and the memory are further configured to: From the codebook that maps multiple codewords to said multiple directional beams, a subset of two or more codewords corresponding to the selected beam is selected, and The direction of the selected beam is indicated by representing the direction as a combination of subsets of the two or more codewords in the transmitted report.

25. The UE according to claim 22, wherein, The processor and the memory are further configured to: Select the angular width of the selected beam to cover one or more of the plurality of directional beams; and The angular width of the selected beam is indicated by selecting at least one of the following: The transmitted report includes a first parameter corresponding to the horizontal component of the selected beam and a second parameter corresponding to the vertical component of the selected beam, and Information indicating the number of directional beams included in the one or more directional beams.

26. The UE according to claim 22, wherein, The processor and the memory are further configured to: Select multiple wide beams, including the selected beam, corresponding to multiple layers. The report also identifies the selected wide beams by indicating the corresponding direction and angular width of the corresponding beams among the multiple wide beams.

27. The UE according to claim 22, wherein, The processor and the memory are further configured to: The second reference signal is received via the transceiver on a downlink transmission configured according to the transmitted report; as well as The transceiver transmits a second report, including at least one of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), or a rank indicator (RI), based on a second set of one or more channel characteristics based on the second reference signal.

28. The UE according to claim 22, wherein, The processor and the memory are further configured to: The transceiver receives a report configuration message, which includes information indicating whether the transmitted report should include one or more of the following: A wide beam corresponding to one or more directional beams; or A narrow beam corresponding to the selected directional beam among the plurality of directional beams.

29. The UE according to claim 22, wherein, The processor and the memory are further configured to: Based on the UE's mobility status, determine whether the sent report should include one or more of the following: A wide beam corresponding to one or more directional beams; or A narrow beam corresponding to the selected directional beam among the plurality of directional beams.

30. The UE according to claim 22, wherein, The report includes an indication of whether the selected beam is a wide beam corresponding to one or more directional beams or a narrow beam corresponding to the selected directional beam among the plurality of directional beams.

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