Virtual image-based beamforming

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications. In some aspects, a network node may determine a reference location associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target region. The network node may transmit a radio frequency signal, wherein the radio frequency signal is beamformed based at least in part on the reference location to direct the radio frequency signal to the target area. Numerous other aspects are described.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This patent application claims priority to U.S. non-provisional patent application No. 17 / 810,789, entitled “BEAMFORMING BASED ON VIRTUALIMAGES,” filed on July 5, 2022, which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications, and to techniques and apparatus for virtual image-based beamforming. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide a variety of telecommunication services, such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasting. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies that can support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, etc.). Examples of such multiple access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems, and long term evolution (LTE). LTE / LTE-Advanced is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

[0005] A wireless network may include one or more base stations that support communications for a user equipment (UE) or multiple UEs. A UE may communicate with a base station via downlink communications and uplink communications. A "downlink" (or "DL") refers to the communication link from a base station to a UE, and an "uplink" (or "UL") refers to the communication link from a UE to a base station.

[0006] The above-mentioned multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different UEs to communicate at a city, country, region, and / or global level. New Radio (NR) (which may be referred to as 5G) is a set of enhancements to the LTE mobile standard promulgated by 3GPP. NR is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (CP-OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) on the downlink, using CP-OFDM and / or single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) (also known as discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM)) on the uplink, and supporting beamforming, multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna technology and carrier aggregation to improve spectrum efficiency, reduce costs, improve services, utilize new spectrum, and better integrate with other open standards. As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, further improvements in LTE, NR and other radio access technologies remain useful. Summary of the invention

[0007] Some aspects described herein relate to a network node for wireless communication. The network node may include a memory and one or more processors coupled to the memory. The one or more processors may be configured to determine a reference position associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area. The one or more processors may be configured to send a radio frequency signal, wherein the radio frequency signal is beamformed based at least in part on the reference position to direct the radio frequency signal to the target area.

[0008] Some aspects described herein relate to a network node for wireless communication. The network node may include a memory and one or more processors coupled to the memory. The one or more processors may be configured to determine a reference position associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area. The one or more processors may be configured to receive a radio frequency signal using a receive beam that is beamformed based at least in part on the reference position.

[0009] Some aspects described herein relate to a method of wireless communication performed by a network node. The method may include determining a reference location associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area. The method may include transmitting a radio frequency signal, wherein the radio frequency signal is beamformed based at least in part on the reference location to direct the radio frequency signal to the target area.

[0010] Some aspects described herein relate to a method of wireless communication performed by a network node. The method may include determining a reference location associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area. The method may include receiving a radio frequency signal using a receive beam that is beamformed based at least in part on the reference location.

[0011] Some aspects described herein relate to a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing an instruction set for wireless communication by a network node. The instruction set, when executed by one or more processors of the network node, may cause the network node to determine a reference position associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area. The instruction set, when executed by one or more processors of the network node, may cause the network node to send a radio frequency signal, wherein the radio frequency signal is beamformed based at least in part on the reference position to direct the radio frequency signal to the target area.

[0012] Some aspects described herein relate to a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions for wireless communication by a network node. The set of instructions, when executed by one or more processors of the network node, may cause the network node to determine a reference position associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area. The set of instructions, when executed by one or more processors of the network node, may cause the network node to receive a radio frequency signal using a receive beam that is beamformed based at least in part on the reference position.

[0013] Some aspects described herein relate to an apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus may include means for determining a reference location associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area. The apparatus may include means for transmitting a radio frequency signal, wherein the radio frequency signal is beamformed based at least in part on the reference location to direct the radio frequency signal to the target area.

[0014] Some aspects described herein relate to an apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus may include components for determining a reference position associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area. The apparatus may include components for receiving a radio frequency signal using a receive beam that is beamformed based at least in part on the reference position.

[0015] Aspects generally include methods, apparatus, systems, computer program products, non-transitory computer readable media, user equipment, base stations, wireless communication devices and / or processing systems as fully described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings and description.

[0016] The features and technical advantages of examples according to the present disclosure have been outlined quite extensively above so that the following specific embodiments may be better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described below. The disclosed concepts and specific examples may be easily used as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for achieving the same purpose of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. The characteristics of the concepts disclosed herein, both in terms of their organization and method of operation, and the associated advantages will be better understood by considering the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Each of the figures in the accompanying drawings is provided for the purpose of illustration and description and not as a definition of limitations to the claims.

[0017] Although various aspects are described in the present disclosure by illustrating some examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that such aspects can be implemented in many different arrangements and scenarios. The technology described herein can be implemented using different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes and / or packaging arrangements. For example, some aspects can be implemented via integrated chip implementations or other devices based on non-module components (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication equipment, computing equipment, industrial equipment, retail / shopping equipment, medical equipment, and / or artificial intelligence devices). Various aspects can be implemented in chip-level components, modular components, non-modular components, non-chip-level components, device-level components and / or system-level components. The equipment incorporating the various aspects and features described may include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the various aspects claimed and described. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals may include one or more components (e.g., hardware components, including antennas, radio frequency (RF) chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders and / or summers) for analog and digital purposes. The various aspects described herein are intended to be practiced in various devices, components, systems, distributed arrangements, and / or end-user devices of various sizes, shapes and configurations. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] In order to fully understand the above-mentioned features of the present disclosure, a more specific description of the invention briefly summarized above can be obtained by referring to various aspects (some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings). However, it should be noted that the accompanying drawings only illustrate certain typical aspects of the present disclosure and are therefore not to be considered as limiting the scope thereof, as the specification may admit of other equally effective aspects. The same reference numerals in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements.

[0019] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless network according to the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of communication between a base station and a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network according to the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an open radio access network architecture according to the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication according to the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 5 , Fig. 6A , Figure 6B , Fig. 7A and Figure 7B is a diagram illustrating an example associated with virtual image-based beamforming according to the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 8 and Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example process associated with virtual image-based beamforming according to the present disclosure.

[0025] Fig.10 is a diagram of an example apparatus for wireless communications according to the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The various aspects of the present disclosure are described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure can be embodied in many different forms, and should not be interpreted as being limited to any specific structure or function presented throughout the present disclosure. On the contrary, these aspects are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and the scope of the present disclosure will be fully conveyed to those skilled in the art. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover any aspect of the present disclosure disclosed herein, whether it is implemented independently or in combination with any other aspect of the present disclosure. For example, any number of aspects set forth herein may be used to implement a device or practice method. In addition, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover such devices or methods implemented using other structures, functions, or structures and functions in addition to or different from the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of the claims.

[0027] Aspects and examples generally include methods, apparatus, network nodes, systems, computer program products, non-transitory computer-readable media, user equipment, base stations, wireless communication devices, and / or processing systems as described or fully described herein with reference to the figures and description and as illustrated in the figures and description.

[0028] The present disclosure may be readily used as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purpose of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. The characteristics of the concepts disclosed herein (both their organization and method of operation) and the associated advantages are better understood from the following description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Each of the figures in the accompanying drawings is provided for the purpose of illustration and description and not as a definition of limitations to the claims.

[0029] Although various aspects are described in the present disclosure by illustrating some examples, such aspects can be implemented in many different arrangements and scenarios. The technology described herein can be implemented using different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes and / or packaging arrangements. For example, some aspects can be implemented via integrated chip implementations or other devices based on non-module components (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication equipment, computing equipment, industrial equipment, retail / shopping equipment, medical equipment and / or artificial intelligence devices). Various aspects can be implemented in chip-level components, modular components, non-modular components, non-chip-level components, device-level components and / or system-level components. The equipment incorporating the various aspects and features described may include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the various aspects claimed and described. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals may include one or more components (e.g., hardware components, including antennas, radio frequency (RF) chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders and / or summers) for analog and digital purposes. Various aspects described herein can be practiced in various devices, components, systems, distributed arrangements and / or end-user devices of different sizes, shapes and compositions.

[0030] Several aspects of telecommunication systems will now be presented with reference to various devices and techniques. These devices and techniques will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, modules, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements can be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Whether these elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0031] Although various aspects may be described herein using terms generally associated with 5G or new radio (NR) radio access technology (RAT), various aspects of the present disclosure may be applicable to other RATs, such as 3G RAT, 4G RAT, and / or post-5G RATs (e.g., 6G).

[0032] Figure 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless network 100 according to the present disclosure. The wireless network 100 may be a 5G (e.g., NR) network and / or a 4G (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE)) network, or may include elements of a 5G (e.g., NR) network and / or elements of a 4G (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE)) network, etc. The wireless network 100 may include one or more base stations 110 (shown as BS110a, BS110b, BS110c, and BS110d), a user equipment (UE) 120 or multiple UEs 120 (shown as UE 120a, UE120b, UE 120c, UE 120d, and UE 120e), and / or other network entities. The base station 110 is an entity that communicates with the UE 120. The base station 110 (sometimes referred to as a BS) may include, for example, an NR base station, an LTE base station, a Node B, an eNB (e.g., in 4G), a gNB (e.g., in 5G), an access point, and / or a transmit receive point (TRP). Each base station 110 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the term "cell" may refer to a coverage area of ​​a base station 110 and / or a base station subsystem serving the coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

[0033] The base station 110 may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, a femto cell, and / or another type of cell. A macro cell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by a UE 120 with a service subscription. A pico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by a UE 120 with a service subscription. A femto cell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access by a UE 120 associated with the femto cell (e.g., a UE 120 in a closed subscriber group (CSG)). A base station 110 for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro base station. A base station 110 for a pico cell may be referred to as a pico base station. A base station 110 for a femto cell may be referred to as a femto base station or a home base station. In Figure 1 In the example shown in , BS 110a may be a macro base station for macro cell 102a, BS 110b may be a pico base station for pico cell 102b, and BS 110c may be a femto base station for femto cell 102c. A base station may support one or more (eg, three) cells.

[0034] In some examples, the cell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographic area of ​​the cell may move depending on the location of a mobile base station 110 (e.g., a mobile base station). In some examples, the base stations 110 may be interconnected with each other and / or to one or more other base stations 110 or network nodes (not shown) in the wireless network 100 using any suitable transport network through various types of backhaul interfaces, such as direct physical connections or virtual networks.

[0035] The wireless network 100 may include one or more relay stations. A relay station is an entity that can receive transmissions of data from an upstream station (e.g., a base station 110 or a UE 120) and transmit transmissions of data to a downstream station (e.g., a UE 120 or a base station 110). A relay station may be a UE 120 that is capable of relaying transmissions for other UEs 120. Figure 1 In the example shown in FIG, BS 110d (eg, a relay base station) may communicate with BS 110a (eg, a macro base station) and UE 120d to facilitate communication between BS 110a and UE 120d. Base station 110 that relays communication may be referred to as a relay station, relay base station, relay, or the like.

[0036] The wireless network 100 may be a heterogeneous network that includes different types of base stations 110, such as macro base stations, pico base stations, femto base stations, relay base stations, etc. These different types of base stations 110 may have different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and / or different impacts on interference in the wireless network 100. For example, a macro base station may have a high transmit power level (e.g., 5 watts to 40 watts), while a pico base station, a femto base station, and a relay base station may have a lower transmit power level (e.g., 0.1 watt to 2 watts).

[0037] The network controller 130 may be coupled to or in communication with a set of base stations 110 and may provide coordination and control for the base stations 110. The network controller 130 may communicate with the base stations 110 via backhaul communication links. The base stations 110 may also communicate directly with each other or indirectly via wireless or wired backhaul communication links.

[0038] UE 120 may be distributed throughout wireless network 100, and each UE 120 may be stationary or mobile. UE 120 may include, for example, an access terminal, a terminal, a mobile station, and / or a subscriber unit. UE 120 may be a cellular phone (e.g., a smart phone), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a tablet computer, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, a smartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device, a biometric device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, a smart wristband, smart jewelry (e.g., a smart ring or a smart bracelet)), an entertainment device (e.g., a music device, a video device, and / or a satellite radio), a vehicle component or sensor, a smart meter / sensor, an industrial manufacturing equipment, a global positioning system device, and / or any other suitable device configured to communicate via a wireless medium.

[0039] Some UEs 120 may be considered as machine type communication (MTC) or evolved or enhanced machine type communication (eMTC) UEs. MTC UEs and / or eMTC UEs may include, for example, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, and / or location tags that may communicate with a base station, another device (e.g., a remote device), or some other entity. Some UEs 120 may be considered as Internet of Things (IoT) devices and / or may be implemented as NB-IoT (narrowband IoT) devices. Some UEs 120 may be considered as customer premises equipment. UE 120 may be included in a housing that houses components of UE 120, such as a processor component and / or a memory component. In some examples, the processor component and the memory component may be coupled together. For example, a processor component (e.g., one or more processors) and a memory component (e.g., a memory) may be operably coupled, communicatively coupled, electronically coupled, and / or electrically coupled.

[0040] In general, any number of wireless networks 100 may be deployed in a given geographic area. Each wireless network 100 may support a specific RAT and may operate on one or more frequencies. RAT may be referred to as a radio technology, air interface, etc. Frequency may be referred to as a carrier, frequency channel, etc. Each frequency may support a single RAT in a given geographic area to avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RAT networks may be deployed.

[0041] In some examples, two or more UEs 120 (e.g., shown as UE 120a and UE 120e) may communicate directly using one or more side link channels (e.g., without using base station 110 as an intermediary to communicate with each other). For example, UE 120 may communicate using peer-to-peer (P2P) communication, device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) protocols (e.g., which may include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) protocols, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) protocols, or vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) protocols), and / or mesh networks. In such examples, UE 120 may perform scheduling operations, resource selection operations, and / or other operations described elsewhere herein as being performed by base station 110.

[0042] The devices of the wireless network 100 may communicate using an electromagnetic spectrum, which may be subdivided into various categories, bands, channels, etc., based on frequency or wavelength. For example, the devices of the wireless network 100 may communicate using one or more operating bands. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency ranges designated FR1 (410 MHz–7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz–52.6 GHz). It should be understood that, although portions of FR1 are greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the “below 6 GHz” band in various documents and articles. Similar naming issues sometimes occur with respect to FR2, which is often (interchangeably) referred to as the “millimeter wave” band in documents and articles, although different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz–300 GHz) identified as the “millimeter wave” band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0043] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR research has identified the operating bands for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125GHz–24.25GHz). The bands falling within FR3 can inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, and therefore the features of FR1 and / or FR2 can be effectively extended to mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operations to more than 52.6GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6GHz–71GHz), FR4 (52.6GHz–114.25GHz), and FR5 (114.25GHz–300GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0044] Considering the above examples, unless otherwise explicitly stated, it should be understood that if the term "below 6 GHz" or the like is used herein, the term can be broadly referred to as a frequency that can be lower than 6 GHz, can be within FR1, or can include mid-band frequencies. In addition, unless otherwise explicitly stated, it should be understood that if the term "millimeter wave" or the like is used herein, the term can be broadly referred to as a frequency that can include mid-band frequencies, can be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1 and / or FR5, or can be within the EHF band. It is contemplated that the frequencies included in these operating bands (e.g., FR1, FR2, FR3, FR4, FR4-a, FR4-1, and / or FR5) can be modified, and the techniques described herein are applicable to those modified frequency ranges.

[0045] As described herein, a network node may be referred to as a "node", "network node" or "wireless node", and may be a base station (e.g., base station 110), a UE (e.g., UE 120), a relay device, a network controller, an apparatus, a device, a computing system, one or more components of any of these, and / or another processing entity configured to perform one or more aspects of the techniques described herein. For example, a network node may be a UE. As another example, a network node may be a base station. A network node may be one or more components of a converged base station and / or a decomposed base station. As an example, a first network node may be configured to communicate with a second network node or a third network node. The adjectives "first", "second", "third", etc. are used to contextually distinguish between two or more modified nouns in conjunction with a discussion, and are not meant to be absolute modifiers that apply only to specific corresponding nodes throughout the document. For example, a network node may be referred to as a "first network node" in conjunction with one discussion, and may be referred to as a "second network node" in conjunction with another discussion, and vice versa. References to UEs, base stations, apparatuses, devices, computing systems, etc. may include disclosures of UEs, base stations, apparatuses, devices, computing systems, etc. as network nodes. For example, the disclosure that the UE is configured to receive information from the base station also discloses that the first network node is configured to receive information from the second network node. Consistent with the present disclosure, once a specific example is expanded according to the present disclosure (e.g., the UE is configured to receive information from the base station also discloses that the first network node is configured to receive information from the second network node), the broader example of the narrower example can be interpreted in reverse, but in a broad, open-ended manner. In the above example that the UE is configured to receive information from the base station also discloses that the first network node is configured to receive information from the second network node, "first network node" may refer to a first UE configured to receive information from a second network, a first base station, a first device, a first equipment, a first computing system, a first one or more components, a first processing entity, etc.; and "second network node" may refer to a second UE, a second base station, a second device, a second equipment, a second computing system, a second one or more components, a second processing entity, etc.

[0046] In some aspects, the network node may include the communication manager 140 or the communication manager 150. As described in more detail elsewhere herein, the communication manager 140 or 150 may determine a reference location associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area; and transmit a radio frequency signal, wherein the radio frequency signal is beamformed based at least in part on the reference location to direct the radio frequency signal to the target area. In some aspects, the communication manager 140 or 150 may determine a reference location associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area. And receive the radio frequency signal using a receive beam that is beamformed based at least in part on the reference location. Additionally or alternatively, the communication manager 140 or 150 may perform one or more other operations described herein.

[0047] As indicated above, Figure 1 are provided as examples. Other examples can be found in the Figure 1 Described differently.

[0048] Figure 2 2 is a diagram illustrating an example 200 of base station 110 communicating with UE 120 in wireless network 100 according to the present disclosure. Base station 110 may be equipped with a set of antennas 234a to 234t, such as T antennas (T≥1). UE 120 may be equipped with a set of antennas 252a to 252r, such as R antennas (R≥1).

[0049] At the base station 110, the transmit processor 220 may receive data intended for the UE 120 (or a set of UEs 120) from the data source 212. The transmit processor 220 may select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for the UE 120 based at least in part on one or more channel quality indicators (CQIs) received from the UE 120. The base station 110 may process (e.g., encode and modulate) the data for the UE 120 based at least in part on the MCS selected for the UE 120, and provide data symbols for the UE 120. The transmit processor 220 may process system information (e.g., for semi-static resource partitioning information (SRPI)) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, and / or upper layer signaling), and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. The transmit processor 220 may generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRS) or demodulation reference signals (DMRS)) and synchronization signals (e.g., primary synchronization signals (PSS) or secondary synchronization signals (SSS)). The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., pre-coding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, overhead symbols, and / or reference symbols, where applicable, and may provide a set of output symbol streams (e.g., T output symbol streams) to a corresponding set of modems 232 (e.g., T modems) (shown as modems 232a to 232t). For example, each output symbol stream may be provided to a modulator component (shown as MOD) of the modem 232. Each modem 232 may process a corresponding output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM) using a corresponding modulator component to obtain an output sample stream. Each modem 232 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and / or up-convert) the output sample stream using a corresponding modulator component to obtain a downlink signal. The modems 232a to 232t may transmit a set of downlink signals (e.g., T downlink signals) via a corresponding set of antennas 234 (e.g., T antennas) (shown as antennas 234a to 234t).

[0050] In some aspects, the term "base station" (e.g., base station 110), "network node" or "network entity" may refer to a converged base station, a decomposed base station, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a relay node, and / or one or more components thereof. For example, in some aspects, a "base station", "network node" or "network entity" may refer to a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near real-time (near RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC, or a combination thereof. In some aspects, the term "base station", "network node" or "network entity" may refer to a device configured to perform one or more functions (such as those described herein in conjunction with base station 110). In some aspects, the term "base station", "network node" or "network entity" may refer to multiple devices configured to perform one or more functions. For example, in some distributed systems, each of multiple different devices (which may be located in the same geographical location or different geographical locations) may be configured to perform at least a portion of a function, or to repeat the execution of at least a portion of the function, and the term "base station", "network node" or "network entity" may refer to any one or more of these different devices. In some aspects, the terms "base station," "network node," or "network entity" may refer to one or more virtual base stations and / or one or more virtual base station functions. For example, in some aspects, two or more base station functions may be instantiated on a single device. In some aspects, the terms "base station," "network node," or "network entity" may refer to one of the base station functions but not another base station function. In this way, a single device may include more than one base station.

[0051] At the UE 120, a set of antennas 252 (shown as antennas 252a to 252r) may receive downlink signals from the base station 110 and / or other base stations 110, and may provide a set of received signals (e.g., R received signals) to a set of modems 254 (e.g., R modems) (shown as modems 254a to 254r). For example, each received signal may be provided to a demodulator component (shown as DEMOD) of the modem 254. Each modem 254 may use a corresponding demodulator component to condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and / or digitize) the received signal to obtain input samples. Each modem 254 may use a demodulator component to further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from the modem 254, may perform MIMO detection on the received symbols where applicable, and may provide detected symbols. The receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols, may provide decoded data for the UE 120 to the data sink 260, and may provide decoded control information and system information to the controller / processor 280. The term "controller / processor" may refer to one or more controllers, one or more processors, or a combination thereof. The channel processor may determine a reference signal received power (RSRP) parameter, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) parameter, a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) parameter, and / or a CQI parameter, among other things. In some examples, one or more components of the UE 120 may be included in the housing 284.

[0052] The network controller 130 may include a communication unit 294, a controller / processor 290, and a memory 292. The network controller 130 may include, for example, one or more devices in a core network. The network controller 130 may communicate with the base station 110 via the communication unit 294.

[0053] One or more antennas (e.g., antennas 234a to 234t and / or antennas 252a to 252r) may include or be included within one or more antenna panels, one or more antenna groups, one or more sets of antenna elements, and / or one or more antenna arrays, etc. Antenna panels, antenna groups, sets of antenna elements, and / or antenna arrays may include one or more antenna elements (within a single housing or multiple housings), sets of coplanar antenna elements, sets of non-coplanar antenna elements, and / or coupled to one or more transmit and / or receive components (such as, Figure 2 One or more antenna elements of one or more components in.

[0054] Each of the antenna elements may include one or more sub-elements for radiating or receiving radio frequency signals. For example, a single antenna element may include a first sub-element that is cross-polarized with a second sub-element, which can be used to independently transmit cross-polarized signals. The antenna elements may include patch antennas, dipole antennas, or other types of antennas arranged in a linear pattern, a two-dimensional pattern, or another pattern. The spacing between antenna elements may allow signals having desired wavelengths transmitted individually by the antenna elements to interact or interfere (e.g., to form a desired beam). For example, given a desired wavelength or frequency range, the spacing may provide a quarter wavelength, half wavelength, or other fraction of a wavelength of the spacing between adjacent antenna elements to allow interaction or interference of signals transmitted by individual antenna elements within the desired range.

[0055] Antenna elements and / or sub-elements may be used to generate beams. A "beam" may refer to a directional transmission, such as a wireless signal transmitted in the direction of a receiving device. A beam may include a directional signal, a direction associated with the signal, a set of directional resources associated with the signal (e.g., angle of arrival, horizontal direction, vertical direction), and / or a set of parameters indicating one or more aspects of a directional signal, a direction associated with the signal, and / or a set of directional resources associated with the signal.

[0056] As indicated above, antenna elements and / or sub-elements can be used to generate beams. For example, antenna elements can be individually selected or deselected for transmission of a signal (or multiple signals) by controlling the amplitude of one or more corresponding amplifiers. Beamforming includes generating beams using multiple signals on different antenna elements, wherein one or more or all of the multiple signals are shifted in phase relative to each other. The formed beams may carry physical or higher layer reference signals or information. When each of the multiple signals is radiated from the corresponding antenna element, the radiated signals interact, interfere (constructively and destructively) and amplify with each other to form the resulting beam. The shape (such as amplitude, width and / or the presence of side lobes) and direction (such as the angle of the beam relative to the surface of the antenna array) can be dynamically controlled by modifying the phase shift or phase offset of the multiple signals relative to each other.

[0057] Beamforming may be used for communication between a UE and a base station, such as for millimeter wave communication, etc. In this case, the base station may provide the UE with a configuration of a transmit configuration indicator (TCI) state, which respectively indicates beams that may be used by the UE, such as for receiving a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The base station may indicate an activated TCI state to the UE, and the UE may use the activated TCI state to select a beam for receiving the PDSCH.

[0058] The beam indication may be or include a TCI state information element, a beam identifier (ID), spatial relationship information, a TCI state ID, a closed loop index, a panel ID, a TRP ID, and / or a sounding reference signal (SRS) set ID, etc. The TCI state information element (referred to herein as TCI state) may indicate information associated with a beam such as a downlink beam. For example, the TCI state information element may indicate a TCI state identifier (e.g., tci-StateID), a quasi-co-location (QCL) type (e.g., qcl-Type1, qcl-Type2, qcl-TypeA, qcl-TypeB, qcl-TypeC, qcl-TypeD, etc.), a cell identifier (e.g., ServCellIndex), a bandwidth part identifier (bwp-Id), a reference signal identifier (such as CSI-RS (e.g., NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId, SSB-Index, etc.)), etc. The spatial relationship information may similarly indicate information associated with an uplink beam.

[0059] The beam indication may be a joint or separate downlink (DL) / uplink (UL) beam indication in a unified TCI framework. In some cases, the network may use at least UE-specific (unicast) downlink control information (DCI) to indicate a joint or separate DL / UL beam indication from an active TCI state, thereby supporting beam indication based on layer 1 (L1). In some cases, existing DCI formats 1_1 and / or 1_2 may be reused for beam indication. The network may include a support mechanism for the UE to confirm successful decoding of the beam indication. For example, an acknowledgment / negative acknowledgment (ACK / NACK) of a PDSCH scheduled by a DCI carrying a beam indication may also be used as an ACK for the DCI.

[0060] Beam indication may be provided for carrier aggregation (CA) scenarios. In a unified TCI framework, the network may support common TCI state ID update and activation information to provide common QCL and / or one or more common UL transmit spatial filters across a set of configured component carriers (CCs). This type of beam indication may be applicable to intra-band CA as well as joint DL / UL beam indication and separate DL / UL beam indication. A common TCI state ID may mean that a reference signal (RS) determined according to the TCI state indicated by the common TCI state ID is used to provide QCL type D indication and determine the UL transmit spatial filter across a set of configured CCs.

[0061] On the uplink, at the UE 120, the transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from the data source 262 and control information from the controller / processor 280 (e.g., for reports including RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, and / or CQI). The transmit processor 264 may generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be pre-decoded by the TX MIMO processor 266, where applicable, further processed by the modem 254 (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM or CP-OFDM), and transmitted to the base station 110. In some examples, the modem 254 of the UE 120 may include a modulator and a demodulator. In some examples, the UE 120 includes a transceiver. The transceiver may include any combination of an antenna 252, a modem 254, a MIMO detector 256, a receive processor 258, a transmit processor 264, and / or a TX MIMO processor 266. The transceiver may be used by a processor (eg, controller / processor 280) and memory 282 to perform the functions described herein (eg, with reference to Figures 5 to 10 ) any aspects of any of the methods described herein.

[0062] At the base station 110, uplink signals from the UE 120 and / or other UEs may be received by the antenna 234, processed by the modem 232 (e.g., a demodulator component of the modem 232 shown as DEMOD), detected by the MIMO detector 236 where applicable, and further processed by the receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by the UE 120. The receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to the data sink 239 and the decoded control information to the controller / processor 240. The base station 110 may include a communication unit 244 and may communicate with the network controller 130 via the communication unit 244. The base station 110 may include a scheduler 246 to schedule one or more UEs 120 for downlink and / or uplink communications. In some examples, the modem 232 of the base station 110 may include a modulator and a demodulator. In some examples, the base station 110 includes a transceiver. The transceiver may include any combination of antenna 234, modem 232, MIMO detector 236, receive processor 238, transmit processor 220, and / or TX MIMO processor 230. The transceiver may be used by a processor (e.g., controller / processor 240) and memory 242 to execute the instructions described herein (e.g., reference 2 Figures 5 to 10 ) any aspects of any of the methods described herein.

[0063] The controller / processor 240 of the base station 110, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 120, and / or Figure 2Any other components of may perform one or more techniques associated with virtual image-based beamforming, as described in more detail elsewhere herein. In some aspects, the network node described herein is Figure 2 The base station 110 is shown, is included in the base station 110, or includes one or more components of the base station 110. In some aspects, the network node described herein is Figure 2 The UE 120 shown is included in the UE 120, or includes one or more components of the UE 120. For example, the controller / processor 240 of the base station 110, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 120, and / or Figure 2 Any other component of the Figure 8 The process of 800 Fig. 9 900 and / or operations of other processes as described herein. Memory 242 and memory 282 may store data and program codes for base station 110 and UE 120, respectively. In some examples, memory 242 and / or memory 282 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more instructions (e.g., code and / or program code) for wireless communication. For example, the one or more instructions, when executed by one or more processors of base station 110 and / or UE 120 (e.g., directly executed, or executed after compilation, conversion and / or interpretation), may cause the one or more processors, UE 120 and / or base station 110 to perform or direct, for example Figure 8 The process of 800 Fig. 9 The process 900 and / or operations of other processes as described herein. In some examples, executing instructions may include running instructions, converting instructions, compiling instructions, and / or interpreting instructions, etc.

[0064] In some aspects, a network node includes components for determining a reference location associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area; and / or components for transmitting a radio frequency signal, wherein the radio frequency signal is beamformed based at least in part on the reference location to direct the radio frequency signal to the target area. In some aspects, the network node includes components for determining a reference location associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area; and / or components for receiving a radio frequency signal using a receive beam that is beamformed based at least in part on the reference location. In some aspects, components for the network node to perform operations described herein may include, for example, one or more of the communication manager 150, the transmit processor 220, the TX MIMO processor 230, the modem 232, the antenna 234, the MIMO detector 236, the receive processor 238, the controller / processor 240, the memory 242, or the scheduler 246. In some aspects, means for the network node to perform operations described herein may include, for example, one or more of the communication manager 140, antenna 252, modem 254, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, TX MIMO processor 266, controller / processor 280, or memory 282.

[0065] Although Figure 2 The blocks in the 200 and 210 are illustrated as distinct components, but the functionality described above with respect to these blocks may be implemented in a single hardware, software, or combined component or in various combinations of components. For example, the functionality described with respect to the transmit processor 264, the receive processor 258, and / or the TX MIMO processor 266 may be performed by or under the control of the controller / processor 280.

[0066] As indicated above, Figure 2 are provided as examples. Other examples can be found in the Figure 2 Described differently.

[0067] Figure 3 3 is a diagram illustrating an example 300 of an open radio access network (O-RAN) architecture according to the present disclosure. Figure 3 As shown, the O-RAN architecture may include a control unit (CU) 310 that communicates with a core network 320 via a backhaul link. In addition, the CU 310 may communicate with one or more DUs 330 via corresponding midhaul links. The DUs 330 may each communicate with one or more RUs 340 via corresponding fronthaul links, and the RUs 340 may each communicate with a corresponding UE 120 via a radio frequency (RF) access link. The DU 330 and the RU 340 may also be referred to as O-RAN DU (O-DU) 330 and O-RAN RU (O-RU) 340, respectively.

[0068] In some aspects, the DU 330 and the RU 340 may be implemented according to a functional split architecture, wherein the functionality of a base station 110 (e.g., an eNB or gNB) is provided by a DU 330 and one or more RUs 340 that communicate via a fronthaul link. Thus, as described herein, a base station 110 may include a DU 330 and one or more RUs 340 that may be co-located or geographically distributed. In some aspects, a DU 330 and an associated RU 340 may communicate via a fronthaul link to exchange real-time control plane information via a lower layer split (LLS) control plane (LLS-C) interface, non-real-time management information via an LLS management plane (LLS-M) interface, and / or user plane information via an LLS user plane (LLS-U) interface.

[0069] Thus, the DU 330 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs 340. For example, in some aspects, the DU 330 may host a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (e.g., forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, and / or modulation and demodulation) based at least in part on the lower layer functional split. Higher layer control functions (such as packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), radio resource control (RRC), and / or service data adaptation protocol (SDAP)) may be hosted by the CU 310. Based at least in part on the lower layer functional split, the RU 340 controlled by the DU 330 may correspond to a logical node that hosts radio frequency processing functions and low PHY layer functions (e.g., fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, and / or physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering). Thus, in the O-RAN architecture, the RU 340 handles all over-the-air (OTA) communications with the UE 120, and the real-time and non-real-time aspects of the control plane and user plane communications with the RU 340 are controlled by the corresponding DU 330, which enables the DU 330 and the CU 310 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture.

[0070] As indicated above, Figure 3 are provided as examples. Other examples can be found in the Figure 3 Described differently.

[0071] Figure 44 is a diagram illustrating an example 400 of MIMO communication according to the present disclosure. As shown, example 400 includes multiple network nodes 402, 404, 406, and 408. Network nodes 402, 406, and 408 are depicted as being installed on a building 410, and network node 404 is depicted as being installed on a building 412. In some cases, one or more of network nodes 402, 404, 406, and / or 408 may include any number of different types of network nodes, such as, for example, a base station, a relay device, a DU, a RU, a CU, and / or a UE, etc., and may be self-contained, integrated with any number of other different structures and / or devices, and / or installed on any number of different types of structures (e.g., vehicles, poles, and / or non-ground network devices, etc.).

[0072] As shown, for example, network node 402 may communicate with network node 414 (e.g., UE) and network node 416 (e.g., UE). In some cases, for example, network node 402 may include an antenna panel configured for MIMO communication, in which case network node 402 may communicate with network node 414 and network node 416 simultaneously. In some cases, multiple antenna elements of the antenna panel may be configured to direct beam 418 to network node 416. Because the MIMO antenna panel includes multiple antenna elements, beam 418 may be beamformed so as to be directed to a target (e.g., network node 416) that is a specific distance away from network node 402.

[0073] As shown, network node 404 may communicate with network node 420. In some cases, an obstacle 422 may block line-of-sight (LoS) communication 424 between network node 404 and network node 420 (as indicated by an "X" on the communication 424 arrow). To facilitate communication with network node 420, network node 404 may utilize network node 406, which may be, for example, a reconfigurable smart surface (RIS) (which may also be referred to as an intelligent reflective surface (IRS)). As shown, for example, network node 404 may send signal 426 toward network node 406, which may reflect reflected signal 428 to network node 420. In some cases, network node 406 may include a RIS panel having a plurality of reflective radio frequency (RF) reflective elements such that reflected signal 428 may be beamformed to be directed specifically to network node 420.

[0074] Such as Figure 4The depicted advanced MIMO schemes may include any number of different types of MIMO schemes, such as, for example, RIS MIMO, holographic MIMO, orbital angular momentum (OAM) MIMO, LoS MIMO, and / or lens MIMO, among others. As indicated above, these MIMO schemes may be designed to focus radio energy from a large aperture (compared to the wavelength) to a specific point or direction. This type of focusing achieves sharp focusing of the signal, thereby increasing the data rate. However, due to the very limited size of the coverage area of ​​the focused signal, this type of beamforming can significantly increase the complexity involved in device discovery, as the network node will have to scan the focused beam over an area much larger than the coverage area of ​​the signal. As a result, MIMO beamforming may reduce mobility support and initial system acquisition, thereby having a negative impact on network performance.

[0075] In some cases, a solution may be to include additional dedicated antennas configured for high transmit power and / or wide-angle transmission. However, this solution increases power consumption and equipment complexity. In some cases, a solution may be to divide the transmitter antenna panel into sub-panels, each of which can send signals in different directions. However, this solution may increase system complexity because fine division may be required to cover both the angular domain and the depth domain. In addition, signals from multiple antenna panels in different partitions may interfere with each other. One solution may be to reduce the size of the aperture (e.g., the size of the effective surface from which the signal is transmitted). However, in many cases, advanced MIMO systems include large antenna panels, and introducing smaller apertures will result in equipment and computational complexity.

[0076] The solution of using a smaller aperture may arise from a common interpretation of the uncertainty principle, where the uncertainty principle is interpreted to imply that a large aperture necessarily leads to sharp focus and narrow focus. However, the inventors have discovered that this common interpretation is actually a misunderstanding. Instead, the inventors have determined that a more accurate interpretation of the uncertainty principle indicates that the uncertainty principle only specifies a lower limit on the product of the signal spread in the object plane (aperture size) and the signal spread on the image plane (receiving plane) (signal focusing). Therefore, the uncertainty principle does not exclude the possibility of achieving a large energy spread with a large aperture.

[0077] Some aspects of the techniques and devices described herein can utilize a more accurate interpretation of the uncertainty principle described above to facilitate targeting a larger area using a MIMO beam sent (or received) by a MIMO system with a relatively large aperture. In some aspects, a network node may determine a reference position associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area and send a radio frequency signal, wherein the radio frequency signal is beamformed at least in part based on the reference position to direct the radio frequency signal to the target area. The reference position may be determined at least in part based on the desired target area range (e.g., the distance from the aperture). The concept of a virtual image is the same as in optics, where a virtual image is formed behind a reflector by tracking a divergent beam backwards. In some aspects, the large aperture of a MIMO scheme implemented at a network node can facilitate providing a virtual image similar to a point source. In some aspects, the virtual image may be formed at least in part based on an appropriate phase term on an antenna (or reflection) array. In some aspects, a network node may include a lens, in which case the virtual image may be formed at least in part based on the geometric configuration and / or orientation of the lens.

[0078] like Figure 4 As shown, for example, network node 408 may determine a reference position associated with virtual image 430 corresponding to target area 432. Based on the principles of radio frequency optics, virtual image 430 may be formed at least in part based on image 434, which may be oriented relative to an aperture of an antenna panel 436 of network node 408 such that conceptually, radio frequency energy rays 438 originating at image 434 will reflect from panel 436 and form conceptualized reflected radio frequency rays 440 corresponding to target area 432. Virtual ray portion 442 may be determined based on conceptualized reflected radio frequency rays 440 such that virtual ray portion 442 originates at virtual image 430, which may approximate a point source of radio frequency energy for a resulting beam that may be transmitted in a direction corresponding to the direction of conceptualized reflected radio frequency rays 440. Similarly, a RIS such as network node 406 may use a reflective element to reflect transmitted signal 426 based at least in part on the determined reference position of the virtual image such that reflected signal 444 covers target area 446.

[0079] In this way, some aspects can facilitate providing a wide coverage area (e.g., target area 432 and / or target area 446) so that multiple network nodes 448 and 450 (or a single network node at multiple locations) can be discovered via the transmission. The wide coverage can provide uniform signal strength across a designated area (e.g., target area 432 and / or target area 446), where the signal strength is sufficient for device discovery, system information broadcast, synchronization and / or random access reception, etc. In this way, some aspects can facilitate improved system acquisition and mobility, thereby having a positive impact on network performance.

[0080] As indicated above, Figure 4 are provided as examples. Other examples can be found in the Figure 4 Described differently.

[0081] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example 500 associated with virtual image-based beamforming according to the present disclosure. As shown, a network node 502 and a network node 504 can communicate with each other. In some aspects, for example, the network node 502 and / or the network node 504 can be, be similar to, include Figure 4 One or more of the depicted network nodes 408 and 406 may be included therein. In some aspects, for example, the network node 502 and / or the network node 504 may be, be similar to, include, or be included therein a base station, a relay device, a relay, a RIS, and / or a UE, etc. In some aspects, the network node 502 and / or the network node 504 may include an antenna system having a MIMO configuration.

[0082] As indicated by reference numeral 506, network node 502 may determine a reference location associated with a virtual image corresponding to the target area. In some aspects, the virtual image may include a virtual point source for the radio frequency signal. In some aspects, the virtual image may correspond to a point spread function associated with an aperture of an antenna panel of network node 502. Network node 502 may determine the reference location based at least in part on determining a source signal distribution associated with the radio frequency signal at the reference location. In some aspects, the reference location may be based at least in part on a range associated with the target area.

[0083] As indicated by reference numeral 508, the network node 502 may transmit a radio frequency signal. The radio frequency signal may be beamformed based at least in part on the reference location to direct the radio frequency signal to a target area. In some aspects, the radio frequency signal may include at least one of a system broadcast signal, a synchronization signal, or a reference signal. The network node 502 may transmit the radio frequency signal by beamforming the radio frequency signal based at least in part on at least one of phase adjustments corresponding to antenna elements of a phased array or a geometric configuration of a lens associated with an antenna system of the network node 502.

[0084] In some aspects, the finite aperture of the transmitter panel of the network node 502 may imply that the virtual image is not a single point, but rather the Fourier transform of the aperture function or point spread function (PSF). In the case of discrete antenna elements on the panel, there may also be sampling effects. The envelope of the PSF may be related to the unit range of each antenna element, and multiple peaks in the PSF may be caused by sampling. In some aspects, the antenna panel may include dense antenna elements, thereby reducing the presence of sidelobe peaks in the PSF. However, since dense antennas may cause cross-antenna correlation, in some aspects, each pair of antennas may include a spacing of half a wavelength (or approximately half a wavelength) between antennas.

[0085] In some aspects, for example, a phased array may include a plurality of antenna elements, and beamforming the radio frequency signal may include adjusting only the phase corresponding to each antenna element in the plurality of antenna elements. In some aspects, each pair of the plurality of antenna elements may be separated by at least half of the wavelength of the radio frequency signal. In some aspects, the size of the phased array is greater than the wavelength of the radio frequency signal. For example, the size of the phased array may be much greater than the wavelength (e.g., greater than at least two wavelengths, greater than at least three wavelengths, and / or greater than at least four wavelengths, etc.).

[0086] In some aspects, the network node 502 may include a RIS, and the plurality of antenna elements (which may be referred to as "reflection elements") may be driven by only one power amplifier. In some aspects, the network node 502 may transmit the RF signal using an antenna system having an antenna panel and a reflector array, wherein beamforming the RF signal may include adjusting the phase of the reflector elements of the reflector array. In some aspects, the network node 502 may transmit the RF signal by transmitting the RF signal using the antenna elements of the antenna system having the antenna panel.

[0087] The antenna panel may include an antenna element and a first lens, wherein the target area is associated with an additional network node having a second lens, and wherein the reference position is located outside the focal length of the first lens. In some aspects, the virtual image may correspond to a real image located within the focal length of the second lens. In some aspects, the network node 502 may transmit a radio frequency signal using an antenna element of an antenna system having an antenna panel, the antenna panel including the antenna element and the lens. The reference position may be located within the focal length of the lens.

[0088] In some aspects, the network node 502 may determine at least one additional reference location associated with at least one additional virtual image corresponding to the at least one additional target area, as indicated by reference numeral 510. As indicated by reference numeral 512, the network node 502 may transmit at least one additional radio frequency signal, wherein the at least one additional radio frequency signal is beamformed based at least in part on the at least one additional reference location to direct the at least one additional radio frequency signal to the at least one additional target area.

[0089] For example, Figure 5As shown, the network node 502 may include an antenna panel 514 having a plurality of antenna elements 516. The network node 502 may divide the antenna panel 514 into a first sub-panel 518 and a second sub-panel 520. The network node 502 may use the first sub-panel 518 to send a first radio frequency signal 522 to a first target area 524, and may use the second sub-panel 520 to send a second radio frequency signal 526 to a second target area 528. As shown, for example, the first sub-panel 518 corresponds to a first position on the antenna panel 514, and the second sub-panel 520 corresponds to a second position on the antenna panel 514. The first position and the second position may be separated so that the first signal 522 and the second signal 526 may be aimed at different target areas 524 and 528, respectively, wherein the target areas 524 and 528 do not completely overlap. The target areas 524 and 528 may be non-overlapping or partially overlapping. In some aspects, the network node 502 may use any number of additional sub-panels to send any number of additional signals.

[0090] In some aspects, the network node 502 may be an OAM network node, and the network node 502 may transmit radio frequency signals using only mode 0 of the OAM antenna array. There may be no azimuth rotation in the signal from the virtual image, and thus only mode 0 may be used for wide coverage. In some aspects, for example, mode 0 may be transmitted from multiple circles of antenna elements with phase offsets according to the virtual image:

[0091]

[0092] where r is the radius of the circle, the virtual image is assumed to be vertically aligned with the center of the circle, and where z v is the vertical distance from the virtual image to the antenna element. For virtual images offset from the center, the following general formula can be used:

[0093]

[0094] As indicated by reference numeral 530, the network node 504 may transmit and the network node 502 may receive an access signal. For example, in some aspects, the radio frequency signal and / or at least one additional radio frequency signal may include a broadcast signal containing a synchronization signal block (SSB) and / or other system information that may be used for device discovery and / or support network access. Upon receiving the system information, the network node 504 may transmit an access signal, which may include, for example, a physical random access channel (PRACH) transmission to facilitate obtaining access to a network associated with the network node 502. Subsequently, as indicated by reference numeral 532, the network node 502 may transmit a reference signal to support, for example, beamforming, channel estimation, and / or resource allocation, among other things. In some aspects, the reference signal may be transmitted using a narrower beam directed toward the network node 504. In some other aspects, the reference signal may be transmitted using a wider beam by using a virtual image, as described above.

[0095] In some aspects, the same concepts described above in connection with transmitting RF signals can be applied to a receiving network node in connection with receiving signals. For example, the network node 504 can utilize beamforming based on virtual images when receiving signals such as system broadcast signals, synchronization signals, and / or reference signals.

[0096] For example, as shown by reference numeral 534, the network node 504 may determine a reference position associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area. For example, the target area may be an area in which the network node 504 is monitoring signals, an area in which the network node 504 is located, and / or an area in which the network node 504 is traveling, etc. In some aspects, the virtual image may include a virtual point source for the radio frequency signal. In some aspects, determining the reference position may include determining a source signal distribution associated with the radio frequency signal at the reference position. In some aspects, the reference position may be based at least in part on a range associated with the target area.

[0097] As indicated by reference numeral 508 (as described above), the network node 504 can receive a radio frequency signal. In some aspects, the network node 504 can receive the radio frequency signal by beamforming a receive beam based at least in part on a virtual image. For example, the network node 504 can receive the radio frequency signal based at least in part on beamforming the radio frequency signal based at least in part on at least one of phase adjustments corresponding to antenna elements of a phased array or a geometric configuration of a lens associated with an antenna system of the network node.

[0098] In some aspects, for example, a phased array may include a plurality of antenna elements, and beamforming the radio frequency signal may include adjusting only the phase corresponding to each antenna element in the plurality of antenna elements. In some aspects, each pair of the plurality of antenna elements may be separated by at least half of the wavelength of the radio frequency signal. The size of the phased array may be larger than the wavelength of the radio frequency signal. For example, the size of the phased array may be much larger than the wavelength (e.g., larger than two wavelengths and / or larger than three wavelengths, etc.).

[0099] In some aspects, receiving the radio frequency signal may include receiving the radio frequency signal using a sub-panel of an antenna panel of the network node. In some aspects, for example, the network node 504 may determine at least one additional reference position associated with at least one additional virtual image corresponding to at least one additional target area. As shown by reference numeral 512, the network node 504 may receive at least one additional radio frequency signal. For example, the network node 504 may receive at least one additional radio frequency signal using at least one additional sub-panel of the antenna panel. The at least one additional radio frequency signal may be beamformed based at least in part on the at least one additional reference position to direct the at least one additional radio frequency signal to at least one additional target area associated with the receiving antenna.

[0100] In some aspects, the virtual image may correspond to a point spread function associated with an aperture of an antenna panel of the network node 504. In some aspects, receiving the radio frequency signal may include receiving the radio frequency signal using only mode 0 of the OAM antenna array. In some aspects, receiving the radio frequency signal may include receiving the radio frequency signal using an antenna element of an antenna system having an antenna panel, the antenna panel including the antenna element and a first lens. The target area may be associated with an additional network node (e.g., network node 502) having a second lens, and the reference position may be located outside the focal length of the first lens. The virtual image may correspond to a real image located within the focal length of the second lens. In some aspects, receiving the radio frequency signal may include receiving the radio frequency signal using an antenna element of an antenna system having an antenna panel, the antenna panel including the antenna element and a lens, wherein the reference position is located within the focal length of the lens. In some aspects, receiving the radio frequency signal may include receiving the radio frequency signal using an antenna element of an antenna system having an antenna panel, the antenna panel including the antenna element and a lens, wherein the reference position is located within the focal length of the lens. In some aspects, receiving the radio frequency signal may include receiving the radio frequency signal using an antenna system having an antenna panel and a reflector array, wherein beamforming the radio frequency signal includes adjusting the phase of the reflector element of the reflector array.

[0101] As indicated above, Figure 5 are provided as examples. Other examples can be found in the Figure 5 Described differently.

[0102] Fig. 6A and Figure 6B600 and 602 are diagrams illustrating examples associated with virtual image based beamforming according to the present disclosure. In some aspects, a transmitting network node (e.g., network node 502) and / or a receiving network node (e.g., network node 504) may include a RIS configured as a rectangular reflector array 604.

[0103] like Fig. 6A As shown, the rectangular reflector array 604 may include a group of reflective elements 606 disposed adjacent to a ground plane 608. In some aspects, the reflective elements 606 may be referred to as "antenna elements". Each reflective element 606 may be coupled to a phase shift component 610, and each phase shift component 610 may be coupled to a corresponding ground component 612. In some aspects, each reflective element 606 may be coupled to two phase shift components 610, one for each polarization. In some aspects, the group of reflective elements 606 may be driven by a single power amplifier 614. The power amplifier 614 may be coupled to a power source 616 and may be controlled by a controller 618. For example, a single power amplifier 614 may be used (as opposed to a power amplifier corresponding to each reflective element 606) because the power amplifier 614 may be configured to provide just enough power to offset the energy loss caused by the reflection of the signal and / or its phase adjustment. In some aspects, the complexity of the controller and / or the power consumption of the power amplifier 614 may be based at least in part on the selection of the phase shift component 610.

[0104] Figure 6B Example 602 of FIG. 602 depicts analysis of certain aspects of a rectangular reflector array for beamforming reflected signals. To determine a reference position (x ) associated with virtual image 622 v ,z v ), the rectangular reflector array 604 can be analyzed one dimension at a time. For example, in some aspects, the incoming signal (wave) 624 can be from a particular direction θ in A plane wave of , with a phase term:

[0105] exp(jkxsinθ in ),

[0106] where θ in Positive in case the rotation is counterclockwise from the normal 626. By phase shifting at each individual reflective element 606, the reflected wave 628 can be directed to different directions. In 3D beamforming, the reflected wave 628 can be focused to a specific point (x', z') (not shown), and the phase of the reflected wave is:

[0107]

[0108] In 2D beamforming, z' can be large enough so that And the phase of the reflected wave 628 can be approximated by the phase of a plane wave:

[0109]

[0110] In either case, the output cover is usually narrower because it converges to (x',z') or is limited to θ out In order to form a wide wave that can be directed to the target area, as described above in combination with Figure 5 As described above, instead of converging the reflected signal, the network node (eg, network node 502) may cause the reflected wave 628 to be directed from a position corresponding to the reference position (x v ,z v ) The virtual image 622 associated with φ diverges. The phase of the reflected wave 628 can be:

[0111]

[0112] If θ 1 or θ 2 So large that the paraxial axis is approximately x v 2 / 2 v 2 <<1 does not hold, then the phase term of the transmitter can be:

[0113]

[0114] The choice of x' and z' depends on the size of the target area. For example, to specify an angular range of uniform coverage, θ 1 and θ 2 can be determined such that:

[0115] and

[0116]

[0117] As described above, a single power amplifier may be sufficient to facilitate mitigation of power losses because the difference between the reflective elements 606 is only in phase. In some aspects, the phase shift at each reflective element 606 may be based at least in part on both the necessary phase of the output beam and the phase of the incoming beam:

[0118]

[0119] In some aspects, a holographic MIMO (H-MIMO) system and a LoS MIMO system (e.g., a massive rectangular MIMO array for LoS operation) can each be modeled as a rectangular array of generators with discrete antenna elements. For example, in some aspects, the analysis described above can be similarly applied to H-MIMO and LoS MIMO by replacing the reflective elements in the rectangular reflective array with a transmitter. In these cases, the phase term at the transmitter is:

[0120]

[0121] Since the y-axis can be analyzed similarly, the total phase term for RIS, H-MIMO, and LoS MIMO can be:

[0122]

[0123] As indicated above, Fig. 6A and Figure 6B are provided as examples. Other examples can be found in the Fig. 6A and Figure 6B Described differently.

[0124] Fig. 7A and Figure 7B is a diagram illustrating examples 700 and 702 associated with virtual image-based beamforming according to the present disclosure. In some aspects, as Fig. 7A As shown, network node 704 may include a lens MIMO antenna system having one or more antenna elements 706 and lens 708. Network node 704 may be a transmitting network node (eg, network node 502) and / or a receiving network node (eg, network node 504).

[0125] To facilitate wide coverage of target area 710, as shown in example 700, one or more antenna elements 706 are located within the focal length f of lens 708. Thus, reference position 712 (associated with a virtual image) is located behind one or more antenna elements 706 (e.g., displaced from the antenna element in a direction opposite to the transmission direction), as shown. In this manner, signal 714 is refracted by lens 708 to form a refracted signal 716 that diverges in the direction of target area 710.

[0126] In some aspects, as shown in example 702, the receiving network node 718 may also include a lens 720. In the system of example 702, the sending network node 704 and the receiving network node 718 are located on respective focal planes. The target area 710 may be associated with the receiving network node 718. For example, the target area 710 may be determined so that the antenna element 722 of the receiving network node 718 is adjacent to the target area 710. In this case, one or more antenna elements 706 may be arranged slightly outside the focal length f1 of the lens 708 so that the refracted signals 716 converge at a convergence point 724. The convergence point represents the real image of the lens 708 and the object of the lens 720. As shown, the convergence point 724 may be located within the focal length f2 of the lens 720 of the receiving network node 718. The virtual image associated with the reference position 712 is disposed behind the real image, which is located at the convergence point 724 (eg, between the convergence point and the first lens 708 ), wherein the lens 720 acts as a magnifier lens and can form a final virtual image for the target area 710 .

[0127] As indicated above, Fig. 7A and Figure 7B are provided as examples. Other examples can be found in the Fig. 7A and Figure 7B Described differently.

[0128] Figure 8 800 is a diagram illustrating an example process 800 performed, for example, by a network node in accordance with the present disclosure. Example process 800 is an example of a network node (e.g., network node 502) performing operations associated with virtual image-based beamforming. Process 800 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

[0129] like Figure 8 As shown, in some aspects, process 800 may include determining a reference location associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area (block 810). For example, a network node (e.g., using Fig.10 The communication manager 1008 and / or the determination component 1010 depicted in FIG. 1 may determine a reference position associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area, as described above in conjunction with Figures 5 to 7B In some aspects, the virtual image includes a virtual point source for the radio frequency signal. In some aspects, determining the reference position includes determining a source signal distribution associated with the radio frequency signal at the reference position. In some aspects, the reference position is based at least in part on a range associated with the target area.

[0130] like Figure 8As further shown, in some aspects, process 800 may include transmitting a radio frequency signal, wherein the radio frequency signal is beamformed based at least in part on the reference location to direct the radio frequency signal to a target area (block 820). Fig.10 The communication manager 1008 and / or the transmitting component 1004 depicted in FIG. 1 may transmit a radio frequency signal, wherein the radio frequency signal is beamformed based at least in part on the reference location to direct the radio frequency signal to the target area, as described above in conjunction with Figures 5 to 7B In some aspects, the radio frequency signal comprises at least one of a system broadcast signal, a synchronization signal, or a reference signal.

[0131] In some aspects, transmitting the radio frequency signal includes beamforming the radio frequency signal based at least in part on at least one of: phase adjustment of antenna elements corresponding to a phased array or a geometric configuration of a lens associated with an antenna system of a network node. In some aspects, the phased array includes a plurality of antenna elements, and beamforming the radio frequency signal includes adjusting only the phase corresponding to each antenna element in the plurality of antenna elements. In some aspects, each pair of the plurality of antenna elements is separated by at least half of the wavelength of the radio frequency signal. In some aspects, the size of the phased array is greater than the wavelength of the radio frequency signal. In some aspects, the plurality of antenna elements are driven by only one power amplifier.

[0132] In some aspects, the network node includes an antenna system having a MIMO configuration. In some aspects, transmitting the radio frequency signal includes transmitting the radio frequency signal using a sub-panel of an antenna panel of the network node, and process 800 includes determining at least one additional reference position associated with at least one additional virtual image corresponding to at least one additional target area, and transmitting at least one additional radio frequency signal using at least one additional sub-panel of the antenna panel, wherein the at least one additional radio frequency signal is beamformed based at least in part on the at least one additional reference position to direct the at least one additional radio frequency signal to the at least one additional target area.

[0133] In some aspects, the subpanel corresponds to a first location on the antenna panel and the at least one additional subpanel corresponds to a second location on the antenna panel, wherein the first location and the second location are separate. In some aspects, the virtual image corresponds to a point spread function associated with an aperture of the antenna panel of the network node. In some aspects, transmitting the radio frequency signal includes transmitting the radio frequency signal using only mode 0 of the orbital angular momentum antenna array.

[0134] In some aspects, transmitting the radio frequency signal includes transmitting the radio frequency signal using an antenna element of an antenna system having an antenna panel including the antenna element and a first lens, wherein the target area is associated with an additional network node having a second lens, and the antenna element is located outside of a focal length of the first lens. In some aspects, the virtual image is located between the first lens and a convergence point corresponding to a real image located within the focal length of the second lens.

[0135] In some aspects, transmitting the radio frequency signal includes transmitting the radio frequency signal using an antenna element of an antenna system having an antenna panel, the antenna panel including the antenna element and a lens, and the reference position is displaced from the antenna element in a direction opposite to the transmission direction. In some aspects, transmitting the radio frequency signal includes transmitting the radio frequency signal using an antenna system having an antenna panel and a reflector array, and beamforming the radio frequency signal includes adjusting the phase of the reflector elements of the reflector array.

[0136] although Figure 8 An example block diagram of process 800 is shown, but in some aspects, process 800 may include Figure 8 Additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or blocks arranged in a different manner than those depicted in the process 800. Additionally or alternatively, two or more blocks of the blocks of process 800 may be performed in parallel.

[0137] Fig. 9 900 is a diagram illustrating an example process 900 performed, for example, by a network node having a lens according to the present disclosure. Example process 900 is an example of a network node (e.g., network node 504) performing operations associated with virtual image-based beamforming. Process 900 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

[0138] like Fig. 9 As shown, in some aspects, process 900 may include determining a reference location associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area (block 910). For example, a network node (e.g., using Fig.10 The communication manager 1008 and / or the determination component 1010 depicted in FIG. 1 may determine a reference position associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area, as described above in conjunction with Figures 5 to 7B In some aspects, the virtual image includes a virtual point source for the radio frequency signal. In some aspects, determining the reference position includes determining a source signal distribution associated with the radio frequency signal at the reference position. In some aspects, the reference position is based at least in part on a range associated with the target area.

[0139] like Fig. 9As further shown, in some aspects, process 900 may include receiving a radio frequency signal using a receive beam that is beamformed based at least in part on a reference location (block 920). Fig.10 The communication manager 1008 and / or receiving component 1002 depicted in FIG. 1004 may receive a radio frequency signal using a receive beam that is beamformed based at least in part on a reference position, as described above in conjunction with Figures 5 to 7B In some aspects, the radio frequency signal comprises at least one of a system broadcast signal, a synchronization signal, or a reference signal.

[0140] In some aspects, receiving a radio frequency signal includes beamforming the radio frequency signal based at least in part on at least one of: a phase adjustment corresponding to an antenna element of a phased array or a geometric configuration of a lens associated with an antenna system of a network node. In some aspects, the phased array includes a plurality of antenna elements, and beamforming the radio frequency signal includes adjusting only the phase corresponding to each antenna element of the plurality of antenna elements. In some aspects, each pair of the plurality of antenna elements is separated by at least half of the wavelength of the radio frequency signal. In some aspects, the size of the phased array is greater than the wavelength of the radio frequency signal. In some aspects, the network node includes an antenna system having a MIMO configuration.

[0141] In some aspects, receiving the radio frequency signal includes receiving the radio frequency signal using a sub-panel of an antenna panel of the network node, and process 900 includes determining at least one additional reference location associated with at least one additional virtual image corresponding to at least one additional target area, and receiving at least one additional radio frequency signal using at least one additional sub-panel of the antenna panel, wherein the at least one additional radio frequency signal is beamformed based at least in part on the at least one additional reference location to direct the at least one additional radio frequency signal to the at least one additional target area. In some aspects, the sub-panel corresponds to a first location on the antenna panel, and the at least one additional sub-panel corresponds to a second location on the antenna panel, wherein the first location and the second location are separate.

[0142] In some aspects, the virtual image corresponds to a point spread function associated with an aperture of an antenna panel of the network node.In some aspects, receiving the radio frequency signal includes receiving the radio frequency signal using only mode 0 of the orbital angular momentum antenna array.

[0143] In some aspects, receiving the radio frequency signal includes receiving the radio frequency signal using an antenna element of an antenna system having an antenna panel including the antenna element and a lens, wherein the convergence point is located between the reference position and the lens, and wherein the convergence point is located within a focal length of the lens. In some aspects, the real image is located at the convergence point.

[0144] In some aspects, receiving the radio frequency signal includes receiving the radio frequency signal using an antenna system having an antenna panel and a reflector array, and beamforming the radio frequency signal includes adjusting a phase of a reflector element of the reflector array.

[0145] although Fig. 9 An example block diagram of process 900 is shown, but in some aspects, process 900 may include Fig. 9 Additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or blocks arranged in a different manner than those depicted in the process 900. Additionally or alternatively, two or more of the blocks in the process 900 may be performed in parallel.

[0146] Fig.10 1 is a diagram of an example apparatus 1000 for wireless communication. Apparatus 1000 may be a network node, or a network node may include apparatus 1000. In some aspects, apparatus 1000 includes a receiving component 1002 and a sending component 1004 that may communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses and / or one or more other components). As shown, apparatus 1000 may communicate with another apparatus 1006 (such as a UE, a base station, or another wireless communication device) using receiving component 1002 and sending component 1004. As further shown, apparatus 1000 may include a communication manager 1008. Communication manager 1008 may include a determining component 1010.

[0147] In some aspects, the apparatus 1000 may be configured to perform Figures 5 to 7B Additionally or alternatively, the apparatus 1000 may be configured to perform one or more processes described herein, such as Figure 8 The process of 800 Fig. 9 In some aspects, the apparatus 1000 and / or Fig.10 One or more of the components shown may include a combination of Figure 2 One or more components of the UE or base station. Additionally or alternatively, Fig.10 One or more of the components shown may be combined with Figure 2 Additionally or alternatively, one or more components in the set of components may be implemented at least in part as software stored in a memory. For example, a component (or a portion of a component) may be implemented as instructions or code stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium and may be executed by a controller or processor to perform the function or operation of the component.

[0148] The receiving component 1002 may receive communications, such as reference signals, control information, data communications, or combinations thereof, from the device 1006. The receiving component 1002 may provide the received communications to one or more other components of the device 1000. In some aspects, the receiving component 1002 may perform signal processing (such as filtering, amplification, demodulation, analog-to-digital conversion, demultiplexing, deinterleaving, demapping, equalization, interference cancellation, or decoding, etc.) on the received communications and may provide the processed signals to one or more other components of the device 1000. In some aspects, the receiving component 1002 may include combining Figure 2 One or more antennas, modems, demodulators, MIMO detectors, receiving processors, controllers / processors, memories or combinations thereof of the UE or base station.

[0149] The transmitting component 1004 may transmit communications, such as reference signals, control information, data communications, or combinations thereof, to the device 1006. In some aspects, one or more other components of the device 1000 may generate communications and may provide the generated communications to the transmitting component 1004 for transmission to the device 1006. In some aspects, the transmitting component 1004 may perform signal processing (such as filtering, amplification, modulation, digital-to-analog conversion, multiplexing, interleaving, mapping, or encoding, etc.) on the generated communications and may transmit the processed signals to the device 1006. In some aspects, the transmitting component 1004 may include combining Figure 2 One or more antennas, modems, modulators, transmit MIMO processors, transmit processors, controllers / processors, memories, or combinations thereof of the UE or base station. In some aspects, the transmit component 1004 can be co-located with the receive component 1002 in a transceiver.

[0150] The communication manager 1008 and / or the determination component 1010 can determine a reference location associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area. The transmission component 1004 can transmit a radio frequency signal, wherein the radio frequency signal is beamformed based at least in part on the reference location to direct the radio frequency signal to the target area. In some aspects, the communication manager 1008 can include combining Figure 2 One or more antennas, modems, controllers / processors, memories, or combinations thereof of the UE or base station. In some aspects, the communication manager 1008 may be, similar to, or include Figure 1 and Figure 2 In some aspects, the communication manager 1008 may include the receiving component 1002 and / or the sending component 1004. In some aspects, the determining component 1010 may include a combination of Figure 2One or more antennas, modems, controllers / processors, memories, or combinations thereof of the UE or base station. In some aspects, the determining component 1010 may include a receiving component 1002 and / or a sending component 1004.

[0151] The determining component 1010 can determine a reference location associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area.The receiving component 1002 can receive a radio frequency signal using a receive beam that is beamformed based at least in part on the reference location.

[0152] Fig.10 The number and arrangement of components shown are provided as examples. In practice, there may be Fig.10 Additional components, fewer components, different components, or components arranged in a different manner than those shown. Fig.10 Two or more components shown may be implemented in a single component, or Fig.10 The single component shown may be implemented as multiple distributed components. Additionally or alternatively, Fig.10 The component set (one or more components) shown may be described as being executable by Fig.10 Another component shown may be a collection of components that perform one or more functions.

[0153] The following provides an overview of some aspects of the disclosure:

[0154] Aspect 1: A method of wireless communication performed by a network node, the method comprising: determining a reference position associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area; and sending a radio frequency signal, wherein the radio frequency signal is beamformed at least in part based on the reference position to direct the radio frequency signal to the target area.

[0155] Aspect 2: The method according to aspect 1, wherein the virtual image comprises a virtual point source for the radio frequency signal.

[0156] Aspect 3: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 or 2, wherein determining the reference position comprises determining a source signal distribution associated with the radio frequency signal at the reference position.

[0157] Aspect 4: A method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 3, wherein sending the RF signal includes beamforming the RF signal at least in part based on at least one of: phase adjustment corresponding to antenna elements of a phased array or a geometric configuration of a lens associated with an antenna system of the network node.

[0158] Aspect 5: The method according to aspect 4, wherein the phased array includes a plurality of antenna elements, and beamforming the radio frequency signal includes adjusting only the phase corresponding to each antenna element of the plurality of antenna elements.

[0159] Aspect 6: The method of aspect 5, wherein each pair of the plurality of antenna elements is separated by at least half a wavelength of the radio frequency signal.

[0160] Aspect 7: The method according to Aspect 6, wherein the size of the phased array is larger than the wavelength of the radio frequency signal.

[0161] Aspect 8: The method according to any one of aspects 5 to 7, wherein the plurality of antenna elements are driven by only one power amplifier.

[0162] Aspect 9: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 8, wherein the network node comprises an antenna system having a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) configuration.

[0163] Aspect 10: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 9, wherein the reference position is based at least in part on a range associated with the target area.

[0164] Aspect 11: A method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 10, wherein sending the RF signal includes sending the RF signal using a sub-panel of an antenna panel of the network node, and the method further includes: determining at least one additional reference position associated with at least one additional virtual image corresponding to at least one additional target area; and sending at least one additional RF signal using at least one additional sub-panel of the antenna panel, wherein the at least one additional RF signal is beamformed at least partially based on the at least one additional reference position to guide the at least one additional RF signal to the at least one additional target area.

[0165] Aspect 12: The method according to aspect 11, wherein the sub-panel corresponds to a first position on the antenna panel and the at least one additional sub-panel corresponds to a second position on the antenna panel, wherein the first position and the second position are separate.

[0166] Aspect 13: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 12, wherein the virtual image corresponds to a point spread function associated with an aperture of an antenna panel of the network node.

[0167] Aspect 14: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 13, wherein sending the radio frequency signal comprises sending the radio frequency signal using only mode 0 of the orbital angular momentum antenna array.

[0168] Aspect 15: A method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 14, wherein sending the radio frequency signal comprises sending the radio frequency signal using an antenna element of an antenna system having an antenna panel, the antenna panel comprising the antenna element and a first lens, wherein the target area is associated with an additional network node having a second lens, and wherein the antenna element is located outside the focal length of the first lens.

[0169] Clause 16: The method of clause 15, wherein the virtual image is located between the first lens and a convergence point corresponding to a real image located within a focal length of the second lens.

[0170] Aspect 17: A method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 14, wherein sending the radio frequency signal comprises sending the radio frequency signal using an antenna element of an antenna system having an antenna panel, the antenna panel comprising the antenna element and a lens, and wherein the reference position is shifted from the antenna element in a direction opposite to the sending direction.

[0171] Aspect 18: A method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 14, wherein sending the RF signal includes sending the RF signal using an antenna system having an antenna panel and a reflector array, and wherein beamforming the RF signal includes adjusting the phase of the reflector elements of the reflector array.

[0172] Aspect 19: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 18, wherein the radio frequency signal comprises at least one of a system broadcast signal, a synchronization signal or a reference signal.

[0173] Aspect 20: A method of wireless communication performed by a network node having a lens, the method comprising: determining a reference position associated with a virtual image corresponding to a target area; and receiving a radio frequency signal using a receive beam that is beamformed at least in part based on the reference position.

[0174] Aspect 21: The method according to aspect 20, wherein the virtual image comprises a virtual point source for the radio frequency signal.

[0175] Aspect 22: The method according to any one of Aspects 20 or 21, wherein determining the reference position comprises determining a source signal distribution associated with the radio frequency signal at the reference position.

[0176] Aspect 23: A method according to any one of Aspects 20 to 22, wherein receiving the RF signal includes beamforming the RF signal based at least in part on at least one of: phase adjustment corresponding to antenna elements of a phased array or a geometric configuration of a lens associated with an antenna system of the network node.

[0177] Aspect 24: The method according to aspect 23, wherein the phased array includes a plurality of antenna elements, and beamforming the radio frequency signal includes adjusting only the phase corresponding to each antenna element of the plurality of antenna elements.

[0178] Aspect 25: The method of aspect 24, wherein each pair of the plurality of antenna elements is separated by at least half a wavelength of the radio frequency signal.

[0179] Aspect 26: The method according to Aspect 25, wherein the size of the phased array is larger than the wavelength of the radio frequency signal.

[0180] Aspect 27: The method according to any one of aspects 20 to 26, wherein the network node comprises an antenna system having a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) configuration.

[0181] Aspect 28: The method according to any one of aspects 20 to 27, wherein the reference position is based at least in part on a range associated with the target area.

[0182] Aspect 29: A method according to any one of Aspects 20 to 28, wherein receiving the RF signal includes using a sub-panel of an antenna panel of the network node to receive the RF signal, and the method further includes: determining at least one additional reference position associated with at least one additional virtual image corresponding to at least one additional target area; and using at least one additional sub-panel of the antenna panel to receive at least one additional RF signal, wherein the at least one additional RF signal is beamformed at least partially based on the at least one additional reference position to guide the at least one additional RF signal to the at least one additional target area.

[0183] Aspect 30: The method according to aspect 29, wherein the sub-panel corresponds to a first position on the antenna panel and the at least one additional sub-panel corresponds to a second position on the antenna panel, wherein the first position and the second position are separate.

[0184] Aspect 31: The method according to any one of aspects 20 to 30, wherein the virtual image corresponds to a point spread function associated with an aperture of an antenna panel of the network node.

[0185] Aspect 32: The method according to any one of aspects 20 to 31, wherein receiving the radio frequency signal comprises receiving the radio frequency signal using only mode 0 of the orbital angular momentum antenna array.

[0186] Aspect 33: A method according to any one of Aspects 20 to 32, wherein receiving the radio frequency signal includes receiving the radio frequency signal using an antenna element of an antenna system having an antenna panel, the antenna panel including the antenna element and the lens, wherein a convergence point is located between the reference position and the lens, and wherein the convergence point is located within the focal length of the lens.

[0187] Aspect 34: The method according to aspect 33, wherein the real image is located at the convergence point.

[0188] Aspect 35: A method according to any one of Aspects 20 to 34, wherein receiving the RF signal includes receiving the RF signal using an antenna system having an antenna panel and a reflector array, and wherein beamforming the RF signal includes adjusting the phase of the reflector elements of the reflector array.

[0189] Aspect 36: The method according to any one of Aspects 20 to 35, wherein the radio frequency signal comprises at least one of a system broadcast signal, a synchronization signal or a reference signal.

[0190] Aspect 37: An apparatus for performing wireless communications at a device, the apparatus comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform one or more of the methods described in Aspects 1 to 19.

[0191] Aspect 38: A device for wireless communication, the device comprising: a memory; and one or more processors, the one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to execute the method according to one or more of aspects 1 to 19.

[0192] Aspect 39: An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: at least one component for performing the method according to one or more of aspects 1 to 19.

[0193] Aspect 40: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform the method according to one or more of aspects 1 to 19.

[0194] Aspect 41: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing an instruction set for wireless communication, the instruction set comprising one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to perform one or more of the methods described in aspects 1 to 19.

[0195] Aspect 42: An apparatus for performing wireless communications at a device, the apparatus comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform one or more of the methods described in Aspects 20 to 36.

[0196] Aspect 43: A device for wireless communication, the device comprising: a memory; and one or more processors, the one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to execute the method according to one or more of aspects 20 to 36.

[0197] Aspect 44: An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: at least one component for performing the method according to one or more of aspects 20 to 36.

[0198] Aspect 45: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication, the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to perform the method according to one or more of aspects 20 to 36.

[0199] Aspect 46: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing an instruction set for wireless communication, the instruction set comprising one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to perform one or more of the methods described in aspects 20 to 36.

[0200] The foregoing disclosure provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the aspects to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations may be made in light of the above disclosure or may be acquired from practice of the various aspects.

[0201] As used herein, the term "component" is intended to be broadly interpreted as hardware, and / or a combination of hardware and software. Whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language or other names, "software" should be broadly interpreted as meaning instructions, instruction sets, codes, code segments, program codes, programs, subroutines, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, execution threads, procedures and / or functions, etc. As used herein, "processor" is implemented by a combination of hardware and / or hardware and software. It will be apparent that the systems and / or methods described herein can be implemented by a combination of hardware and / or hardware and software in different forms. The actual dedicated control hardware or software code used to implement these systems and / or methods does not limit various aspects. Therefore, there is no reference to specific software code herein to describe the operation and behavior of the system and / or method, because it will be understood by those skilled in the art that software and hardware can be designed to implement the system and / or method at least in part based on the description herein.

[0202] As used herein, "satisfying a threshold" may refer to a value being greater than a threshold, greater than or equal to a threshold, less than a threshold, less than or equal to a threshold, equal to a threshold, not equal to a threshold, etc., depending on the context.

[0203] Although the specific combination of features is set forth in the claims and / or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are not intended to limit the disclosure of various aspects. Many of these features can be combined in a manner that is not specifically listed in the claims and / or is not disclosed in the specification. The disclosure of various aspects includes each dependent claim combined with each other claim in the claim set. As used herein, the phrase "at least one of" the list of items refers to any combination of these items (which includes a single member). As an example, "at least one of a, b or c" is intended to cover a, b, c, a+b, a+c, b+c and a+b+c, and any combination with multiple identical elements (e.g., a+a, a+a+a, a+a+b, a+a+c, a+b+b, a+c+c, b+b, b+b+b, b+b+c, c+c and c+c+c, or any other ordering of a, b and c).

[0204] Any element, action or instruction used herein should not be interpreted as key or necessary, unless clearly stated so. In addition, as used herein, the article "one" is intended to include one or more projects, and can be used interchangeably with "one or more". In addition, as used herein, the article "said" is intended to include one or more projects connected with the article "said", and can be used interchangeably with "one or more". In addition, as used herein, the terms "set" and "group" are intended to include one or more projects, and can be used interchangeably with "one or more". If only want to refer to a project, the phrase "only one" or similar terms will be used. In addition, as used herein, the terms "have", "have", "have" etc. are intended to be open terms, which do not limit the elements they modify (for example, "an element with" A can also have B). In addition, the phrase "based on" is intended to represent "based at least in part on", unless explicitly stated otherwise. Furthermore, as used herein, the term "or" when used in a series is intended to be open-ended and can be used interchangeably with "and / or" unless expressly stated otherwise (eg, if used in conjunction with "either" or "only one of").

Claims

1. A network node for wireless communication, the network node comprising: Memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to: determining a reference position associated with the virtual image corresponding to the target area; as well as A radio frequency signal is transmitted, wherein the radio frequency signal is beamformed based at least in part on the reference location to direct the radio frequency signal to the target area. 2 . The network node of claim 1 , wherein the virtual image comprises a virtual point source for the radio frequency signal. 3 . The network node of claim 1 , wherein to determine the reference location, the one or more processors are configured to determine a source signal distribution associated with the radio frequency signal at the reference location.

4. The network node of claim 1 , wherein, to transmit the RF signal, the one or more processors are configured to beamform the RF signal based at least in part on at least one of: phase adjustment of antenna elements corresponding to a phased array or a geometric configuration of a lens associated with an antenna system of the network node.

5. The network node of claim 4, wherein the phased array comprises a plurality of antenna elements, and wherein, to beamform the radio frequency signal, the one or more processors are configured to adjust only the phase corresponding to each antenna element of the plurality of antenna elements.

6. The network node of claim 5, wherein each pair of the plurality of antenna elements are separated by at least half a wavelength of the radio frequency signal.

7. The network node of claim 5, wherein the plurality of antenna elements are driven by only one power amplifier.

8. The network node of claim 1, wherein the network node comprises an antenna system having a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) configuration.

9. The network node of claim 1, wherein the reference location is based at least in part on a range associated with the target area.

10. The network node of claim 1 , wherein to transmit the radio frequency signal, the one or more processors are configured to transmit the radio frequency signal using a sub-panel of an antenna panel of the network node, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: determining at least one additional reference position associated with at least one additional virtual image corresponding to at least one additional target area; and At least one additional radio frequency signal is transmitted using at least one additional sub-panel of the antenna panel, wherein the at least one additional radio frequency signal is beamformed based at least in part on the at least one additional reference position to direct the at least one additional radio frequency signal to the at least one additional target area.

11. The network node of claim 10, wherein the sub-panel corresponds to a first position on the antenna panel and the at least one additional sub-panel corresponds to a second position on the antenna panel, wherein the first position and the second position are separate.

12. The network node of claim 1, wherein the virtual image corresponds to a point spread function associated with an aperture of an antenna panel of the network node.

13. The network node of claim 1, wherein to transmit the radio frequency signal, the one or more processors are configured to transmit the radio frequency signal using only mode 0 of an orbital angular momentum antenna array.

14. The network node of claim 1 , wherein to transmit the RF signal, the one or more processors are configured to transmit the RF signal using an antenna element of an antenna system having an antenna panel, the antenna panel comprising the antenna element and a first lens, wherein the target area is associated with an additional network node having a second lens, and wherein the antenna element is located outside of a focal length of the first lens.

15. The network node of claim 14, wherein the virtual image is located between the first lens and a convergence point corresponding to a real image located within the focal length of the second lens.

16. The network node of claim 1 , wherein, to transmit the RF signal, the one or more processors are configured to transmit the RF signal using an antenna element of an antenna system having an antenna panel, the antenna panel comprising the antenna element and a lens, and wherein the reference position is displaced from the antenna element in a direction opposite to a transmission direction.

17. The network node of claim 1 , wherein to transmit the RF signal, the one or more processors are configured to transmit the RF signal using an antenna system having an antenna panel and a reflector array, and wherein to beamform the RF signal, the one or more processors are configured to adjust the phase of the reflector elements of the reflector array.

18. The network node of claim 1, wherein the radio frequency signal comprises at least one of a system broadcast signal, a synchronization signal, or a reference signal.

19. A network node for wireless communication, the network node comprising: First lens; Memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to: determining a location associated with a real image corresponding to a virtual image, the virtual image corresponding to a target area; as well as Radio frequency signals are received using a receive beam that is beamformed based at least in part on the location.

20. The network node of claim 19, wherein the real image is located within the focal length of the second lens.

21. The network node of claim 19, wherein to receive the radio frequency signal, the one or more processors are configured to receive the radio frequency signal using an antenna element of an antenna system having an antenna panel, the antenna panel comprising the antenna element and the lens.

22. The network node of claim 19, wherein to receive the RF signal, the one or more processors are configured to beamform the RF signal based at least in part on at least one of: phase adjustment of antenna elements corresponding to a phased array or a geometric configuration of the lens.

23. A method of wireless communication performed by a network node, the method comprising: determining a reference position associated with the virtual image corresponding to the target area; as well as A radio frequency signal is transmitted, wherein the radio frequency signal is beamformed based at least in part on the reference location to direct the radio frequency signal to the target area.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the virtual image comprises a virtual point source for the radio frequency signal.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the network node comprises an antenna system having a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) configuration.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the reference location is based at least in part on a range associated with the target area.

27. A method of wireless communication performed by a network node having a lens, the method comprising: determining a location associated with a real image corresponding to a virtual image, the virtual image corresponding to a target area; as well as Radio frequency signals are received using a receive beam that is beamformed based at least in part on the location.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the real image is located within the focal length of the second lens.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein receiving the radio frequency signal comprises receiving the radio frequency signal using an antenna element of an antenna system having an antenna panel, the antenna panel comprising the antenna element and the lens.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein receiving the radio frequency signal comprises beamforming the radio frequency signal based at least in part on at least one of: phase adjustments corresponding to antenna elements of a phased array or a geometric configuration of the lens.

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