Auxiliary beam management between frequency bands

Abstract

Aspects relate to assisted beam management between frequency bands each utilizing spatially directional beams. A user equipment (UE) can be configured to receive a plurality of first transmit beams on each of a plurality of first receive beams in a first frequency band to select at least one first beam pair link in the first frequency band. The UE can then receive a plurality of second transmit beams on each of a plurality of second receive beams in a second frequency band different from the first frequency band to select a second beam pair link in the second frequency band on which to communicate with a transmission and reception point. Each of the second transmit or receive beams has a respective spatial direction within a spatial direction of at least one of the first transmit or receive beams of the first beam pair link.

Description

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This patent application claims priority to pending U.S. non-provisional application no. 16 / 951,696, filed November 18, 2020, which has been assigned to the assignee of this application and is hereby incorporated by reference as fully set forth below and for all purposes of use.

[0003] introduction

[0004] The technologies discussed below generally relate to wireless communication networks, and in particular to beam acquisition and tracking in beam-based communication scenarios.

[0005] In wireless communication systems (such as those specified under the standard for 5G New Radio (NR)), base stations and user equipment (UEs) can utilize beamforming for communication between them. Beamforming is a signal processing technique used in conjunction with antenna arrays for spatially directional signal transmission and / or reception. Beamforming can be used for downlink channels from the base station to the UE and / or uplink channels from the UE to the base station.

[0006] Brief Overview

[0007] The following provides an overview of one or more aspects of this disclosure to provide a basic understanding of these aspects. This overview is not an exhaustive summary of all the features conceived in this disclosure, and is neither intended to identify key or decisive elements of all aspects of this disclosure, nor to define the scope of any or all aspects of this disclosure. Its sole purpose is to provide some concepts of one or more aspects of this disclosure in one form as a prelude to the more detailed description that follows.

[0008] In one example, a method for performing wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network is disclosed. The method includes receiving a plurality of first transmit beams on each of a plurality of first receive beams within a first frequency band. Each of the plurality of first transmit beams and the plurality of first receive beams is a spatially oriented beam. The method further includes selecting at least one first beam pair link, each first beam pair link including a corresponding first transmit beam among the plurality of first transmit beams and a corresponding first receive beam among the plurality of receive beams. Each first transmit beam in the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each first receive beam in the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first uplink spatial direction. The method further includes receiving a plurality of second transmit beams on each of a plurality of second receive beams within a second frequency band different from the first frequency band. Each of the plurality of second transmit beams has a corresponding second downlink spatial direction in at least one direction among the corresponding first downlink spatial directions, and each of the plurality of second receive beams has a corresponding second uplink spatial direction in at least one direction among the corresponding first uplink spatial directions. The method further includes selecting a second beampair link comprising a second transmit beam among a plurality of second transmit beams and a second receive beam among a plurality of third receive beams; and communicating with a transmit and receive point (TRP) using the second beampair link.

[0009] Another example provides a UE configured for wireless communication, comprising a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor and the memory are configured to receive a plurality of first transmit beams on each of a plurality of first receive beams within a first frequency band. Each of the plurality of first transmit beams and the plurality of first receive beams is a spatially oriented beam. The processor and the memory are further configured to select at least one first beam pair link, each first beam pair link including a corresponding first transmit beam of the plurality of first transmit beams and a corresponding first receive beam of the plurality of receive beams. Each first transmit beam of the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each first receive beam of the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first uplink spatial direction. The processor and the memory are further configured to receive a plurality of second transmit beams on each of a plurality of second receive beams within a second frequency band different from the first frequency band. Each of the plurality of second transmit beams has a corresponding second downlink spatial direction in at least one of the corresponding first downlink spatial directions, and each of the plurality of second receive beams has a corresponding second uplink spatial direction in at least one of the corresponding first uplink spatial directions. The processor and the memory can be further configured to select a second beampair link comprising a second transmit beam from the plurality of second transmit beams and a second receive beam from the plurality of third receive beams; and to communicate with a transmit and receive point (TRP) using the second beampair link.

[0010] Another example provides an apparatus configured for wireless communication. The apparatus may include means for receiving a plurality of first transmit beams on each of a plurality of first receive beams within a first frequency band. Each of the plurality of first transmit beams and the plurality of first receive beams is a spatially oriented beam. The apparatus may further include means for selecting at least one first beam pair link, each first beam pair link including a corresponding first transmit beam of the plurality of first transmit beams and a corresponding first receive beam of the plurality of receive beams. Each first transmit beam of the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each first receive beam of the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first uplink spatial direction. The apparatus may further include means for receiving a plurality of second transmit beams on each of a plurality of second receive beams within a second frequency band different from the first frequency band. Each of the plurality of second transmit beams has a corresponding second downlink spatial direction in at least one direction of the corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each of the plurality of second receive beams has a corresponding second uplink spatial direction in at least one direction of the corresponding first uplink spatial direction. The device may further include means for selecting a second beampair link comprising a second transmit beam among a plurality of second transmit beams and a second receive beam among a plurality of third receive beams; and means for communicating with a transmit and receive point (TRP) using the second beampair link.

[0011] These and other aspects will be more fully understood after reading the following detailed description. Other aspects, features, and examples will be apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the following description of specific exemplary aspects in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Although features may be discussed below with reference to certain aspects and drawings, all aspects may include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, although one or more aspects may be discussed having certain advantageous features, one or more such features may also be used in accordance with the aspects discussed herein. Similarly, although exemplary aspects may be discussed below as aspects of an apparatus, system, or method, such exemplary aspects can be implemented in a variety of apparatuses, systems, and methods. Brief description of the attached diagram

[0013] Figure 1 It is a conceptual explanation based on examples of radio access networks from various aspects.

[0014] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a frame structure for use in radio access networks, based on several aspects.

[0015] Figure 3 This is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a multi-TRP environment based on several aspects.

[0016] Figure 4 This is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communication system that supports beamforming and / or multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication based on several aspects.

[0017] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating an example of using beamforming in communication between a base station and a UE, based on several aspects.

[0018] Figures 6A-6C This is a diagram illustrating an example of auxiliary beam management based on some aspects of frequency bands.

[0019] Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating an example of communication between beam managers of different frequency bands within a UE for auxiliary beam management, based on several aspects.

[0020] Figure 8 This is a diagram illustrating an example of a synchronization signal block (SSB) based on some aspects.

[0021] Figure 9A and 9B This is a diagram illustrating an exemplary SSB transmission based on some aspects.

[0022] Figure 10 This is a block diagram illustrating an example of the hardware implementation of a UE using a processing system based on some aspects.

[0023] Figure 11 This is a flowchart of an exemplary method for assisted beam management between frequency bands, based on some aspects.

[0024] Figure 12 This is a flowchart of another exemplary method for auxiliary beam management between frequency bands, based on some aspects.

[0025] Figure 13 This is a flowchart of another exemplary method for auxiliary beam management between frequency bands, based on some aspects.

[0026] Detailed description

[0027] The detailed description that follows, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent only the configurations in which the concepts described herein can be practiced. This detailed description includes specific details to provide a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0028] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various classes, bands, channels, etc., based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been designated as frequency ranges FR1 (410 MHz – 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz – 52.6 GHz). It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is generally (interchangeably) referred to as the “sub-6 GHz band” in various documents and articles. Similar naming issues sometimes arise with FR2, although it is different from the Very High Frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz – 300 GHz) designated as the “millimeter wave” band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), FR2 is generally (interchangeably) referred to as the “millimeter wave” band in various documents and articles.

[0029] The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as intermediate frequency (IF) bands. Recent 5G NR studies have identified the operating bands of these IF bands as the frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz – 24.25 GHz). Bands falling within FR3 can inherit FR1 and / or FR2 characteristics, thus effectively extending the features of FR1 and / or FR2 into the IF band. Additionally, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation above 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as the frequency range designations FR4-a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz – 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz – 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz – 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0030] In light of the foregoing, unless otherwise stated, it should be understood that, as used herein, the term "sub-6 GHz" and the like can broadly refer to frequencies less than 6 GHz, within FR1, or including intermediate frequency band frequencies. Furthermore, unless otherwise stated, it should be understood that, as used herein, the term "millimeter wave" and the like can broadly refer to frequencies that can include intermediate frequency band frequencies, within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1 and / or FR5, or within the EHF band.

[0031] While aspects and features are described herein by way of example, those skilled in the art will understand that additional implementations and use cases may arise 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, aspects and / or uses may arise via integrated chip devices and other devices based on non-modular components (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / shopping devices, medical devices, AI-enabled devices, etc.). While some examples may or may not be specific to a particular use case or application, broad applicability of the described innovations is possible. The scope of implementations can range from chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations, and further to aggregated, distributed, or OEM devices or systems incorporating one or more aspects of the described innovations. In some practical contexts, devices incorporating the described aspects and features may also necessarily include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described examples. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals requires several components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, RF chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders / summers, etc.). The innovations described herein are intended to be implemented in a wide variety of devices, chip-level components, systems, distributed deployments, end-user equipment, etc., of various sizes, shapes, and configurations.

[0032] In 5G NR systems, base stations and user equipment (UEs) can utilize beamforming to compensate for high path loss and short range. Beamforming is a signal processing technique used in conjunction with antenna arrays for spatially directional signal transmission and / or reception. Each antenna in the array transmits a signal in a manner that causes signals at a specific angle to experience constructive interference while other signals experience destructive interference, in combination with signals from other antennas in the same array.

[0033] The base station and the UE may select one or more beam pair links (BPLs) for communication between them on the downlink and / or uplink. Each BPL includes corresponding transmit and receive beams on the base station and the UE. The selection of BPLs may occur, for example, during initial cell acquisition, during cell reselection, upon detection of a beam failure, or during beam tracking.

[0034] Various aspects of this disclosure relate to auxiliary beam management between frequency bands that utilize spatially oriented beams. A lower frequency band (e.g., FR2) can provide coarse spatial orientation for beams in a higher frequency band (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1, FR4, FR5, or other higher frequency bands). For example, a user equipment (UE) can be configured to receive or scan multiple transmit beams on multiple receive beams within a first frequency band (e.g., FR2) to select one or more coarse candidate beam pair links (BPLs) in the first frequency band. Each coarse candidate BPL includes one transmit beam and one receive beam in the first frequency band. The UE can then receive or scan multiple narrower transmit beams on multiple narrower receive beams in a second frequency band (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1 or above) – each narrower receive beam having a spatial orientation within the spatial orientation of one of the coarse candidate beams of the coarse candidate BPLs – to select one or more narrower BPLs in the second frequency band on which to communicate with a base station.

[0035] In some examples, multiple transmit beams in a first frequency band may be associated with two or more first transmit and receive points (TRPs) in the network, where each TRP may be associated with a base station. Furthermore, multiple narrower transmit beams in a second frequency band may be further associated with two or more second TRPs. The UE may receive multiple synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) on the multiple transmit beams in the first frequency band. Each SSB may include a co-location indication indicating whether a corresponding TRP in each of the first TRPs (e.g., the first TRP transmitting the SSB) is co-located with one of the second TRPs (e.g., in the same geographical location and coupled to the same antenna tower or pole). The UE can then select a coarse candidate BPL associated with the SSB having the co-location indication indicating the co-location of the first and second TRPs.

[0036] In some examples, the UE may include multiple beam managers, each configured to manage beams in one of the frequency bands. For example, a first beam manager may be configured to manage beams in a first frequency band, while a second beam manager may be configured to manage beams in a second frequency band. The second beam manager may send an internal request to the first beam manager to scan multiple transmit beams in the first frequency band to identify coarse candidate BPLs. The second beam manager may then receive an internal report from the first beam manager indicating coarse candidate BPLs and use that report to initiate a scan in the second frequency band. In some examples, the first beam manager may be configured to scan beams in the first frequency band during a time window configured by the base station.

[0037] By utilizing FR2 to provide a coarse direction for the base station beams, and then refining these beams with narrower beams in FR4-a or FR4-1, FR4, or FR5, more efficient beam acquisition and tracking can be achieved for higher millimeter-wave frequency bands. For example, FR2-assisted beam management for FR4-a or FR4-1 or higher frequency bands can be faster than scanning all beams in the higher frequency band, resulting in lower power consumption and improved mobility for the UE.

[0038] The various concepts presented throughout this disclosure can be implemented across a wide range of telecommunications systems, network architectures, and communication standards. Now refer to... Figure 1 This illustration of a radio access network 100 is provided as an illustrative example and not a limitation. The RAN 100 can implement any one or more suitable wireless communication technologies to provide radio access. As an example, the RAN 100 can operate according to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) specification (commonly referred to as 5G). As another example, the RAN 100 can operate in a hybrid of 5G NR and the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (eUTRAN) standard (commonly referred to as LTE). 3GPP refers to this hybrid RAN as a Next Generation RAN, or NG-RAN. Of course, many other examples can be utilized within the scope of this disclosure.

[0039] The geographical area covered by the radio access network 100 can be divided into several cellular areas (cells), which can be uniquely identified by the user equipment (UE) based on an identifier broadcast in the geographical area from an access point or base station. Figure 1 Macrocells 102, 104, 106, and 142, and small cell 108, are described, each of which may include one or more sectors (not shown). A sector is a sub-region 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 by an antenna array, where each antenna is responsible for communication with UEs in a portion of the cell.

[0040] Generally, each base station (BS) serves its respective cell. More broadly, a base station is a network element or entity in a radio access network responsible for radio transmissions to and from a UE in one or more cells. A BS may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a base transceiver station (BTS), radio base station, radio transceiver, transceiver function, basic service set (BSS), extended service set (ESS), access point (AP), B-node (NB), evolved B-node (eNB), g B-node (gNB), transmit / receive point (TRP), or any other suitable term. In some examples, a base station may include two or more co-located or non-co-located TRPs. Each TRP may communicate on the same or different carrier frequencies within the same or different frequency bands.

[0041] exist Figure 1 In the illustration, three base stations 110, 112, and 146 are shown in cells 102, 104, and 142, respectively; and a fourth base station 114 is shown as a remote radio head (RRH) 116 controlling cell 106. That is, the base stations may have integrated antennas, or may be connected to antennas or RRHs via feed cables. In the illustrated example, cells 102, 104, 106, and 142 can be referred to as macrocells because base stations 110, 112, 114 / 116, and 146 support cells with large sizes. Furthermore, base station 118 is shown in small cell 108 (e.g., microcell, picocell, femtocell, home base station, home B-node, home evolved B-node, etc.), where small cell 308 may overlap with one or more macrocells. In this example, cell 108 can be referred to as a small cell because base station 118 supports cells with relatively small sizes. Cell size settings can be determined based on system design and component constraints. It will be understood that the radio access network 100 may include any number of radio base stations and cells. Furthermore, relay nodes can be deployed to extend the size or coverage area of ​​a given cell. Base stations 110, 112, 114 / 116, and 146 provide radio access points to the core network for any number of mobile devices.

[0042] Figure 1 Further including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) 120 (such as quadcopters or drones) that can be configured to be used as base stations. That is, in some examples, the cell may not have to be stationary, and the geographical area of ​​the cell may move depending on the location of the mobile base station (such as UAV 120).

[0043] Generally, a base station may include a backhaul interface for communicating with the backhaul portion (not shown) of the network. The backhaul provides a link between the base station and the core network (not shown), and in some examples, the backhaul provides interconnection between respective base stations. The core network may be part of a wireless communication system and may be independent of the radio access technology used in the radio access network. Various types of backhaul interfaces may be employed, such as a direct physical connection using any suitable transport network, a virtual network, etc.

[0044] RAN 100 is defined as supporting wireless communication for multiple mobile devices. Mobile devices are typically referred to as User Equipment (UE) in standards and specifications issued by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), but may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as mobile station (MS), subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber 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 a device that provides users with access to network services.

[0045] Within this document, a “mobile” device does not necessarily need to be mobile and may be stationary. The term mobile device or mobile equipment refers to a wide variety of devices and technologies. For example, some non-limiting examples of mobile devices include mobile devices, cellular phones, smartphones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal computers (PCs), laptops, netbooks, smartbooks, tablets, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and a wide variety of embedded systems, such as those corresponding to the “Internet of Things” (IoT). Additionally, a mobile device can be an automobile or other means of transportation, a remote sensor or actuator, a robot or robotic device, a satellite radio, a Global Positioning System (GPS) device, an object tracking device, a drone, a multi-rotor aircraft, a quadcopter, a remote control device, consumer 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. A mobile device can also be a digital home or smart home device, such as home audio, video and / or multimedia equipment, appliances, vending machines, smart lighting equipment, home security systems, smart meters, etc. Additionally, mobile devices can be smart energy devices, security devices, solar panels or solar arrays, municipal infrastructure equipment controlling electricity, lighting, water, etc. (e.g., smart grids), industrial automation and enterprise equipment, logistics controllers, agricultural equipment, etc. Furthermore, mobile devices can provide networked healthcare or telemedicine support, i.e., remote health care. Remote health care devices can include remote health monitoring devices and remote health supervision devices, whose communications can be given priority access over other types of information, for example, in the form of priority access for critical service data transmission and / or relevant QoS for critical service data transmission.

[0046] Within RAN 100, a cell may include UEs capable of communicating with one or more sectors of each cell. For example, UEs 122 and 124 may communicate with base station 110; UEs 126 and 128 may communicate with base station 112; UEs 130 and 132 may communicate with base station 114 via RRH 116; UEs 138 and 140 may communicate with base station 146; and UE 136 may communicate with mobile base station 120. Here, each base station 110, 112, 114, 118, 120, and 146 may be configured as an access point provided to the core network (not shown) for all UEs in the respective cell. In another example, a mobile network node (e.g., UAV 120) may be configured to act as a UE. For example, UAV 120 may operate within cell 102 by communicating with base station 110.

[0047] In some examples, access to the air interface can be scheduled, where a scheduling entity (e.g., base station 112) allocates resources for communication among some or all of the devices and equipment within its service area or cell. Within this disclosure, as further discussed below, the scheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning, reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more scheduled entities. That is, for scheduled communication, a UE (e.g., UE 126) (which may be a scheduled entity) may utilize resources allocated by scheduling entity 112.

[0048] A base station is not the only entity that can be used as a scheduling entity. That is, in some examples, a UE can be used as a scheduling entity to schedule resources for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., one or more other UEs). And as discussed more below, a UE can communicate directly with other UEs in a peer-to-peer (P2P) manner and / or in a relay configuration.

[0049] In a further aspect of RAN 100, sidelink signals 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 138 and 140) can communicate with each other using peer-to-peer (P2P) or sidelink signal 137 without relaying the communication through a base station (e.g., base station 146). In some examples, sidelink signal 137 includes sidelink traffic and sidelink control. In some examples, UEs 138 and 140 can each act as a scheduling entity or initiating (e.g., transmitter) sidelink device and / or a scheduled entity or receiving sidelink device. For example, UEs 138 and 140 can act as scheduling entities or scheduled entities in P2P networks, device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) networks, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) networks, mesh networks, or other suitable networks.

[0050] In RAN 100, the ability of a UE to communicate independently of its location while moving is referred to as mobility. The various physical channels between the UE and the RAN are generally established, maintained, and released under the control of the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), which may include the Security Context Management Function (SCMF) for managing the security context of both the control plane and user plane functionality, and the Security Anchor Function (SEAF) for performing authentication. In some examples, during a call with a scheduling entity or at any other time, the UE may monitor various parameters of the signal from its serving cell and various parameters of neighboring cells. Depending on the quality of these parameters, the UE may maintain communication with one or more neighboring cells. During this time, if the UE moves from one cell to another, or if the signal quality from a neighboring cell exceeds the signal quality from the serving cell for a given amount of time, the UE may perform a handover or handover from the serving cell to a neighboring (target) cell. For example, UE 124 may move from a geographic area corresponding to its serving cell 102 to a geographic area corresponding to its neighboring cell 106. When the signal strength or quality from neighboring cell 106 exceeds that of its serving cell 102 for a given amount of time, UE 124 may transmit a report message indicating this condition to its serving base station 110. In response, UE 124 may receive a handover command, and the UE may undergo a handover to cell 106.

[0051] Wireless communication between RAN 100 and UEs (e.g., UE 122 or 124) can be described as utilizing an air interface. Transmissions over the air interface from a base station (e.g., base station 110) to one or more UEs (e.g., UEs 122 and 124) 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 at a scheduling entity (further described below; e.g., base station 110). Another way to describe this scheme is to use the term broadcast channel multiplexing. Transmissions from a UE (e.g., UE 122) to a base station (e.g., base station 110) can be referred to as uplink (UL) transmissions. According to a further aspect of this disclosure, the term uplink can refer to point-to-point transmissions originating at a scheduled entity (further described below; e.g., UE 122).

[0052] For example, DL transmission may include unicast or broadcast transmission of control information and / or data (e.g., user data traffic or other types of traffic) from a base station (e.g., base station 110) to one or more UEs (e.g., UEs 122 and 124), while UL transmission may include the transmission of control information and / or traffic information originating at a UE (e.g., UE 122). Additionally, uplink and / or downlink control information and / or traffic information may be temporally divided into frames, subframes, time slots, and / or symbols. As used herein, a symbol may refer to a time unit carrying one resource element (RE) per subcarrier in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) waveform. A time slot may carry 7 or 14 OFDM symbols. A subframe may refer to a duration of 1 ms. Multiple subframes or time slots may be grouped together to form a single frame or radio frame. Of course, these definitions are not mandatory, and any suitable scheme can be used to organize the waveform, and the various time divisions of the waveform may have any suitable duration.

[0053] The air interface in RAN 100 can utilize one or more multiplexing and multiple access algorithms to enable simultaneous communication between individual devices. For example, the 5G NR specification provides multiple access for UL or reverse link transmissions from UEs 122 and 124 to base station 110, and utilizes Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) with a Cyclic Prefix (CP) to provide multiplexing for DL ​​or forward link transmissions from base station 110 to UEs 122 and 124. Additionally, 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 and can be provided using 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. In addition, multiplexing of DL transmissions from base station 110 to UEs 122 and 124 can be provided using 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.

[0054] Furthermore, the air interface in RAN 100 can utilize one or more duplex algorithms. Duplex refers to a point-to-point communication link where both endpoints can communicate with each other in both directions. Full-duplex means that both endpoints can communicate with each other simultaneously. Half-duplex means that only one endpoint can send information to the other endpoint at a time. Half-duplex simulation is typically implemented for wireless links using Time Division Duplex (TDD). In TDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated using time division multiplexing. That is, at some times, the channel is dedicated to transmissions in one direction, and at other times, it is dedicated to transmissions in the other direction, where the direction can change very rapidly, for example, several times per time slot. In wireless links, full-duplex channels generally rely on physical isolation between the transmitter and receiver, and appropriate interference cancellation techniques. Full-duplex simulation is typically implemented for wireless links using Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) or Space Division Duplex (SDD). In FDD, transmissions in different directions can operate at different carrier frequencies (e.g., within paired spectrum). In SDD, transmissions in different directions on a given channel are separated from each other using spatial division multiplexing (SDM). In other examples, full-duplex communication can be implemented within unpaired spectrum (e.g., within a single carrier bandwidth), where transmissions in different directions occur within different subbands of the carrier bandwidth. This type of full-duplex communication may be referred to herein as Subband Full-Duplex (SBFD), also known as Flexible Duplex (FD).

[0055] In various implementations, the air interface in RAN 100 can utilize licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or shared spectrum. Licensed spectrum typically provides exclusive use of a portion of the spectrum by a mobile network operator purchasing a license from a government regulatory body. Unlicensed spectrum provides shared use of a portion of the spectrum without a government-granted license. While some technical rules generally still apply to accessing unlicensed spectrum, access is available to any operator or device. Shared spectrum falls between licensed and unlicensed spectrum, where technical rules or restrictions may be required for spectrum access, but the spectrum may still be shared by multiple operators and / or multiple RATs. For example, a licensee of a portion of licensed spectrum can provide Licensed Shared Access (LSA) to share that spectrum with other parties, for example, by utilizing conditions determined by the appropriate licensee.

[0056] In some examples, beamforming signals can be used between a UE (e.g., UE 138) and a base station (e.g., gNB) 146, for example, to communicate on a millimeter-wave carrier. For example, UE 138 and base station 146 can communicate on FR2 using spatially oriented beams 148 and 150. In some examples, base station 146 and UE 138 can be further configured to communicate on higher frequency bands, including, for example, FR4-a or FR4-1, FR4, and / or FR5. These higher frequency bands can utilize beams 152 and 154, which are much narrower than FR2, to overcome the additional path loss experienced at higher carrier frequencies. As the beams become narrower in higher frequency bands (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1 and above), the number of potential beampuppet links (BPLs) between base station 146 and UE 138 increases, and therefore the tasks of beam acquisition and beam tracking become more complex.

[0057] Therefore, in various aspects of this disclosure, UE 138 may include beam manager 144 configured to perform FR2-assisted beam management for higher frequency bands (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1 and above). For example, beam manager 144 may be configured to scan multiple beams within a first frequency band (e.g., FR2) to select one or more coarse candidate beams 148 and 150 in the first frequency band. Beam manager 144 may then scan multiple beams within a second frequency band (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1 and above) having the same spatial orientation as the coarse candidate beams 148 to select one or more narrower beams 152 and 154 in the second frequency band to communicate with base station 146 thereon. Here, base station 146 may include co-located transmit and receive points (TRPs) (e.g., TRPs located in the same geographical location and coupled to the same antenna tower or pole), each TRP communicating on one of a first frequency band (e.g., FR2) or a second frequency band (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1 or above). In some examples, the co-located TRPs may have the same line-of-sight orientation.

[0058] Reference Figure 2 The OFDM waveforms illustrated herein are used to describe various aspects of this disclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that various aspects of this disclosure can be applied to SC-FDMA waveforms in substantially the same manner as described below. That is, while some examples of this disclosure may focus on OFDM links for clarity, it should be understood that the same principles can also be applied to SC-FDMA waveforms.

[0059] Now refer to Figure 2An expanded view of an exemplary DL subframe 202 is illustrated, showing the OFDM resource grid. However, as those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, the PHY transport architecture for any particular application can vary from the example described herein depending on any number of factors. Here, time is in the horizontal direction in units of OFDM symbols; while frequency is in the vertical direction in units of subcarriers.

[0060] Resource grid 204 can be used to schematically represent time-frequency resources for a given antenna port. That is, in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) implementation with multiple antenna ports available, there can be corresponding multiple resource grids 204 available for communication. Resource grid 204 is divided into multiple resource elements (REs) 206. An RE (which is 1 subcarrier × 1 symbol) is the smallest discrete part of the time-frequency grid and contains a single complex value representing data from a physical channel or signal. Depending on the modulation used in a particular implementation, each RE may represent one or more information bits. In some examples, an RE block may be referred to as a physical resource block (PRB) or resource block (RB) 208, which contains any suitable number of coherent subcarriers in the frequency domain. In one example, an RB may include 12 subcarriers, the number of which is independent of the parameter design used. In some examples, depending on the parameter design, an RB may include any suitable number of coherent OFDM symbols in the time domain. Within this disclosure, it is assumed that a single RB (such as RB 208) corresponds exactly to a single communication direction (transmission or reception for a given device).

[0061] Scheduling of downlink, uplink, or sidelink transmissions to a UE or sidelink device (hereinafter collectively referred to as UE) typically involves scheduling one or more resource elements 206 within one or more subbands or bandwidth portions (BWPs). Thus, the UE generally utilizes only a subset of the resource grid 204. In some examples, an RB can be the smallest unit of resource that can be allocated to the UE. Therefore, the more RBs scheduled for the UE and the more sophisticated the modulation scheme selected for the air interface, the higher the UE's data rate. RBs can be scheduled by the base station (e.g., gNB, eNB, etc.) or can be self-scheduled by the UE / sidelink device implementing D2D sidelink communication.

[0062] Scheduling of resources (e.g., RE 206 / RB 208) used for transmitting control and / or traffic information can be performed dynamically or semi-persistently. For example, a scheduling entity (e.g., a base station) can dynamically allocate the RE 206 / RB 208 set for transmitting downlink control and / or data to the UE or for transmitting uplink control and / or data from the UE. The base station can further semi-persistently allocate the RE 206 / RB 208 set for periodic downlink or uplink transmissions. Generally, semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) can be used for periodic communications based on defined settings. For example, SPS is suitable for applications with small, predictable, and / or periodic payloads, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications. On the uplink, SPS resources can be referred to as configured-granted (CG). Using a CG, scheduling information corresponding to the uplink CG can be signaled to the UE only once. Subsequently, the UE can periodically utilize the resources allocated in the uplink CG without receiving additional scheduling information. The periodicity of user data traffic can be established when the CG is initially configured, allowing the UE to transmit user data traffic via semi-persistent scheduling resources.

[0063] In this explanation, RB 208 is shown to occupy less than the entire bandwidth of subframe 202, where some subcarriers above and below RB 208 are explained. In a given implementation, subframe 202 may have bandwidth corresponding to any number of one or more RB 208s. Furthermore, in this explanation, RB 208 is shown to occupy less than the entire duration of subframe 202, but this is merely one possible example.

[0064] Each 1 ms subframe 202 may include one or more adjacent time slots. As an illustrative example, in Figure 2 In the example shown, a subframe 202 includes four time slots 210. 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. Additional examples may include mini-time slots with shorter durations (e.g., one or two OFDM symbols). In some cases, these mini-time slots, or shortened transmission time intervals (TTIs), may occupy resources scheduled for ongoing time slot transmissions for the same or different UEs. Any number of resource blocks may be utilized within a subframe or time slot.

[0065] An expanded view of one of these time slots 210 illustrates that time slot 210 includes a control area 212 and a data area 214. Generally, control area 212 may carry a control channel, while data area 214 may carry a data channel. Figure 2In the example shown, control area 212 may include downlink control information, and data area 214 may include a downlink data channel or an uplink data channel. Of course, a time slot may include full DL, full UL, or at least one DL portion and at least one UL portion. Figure 2 The structure described herein is merely exemplary in nature and may utilize different time-slot structures, and may include one or more for each of the control region and data region.

[0066] Although not in Figure 2 The explanation is as follows: However, each RE 206 within RB 208 can be scheduled to carry one or more physical channels, including control channels, shared channels, data channels, etc. Other REs 206 within RB 208 can also carry pilot or reference signals. These pilot or reference signals can be used by the receiver equipment to perform channel estimation for the corresponding channels, which enables coherent demodulation / detection of the control and / or data channels within RB 208.

[0067] In some examples, time slot 210 can be used for broadcast or unicast communication. For example, broadcast, multicast, or ensemble communication can refer to point-to-multipoint transmission from one device (e.g., a base station, UE, or other similar device) to other devices. Here, broadcast communication is delivered to all devices, while multicast communication is delivered to multiple intended receiving devices. Unicast communication can refer to point-to-point transmission from one device to a single other device.

[0068] In an example of cellular communication over a cellular carrier via the Uu interface, for DL ​​transmission, a scheduling entity (e.g., a base station) may allocate one or more REs 206 (e.g., within control area 212) to carry DL control information, including one or more DL control channels (such as the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH)), destined for one or more scheduled entities (e.g., UEs). The PDCCH carries downlink control information (DCI), including but not limited to power control commands for DL ​​and UL transmissions (e.g., one or more open-loop power control parameters and / or one or more closed-loop power control parameters), scheduling information, grants, and / or RE assignments. The PDCCH may further carry HARQ feedback transmissions, such as acknowledgment (ACK) or negative acknowledgment (NACK). HARQ is a technique well known to those skilled in the art, where, for accuracy, any suitable integrity verification mechanism (such as a checksum or cyclic redundancy check (CRC)) may be used to verify the integrity of packet transmissions at the receiving side. If the integrity of the transmission is acknowledged, an ACK may be transmitted, and if not, a NACK may be transmitted. In response to NACK, the transmitting device can send a HARQ retransmission, which enables catch-up retransmission, incremental redundancy, and so on.

[0069] The base station may further allocate one or more REs 206 (e.g., in control area 212 or data area 214) to carry other DL signals, such as demodulation reference signals (DMRS); phase tracking reference signals (PT-RS); channel state information (CSI) reference signals (CSI-RS); primary synchronization signals (PSS); and secondary synchronization signals (SSS). The UE can utilize the PSS and SSS to achieve radio frame, subframe, time slot, and symbol synchronization in the time domain, identify the center of the channel (system) bandwidth in the frequency domain, and identify the physical cell identity (PCI) of the cell.

[0070] Synchronization signals PSS and SSS, as well as the Physical Broadcast Control Channel (PBCH) and PBCH DMRS in some examples, can be transmitted in a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) (such as SSB 216). The SSB (e.g., SSB 216) can be broadcast at regular intervals based on periodicity (e.g., 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160 milliseconds). In some examples, SSB 216 can be used with beam sweeping for synchronization purposes. For example, a base station can perform beam sweeping on a set of SSBs forming an SSB burst (e.g., a set of SSBs transmitted in a 5 ms window) within the carrier bandwidth. In an example where the base station includes co-located transmit and receive points (TRPs) (e.g., TRPs located in the same geographical location and coupled to the same antenna tower or pole), each TRP communicates in different frequency bands (e.g., FR2 and FR4-a or FR4-1 or above). The beam-scanning SSB (e.g., including SSB 216) in the lower frequency band (e.g., FR2) may each include a co-location indication indicating the presence of a co-located TRP in the higher frequency band (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1 or above). Based on this co-location indication, a UE receiving the beam-scanned FR2 SSB 216 can utilize the FR2 SSB to assist the UE in selecting a narrower beam in the higher frequency band (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1 or above).

[0071] The PBCH in SSB 216 may further include a Master Information Block (MIB), which includes various system information and parameters for decoding the System Information Block (SIB). The SIB may be, for example, System Information Type 1 (SIB1), which may include various additional system information. Examples of system information transmitted in the MIB may include, but are not limited to, subcarrier spacing, system frame number, configuration of the PDCCH control resource set (CORESET) (e.g., PDCCH CORESET0), and search space for SIB1. Examples of additional system information transmitted in SIB1 may include, but are not limited to, random access search space, downlink configuration information, and uplink configuration information. Together, the MIB and SIB1 provide the minimum system information (SI) for initial access.

[0072] In UL transmissions, the scheduled entity (e.g., the UE) may utilize one or more REs 206 (e.g., within control area 212, which may be at the end of timeslot 210) to carry UL control information (UCI) to the scheduling entity. This UL control information includes one or more UL control channels, such as the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH). The UCI may include various packet types and categories. In some examples, the UCI may include a scheduling request (SR), i.e., a request for the scheduling entity to schedule uplink transmissions. Here, in response to the SR transmitted on the UCI, the scheduling entity may transmit downlink control information (DCI), which can schedule resources for uplink packet transmissions. The UCI may also include HARQ feedback, channel state feedback (CSF) (such as CSI reports), or any other suitable UCI. The scheduled entity (e.g., UE) may further utilize one or more REs 206 (e.g., within control area 212 and / or data area 214) to transmit pilots, reference signals, and other information configured to enable or assist in decoding uplink data transmission and / or uplink beam management, such as one or more DMRS and probe reference signals (SRS).

[0073] In addition to control information, one or more REs 206 (e.g., within data area 214) may also be allocated for data traffic. Such data traffic may be carried on one or more traffic channels, such as the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) for DL ​​transmissions, or the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) for UL transmissions. In some examples, one or more REs 206 within data area 214 may be configured to carry other signals, such as one or more SIBs and DMRS.

[0074] In an example of sidelink communication on a sidelink carrier via the PC5 interface, the control area 210 of time slot 212 may include a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), which includes sidelink control information (SCI) transmitted by an initiating (transmitting) sidelink device (e.g., a V2X or other sidelink device) toward a set of one or more other receiving sidelink devices. The data area 214 of time slot 210 may include a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), which includes sidelink data traffic transmitted by the initiating (transmitting) sidelink device within resources reserved on the sidelink carrier by the transmitting sidelink device via the SCI. Further information may be transmitted on the respective REs 206 within time slot 210. For example, HARQ feedback information may be transmitted from the receiving sidelink device to the transmitting sidelink device in the Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH) within time slot 210. Additionally, one or more reference signals, such as a sidelink SSB and / or a sidelink CSI-RS, may be transmitted within time slot 210.

[0075] These physical channels are typically multiplexed and mapped to transport channels for processing by the Media Access Control (MAC) layer. The transport channel carries blocks of information, called transport blocks (TBs). The transport block size (TBS) (which may 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.

[0076] The above text combined Figure 1 and 2 The channels or carriers described are not necessarily all the channels or carriers available between the scheduling entity and the scheduled entity, and those skilled in the art will recognize that other channels or carriers, such as other traffic, control, and feedback channels, may be available in addition to those described.

[0077] In some examples, time division multiplexing can be implemented using a Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) network configuration, where transmissions (streams) from multiple Transport Receive Points (TRPs) can simultaneously be directed to a single UE. In a multi-TRP environment providing multi-stream transmission, multiple TRPs may or may not be co-located (e.g., in the same geographical location and coupled to the same antenna tower or pole). Each of the multiple TRPs can transmit the same or different data to the UE. Higher throughput can be achieved when different data is transmitted from multiple TRPs. Transmission reliability can be improved when the same data (which has potentially different redundant versions) is transmitted from multiple TRPs. In some examples, each TRP can utilize the same carrier frequency to communicate with the UE. In other examples, each TRP can utilize different carrier frequencies, which may be in the same or different frequency bands (e.g., FR2, FR4-a or FR4-1, FR4, FR5, etc.). For example, each TRP can communicate on different carrier frequencies (called component carriers) within the same frequency band or across frequency bands, and carrier aggregation can be performed at the UE.

[0078] Figure 3 This is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a multi-TRP environment 300 based on several aspects. The multi-TRP environment 300 includes multiple cells 302 and 306a–306d. In some examples, one of the cells 302 may be considered a primary serving cell (PCell) 302, and the remaining cells 306a, 306b, 306c, and 306d may be considered secondary serving cells (SCells). The PCell 302 may be referred to as an anchor cell, which provides radio resource control (RRC) connectivity to the UE. In some examples, the PCell and SCell may be co-located (e.g., different TRPs located in the same geographical location and coupled to the same antenna tower / pole).

[0079] When carrier aggregation is configured, one or more SCells 306a-306d can be activated or added to PCell 302 to form a serving cell serving User Equipment (UE) 310. Each serving cell corresponds to a component carrier (CC). The CC of PCell 302 may be referred to as the primary CC, while the CCs of SCells 306a-306d may be referred to as secondary CCs. PCell 302 and one or more of the SCells 306 can be configured using a method similar to... Figure 1 The corresponding TRPs 304 and 308a-308c of any of those TRPs explained herein shall serve the service. Figure 3In the example shown, SCells 306a-306c each serve their respective non-co-located TRPs 308a-308c. However, SCell 306d is co-located with PCell 302. Therefore, TRP 304 can include two co-located TRPs, each supporting different carriers. For example, TRP 304 could correspond to a base station including multiple co-located TRPs. The coverage of PCell 302 and SCell 306d can differ because different component carriers (which may be in different frequency bands) may experience different path losses.

[0080] In some examples, PCell 302 can add or remove one or more of SCells 306a-306d to improve the reliability of the connection to UE 310 and / or increase the data rate. PCell 302 can be changed when switching to another PCell.

[0081] In some examples, one of the cells (e.g., cell 302) may be a low-frequency band cell, while the other cell (e.g., cell 306d) may be a high-frequency band cell. The low-frequency band cell uses a carrier frequency in a frequency band lower than that of the high-frequency band cell. For example, the high-frequency cell may use a high-frequency millimeter-wave carrier (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1 or higher), while the low-frequency cell may use a low-frequency millimeter-wave carrier (e.g., FR2). In this example, depending on whether cross-band carrier aggregation is supported, carrier aggregation may not be performed between cells 302 and 306d. Furthermore, when using millimeter-wave carriers (e.g., FR2 or higher), beamforming can be used to transmit and receive signals.

[0082] In an example where cell 302 communicates on FR2 and co-located cell 306d communicates on a higher frequency band (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1 or above), UE 310 may include beam manager 312 configured to perform FR2-assisted beam management on cell 306d. For example, beam manager 312 may be configured to scan multiple FR2 beams (e.g., SSB beams) within cell 302 to select one or more coarse candidate FR2 beams. Beam manager 312 may then scan multiple beams within cell 306d having the same spatial orientation as the coarse candidate FR2 beams to select one or more narrower beams (FR4-a or FR4-1 or above beams) in cell 306d to communicate with base station 304.

[0083] Figure 4An example of a wireless communication system 400 supporting beamforming and / or MIMO is described. In the MIMO system, transmitter 402 includes multiple transmit antennas 404 (e.g., N transmit antennas), and receiver 406 includes multiple receive antennas 408 (e.g., M receive antennas). Thus, there are N × M signal paths 410 from the transmit antennas 404 to the receive antennas 408. Each of transmitter 402 and receiver 406 may be implemented, for example, in a scheduling entity, a scheduled entity, or any other suitable wireless communication device.

[0084] The use of such multi-antenna techniques enables wireless communication systems to utilize spatial domains to support spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and transmit diversity. Spatial multiplexing can be used to simultaneously transmit different data streams (also known as layers) on the same time-frequency resources. These data streams can be transmitted to a single UE to increase the data rate or to multiple UEs to increase the overall system capacity, the latter being known as multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). This is achieved by spatially precoding each data stream (i.e., multiplying these data streams by different weights and phase shifts) and then transmitting each spatially precoded stream over multiple transmit antennas on the downlink. The spatially precoded data streams arrive at the UE with different spatial signatures, which allow each UE to recover one or more data streams intended for that UE. On the uplink, each UE transmits spatially precoded data streams, which allows the base station to identify the source of each spatially precoded data stream.

[0085] The number of data streams or layers corresponds to the transmission rank. Generally, the rank of a MIMO system 400 is limited by the lower of the number of transmit or receive antennas 404 or 408. Additionally, channel conditions at the UE and other considerations, such as available resources at the base station, can also affect the transmission rank. For example, the rank assigned to a particular UE on the downlink (and therefore the number of data streams) can be determined based on a rank indicator (RI) transmitted from that UE to the base station. The RI can be determined based on the antenna configuration (e.g., the number of transmit and receive antennas) and the measured signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) on each receive antenna. The RI can indicate, for example, the number of layers that can be supported under the 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 assign a transmission rank to the UE.

[0086] In one example, such as Figure 4 As shown, rank-2 spatial multiplexing transmission on a 2x2 MIMO antenna configuration delivers one data stream from each transmit antenna 404. Each data stream arrives at each receive antenna 408 along a different signal path 410. Receiver 406 can then reconstruct these data streams using the signals received from each receive antenna 408.

[0087] Beamforming is a signal processing technique that can be used at transmitter 402 or receiver 406 to shape or guide an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) along a spatial path between transmitter 402 and receiver 406. Beamforming can be achieved by combining signals transmitted via antennas 404 or 408 (e.g., antenna elements of an antenna array module) such that some of these signals undergo constructive interference while others undergo destructive interference. To create the desired constructive / destructive interference, transmitter 402 or receiver 406 may apply amplitude and / or phase shifts to the signals transmitted or received from each of the antennas 404 or 408 associated with transmitter 402 or receiver 406.

[0088] In 5G New Radio (NR) systems, particularly mmWave systems, beamforming signals can be used on most downlink channels, including the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH). Additionally, broadcast messages (such as SSB, CSI-RS, Slot Format Indicator (SFI), and paging messages) can be transmitted in a beam-sweep manner so that all scheduled entities (UEs) within the coverage area of ​​the Transport Receiver Point (TRP) (e.g., gNB) can receive the broadcast message. Furthermore, for UEs equipped with beamforming antenna arrays, beamforming signals can also be used on uplink channels (including the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)).

[0089] To facilitate signal communication using transmit and receive beams in lower millimeter-wave bands (e.g., FR2) and higher millimeter-wave bands (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1 or above), transmitter 402 and receiver 406 (e.g., as...) Figure 4 At least one of the receivers 406 shown may include a beam manager 412 configured to perform FR2-assisted beam management for a higher millimeter-wave band. Here, receiver 406 may correspond to a UE or other scheduled entity, while transmitter 402 may correspond to a base station or other scheduling entity with co-located TRPs, each communicating over one of the lower and higher millimeter-wave bands. For example, beam manager 412 may be configured to scan multiple beams within the lower millimeter-wave band (e.g., FR2) to select one or more coarse candidate beams within the lower millimeter-wave band. Beam manager 412 may then scan multiple beams within the higher millimeter-wave band (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1 or above) having the same spatial orientation as the coarse candidate beams to select one or more narrower beams in the higher millimeter-wave band to communicate with transmitter 402.

[0090] Figure 5 This diagram illustrates the use of beamforming signals for communication between base station 504 and UE 502, based on various aspects of signal processing. Base station 504 can be... Figure 1 And / or any base station (e.g., gNB) or scheduling entity as explained in 3, and UE 502 may be Figure 1 And / or any UE or scheduled entity as explained in 3.

[0091] Base station 504 may typically communicate with UE 502 using one or more transmit beams, and UE 502 may further be able to communicate with base station 504 using one or more receive beams. As used herein, the term transmit beam refers to a beam on base station 504 that can be used for downlink or uplink communication with UE 502. Furthermore, the term receive beam refers to a beam on UE 502 that can be used for downlink or uplink communication with base station 504.

[0092] exist Figure 5 In the example shown, base station 504 is configured to generate multiple transmit beams 506a–506h, each associated with a different spatial direction. Additionally, UE 502 is configured to generate multiple receive beams 508a–508e, each associated with a different spatial direction. It should be noted that although some beams are interpreted as being adjacent to each other, such an arrangement may differ in various aspects. For example, transmit beams 506a–506h transmitted during the same symbol may not be adjacent to each other. In some examples, base station 504 and UE 502 may each transmit more or fewer beams distributed in all directions (e.g., 360 degrees) and in three dimensions. Furthermore, transmit beams 506a–506h may include beams with varying beamwidths. For example, base station 504 may transmit certain signals (e.g., SSB) on a wider beam and other signals (e.g., CSI-RS) on a narrower beam.

[0093] Base station 504 and UE 502 can use beam management procedures to select one or more transmit beams 506a-506h on base station 504 and one or more receive beams 508a-508e on UE 502 for transmitting uplink and downlink signals between them. In one example, during initial cell acquisition, UE 502 may execute a P1 beam management procedure to scan the plurality of transmit beams 508a-506h over the plurality of receive beams 506a-508e to select a beam pair link (e.g., one of the transmit beams 506a-506h and one of the receive beams 508a-508e) for initial access to the cell using the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) procedure. For example, periodic SSB beam sweeping can be implemented on base station 504 at specific intervals (e.g., based on SSB periodicity). Therefore, base station 504 can be configured to sweep or transmit SSBs on each of the multiple wider transmit beams 506a-506h during the beam sweep interval. The UE can measure the Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) of each SSB transmit beam on each receive beam of the UE and select transmit and receive beams based on the measured RSRP. In one example, the selected receive beam may be the receive beam on which the highest RSRP is measured, and the selected transmit beam may have the highest RSRP measured on the selected receive beam.

[0094] After completing the PRACH procedure, base station 504 and UE 502 can execute the P2 beam management procedure for beam refinement at base station 504. For example, base station 504 can be configured to sweep or transmit CSI-RS over each of a plurality of narrower transmit beams 506a-506h. Each of these narrower CSI-RS beams can be a sub-beam of a selected SSB transmit beam (e.g., within the spatial direction of the SSB transmit beam). The transmission of the CSI-RS transmit beam can occur periodically (e.g., as configured by gNB via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling), semi-persistently (e.g., as configured by gNB via RRC signaling and activated / deactivated via Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling), or aperiodically (e.g., as triggered by gNB via Downlink Control Information (DCI)). UE 502 is configured to scan the plurality of CSI-RS transmit beams 506a-506h over the plurality of receive beams 508a-508e. UE 502 then performs beam measurements (e.g., RSRP, SINR, etc.) on the CSI-RS received over each of the receive beams 508a-508e to determine the corresponding beam quality of each of the CSI-RS transmit beams 506a-506h, as measured on each of the receive beams 508a-508e.

[0095] UE 502 can then generate and transmit a Layer 1 (L1) measurement report to base station 504, which includes the corresponding beam index (e.g., CSI-RS Resource Indicator (CRI)) and beam measurement (e.g., RSRP or SINR) of one or more of the CSI-RS transmit beams 506a-506h on one or more of the receive beams 508a-508e. Base station 504 can then select one or more CSI-RS transmit beams on which to communicate downlink and / or uplink control and / or data with UE 502. In some examples, the selected CSI-RS transmit beams have the highest RSRP from the L1 measurement report. The transmission of the L1 measurement report can occur periodically (e.g., as configured by gNB via RRC signaling), semi-persistently (e.g., as configured by gNB via RRC signaling and activated / deactivated via MAC-CE signaling), or aperiodically (e.g., triggered by gNB via DCI).

[0096] UE 502 can further select a corresponding receive beam on UE 502 for each selected service CSI-RS transmit beam to form a corresponding beam pair link (BPL) for each selected service CSI-RS transmit beam. For example, UE 502 can use beam measurements obtained during the P2 procedure or execute the P3 beam management procedure to obtain new beam measurements for the selected CSI-RS transmit beam to select a corresponding receive beam for each selected transmit beam. In some examples, the selected receive beam to be paired with a particular CSI-RS transmit beam may be the receive beam on which the highest RSRP is measured for that particular CSI-RS transmit beam.

[0097] In some examples, in addition to performing CSI-RS beam measurements, base station 504 may configure UE 502 to perform SSB beam measurements and provide an L1 measurement report containing beam measurements of SSB transmit beams 506a-506h. For example, base station 504 may configure UE 502 to perform SSB beam measurements and / or CSI-RS beam measurements for beam fault detection (BRD), beam fault recovery (BFR), cell reselection, beam tracking (e.g., for mobile UE 502 and / or base station 504), or other beam optimization purposes.

[0098] Furthermore, when the channel is reciprocal, an uplink beam management scheme can be used to select the transmit and receive beams. In one example, UE 502 can be configured to sweep or transmit on each of the multiple receive beams 508a-508e. For example, UE 502 can transmit SRS on each beam in different beam directions. Additionally, base station 504 can be configured to receive uplink beam reference signals on the multiple transmit beams 506a-506h. Base station 504 then performs beam measurements (e.g., RSRP, SINR, etc.) on the beam reference signals on each of the transmit beams 506a-506h to determine the corresponding beam quality of each of the receive beams 508a-508e, as measured on each of the transmit beams 506a-506h.

[0099] Base station 504 may then select one or more transmit beams on which it will communicate downlink and / or uplink control and / or data with UE 502. In some examples, the selected transmit beams have the highest RSRP. UE 502 may then use, for example, the P3 beam management procedure as described above to select a corresponding receive beam for each selected serving transmit beam to form a corresponding beam pair link (BPL) for each selected serving transmit beam.

[0100] In one example, a single CSI-RS transmit beam (e.g., beam 506d) on base station 504 and a single receive beam (e.g., beam 508c) on UE can form a single BPL for communication between base station 504 and UE 502. In another example, multiple CSI-RS transmit beams (e.g., beams 506c, 506d, and 506e) on base station 504 and a single receive beam (e.g., beam 508c) on UE 502 can form corresponding BPLs for communication between base station 504 and UE 502. In yet another example, multiple CSI-RS transmit beams (e.g., beams 506c, 506d, and 506e) on base station 504 and multiple receive beams (e.g., beams 508c and 508d) on UE 502 can form multiple BPLs for communication between base station 504 and UE 502. In this example, the first BPL may include a transmit beam 506c and a receive beam 508c, the second BPL may include a transmit beam 508d and a receive beam 508c, and the third BPL may include a transmit beam 508e and a receive beam 508d.

[0101] In some examples, the transmit beams 506a-506h on base station 504 and the receive beams 508a-508e on UE 502 may be spatially oriented FR2 beams. In some examples, base station 504 and UE 502 may be further configured to communicate on higher frequency bands, including, for example, FR4-a or FR4-1, FR4 and / or FR5. For example, base station 504 may include co-located TRPs, each TRP communicating on one of a first frequency band (e.g., FR2) or a second frequency band (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1 or above). These higher millimeter-wave frequency bands can utilize beams that are much narrower than FR2 to overcome the additional path loss experienced at higher carrier frequencies. As the beams become narrower in higher millimeter-wave frequency bands (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1 and above), the number of potential beampuppet links (BPLs) between base station 504 and UE 502 increases, and therefore the tasks of beam acquisition and beam tracking become more complex. For example, beamwidth can vary linearly with frequency, and thus, between 40 GHz in FR2 and 140 GHz in FR5, there can be four more beams in FR5 compared to FR2 (or sixteen more beams in three-dimensional space). Using wider beams for beam acquisition and beam tracking in higher millimeter-wave bands is unlikely because wider beams would limit coverage in those bands.

[0102] Therefore, in various aspects of this disclosure, UE 502 may include beam manager 510, which is configured to perform FR2-assisted beam management (e.g., beam acquisition and beam tracking) for higher millimeter-wave frequency bands (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1 and above). For example, beam manager 510 may be configured to scan multiple transmit beams 506a-506h over multiple receive beams 508a-508a in a first frequency band (e.g., FR2) and select one or more coarse candidate beams in FR2. In one example, beam manager 510 may select transmit beam 506d and receive beam 508c. Beam manager 510 may then scan multiple narrower transmit beams (not shown) in a second frequency band (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1 and above) over multiple narrower receive beams (not shown). Here, multiple narrower transmit beams scanned in the second frequency band lie within the spatial direction of the selected FR2 transmit beam 506d (referred to herein as the downlink spatial direction), while multiple narrower receive beams in the second frequency band lie within the spatial direction of the selected FR2 receive beam 508c (referred to herein as the uplink spatial direction). Subsequently, beam manager 510 can select the BPL in the second frequency band on which to communicate with base station 504, from the narrower transmit beams scanned in the second frequency band and the scanned narrower receive beams.

[0103] By utilizing FR2 to provide a coarse direction for the gNB beams, and then refining these beams with narrower beams in FR4-a or FR4-1, FR4, or FR5, more efficient beam acquisition and tracking can be achieved for higher millimeter-wave frequency bands. For example, FR2-assisted beam management for FR4-a or FR4-1 or higher frequency bands can be faster than scanning all beams in the higher frequency band, resulting in lower power consumption and improved mobility for the UE 502.

[0104] Figures 6A-6C This is a diagram illustrating an example of auxiliary beam management based on some aspect between frequency bands (e.g., between FR2 and FRX, where FRX is named FR4-a or FR4-1, FR4, FR5, or other millimeter wave or higher frequency range (FR) designations). Figure 6A In the example shown, base station 604 communicates with UE 602 on multiple frequency bands (e.g., FR2 and FRX). Base station 604 can be... Figure 1 , 3 And / or any base station (e.g., gNB) or scheduling entity explained in 5, and UE 602 may be Figure 1 , 3 And / or any UE or scheduled entity as explained in 5.

[0105] Base station 604 may include, for example, a first TRP 606 configured for communication on a first frequency band (e.g., FR2) and a second TRP 608 configured for communication on a second frequency band (e.g., FRX) higher than the first frequency band. Figures 6A to 6C As shown in the example, TRPs 606 and 608 are co-located on the same cell tower. Each TRP 606 and 608 includes multiple antenna arrays 620a and 620b (for simplicity, two antenna arrays are shown for each TRP 608 and 606) for beamforming in all directions (e.g., 360 degrees) and in three dimensions. UE 602 is further configured to communicate on a first frequency band and a second frequency band. In some examples, the first frequency band is FR2, and the second frequency band is FRX (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1, FR4, FR5, or other higher frequency bands). In other examples, the first frequency band may be FR4-a or FR4-1 or other lower millimeter-wave bands, and the FRX may be a higher millimeter-wave band.

[0106] For example, such as Figure 6AAs shown, the first TRP 606 can be configured to generate multiple first transmit beams 612a-612d (four of which are shown for simplicity), each beam associated with a different corresponding first downlink spatial direction. Furthermore, the UE 602 can be configured to generate multiple first receive beams 614a-614d (four of which are shown for simplicity), each beam associated with a different corresponding first uplink spatial direction. Additionally, as... Figure 6B As shown, the second TRP 608 can be configured to generate multiple second transmit beams 616a-616h (eight of which are shown for simplicity), each beam being associated with a different corresponding second downlink spatial direction. Furthermore, the UE 602 can be configured to generate multiple second receive beams 618a-618f (six of which are shown for simplicity), each beam being associated with a different corresponding second uplink spatial direction.

[0107] Since the first transmit beams 612a-612d (e.g., FR2 beams) have a wider corresponding beamwidth than the corresponding beamwidths of the second transmit beams 616a-616f (e.g., FRX beams), each of the second transmit beams 616a-616f has a corresponding second downlink spatial direction within at least one of the corresponding first downlink spatial directions of the first transmit beams 612a-612d. Furthermore, since each of the first receive beams 614a-614d has a wider corresponding beamwidth than the corresponding beamwidths of the second receive beams 618a-618f, each of the second receive beams 618a-618f has a corresponding second uplink spatial direction within at least one of the corresponding first uplink spatial directions of the first receive beams 614a-614d. Therefore, each of the first transmit beams 612a-612d can provide a coarse spatial direction for one or more of the second transmit beams 616a-616f. Similarly, each of the first receive beams 614a-614d can provide a coarse spatial direction for one or more of the second receive beams 618a-618f.

[0108] To facilitate beam pair selection on the FRX with the assistance of FR2, UE 602 may include beam manager 610, which is configured to scan a plurality of first transmit beams 612a-612d over a plurality of first receive beams 614a-614d. In some examples, the first transmit beams 612a-612d are SSB transmit beams (e.g., each transmit beam carries a corresponding SSB), such that UE 602 can receive a plurality of SSBs over the plurality of first transmit beams 612a-612d. Beam manager 610 may then identify at least one candidate first beam pair link (BPL) in FR2 based on the scan. Each candidate first BPL includes one of the first transmit beams and one of the first receive beams. For example, beam manager 610 may measure the corresponding received power (e.g., RSRP) of each of the plurality of first receive beams 614a-614d over each beam and select at least one candidate first BPL based on the measured received power. The selected candidate first BPL may have a higher received power than other first BPLs (e.g., the selected first transmit beam may have the highest RSRP on the corresponding selected first receive beam). The selected candidate first BPL further includes beams that are not blocked or otherwise degraded due to obstacles. Figure 6A In the example shown, the selected candidate first BPL includes a first transmit beam 612c and a first receive beam 614c.

[0109] Subsequently, the beam manager 610 in UE 602 can further refine the FRX beam in the same coarse spatial direction as the selected candidate first BPL (e.g., a first BPL including a first transmit beam 612c and a first receive beam 614c). Figure 6B and 6C In the example shown, beam manager 610 may identify a subset of the second transmit beams (e.g., second transmit beams 616e–616g) that has a corresponding second downlink spatial direction within a first downlink spatial direction of the selected first transmit beam 612c. Furthermore, beam manager 610 may identify a subset of the second receive beams (e.g., receive beams 618d and 618e) that has a corresponding second uplink spatial direction within a first uplink spatial direction of the selected first receive beam 614c. In some examples, the spatial direction mapping between the FR2 beam and the FRX beam may be pre-configured on base station 604 and UE 602.

[0110] like Figure 6CAs further shown, beam manager 610 can then be configured to scan a subset of the second transmit beams 616e-616g on a subset of the receive beams 618d and 618e to select a second BPL, which includes one of the second transmit beams 616e-618g and one of the receive beams 618d or 618e for communication with base station 604 on FRX. For example, UE 602 can receive a corresponding beam reference signal (e.g., SSB, CSI-RS, or other suitable reference signal) on each beam in the subset of the second transmit beams 616e-616g, and measure the received power (e.g., RSRP) or other beam quality measurements (e.g., SINR, RSRQ, etc.) of each beam in the second transmit beams 616e-616g on each of the second receive beams 618d and 618e. Beam manager 610 can then select the second BPL based on the measured beam quality. The selected second BPL may have higher quality (e.g., higher received power) than other second BPLs (e.g., the selected second transmit beam may have the highest RSRP as measured on the selected second receive beam). The selected second BPL further includes beams that are not blocked or otherwise degraded due to obstacles. Figure 6C In the example shown, the selected second BPL includes a second transmit beam 616g and a second receive beam 618e.

[0111] Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating an example of communication between beam managers of different frequency bands within a UE 700 for assisted beam management, based on several aspects. Figure 7 In the example shown, UE 700 includes an FR2 beam manager 702 configured for beam management in FR2 and an FRX beam manager 704 configured for beam management in FRX (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1, FR4, FR5, or other frequency bands higher than FR2). In some examples, each beam manager 702 and 704 may be configured to manage a corresponding set of antenna arrays on UE 700, wherein each set of antenna arrays is configured for FR2 or FRX communication.

[0112] To initiate FRX beam selection, at 706, the FRX beam manager 704 may send a request to the FR2 beam manager 702 to scan multiple FR2 beams to obtain one or more candidate coarse BPLs in FR2. In some examples, the FRX beam manager 704 may send the request to the FR2 beam manager 702 during initial cell acquisition for FRX, during cell reselection, at beam fault detection (BFD), or when receiving a request from the base station to perform beam measurements (e.g., via Radio Resource Control (RRC) messages, Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE), or Downlink Control Information (DCI)). In some examples, the UE 700 may not have an active session in FR2 when the FRX beam manager 704 sends the request to the FR2 beam manager 702. In this example, the FR2 beam manager 702 may be turned on (e.g., powered on) to perform an FR2 scan and then return to an idle state (e.g., powered off).

[0113] At 708, the FR2 beam manager 702 can scan multiple FR2 SSB transmit beams from one or more neighboring base stations (e.g., one or more FR2 TRPs of one or more base stations) over multiple FR2 receive beams 716. The FR2 beam manager 702 can then select one or more candidate coarse BPLs (e.g., by maximum RSRP) in the FR2. The selected candidate coarse BPL is associated with the FR2 TRP co-located with the FRX TRP. In some examples, the PBCH in each received SSB may include a co-location indication (e.g., extra bits) indicating whether the FRX is co-located with the FR2. In other examples, the FR2 beam manager 702 can receive a corresponding RRC message from each of the one or more neighboring base stations indicating whether each FR2 TRP is co-located with the FRX TRP.

[0114] At 710, the FR2 beam manager 702 may send a report to the FRX beam manager 704 indicating the selected candidate coarse BPL. At 712, the FRX beam manager 704 may use this report to perform a fine beam scan. For example, the FRX beam manager 702 may scan multiple narrower FRX transmit beams from one or more adjacent base stations (e.g., one or more FRX TRPs of one or more base stations) over multiple FRX receive beams 718. The FRX beam manager 704 may then select one or more fine BPLs in the FRX (e.g., by the maximum RSRP). At 714, the FRX beam manager 704 may then enable communication on the selected fine BPL in the FRX.

[0115] Figure 8This is a diagram illustrating an example of a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) 802 according to some aspects. The SSB 802 is shown as being transmitted within a time slot 800 comprising multiple symbols 814 (e.g., OFDM symbols). In some examples, the PDCCH 804 may be transmitted within the first two symbols 814 of time slot 800. The SSB 802 may then be transmitted over the next four symbols 814 in the time domain and over 20 RBs in the frequency domain. The SSB 802 includes a PSS 806, an SSS 808, and a PBCH 810. In this example, the PSS 806 may occupy 127 subcarriers of the Bandwidth Part (BWP) 816 within symbol 2, while the PBCH 810 may occupy 20 RBs of the BWP 816 in symbols 3 and 5. Symbol 4 may include an SSS 808, which may occupy 127 subcarriers between two portions of the PBCH 810, each PBCH portion spanning 4 RBs.

[0116] In some examples, BWP 816 is located within FR2, and therefore SSB 802 may be included in an SSB block containing multiple SSB beams swept across multiple FR2 transmit beams. In this example, the PBCH 810 of each SSB may further include a co-location indicator 812 indicating whether FR2 is co-located with FRX for auxiliary beam management of FRX. For example, the co-location indicator 812 may include a single bit added to PBCH 810.

[0117] Figure 9A and 9B This is a diagram illustrating an exemplary SSB transmission based on some aspects. For example... Figure 9A As shown in the example, the base station can use different beams (e.g., B1, B2, B3, and B4) or beam directions to broadcast multiple SSBs 904, 906, 908, and 910 within SSB burst 902. Figure 9A The document describes four exemplary SSBs. However, the number of SSBs in a single SSB burst 902 can be frequency-dependent. For example, in FR2, there can be 64 SSBs per SSB burst 902, and the duration of an SSB burst 902 can be, for example, up to 5 ms.

[0118] Each SSB beam can be identified by a unique SSB index (SSB Resource Indicator (SSBRI)) or a beam index. The UE can measure the received power (e.g., RSRP) of each SSB beam, for example, by measuring the DMRS included in the PBCH of the SSB. Based on these measurements, the UE can identify the SSB beam with the highest RSRP as a coarse candidate FR2 beam for FRX beam refinement.

[0119] In some examples, the UE can be configured to have a time window 912 within which coarse candidate FR2 beams are obtained for FRX beam refinement. The time window 912 may include all or a portion of the SSB burst 902, the latter... Figure 9A The explanation is in the middle. Figure 9A In the example shown, time window 912 includes the three SSBs 904, 906, and 908 of SSB burst 902. However, time window 912 is not limited to any specific number of SSBs or any specific start or end SSB within SSB burst 902. Time window 912 allows the UE to receive data, process CSI-RS, or otherwise communicate with the base station during the remaining time of SSB burst 902.

[0120] In addition, such as Figure 9A and 9B As shown, time window 912 can have a periodicity 916 that is a multiple of the SSB burst periodicity 914. For example, the SSB burst periodicity 914 of SSB bursts 902a-902d can be 20 ms. Figure 9B In the example shown, the time window periodicity 916 can be 60 ms, corresponding to three times the SSB burst periodicity 914. Therefore, for example, the UE can be configured to have a time window 912 for FR2-assisted beam management within SSB bursts 902a and 902d. In some examples, the UE can be configured to have both time window 912 and time window periodicity 916 via an RRC message transmitted from the base station to the UE.

[0121] Figure 10 This is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example hardware implementation of an exemplary UE 1000 employing a processing system 1014. For example, UE 1000 may be in... Figure 1 , 2 Any UE or scheduled entity described in any one or more of 4-6.

[0122] UE 1000 can be implemented using a processing system 1014 including one or more processors 1004. Examples of processors 1004 include microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardware configured to perform the various functionalities described throughout this disclosure. In various examples, UE 1000 can be configured to perform any or more of the functions described herein. That is, the processor 1004 utilized in UE 1000 can be used to implement the following combined Figure 10 One or more of the things described in the process.

[0123] In some instances, processor 1004 may be implemented via a baseband or modem chip, while in other implementations, processor 1004 itself may include several devices that are different from and distinct from the baseband or modem chip (e.g., in such scenarios they may work together to achieve the aspects discussed herein). Furthermore, as mentioned above, various hardware arrangements and components beyond the baseband modem processor can be used in the implementation, including RF chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, interleavers, adders / summers, etc.

[0124] In this example, processing system 1014 can be implemented using a bus architecture generally represented by bus 1002. Depending on the specific application and overall design constraints of processing system 1014, bus 1002 may include any number of interconnect buses and bridges. Bus 1002 communicatively couples together various circuits including one or more processors (generally represented by processor 1004), memory 1005, and computer-readable media (generally represented by computer-readable media 1006). Bus 1002 may also link various other circuits, such as timing sources, peripherals, regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further. Bus interface 1008 provides an interface between bus 1002 and transceiver 1010. Transceiver 1010 provides means for communicating with various other devices via a transmission medium (e.g., an air interface). In some examples, transceiver 1010 may include a phase shifter 1016 for digital and / or analog beamforming via one or more antenna arrays 1030. User interfaces 1012 (e.g., keypad, display, speaker, microphone, joystick) may also be provided.

[0125] Processor 1004 is responsible for managing bus 1002 and general processing, including the execution of software stored on computer-readable medium 1006. When executed by processor 1004, the software causes processing system 1014 to perform various functions described below for any particular device. Computer-readable medium 1006 and memory 1005 may also be used to store data manipulated by processor 1004 during software execution.

[0126] One or more processors 1004 in the processing system can execute software. Software 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, executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or other terms. Software may reside on a computer-readable medium 1006.

[0127] Computer-readable medium 1006 may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. As examples, non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, magnetic tapes), optical disks (e.g., compact discs (CDs) or digital multi-purpose discs (DVDs)), smart cards, flash memory devices (e.g., cards, sticks, or key-type drives), random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), registers, removable disks, and any other suitable medium for storing software and / or instructions that can be accessed and read by a computer. Computer-readable medium 1006 may reside in processing system 1014, be external to processing system 1014, or be distributed across multiple entities including processing system 1014. Computer-readable medium 1006 may be implemented in a computer program product. In some examples, computer-readable medium 1006 may be part of memory 1005. As an example, a computer program product may include a computer-readable medium within encapsulation material. Those skilled in the art will recognize how the functionality described throughout this disclosure can be best achieved, depending on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system as a whole.

[0128] In some aspects of this disclosure, processor 1004 may include circuitry configured for various functions. For example, processor 1004 may include communication and processing circuitry 1042 configured to communicate with a base station (such as a gNB, TRP, or other scheduling entity). In some examples, communication and processing circuitry 1042 may include one or more hardware components that provide a physical structure for performing processes related to wireless communication (e.g., signal reception and / or signal transmission) and signal processing (e.g., processing received signals and / or processing signals for transmission).

[0129] In some examples, the communication and processing circuitry system 1042 may be configured to receive and process downlink beamforming signals at millimeter-wave frequencies (e.g., FR2, FR4-a, or FR4-1, FR4, FR5, etc.) via transceiver 1010 and antenna array 1030 (e.g., using phase shifter 1016). Additionally, the communication and processing circuitry system 1042 may be configured to generate and transmit uplink beamforming signals at millimeter-wave frequencies via transceiver 1010 and antenna array 1030 (e.g., using phase shifter 1016).

[0130] The communication and processing circuitry system 1042 may be further configured to receive multiple SSBs from one or more TRPs on multiple first transmit beams in a first frequency band (e.g., FR2). In some examples, each received SSB may include a corresponding co-location indication indicating whether the TRP transmitting the SSB beam is co-located with a TRP in a second frequency band (e.g., FRX, such as FR4-a or FR4-1, FR4 or FR5). In other examples, the communication and processing circuitry system 1042 may be configured to receive a corresponding co-location indication from each of the FR2 TRPs via an RRC message.

[0131] The communication and processing circuitry system 1042 may be further configured to receive multiple reference signals (e.g., SSB, CSI-RS, etc.) on multiple second transmit beams in a second frequency band. In some examples, the respective beamwidths of the multiple first transmit beams are wider than the respective beamwidths of the multiple second transmit beams.

[0132] The communication and processing circuitry system 1042 may be further configured to receive an RRC message from a base station, the RRC message including a time window and time window periodicity for performing FR2-assisted beam management for FRX. The communication and processing circuitry system 1042 may be further configured to execute communication and processing software 1052 stored in a computer-readable medium 1006 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0133] The processor 1004 may further include a beam manager circuitry 1044 configured to perform beam management in multiple frequency bands (e.g., FR2 and FRX). For example, the beam manager circuitry 1044 may include an FR2 beam manager circuitry 1046 and an FRX beam manager circuitry 1048. The FR2 beam manager circuitry 1046 may, for example, correspond to... Figure 7 The FR2 beam manager 702 shown, while the FRX beam manager circuitry 1048 may correspond, for example, to... Figure 7 The FRX beam manager 704 is shown. In some examples, the beam manager circuitry 1044 may correspond, for example, to... Figure 1 Or any beam manager shown in 3-7.

[0134] To initiate FRX beam selection, FRX beam manager circuitry 1048 can be configured to send a request to FR2 beam manager circuitry 1046 to receive (or scan) multiple FR2 beams to obtain one or more candidate coarse BPLs in the FR2. In some examples, FRX beam manager circuitry 1048 may send the request to FR2 beam manager circuitry 1046 during initial cell acquisition for FRX, during cell reselection, at beam fault detection (BFD), or upon receiving a request from a base station to perform beam measurements (e.g., sending an L1 measurement report). In some examples, FR2 beam manager circuitry 1046 may not have an active session when FRX beam manager circuitry 1048 sends the request to FR2 beam manager circuitry 1046. In this example, the FR2 beam manager circuitry 1046 can be configured to be turned on (e.g., powered on using power supply 1040) to perform an FR2 scan, and then return to an idle state (e.g., powered off using power supply 1040) after the FR2 scan has been performed.

[0135] The FR2 beam manager circuitry 1046 can be configured to use a phase shifter 1016 to control one or more antenna arrays 1030 (e.g., FR2 antenna arrays) to scan multiple FR2 SSB transmit beams from one or more adjacent base stations (e.g., one or more FR2 TRPs of one or more base stations) over multiple FR2 receive beams. In some examples, the FR2 beam manager circuitry 1046 can scan FR2 beams during a time window configured for the UE to perform FR2-assisted beam management for FRX. The FR2 beam manager circuitry 702 can then select one or more candidate coarse BPLs 1020 in FR2 (e.g., by maximum RSRP). The selected candidate coarse BPL 1020 is associated with an FR2 TRP co-located with an FRX TRP, as determined from a co-location indication included in the SSB or received via an RRC message. Subsequently, the selected candidate FR2 BPL 1020 may be stored, for example, in memory 1005 for use by FR2 beam manager circuitry 1046 when generating a report indicating the selected coarse FR2 BPL 1020 and sending the report to FRX beam manager circuitry 1048.

[0136] Subsequently, the FRX beam manager circuitry 1048 can be configured to use phase shifter 1016 to control one or more antenna arrays 1030 (e.g., FRX antenna arrays) to perform fine beam scanning using the report. For example, the FRX beam manager circuitry 1048 can receive (or scan) multiple narrower FRX transmit beams associated with a selected coarse FR2 BPL 1020 from one or more adjacent base stations (e.g., one or more FRX TRPs of one or more base stations) over multiple FRX receive beams. Each scanned FRX transmit beam may have a spatial orientation within the spatial orientation of one of the selected FR2 transmit beams. Furthermore, each scanned FRX receive beam may have a spatial orientation within the spatial orientation of one of the selected FR2 receive beams. For example, the FRX beam manager circuitry 1048 can scan an FRX transmit beam from an FRX TRP that has the same spatial orientation as the FR2 transmit beam from a co-located FR2 TRP.

[0137] The FRX beam manager circuitry 1048 can then be configured to select one or more candidate fine BPLs 1022 in the FRX (e.g., by maximum RSRP). The selected FRX BPL 1022 can be stored, for example, in memory 1005 for use by the FRX beam manager circuitry 1048 and the communication and processing circuitry 1042 for communication on the selected FRX BPL in the FRX. The beam manager circuitry 1044 can be further configured to execute beam manager instructions 1054 (e.g., software) stored in computer-readable medium 1006 to implement one or more of the functions described herein. Furthermore, the FR2 beam manager circuitry 1046 can be further configured to execute FR2 beam manager instructions 1056 (e.g., software) stored in computer-readable medium 1006 to implement one or more of the functions described herein. The FRX beam manager circuitry 1048 may be further configured to execute FRX beam manager instructions 1058 (e.g., software) stored in the computer-readable medium 1006 to implement one or more of the functions described herein.

[0138] Figure 11 This is a flowchart 1100 illustrating an example of a method for auxiliary beam management between frequency bands according to some aspects. As described below, some or all of the described features may be omitted in a particular implementation within the scope of this disclosure, and some described features may not be required to implement all aspects. In some examples, the method may be derived from the above description and in Figure 10 The UE 1000 described herein is executed by a processor or processing system, or by any suitable means for performing the described functions.

[0139] At block 1102, the UE may receive multiple first transmit beams on each of a plurality of first receive beams within a first frequency band, each of the first transmit beams and the first receive beams being a space-oriented beam. In some examples, the UE may be configured to scan the plurality of first transmit beams on the plurality of first receive beams within the first frequency band during a time window configured for the UE to scan the first frequency band to obtain a second frequency band. In some examples, the first frequency band includes FR2 or other space-oriented frequency bands. In some examples, the UE may receive multiple SSBs on the plurality of first transmit beams. Each of the plurality of SSBs may include a co-location indication indicating whether the corresponding first TRP of the transmitted SSB has a co-location second TRP in a second frequency band higher than the first frequency band. For example, the above combined Figure 10 The beam manager circuitry 1044 (including FR2 beam manager 1046), transceiver 1010, and antenna array 1030 shown and described provide means for scanning multiple first transmit beams over multiple first receive beams in a first frequency band.

[0140] At block 1104, the UE can select at least one first beampair link, each first beampair link including a corresponding first transmit beam and a corresponding first receive beam. Each first transmit beam in the at least one first beampair link has a corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each first receive beam in the at least one first beampair link has a corresponding first uplink spatial direction. In some examples, the UE can measure the corresponding received power (e.g., RSRP) of each of the plurality of first transmit beams on each of the plurality of first receive beams, and select at least one first beampair link based on the measured received power. For example, each of the at least one first beampair link may have a higher corresponding received power than other first beampair links. In some examples, the UE can select at least one first beampair link associated with a corresponding SSB, the corresponding SSB including a co-location indication indicating co-location of the corresponding TRP in a first frequency band and a second frequency band. For example, the above combined Figure 10 The beam manager circuit system 1044 shown and described (including FR2 beam manager 1046) provides means for selecting at least one first beam pair link.

[0141] At block 1106, the UE may receive multiple second transmit beams on multiple second receive beams within a second frequency band different from the first frequency band. Each of the multiple second transmit beams includes a corresponding second downlink spatial direction within at least one direction of a corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each of the multiple second receive beams includes a corresponding second uplink spatial direction within at least one direction of a corresponding first uplink spatial direction. In some examples, the corresponding first beamwidths of the multiple first transmit beams and the multiple first receive beams are wider than the corresponding second beamwidths of the multiple second transmit beams and the multiple second receive beams. For example, the first frequency band may include FR2 (or other lower spatially oriented frequency bands), while the second frequency band may include FR 4-a or FR4-1, FR4 or FR5 (or other frequency bands higher than the first frequency band).

[0142] In some examples, the UE may send an internal request to scan multiple first transmit beams in a first frequency band, and receive an internal report indicating at least one first beam pair link. For example, the UE may include a first beam manager for the first frequency band and a second beam manager for the second frequency band. The second beam manager may send an internal request to the first beam manager to scan multiple first transmit beams at block 1102, and receive an internal report from the first beam manager indicating at least one first beam pair link. For example, the above combined... Figure 10 The beam manager circuitry 1044 (including FRX beam manager 1048), transceiver 1010, and antenna array 1030 shown and described provide means for scanning multiple second transmit beams over multiple second receive beams.

[0143] At point 1108, the UE can select a second beam pair link comprising a second transmit beam from a plurality of second transmit beams and a second receive beam from a plurality of third receive beams. The UE can then use the selected second beam pair link for communication with the base station. For example, the above combined Figure 10 The beam manager circuit system 1044 (including FRX beam manager 1048) shown and described provides means for selecting a second beam pair link.

[0144] At block 1110, the UE can communicate with transmit and receive points (TRPs) using a second beampair link. In some examples, the UE can communicate with two or more first TRPs in a first frequency band and with two or more second TRPs in a second frequency band. The UE can then select at least one first beampair link, each first beampair link including a corresponding first transmit beam and a corresponding first receive beam, and each first beampair link is associated with a corresponding SSB including a co-location indication indicating co-location between a corresponding second TRP among the two or more second TRPs and a corresponding corresponding first TRP among the two or more first TRPs. For example, the above combined... Figure 10 The beam manager circuitry 1044 (including FRX beam manager 1048), communication and processing circuitry 1042, and transceiver 1010 shown and described may provide means for communicating with the TRP.

[0145] Figure 12 This is a flowchart 1200 illustrating another example of a method for auxiliary beam management between frequency bands, based on some aspects. As described below, some or all of the described features may be omitted in a particular implementation within the scope of this disclosure, and some described features may not be required to implement all aspects. In some examples, the method may be derived from the above description and... Figure 10 The UE 1000 described herein is executed by a processor or processing system, or by any suitable means for performing the described functions.

[0146] At box 1202, the UE can communicate with two or more first TRPs in a first frequency band and with two or more second TRPs in a second frequency band different from the first frequency band. For example, the first frequency band could be FR2 (or other spatially oriented frequency bands), while the second frequency band could be FRX (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1, FR4, FR5, or other higher frequency bands). For example, the above combined... Figure 10 The communication and processing circuitry system 1042 shown and described may provide means for communicating with two or more first TRPs and two or more second TRPs.

[0147] At block 1204, the UE can receive multiple SSBs transmitted on multiple first transmit beams from two or more first TRPs on multiple first receive beams. Each SSB may include a co-location indication indicating that a corresponding TRP among two or more second TRPs is co-located with a corresponding corresponding TRP among two or more first TRPs. Each of the first transmit beams and first receive beams can be a space-oriented beam. For example... Figure 10The communication and processing circuitry system 1042 and beam manager circuitry system 1044 (including FR2 beam manager 1046) shown and described can provide means for receiving multiple SSBs.

[0148] At block 1206, the UE can select at least one first beam pair link, each first beam pair link including a corresponding first transmit beam and a corresponding first receive beam. Each selected at least one first beam pair link is further associated with a corresponding SSB, which includes a co-location indication indicating that a corresponding second TRP among two or more second TRPs is co-located with a corresponding corresponding first TRP among two or more first TRPs transmitting the SSB. For example, the above combined Figure 10 The beam manager circuit system 1044 shown and described (including FR2 beam manager 1046) provides means for selecting at least one first beam pair link.

[0149] Figure 13 This is a flowchart 1300 illustrating another example of a method for auxiliary beam management between frequency bands, based on some aspects. As described below, some or all of the described features may be omitted in a particular implementation within the scope of this disclosure, and some described features may not be required to implement all aspects. In some examples, the method may be derived from the methods described above and in... Figure 10 The UE 1000 described herein is executed by a processor or processing system, or by any suitable means for performing the described functions.

[0150] At box 1302, the UE may send an internal request to scan multiple first transmit beams in a first frequency band. For example, the UE may send an internal request from a second beam manager in a second frequency band different from the first frequency band to a first beam manager in the first frequency band, so that the first beam manager scans multiple first transmit beams. For example, the first frequency band may be FR2 (or other spatially oriented frequency bands), while the second frequency band may be FRX (e.g., FR4-a or FR4-1, FR4, FR5, or other higher frequency bands). For example, the above combined... Figure 10 The beam manager circuitry 1044 shown and described (including FR2 beam manager 1046 and FRX beam manager 104) provides means for sending internal requests.

[0151] At block 1304, the UE may scan multiple first transmit beams on each of a plurality of first receive beams within a first frequency band, wherein each of the first transmit beams and the first receive beams is a space-oriented beam. In some examples, a first beam manager may scan multiple first transmit beams. In some examples, the UE may be configured to scan multiple first transmit beams on each of a plurality of first receive beams within a first frequency band during a time window configured for the UE to scan the first frequency band to obtain a second frequency band. In some examples, the UE may receive multiple SSBs on the plurality of first transmit beams. Each of the plurality of SSBs may include a co-location indication indicating whether a corresponding first TRP for transmitting the SSB has a co-located second TRP in the second frequency band. For example, the above combined Figure 10 The beam manager circuit system 1044 shown and described (including FR2 beam manager 1046) provides means for scanning multiple first transmit beams.

[0152] At box 1306, the UE can select at least one first beam pair link. In some examples, the first beam manager can select at least one first beam pair link. Each beam pair link can include a corresponding first transmit beam among a plurality of first transmit beams and a corresponding first receive beam among a plurality of receive beams. Each first transmit beam of the at least one beam pair link has a corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each first receive beam of the at least one beam pair link has a corresponding first uplink spatial direction. In some examples, the UE can measure the corresponding received power (e.g., RSRP) of each of the plurality of first transmit beams on each of the plurality of first receive beams and select at least one first beam pair link based on the measured received power. For example, each of the at least one first beam pair link can have a higher corresponding received power than other first beam pair links. In some examples, the UE can select at least one first beam pair link associated with a corresponding SSB, the corresponding SSB including a co-location indication indicating co-location of the corresponding TRP in a first frequency band and a second frequency band. For example, the above combined Figure 10 The beam manager circuit system 1044 shown and described (including FR2 beam manager 1046) provides means for selecting at least one first beam pair link.

[0153] At box 1308, the UE may receive an internal report indicating at least one first beam pair link. At least one first beam pair link can provide the FRX with coarse candidate beam pairs links. In some examples, a second beam manager may receive the internal report from the first beam manager. For example, the above combined... Figure 10The beam manager circuit system 1044 shown and described (including FR2 beam manager 1046 and FRX beam manager 1048) can provide means for receiving reports.

[0154] In one configuration, UE 1000 includes features for performing operations related to... Figure 11-13 The apparatus for the various functions and processes described. In one aspect, the aforementioned apparatus may be... Figure 10 The processor 1004 shown is configured to perform the functions described in the aforementioned apparatus. Alternatively, the aforementioned apparatus may be a circuit or any device configured to perform the functions described in the aforementioned apparatus.

[0155] Of course, in the above example, the circuitry included in processor 1004 is provided merely as an example, and other means for performing the functions described may be included within various aspects of this disclosure, including but not limited to those stored in computer-readable storage medium 1006, or... Figure 1 and / or any other suitable equipment or device described in any of 3-7 and utilizing, for example, the descriptions herein. Figure 11-13 Instructions for the described process and / or algorithm.

[0156] For example, an apparatus (e.g., UE 1000) may include means for receiving a plurality of first transmit beams on each of a plurality of first receive beams within a first frequency band. Each of the plurality of first transmit beams and the plurality of first receive beams is a spatially oriented beam. The apparatus may further include means for selecting at least one first beam pair link, each first beam pair link including a corresponding first transmit beam among the plurality of first transmit beams and a corresponding first receive beam among the plurality of receive beams. Each first transmit beam in the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each first receive beam in the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first uplink spatial direction. The apparatus may further include means for receiving a plurality of second transmit beams on each of a plurality of second receive beams within a second frequency band different from the first frequency band. Each of the plurality of second transmit beams has a corresponding second downlink spatial direction in at least one direction among the corresponding first downlink spatial directions, and each of the plurality of second receive beams has a corresponding second uplink spatial direction in at least one direction among the corresponding first uplink spatial directions. The device may further include means for selecting a second beampair link comprising a second transmit beam among a plurality of second transmit beams and a second receive beam among a plurality of third receive beams; and means for communicating with a transmit and receive point (TRP) using the second beampair link.

[0157] In one aspect, the aforementioned means for receiving a plurality of first transmit beams on each of a plurality of receive beams, means for selecting at least one first beampair link, means for receiving a plurality of second transmit beams on each of a plurality of second receive beams, means for selecting a second beampair link, and means for communicating with the TRP using the second beampair link can be... Figure 10 The processor 1004 shown is configured to perform the functions described in the aforementioned apparatus. For example, the aforementioned apparatus for receiving a plurality of first transmit beams on each of a plurality of first receive beams may include... Figure 10 The beam manager circuitry 1044 shown includes an FR2 beam manager 1046, a transceiver 1010, and an antenna array 1030. As another example, means for selecting a first beam pair link may include... Figure 10 The beam manager circuitry 1044 shown includes an FR2 beam manager 1046. As another example, apparatus for receiving multiple second transmit beams on each of a plurality of second receive beams may include... Figure 10 The beam manager circuitry 1044 shown includes an FRX beam manager 1048, a transceiver 1010, and an antenna array 1030. As another example, means for selecting a second beam pair link may include... Figure 10 The beam manager circuitry system 1044 shown includes an FRX beam manager 1048. On the other hand, the aforementioned apparatus can be a circuit or any device configured to perform the functions described therein. As another example, an apparatus for communicating with the TRP via a second beam link may include... Figure 10 The beam manager circuitry system 1044 shown includes the FRX beam manager 1048, as well as the communication and processing circuitry system 1042 and the transceiver.

[0158] The following provides an overview of the various aspects of this disclosure.

[0159] Aspect 1: A method for performing wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: receiving a plurality of first transmit beams on each of a plurality of first receive beams in a first frequency band, wherein each of the plurality of first transmit beams and the plurality of first receive beams is a space-oriented beam; selecting at least one first beam pair link, each first beam pair link including a corresponding first transmit beam of the plurality of first transmit beams and a corresponding first receive beam of the plurality of receive beams, wherein each of the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each of the at least one first beam pair link includes a first transmit beam of the plurality of first transmit beams and a corresponding first receive beam of the plurality of first receive beams. A first receive beam includes a corresponding first uplink spatial direction; multiple second transmit beams are received on multiple second receive beams in a second frequency band different from the first frequency band, wherein each of the multiple second transmit beams includes a corresponding second downlink spatial direction in at least one direction of the corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each of the multiple second receive beams includes a corresponding second uplink spatial direction in at least one direction of the corresponding first uplink spatial direction; a second beam pair link is selected including a second transmit beam from the multiple second transmit beams and a second receive beam from the multiple third receive beams; and communication is made with the transmit and receive point (TRP) using the second beam pair link.

[0160] Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, wherein selecting the at least one first beam pair link further comprises: measuring the corresponding received power of each of the plurality of first receive beams on each of the plurality of first transmit beams; and selecting at least one first beam pair link based on the received power.

[0161] Aspect 3: The method of aspect 2, wherein each of the at least one first beam pair links includes a corresponding received power higher than that of the other first beam pair links.

[0162] Aspect 4: The method of any of Aspects 1 to 3, wherein the plurality of first transmit beams are associated with two or more first transmit and receive points (TRPs), and the plurality of second transmit beams are associated with two or more second TRPs.

[0163] Aspect 5: The method of aspect 4, wherein receiving the plurality of first transmit beams further includes: receiving a plurality of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) on the plurality of first transmit beams.

[0164] Aspect 6: The method of aspect 5, wherein each of the plurality of SSBs includes a co-location indication indicating whether a corresponding TRP among two or more second TRPs is co-located with a corresponding corresponding TRP among two or more first TRPs.

[0165] Aspect 7: The method of aspect 6, wherein selecting the at least one first beam pair link further comprises: selecting at least one first beam pair link associated with a corresponding SSB among a plurality of SSBs including a co-location indication, the co-location indication indicating that a corresponding second TRP among two or more second TRPs is co-located with a corresponding corresponding first TRP among two or more first TRPs.

[0166] Aspect 8: The method of any of Aspects 1 to 7 further includes: sending an internal request to scan a plurality of first transmit beams to identify at least one first beam pair link; and receiving an internal report indicating the at least one first beam pair link.

[0167] Aspect 9: The method of any of Aspects 1 to 8, wherein the respective first beamwidths of the plurality of first transmit beams and the plurality of first receive beams are wider than the respective second beamwidths of the plurality of second transmit beams and the plurality of second receive beams.

[0168] Aspect 10: The method of any of Aspects 1 to 9, wherein the first frequency band includes FR2 and the second frequency band includes FR4-a or FR4-1, FR4 or FR5.

[0169] Aspect 11: The method of any of Aspects 1 to 10, wherein receiving a plurality of first transmit beams on each of a plurality of first receive beams in a first frequency band further comprises: receiving a plurality of first transmit beams on a plurality of first receive beams in a first frequency band during a time window, the time window being configured for the UE to scan the first frequency band to find a second frequency band.

[0170] Aspect 12: A user equipment (UE) configured for wireless communication includes a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the processor and the memory being configured to perform a method as described in any of Aspects 1 to 11.

[0171] Aspect 13: A device configured for wireless communication, comprising at least one means for performing a method as described in any of Aspects 1 to 11.

[0172] Aspect 14: A non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, the computer-executable code including code for causing a device to perform methods as described in any of Aspects 1 to 11.

[0173] Several aspects of wireless communication networks have been described with reference to exemplary implementations. As will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, the various aspects described herein can be extended to other telecommunications systems, network architectures, and communication standards.

[0174] As examples, various aspects can be implemented within 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 (3GPP2), such as CDMA2000 and / or Evolved Data Optimized (EV-DO). Other examples can be implemented within systems employing 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 employed will depend on the specific application and the overall design constraints imposed on the system.

[0175] Within this disclosure, the term "exemplary" is used to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any implementation or aspect described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as superior to or better than other aspects of this disclosure. Similarly, the term "aspect" does not require that all aspects of this disclosure include the features, advantages, or modes of operation discussed. The term "coupling" is used herein to refer to direct or indirect coupling between two objects. For example, if object A physically contacts object B, and object B contacts 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 directly contacts the second object. The terms "circuit" and "circuit system" are used broadly and are intended to include both hardware implementations of electronic devices and conductors, and software implementations of information and instructions, which, when connected and configured, enable the performance of the functions described in this disclosure, without limitation on the type of electronic circuit, and which, when executed by a processor, enable the performance of the functions described in this disclosure.

[0176] Figure 1-13 One or more of the components, steps, features and / or functions described herein may be rearranged and / or combined into a single component, step, feature or function, or implemented in several components, steps or functions. Additional elements, components, steps, and / or functions may also be added without departing from the novel features disclosed herein. Figure 1 , 3 The apparatus, devices, and / or components described in -7 and / or 10 can be configured to perform one or more of the methods, features, or steps described herein. The novel algorithms described herein can also be efficiently implemented in software and / or embedded in hardware.

[0177] It will be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of the steps in the disclosed methods is an explanation of an exemplary process. Based on design preferences, it will be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of the steps in these methods may be rearranged. The appended method claims present the elements of the various steps in a sample order and are not intended to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented, unless specifically stated herein.

[0178] The preceding description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will readily be understood by those skilled in the art, and the universal principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but are to be granted the full scope consistent with the language of the claims, wherein references to the singular form of an element are not intended to mean “one and only one”—unless specifically stated otherwise—but are intended to mean “one or more.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some / a” refers to one or more. The phrase “at least one of” referring to a list of items refers to any combination of these items, including a single member. As an 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, b, and c. All structural and functional equivalents of the aspects described throughout this disclosure that are currently or hereafter known to a person skilled in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be covered by the claims. Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be donated to the public, whether or not such disclosure is expressly stated in the claims.

Claims

1. A method for conducting wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: During a time window, a plurality of first transmit beams are received on each of a plurality of first receive beams within a first frequency band, the time window being configured for the UE to scan the first frequency band to find a second frequency band higher than and different from the first frequency band, wherein each of the plurality of first transmit beams and the plurality of first receive beams is a space-oriented beam. At least one first beam pair link is selected, each first beam pair link including a corresponding first transmit beam among the plurality of first transmit beams and a corresponding first receive beam among the plurality of receive beams, wherein each first transmit beam in the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each first receive beam in the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first uplink spatial direction. Multiple second transmit beams are received on each of the multiple second receive beams in the second frequency band, wherein each of the multiple second transmit beams includes a corresponding second downlink spatial direction in at least one direction in a corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each of the multiple second receive beams includes a corresponding second uplink spatial direction in at least one direction in a corresponding first uplink spatial direction. Select a second beam pair link comprising the second transmit beam from the plurality of second transmit beams and the second receive beam from the plurality of second receive beams; and The second beam is used to communicate between the link and the transmit and receive points (TRPs).

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the at least one first beam pair link further comprises: The corresponding received power of each of the plurality of first receive beams is measured on each of the plurality of first transmit beams; as well as The at least one first beam pair link is selected based on the corresponding received power of each of the plurality of first transmit beams.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the received power of each of the at least one first beam pair links is higher than that of the other first beam pair links.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of first transmit beams are associated with two or more first transmit and receive points (TRPs), and the plurality of second transmit beams are associated with two or more second TRPs.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein receiving the plurality of first transmit beams further comprises: Multiple synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) are received on the multiple first transmit beams.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein each of the plurality of SSBs includes a co-location indication indicating whether a corresponding TRP among the two or more second TRPs is co-located with a corresponding corresponding TRP among the two or more first TRPs.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein selecting the at least one first beam pair link further comprises: Select at least one first beam pair link associated with a corresponding SSB among the plurality of SSBs that includes the co-location indication, the co-location indication indicating that a corresponding second TRP among the two or more second TRPs is co-located with a corresponding corresponding first TRP among the two or more first TRPs.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: Send an internal request to scan the plurality of first transmit beams to identify at least one first beam to the link; as well as Receive an internal report indicating the at least one first beam pair link.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the respective first beamwidths of the plurality of first transmit beams and the plurality of first receive beams are wider than the respective second beamwidths of the plurality of second transmit beams and the plurality of second receive beams.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first frequency band includes frequency range (F2)2 (FR2), and the second frequency band includes one of FR4, or FR5, or FR4-a, or FR4-1.

11. An apparatus configured for wireless communication in a user equipment (UE), comprising: One or more processors; as well as One or more memories coupled to the one or more processors, The one or more processors mentioned therein are configured to: During a time window, a plurality of first transmit beams are received on each of a plurality of first receive beams within a first frequency band, the time window being configured for the UE to scan the first frequency band to find a second frequency band higher than and different from the first frequency band, wherein each of the plurality of first transmit beams and the plurality of first receive beams is a space-oriented beam. At least one first beam pair link is selected, each first beam pair link including a corresponding first transmit beam among the plurality of first transmit beams and a corresponding first receive beam among the plurality of receive beams, wherein each first transmit beam in the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each first receive beam in the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first uplink spatial direction. Multiple second transmit beams are received on each of the multiple second receive beams in the second frequency band, wherein each of the multiple second transmit beams includes a corresponding second downlink spatial direction in at least one direction in a corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each of the multiple second receive beams includes a corresponding second uplink spatial direction in at least one direction in a corresponding first uplink spatial direction. Select a second beam pair link comprising the second transmit beam from the plurality of second transmit beams and the second receive beam from the plurality of second receive beams; and The second beam is used to communicate between the link and the transmit and receive points (TRPs).

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: Measure the corresponding received power of each of the plurality of first receive beams on each of the plurality of first transmit beams; and The at least one first beam pair link is selected based on the received power.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the received power of each of the at least one first beam pair links is higher than that of the other first beam pair links.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the plurality of first transmit beams are associated with two or more first transmit and receive points (TRPs), and the plurality of second transmit beams are associated with two or more second TRPs.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising: One or more transceivers coupled to the one or more processors. The one or more processors mentioned above are further configured to: The transceiver receives multiple synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) on the plurality of first transmit beams, wherein each of the plurality of SSBs includes a co-location indication indicating whether a corresponding TRP among the two or more second TRPs is co-located with a corresponding corresponding TRP among the two or more first TRPs.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: Select at least one first beam pair link associated with a corresponding SSB among the plurality of SSBs that includes the co-location indication, the co-location indication indicating that a corresponding second TRP among the two or more second TRPs is co-located with a corresponding corresponding first TRP among the two or more first TRPs.

17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: A request is sent from the second beam manager of the second frequency band in the UE to the first beam manager of the first frequency band in the UE, so that the first beam manager scans the plurality of first transmit beams to identify the at least one first beam pair link; and The second beam manager receives a report from the first beam manager indicating the link of the at least one first beam pair.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the respective first beamwidths of the plurality of first transmit beams and the plurality of first receive beams are wider than the respective second beamwidths of the plurality of second transmit beams and the plurality of second receive beams.

19. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first frequency band includes frequency range (FR)2 (FR2), and the second frequency band includes one of FR4, or FR5, or FR4-a, or FR4-1.

20. A device configured for wireless communication, comprising: A means for receiving a plurality of first transmit beams on each of a plurality of first receive beams in a first frequency band during a time window, the time window being configured for the means to scan the first frequency band to find a second frequency band higher than and different from the first frequency band, wherein each of the plurality of first transmit beams and the plurality of first receive beams is a space-oriented beam. A means for selecting at least one first beam pair link, each first beam pair link including a corresponding first transmit beam among the plurality of first transmit beams and a corresponding first receive beam among the plurality of receive beams, wherein each first transmit beam in the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each first receive beam in the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first uplink spatial direction. A means for receiving a plurality of second transmit beams on each of a plurality of second receive beams in a second frequency band, wherein each of the plurality of second transmit beams includes a respective second downlink spatial direction in at least one of a respective first downlink spatial direction, and each of the plurality of second receive beams includes a respective second uplink spatial direction in at least one of a respective first uplink spatial direction. A means for selecting a second beam pair link comprising a second transmit beam from the plurality of second transmit beams and a second receive beam from the plurality of second receive beams; as well as A means for communicating between a link and a transmit and receive point (TRP) using the second beam.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the means for selecting the at least one first beam pair link further comprises: A means for measuring the corresponding received power of each of the plurality of first transmit beams on each of the plurality of first receive beams. as well as A means for selecting the at least one first beam pair link based on the received power, wherein the received power of each of the at least one first beam pair link is higher than that of the other first beam pair links.

22. The device of claim 20, wherein the plurality of first transmit beams are associated with two or more first transmit and receive points (TRPs), and the plurality of second transmit beams are associated with two or more second TRPs.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the means for receiving the plurality of first transmitted beams further comprises: A means for receiving multiple synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) on the plurality of first transmit beams, wherein each of the plurality of SSBs includes a co-location indication indicating whether a corresponding TRP among the two or more second TRPs is co-located with a corresponding corresponding TRP among the two or more first TRPs.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the means for selecting the at least one first beam pair link further comprises: Means for selecting at least one first beam pair link associated with a corresponding SSB among the plurality of SSBs including the co-location indication, the co-location indication indicating that a corresponding second TRP among the two or more second TRPs is co-located with a corresponding corresponding first TRP among the two or more first TRPs.

25. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising: A means for sending an internal request to scan the plurality of first transmit beams to identify at least one first beam to the link; as well as A means for receiving an internal report indicative of the at least one first beam pair link.

26. The device of claim 20, wherein the respective first beamwidths of the plurality of first transmit beams and the plurality of first receive beams are wider than the respective second beamwidths of the plurality of second transmit beams and the plurality of second receive beams.

27. The device of claim 20, wherein the first frequency band includes frequency range (FR)2 (FR2), and the second frequency band includes one of FR4, or FR5, or FR4-a, or FR4-1.

28. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE) to: During a time window, a plurality of first transmit beams are received on each of a plurality of first receive beams within a first frequency band, the time window being configured for the UE to scan the first frequency band to find a second frequency band higher than and different from the first frequency band, wherein each of the plurality of first transmit beams and the plurality of first receive beams is a space-oriented beam. At least one first beam pair link is selected, each first beam pair link including a corresponding first transmit beam among the plurality of first transmit beams and a corresponding first receive beam among the plurality of receive beams, wherein each first transmit beam in the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each first receive beam in the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first uplink spatial direction. Multiple second transmit beams are received on each of the multiple second receive beams in the second frequency band, wherein each of the multiple second transmit beams includes a corresponding second downlink spatial direction in at least one direction in a corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each of the multiple second receive beams includes a corresponding second uplink spatial direction in at least one direction in a corresponding first uplink spatial direction. Select a second beam pair link comprising the second transmit beam from the plurality of second transmit beams and the second receive beam from the plurality of second receive beams; and The second beam is used to communicate between the link and the transmit and receive points (TRPs).

29. The non-transient computer-readable medium of claim 28, wherein the plurality of first transmit beams are associated with two or more first transmit and receive points (TRPs), and the plurality of second transmit beams are associated with two or more second TRPs.

30. The non-transient computer-readable medium of claim 29, further comprising instructions capable of being performed by one or more processors of the UE: Multiple synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) are received on the plurality of first transmit beams, wherein each of the plurality of SSBs includes a co-location indication indicating whether a corresponding TRP among the two or more second TRPs is co-located with a corresponding corresponding TRP among the two or more first TRPs.

31. The non-transient computer-readable medium of claim 30, further comprising instructions capable of being performed by one or more processors of the UE: Select at least one first beam pair link associated with a corresponding SSB among the plurality of SSBs that includes the co-location indication, the co-location indication indicating that a corresponding second TRP among the two or more second TRPs is co-located with a corresponding corresponding first TRP among the two or more first TRPs.

32. The non-transient computer-readable medium of claim 28, wherein the respective first beamwidths of the plurality of first transmit beams and the plurality of first receive beams are wider than the respective second beamwidths of the plurality of second transmit beams and the plurality of second receive beams.

33. An apparatus configured for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: One or more processors; as well as One or more memories coupled to the one or more processors, The one or more processors mentioned therein are configured to: Multiple synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) of multiple first transmit beams are received on each of the multiple first receive beams in a first frequency band, wherein each of the multiple first transmit beams and the multiple first receive beams is a space directional beam. At least one first beam pair link is selected, each first beam pair link including a corresponding first transmit beam among the plurality of first transmit beams and a corresponding first receive beam among the plurality of receive beams, wherein each first transmit beam in the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each first receive beam in the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first uplink spatial direction. Multiple second transmit beams are received on each of a plurality of second receive beams in a second frequency band that is higher than and different from the first frequency band, wherein each of the plurality of second transmit beams includes a corresponding second downlink space direction in at least one of the corresponding first downlink space directions, and each of the plurality of second receive beams includes a corresponding second uplink space direction in at least one of the corresponding first uplink space directions. Select a second beam pair link comprising the second transmit beam from the plurality of second transmit beams and the second receive beam from the plurality of second receive beams; and The second beam is used to communicate between the link and the transmit and receive points (TRPs). The plurality of first transmit beams are associated with two or more first transmit and receive points (TRPs), while the plurality of second transmit beams are associated with two or more second TRPs. Each of the plurality of SSBs includes a co-location indication indicating whether a corresponding TRP among the two or more second TRPs is co-located with a corresponding corresponding TRP among the two or more first TRPs.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: Select at least one first beam pair link associated with a corresponding SSB among the plurality of SSBs that includes the co-location indication, the co-location indication indicating that a corresponding second TRP among the two or more second TRPs is co-located with a corresponding corresponding first TRP among the two or more first TRPs.

35. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the first frequency band includes frequency range (FR)2 (FR2), and the second frequency band includes one of FR4, or FR5, or FR4-a, or FR4-1.

36. A method for conducting wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: Multiple synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) of multiple first transmit beams are received on each of the multiple first receive beams in a first frequency band, wherein each of the multiple first transmit beams and the multiple first receive beams is a space directional beam. At least one first beam pair link is selected, each first beam pair link including a corresponding first transmit beam among the plurality of first transmit beams and a corresponding first receive beam among the plurality of receive beams, wherein each first transmit beam in the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first downlink spatial direction, and each first receive beam in the at least one first beam pair link includes a corresponding first uplink spatial direction. Multiple second transmit beams are received on each of a plurality of second receive beams in a second frequency band that is higher than and different from the first frequency band, wherein each of the plurality of second transmit beams includes a respective second downlink spatial direction in at least one of the respective first downlink spatial directions; Select a second beam pair link comprising the second transmit beam from the plurality of second transmit beams and the second receive beam from the plurality of second receive beams; and The second beam is used to communicate between the link and the transmit and receive points (TRPs). The plurality of first transmit beams are associated with two or more first transmit and receive points (TRPs), while the plurality of second transmit beams are associated with two or more second TRPs. Each of the plurality of SSBs includes a co-location indication indicating whether a corresponding TRP among the two or more second TRPs is co-located with a corresponding corresponding TRP among the two or more first TRPs.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein selecting the at least one first beam pair link further comprises: Select at least one first beam pair link associated with a corresponding SSB among the plurality of SSBs that includes the co-location indication, the co-location indication indicating that a corresponding second TRP among the two or more second TRPs is co-located with a corresponding corresponding first TRP among the two or more first TRPs.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein the first frequency band includes the frequency range (F2) 2FR2, and the second frequency band includes one of FR4, or FR5, or FR4-a, or FR4-1.

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