Beam steering for relay aircraft

Abstract

Systems and techniques are provided for performing wireless communications. In some aspects, an aircraft user equipment (UE) may determine an air zone based on a location of the aircraft UE. The aircraft UE may determine a mapping of the air zone to at least one land zone and direct a radio frequency (RF) beam to a location within the at least one land zone. In some examples, determining the mapping includes sending an air zone identifier corresponding to the air zone to a network entity, and receiving a land zone identifier corresponding to the at least one land zone from the network entity.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications. In some implementations, examples are described for performing wireless communications using an air-to-ground (ATG) connection. Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems are deployed to provide a variety of telecommunication services including telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and the like. Wireless communication systems have evolved over several generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including transitional 2.5G networks), third generation (3G) high-speed data wireless service with Internet capabilities, fourth generation (4G) services (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE), WiMax), and fifth generation (5G) services (e.g., New Radio (NR)). There are many different types of wireless communication systems in use today, including cellular systems and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and the like.

[0003] Air-to-ground (ATG) communication systems are deployed to provide various telecommunication services associated with aircraft. ATG communication systems can be implemented to interact with terrestrial wireless communication systems by positioning terrestrial antennas (e.g., at base stations) in a manner that can communicate with aircraft antennas while the aircraft is in flight. In some cases, ATG communications can be used to provide in-flight communication services for onboard equipment. In addition, ATG communications can be used to provide airline operational communications (e.g., aircraft maintenance, flight plans, weather, etc.) and air traffic control information. Summary of the invention

[0004] Air-to-ground (ATG) communications may be used to provide connectivity between a terrestrial wireless communication network and an aircraft. In some cases, an aircraft may be configured as a relay aircraft that can relay data between a user equipment (UE) and a network entity (e.g., a base station). In some cases, a given aircraft may only be able to act as a relay aircraft for a short period of time, due to the speed of the aircraft as it passes through a relay area (e.g., an intersection between a flight path and a coverage area of ​​a UE and / or a base station) where the aircraft is able to communicate with the UE and the base station. The limited time that the aircraft can perform as a relay aircraft may not be sufficient to perform various ATG communications. For example, a UE may not receive feedback on an SOS message within a short time window in which the relay aircraft remains within the range of both the UE and the base station to which the UE's SOS message is relayed by the relay aircraft.

[0005] In some examples, multiple relay aircraft may be within ATG communication range (e.g., within LoS propagation distance) with a remote UE. In such examples, multiple relay aircraft may be able to provide ATG communication coverage to the same out-of-coverage land location or surface location (e.g., multiple relay aircraft may be able to provide ATG communication coverage to the same remote UE). In the case of multiple relay aircraft, ATG communication path switching and / or relay aircraft handovers may occur frequently. In addition, such scenarios for ATG communications between multiple relay aircraft and remote UEs may be associated with large computational overhead. Furthermore, in some examples, such multi- (or "dense") aircraft scenarios may be associated with interference between ATG communications sent from different relay aircraft to the same remote UE, which may hinder or prevent the successful sending of SOS or other messages by the remote UE.

[0006] Systems and techniques are needed for performing ATG communications between a remote UE and a relay aircraft in a dense aircraft scenario, wherein relay aircraft switching and / or handoffs are reduced and the service time of each relay aircraft beam is improved for a given out-of-coverage area (e.g., the location of the remote UE).

[0007] In some aspects, systems and techniques for performing wireless communications are described. For example, these systems and techniques can be used to perform beam steering for one or more relay aircraft in an air-to-ground (ATG) communication network. For example, one or more relay aircraft can be used to perform ATG communications with a remote user equipment (UE). The remote UE is located outside the coverage area associated with the wireless communication network, and one or more relay aircraft can be used to relay messages from the remote UE to a base station included in the wireless communication network. In some cases, these systems and techniques can be used to perform beam steering for one or more relay aircraft to reduce the occurrence of the remote UE switching the ATG communication path between different relay aircrafts, and / or reduce the occurrence of handovers between different relay aircrafts. In an illustrative example, these systems and techniques can be used to perform beam steering based on a three-dimensional (3D) zone identifier associated with the current position of the relay aircraft and a two-dimensional (2D) zone identifier associated with the land surface position of the remote UE.

[0008] According to at least one illustrative example, a method of wireless communication performed at an aircraft user equipment (UE) is provided. The method includes: determining an air zone based on a position of the aircraft UE; determining a mapping of the air zone to at least one land zone; and directing a radio frequency (RF) beam to a position within the at least one land zone.

[0009] In another example, an apparatus for wireless communication performed at an aircraft user equipment (UE) is provided, the apparatus comprising at least one memory (e.g., configured to store data) and at least one processor (e.g., implemented in a circuit) coupled to the at least one memory. The at least one processor is configured and may: determine an air zone based on a location of the aircraft UE; determine a mapping of the air zone to at least one land zone; and direct a radio frequency (RF) beam to a location within the at least one land zone.

[0010] In another example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon is provided, which instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: determine an air zone based on the position of the aircraft UE; determine a mapping of the air zone to at least one land zone; and direct a radio frequency (RF) beam to a position within the at least one land zone.

[0011] In another example, an apparatus for wireless communication performed at an aircraft user equipment (UE) is provided. The apparatus includes: a component for determining an air zone based on a location of the aircraft UE; a component for determining a mapping of the air zone to at least one land zone; and a component for directing a radio frequency (RF) beam to a location within the at least one land zone.

[0012] In another example, a method for wireless communication performed at a network entity is provided. The method includes: determining a first mapping of one or more air zones to one or more land zones based on trajectory data associated with an aircraft user equipment (UE); receiving an air zone identifier associated with a first air zone from the one or more air zones from the aircraft UE; identifying a first land zone associated with the first air zone from the one or more land zones based on the first mapping; and sending a land zone identifier associated with the first land zone to the aircraft UE.

[0013] In another example, an apparatus for wireless communication performed at a network entity is provided, the apparatus comprising at least one memory (e.g., configured to store data) and at least one processor (e.g., implemented in a circuit) coupled to the at least one memory. The at least one processor is configured and may: determine a first mapping of one or more air zones to one or more land zones based on trajectory data associated with an aircraft user equipment (UE); receive an air zone identifier associated with a first air zone from the one or more air zones from the aircraft UE; identify a first land zone associated with the first air zone from the one or more land zones based on the first mapping; and send a land zone identifier associated with the first land zone to the aircraft UE.

[0014] In another example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon is provided, which instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: determine a first mapping of one or more air zones to one or more land zones based on trajectory data associated with an aircraft user equipment (UE); receive an air zone identifier associated with a first air zone from the one or more air zones from the aircraft UE; identify a first land zone associated with the first air zone from the one or more land zones based on the first mapping; and send a land zone identifier associated with the first land zone to the aircraft UE.

[0015] In another example, an apparatus for wireless communication performed at a network entity is provided. The apparatus includes: a component for determining a first mapping of one or more air zones to one or more land zones based on trajectory data associated with an aircraft user equipment (UE); a component for receiving an air zone identifier associated with a first air zone from the one or more air zones from the aircraft UE; a component for identifying a first land zone associated with the first air zone from the one or more land zones based on the first mapping; and a component for sending a land zone identifier associated with the first land zone to the aircraft UE.

[0016] 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.

[0017] The features and technical advantages of examples according to the present disclosure have been outlined quite broadly 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 the limitations of the claims.

[0018] 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.

[0019] Other objects and advantages associated with the various aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the drawings and detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify the key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used in isolation to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood with reference to appropriate portions of the entire specification of this patent, any or all drawings, and each claim.

[0020] The foregoing and other features and aspects will become more apparent upon reference to the following description, claims and accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in describing various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided solely for illustration and not limitation of the aspects.

[0022] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication network according to some examples;

[0023] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating a design of a base station and a user equipment (UE) device according to some examples, which enables sending and processing of signals exchanged between the UE and the base station;

[0024] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a decomposed base station according to some examples;

[0025] Figure 4is a block diagram illustrating components of user equipment according to some examples;

[0026] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of relay aircraft coverage mobility in a dense aircraft scenario according to some examples;

[0027] Fig. 6A is a diagram illustrating a three-dimensional (3D) aerial region, a two-dimensional (2D) land surface region, and a relay aircraft at a first time according to some examples;

[0028] Figure 6B is an illustration of a 3D aerial region, a 2D land surface region, and a second time according to some examples. Fig. 6A An illustration of a relay aircraft;

[0029] Fig. 7A is a diagram illustrating an example of a mapping process between a 3D aerial region and a 2D surface region based on a central coordination process according to some examples;

[0030] Figure 7B is a diagram illustrating an example of a mapping process between a 3D aerial region and a 2D surface region based on a distributed coordination process according to some examples;

[0031] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a 3D aerial zone configuration according to some examples;

[0032] Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of mapping between a 3D aerial region and a 2D surface region based on the same horizontal position according to some examples;

[0033] Fig.10 is a diagram illustrating an example of mapping between a 3D aerial region and a 2D surface region based on elevation according to some examples;

[0034] Fig.11 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a process for wireless communications performed at an aircraft user equipment (UE) according to some examples; and

[0035] Fig.12 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computing system according to some examples. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] For illustrative purposes, some aspects of the present disclosure are provided below. Without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, alternative aspects can be designed. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted, so as not to make the relevant details of the present disclosure difficult to understand. Some aspects described herein can be applied independently, and some of them can be applied in combination, which is obvious to those skilled in the art. In the following description, specific details are set forth for explanation purposes to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of the application. However, it is obvious that various aspects can be practiced without these specific details. Each drawing and description are not intended to be restrictive.

[0037] The following description provides only example aspects and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the present disclosure. Instead, the following description of the example aspects will provide a description that can be used to implement the example aspects to those skilled in the art. It should be understood that various changes may be made to the function and arrangement of the elements without departing from the scope of the present application as set forth in the appended claims.

[0038] Wireless communication networks may be deployed to provide various communication services, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, any combination thereof, or other communication services. Wireless communication networks may support both access links and side links for communication between wireless devices. An access link may refer to any communication link between a client device (e.g., user equipment (UE), station (STA), or other client device) and a base station (e.g., 3GPP gNB for 5G / NR, 3GPP eNB for 4G / LTE, Wi-Fi access point (AP), or other base station). For example, an access link may support uplink signaling, downlink signaling, connection procedures, etc. An example of an access link is a Uu link or interface (also referred to as NR-Uu) between a 3GPP gNB and a UE.

[0039] In some cases, a client device may be outside of a coverage area associated with a wireless communication network. For example, a client device may be located in a geographic area that is outside of the range of the nearest base station, or in a geographic area where signal quality is poor. In some examples, a client device outside of a coverage area associated with a wireless communication network may also be referred to as a "remote UE." In some cases, a wireless communication network may be accessed through the use of satellite communications. However, existing satellite systems (e.g., Communicating with existing satellite systems using 3GPP satellites may not be practical. For example, communicating with existing satellite systems may require the use of specialized client devices that meet stringent antenna and transmit power requirements. In some cases, the use of such specialized client devices requires skilled human assistance in positioning the antennas in a manner that avoids interference. Although the shortcomings of existing satellite systems may be addressed by 3GPP non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), such networks are associated with very high deployment costs (e.g., the launch of new satellites), which may delay or prevent implementation.

[0040] Air-to-ground (ATG) communications can be used to provide connectivity between a terrestrial wireless communication network and an aircraft. As used herein, an aircraft may include any device or equipment configured to or capable of flying through the air, such as an airplane (e.g., a commercial airplane, a private airplane, a turboprop aircraft, a piston aircraft, a jet, a military aircraft, etc.), an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAE) or drone, a helicopter, an airship (e.g., a blimp or other airship), a glider, or other devices or equipment configured to or capable of flying. For example, ATG communications can be achieved by positioning an antenna on a base station in an upward direction (e.g., the antenna is tilted upward) to facilitate communication with an airborne aircraft having one or more antennas on the bottom and / or side of the aircraft fuselage. ATG communications can be used to provide in-flight passenger communication services, airline operational communications, and air traffic control services, etc. The advantages of ATG communications over satellite communications may include lower costs, higher throughput, and lower latency.

[0041] In some cases, an aircraft may be configured as a relay aircraft that can relay data between a user equipment (UE) and a network entity (e.g., a base station). Such an aircraft may also be referred to as a "relay aircraft". In some cases, a given aircraft may only be able to act as a relay aircraft for a short period of time, due to the flight speed of the aircraft through a relay area (e.g., an intersection between a flight route and a coverage area of ​​a UE and / or base station) where the aircraft is able to communicate with the UE and the base station. In an illustrative example, an aircraft traveling at a speed of 250 meters (m) / second (s) through a circular relay area with a radius of 50 km will act as a relay aircraft for 400 s. In some cases, the limited time that an aircraft can perform as a relay aircraft may not be sufficient to perform various ATG communications. For example, a UE may not receive feedback on an SOS message within a short time window in which the relay aircraft remains within the range of both the UE and the base station to which the UE's SOS message is relayed by the relay aircraft.

[0042] In some examples, a relay aircraft at a cruising altitude of 10 kilometers (km) may be associated with a line of sight (LoS) propagation distance of 200 km or greater. When multiple relay aircraft exist in relatively close proximity to each other, a given land location or surface location (e.g., the location of a remote UE) may be within the ATG LoS propagation range of multiple different relay aircraft. For example, relay aircraft may be clustered or otherwise positioned relatively close to each other in locations such as locations near airports and / or locations near established air traffic routes, lanes, paths. In some examples, the presence of multiple relay aircraft, each within an ATG communication range (e.g., within LoS propagation distance) with a remote UE, may also be referred to as a "dense aircraft scenario."

[0043] In a dense aircraft scenario, multiple relay aircraft may be able to provide ATG communication coverage to the same out-of-coverage land location or surface location (e.g., multiple relay aircraft may be able to provide ATG communication coverage to the same remote UE). Based at least in part on the various trajectories, speeds, altitudes, etc. associated with the multiple relay aircraft at different times, ATG communication path switching and / or relay aircraft handoffs may occur frequently. Dense aircraft scenarios for ATG communication between multiple relay aircraft and remote UEs may additionally be associated with large computational overhead (e.g., in identifying available and / or optimal ATG communication paths between the remote UE and the various relay aircraft, updating path calculations at short time intervals due to the kinematics of the relay aircraft relative to the remote UE, etc.).

[0044] In some examples, dense aircraft scenarios may be associated with interference between ATG communications sent from different relay aircraft to the same remote UE, which may hinder or prevent the successful transmission of SOS or other messages by the remote UE. In some cases, interference may occur in both UE-initiated discovery scenarios and aircraft-initiated discovery scenarios. For example, in a UE-initiated discovery scenario, multiple relay aircraft may each transmit feedback in response to receiving a discovery message from a remote UE; the feedback responses may cause interference at the remote UE and / or prevent the remote UE from successfully completing the discovery process. In an aircraft-initiated discovery scenario, multiple relay aircraft may each send or broadcast a discovery message; the discovery message may also cause interference at the remote UE and / or prevent the remote UE from successfully completing the discovery process.

[0045] There is a need for systems and techniques that can be used to perform ATG communications between a remote UE and one or more relay aircraft using handover and / or handoff (HO) of relay aircraft. For example, there is a need for systems and techniques that can be used to perform ATG communications between a remote UE and a relay aircraft in a dense aircraft scenario, where handover and / or handoff of relay aircraft is reduced and, for a given out-of-coverage area (e.g., the location of the remote UE), the service time of each relay aircraft beam is improved.

[0046] Systems, devices, processes (also referred to as methods), and computer-readable media (collectively, "systems and techniques") for performing beam steering for one or more relay aircraft for implementing air-to-ground (ATG) communications are described herein. For example, one or more relay aircraft may be used to perform ATG communications with a remote user equipment (UE), wherein the remote UE is located outside a coverage area associated with a wireless communication network, and the one or more relay aircraft are used to relay a message (e.g., an SOS message) from the remote UE to a base station included in the wireless communication network. In some aspects, these systems and techniques may be used to perform beam steering for one or more relay aircraft to reduce the occurrence of the remote UE switching ATG communication paths between different relay aircraft, and / or to reduce the occurrence of handovers between different relay aircraft. In an illustrative example, these systems and techniques may be used to perform beam steering based on a three-dimensional (3D) zone identifier associated with a current position of the relay aircraft and a two-dimensional (2D) zone identifier associated with a land surface position of the remote UE.

[0047] For example, in some aspects, relay aircraft handover can be used to extend the data relay time between user equipment (UE) and a network entity such as a base station. In some cases, relay aircraft handover can be used to avoid message loss by configuring the start time for the target relay aircraft to continue the data relay between the remote UE and the base station. In some examples, the aircraft may be configured to relay data between the remote UE and the base station when the aircraft is within a relay area. For example, the relay area may correspond to a geographic area in which the aircraft can communicate with the UE and the base station. For example, the relay area can be based on the location and signal range of the UE and the base station. In some examples, the relay area can be a three-dimensional (3D) aerial zone (e.g., an aerial zone including a volume of space in which the relay aircraft may be present during flight, located above the land surface where the remote UE may be located).

[0048] In some aspects, relay aircraft beam steering may be performed to reduce switching and / or handoffs between relay aircraft used to perform (e.g., relay) ATG communications from a remote UE to a base station of a wireless communication network. In some cases, relay aircraft beam steering may additionally or alternatively be used to increase the service time of a given relay aircraft beam used to communicate with a remote UE (or other given out-of-coverage area of ​​the wireless communication network).

[0049] For example, multiple aerial 3D zones may be generated for a given volume of space in which an aircraft (e.g., a relay aircraft) may exist. Each aerial 3D zone may be associated with a different set of coordinates and / or may include a different volume of aerial space. In some aspects, the aerial 3D zone may be in the shape of a cuboid whose length is longer than its width / depth. In some cases, the aerial 3D zone is in the shape of a cuboid whose horizontal square sides are larger than the vertical square sides. For example, a cuboid aerial 3D zone may be oriented in the approximate expected direction of travel of a relay aircraft flying through the cuboid aerial 3D zone (e.g., the larger length of the cuboid aerial 3D zone may be oriented in the expected or most likely direction of travel of a relay aircraft traveling at a horizontal speed higher than the vertical speed).

[0050] In some examples, multiple aerial 3D zones may be generated using a minimum inter-aircraft distance such that at most one relay aircraft may be located in a given aerial 3D zone at any given time. In some examples, multiple aerial 3D zones may be generated to have one or more dimensions greater than the minimum inter-aircraft distance, and more than one relay aircraft may be simultaneously located in the same given aerial 3D zone at a given time. In some cases, each antenna 3D zone may be associated with an antenna 3D zone identifier.

[0051] These systems and techniques may be used to perform relay aircraft beam steering based on one or more mappings between an aerial 3D zone (e.g., using an aerial 3D zone identifier) ​​and one or more 2D land surface zones (e.g., using a land surface 2D zone identifier). For example, based on a current location of a given relay aircraft, a corresponding aerial 3D zone identifier may be determined, thereby identifying the particular aerial 3D zone in which the relay aircraft is currently located. Based on the aerial 3D zone identifier determined for the current location of the relay aircraft, a land surface 2D zone identifier may be determined based on a mapping between the aerial 3D zone and the surface 2D zone.

[0052] In some aspects, these systems and techniques may be used to perform relay aircraft beam steering by directing a communication beam associated with a relay aircraft toward a surface 2D zone (mapped to an identifier of the current antenna 3D zone) while the relay aircraft remains in its current antenna 3D zone. In some examples, these systems and techniques may be used to reduce relay aircraft switching and / or handovers in dense aircraft scenarios where multiple relay aircraft are located within the same aerial 3D zone and / or multiple relay aircraft are within LoS communication range of a remote UE. For example, within a given aerial 3D zone, a single relay aircraft may be selected and used to perform ATG communications with a remote UE. Unselected relay aircraft located within the same given aerial 3D zone will not perform ATG communications with the remote UE (despite being within LoS range), and relay aircraft interference, switching, and handovers may be reduced.

[0053] Additional aspects of the systems and techniques will be described with respect to the accompanying figures.

[0054] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "network entity" are not intended to be exclusive to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise specified. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, and / or a tracking device, etc.), a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, smart glasses, a wearable ring, and / or an extended reality (XR) device (such as a virtual reality (VR) headset, an augmented reality (AR) headset or glasses, or a mixed reality (MR) headset)), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an aircraft (e.g., an airplane, a jet, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAE) or drone, a helicopter, an airship, a glider, etc.), and / or an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc., for a user to communicate on a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or may be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT," "client device," "wireless device," "subscriber equipment," "subscriber terminal," "subscriber station," "user terminal" or "UT," "mobile device," "mobile terminal," "mobile station," or variations thereof. Generally speaking, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE may connect to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UE, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11 communication standards, etc.), and the like.

[0055] The network entity may be implemented in a converged or monolithic base station architecture, or alternatively, in a disaggregated base station architecture, and may include one or more of 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. A base station (e.g., having a converged / monolithic base station architecture or a disaggregated base station architecture) may operate according to one of several RATs communicating with a UE (depending on the network in which it is deployed), and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a Node B (NB), an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNode B), etc. A base station may be primarily used to support wireless access for UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may provide edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems, a base station may provide additional control and / or network management functionality. The communication link by which a UE can transmit signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link by which a base station can transmit signals to a UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to an uplink, a reverse or downlink, and / or a forward traffic channel.

[0056] The term "network entity" or "base station" (e.g., having an aggregated / monolithic base station architecture or a disaggregated base station architecture) may refer to a single physical transmit receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "network entity" or "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be a base station antenna corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term "network entity" or "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, these physical TRPs may be antenna arrays of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (e.g., a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (e.g., a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRP may be a serving base station receiving measurement reports from a UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal (e.g., or simply "reference signal") the UE is measuring. Because, as used herein, a TRP is a point at which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, references to transmitting from a base station or receiving at a base station should be understood to refer to a specific TRP of a base station.

[0057] In some specific implementations of supporting UE positioning, a network entity or base station may not support wireless access for a UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections with respect to the UE), but may instead send a reference signal to be measured by the UE to the UE and / or may receive and measure a signal sent by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning tower (e.g., in the case of sending a signal to the UE) and / or as a position measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring a signal from the UE).

[0058] RF signals include electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transmit information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply a "signal" where it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0059] Various aspects of the systems and techniques described herein will be discussed below with respect to the accompanying drawings. According to various aspects, Figure 1An example of a wireless communication system 100 is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 (e.g., which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. In some aspects, the base stations 102 may also be referred to as "network entities" or "network nodes". One or more of the base stations 102 may be implemented in an aggregated or monolithic base station architecture. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of the base stations 102 may be implemented in a decomposed base station architecture and may include one or more of 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. The base stations 102 may include macro cell base stations (e.g., high power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (e.g., low power cellular base stations). On the one hand, the macro cell base station may include an eNB and / or an ng-eNB (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to a long term evolution (LTE) network) or a gNB (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network) or a combination of both, and the small cell base station may include a femto cell, a pico cell, a micro cell, etc.

[0060] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) through a backhaul link 122, and interface to one or more location servers 172 (e.g., the one or more location servers may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170) through the core network 170. Among other functions, the base stations 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: delivering user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC or 5GC) through a backhaul link 134 (which may be wired and / or wireless).

[0061] Base station 102 can communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 can provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, base station 102 in each coverage area 110 can support one or more cells. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on a certain frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.), and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI)) to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) or other protocol types) that can provide access to different types of UEs. Since a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" can refer to either or both of a logical communication entity and a base station supporting the logical communication entity, depending on the context. In addition, since a TRP is typically a physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" can be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to a geographic coverage area (eg, a sector) of a base station, as long as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communications within some portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0062] Although the geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover area), some areas of the geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with the larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' may have a coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB), which may provide services to a restricted group referred to as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0063] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (e.g., also referred to as a reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or downlink (e.g., also referred to as a forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. One or more carrier frequencies may be used to provide the communication link 120. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., a greater number or a lesser number of carriers may be allocated for the downlink than for the uplink).

[0064] Beamforming (which may also be referred to as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception) is a signal processing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or a receiving device (e.g., one or more of a base station 102, a UE 104, etc.) to form or direct an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting device and the receiving device. Beamforming may be implemented based on combining signals conveyed via antenna elements of an antenna array so that some signals propagating at a particular orientation relative to the antenna array experience constructive interference, while other signals experience destructive interference. Adjustments to signals conveyed via antenna elements may include the transmitting device or the receiving device applying an amplitude offset, a phase offset, or both to signals carried via antenna elements associated with the device. Adjustments associated with each of these antenna elements may be defined by a set of beamforming weights associated with a particular orientation (e.g., relative to the antenna array of the transmitting device or the receiving device or relative to some other orientation).

[0065] A transmitting device and / or a receiving device (e.g., such as one or more of base station 102 and / or UE 104) may use beam scanning techniques as part of a beamforming operation. For example, base station 102 (e.g., or other transmitting device) may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays (e.g., antenna panels) to perform beamforming operations for directional communication with UE 104 (e.g., or other receiving device). Some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) may be sent multiple times by base station 102 (or other transmitting device) in different directions. For example, base station 102 may send signals according to different beamforming weight sets associated with different transmission directions. Transmissions in different beam directions may be used to identify beam directions (e.g., by a transmitting device (such as base station 102), or by a receiving device (such as UE 104)) for later transmission or reception by base station 102.

[0066] Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particular receiving device, may be sent by base station 102 in a single beam direction, e.g., a direction associated with a receiving device, such as UE 104. In some examples, a beam direction associated with transmission along a single beam direction may be determined based on signals sent in one or more beam directions. For example, UE 104 may receive one or more of the signals sent by base station 102 in different directions and may report to base station 104 an indication of the signal received by UE 104 with the highest signal quality or other acceptable signal quality.

[0067] In some examples, transmission by a device (e.g., by a base station 102 or a UE 104) may be performed using multiple beam directions, and the device may use a combination of digital precoding or radio frequency beamforming to generate a combined beam for transmission (e.g., from a base station 102 to a UE 104, from a transmitting device to a receiving device, etc.). The UE 104 may report feedback indicating precoding weights for one or more beam directions, and the feedback may correspond to a configured number of beams across a system bandwidth or one or more subbands. The base station 102 may transmit a reference signal (e.g., a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), etc.), which may be precoded or unprecoded. The UE 104 may provide feedback for beam selection, which may be a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) or codebook-based feedback (e.g., a multi-panel codebook, a linear combination codebook, a port selection codebook). Although these techniques are described with reference to signals sent by base station 102 in one or more directions, UE 104 may employ similar techniques to send signals multiple times in different directions (e.g., to identify a beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by UE 104), or to send signals in a single direction (e.g., to send data to a receiving device).

[0068] A receiving device (e.g., UE 104) may try multiple reception configurations (e.g., directional listening) when receiving various signals (such as synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) from a base station 102. For example, a receiving device may try multiple reception directions by receiving via different antenna subarrays, processing received signals according to different antenna subarrays, receiving according to different receive beamforming weight sets (e.g., different directional listening weight sets) applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, or processing received signals according to different receive beamforming weight sets applied to signals received at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, any of which may be referred to as "listening" according to different reception configurations or reception directions. In some examples, a receiving device may use a single reception configuration to receive along a single beam direction (e.g., when receiving a data signal). The single reception configuration may be aligned on a beam direction determined based on listening according to different reception configuration directions (e.g., a beam direction determined to have the highest signal strength, the highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or other acceptable signal quality based on listening according to multiple beam directions).

[0069] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a WLAN AP 150 in communication with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 gigahertz (GHz)). When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or a listen-before-talk (LBT) process before communicating to determine whether the channel is available. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may include a device (e.g., UE, etc.) that communicates with one or more UEs 104, base stations 102, APs 150, etc. using an ultra-wideband (UWB) spectrum. The UWB spectrum may range from 3.1 GHz to 10.5 GHz.

[0070] The small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' can adopt LTE or NR technology and use the same 5GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102' using LTE and / or 5G in the unlicensed spectrum can boost the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as LTE-U, License Assisted Access (LAA) or MulteFire.

[0071] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180 that can operate in mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies to communicate with UE 182. The mmW base station 180 can be implemented in an aggregated or monolithic base station architecture, or alternatively, in a decomposed base station architecture (e.g., including one or more of CU, DU, RU, near RT RIC, or non-RT RIC). Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz, and a wavelength between 1 mm and 10 mm. The radio waves in this band can be called millimeter waves. Near mmW can be extended down to a frequency of 3 GHz, and the wavelength is 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, which is also called centimeter waves. Communications using mmW and / or near mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (e.g., transmit and / or receive) on the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. In addition, it should be understood that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near-mmW and beamforming. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0072] In some aspects related to 5G, the spectrum in which a wireless network node or entity (e.g., base station 102 / 180, UE 104 / 182) operates is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (e.g., from 450 megahertz (MHz) to 6000 MHz), FR2 (e.g., from 24250 MHz to 52600 MHz), FR3 (e.g., above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (e.g., between FR1 and FR2). In a multi-carrier system (such as 5G), one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as a "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) used by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection reestablishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common control channels as well as UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2), which can be configured and can be used to provide additional radio resources once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, since the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, those signaling information and signals specific to the UE may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell can have different downlink primary carriers. This also holds true for the uplink primary carrier. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (e.g., whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency or component carrier that some base stations are using to communicate, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0073] For example, still refer to Figure 1, one of the frequencies used by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies used by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). In carrier aggregation, the base station 102 and / or the UE 104 may use a spectrum of up to Y MHz (e.g., 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, 20 MHz, 100 MHz) bandwidth per carrier, with up to a total of Yx MHz (e.g., x component carriers) in each direction for transmission. The component carriers may be adjacent to each other in the spectrum or may not be adjacent to each other. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., a larger number or a smaller number of carriers may be allocated for the downlink than for the uplink). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a doubled data rate (eg, 40 MHz) compared to the data rate achieved with a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0074] In order to operate on multiple carrier frequencies, the base station 102 and / or the UE 104 may be equipped with multiple receivers and / or transmitters. For example, the UE 104 may have two receivers, namely "receiver 1" and "receiver 2", where "receiver 1" is a multi-band receiver that can be tuned to a frequency band (e.g., carrier frequency) "X" or a frequency band "Y", and "receiver 2" is a single-band receiver that can be tuned to only a frequency band "Z". In this example, if the UE 104 is being served in frequency band "X", the frequency band "X" will be referred to as the PCell or active carrier frequency, and "receiver 1" will need to tune from frequency band "X" to frequency band "Y" (e.g., SCell) to measure frequency band "Y" (or vice versa). In contrast, regardless of whether the UE 104 is being served in frequency band "X" or frequency band "Y", due to the separate "receiver 2", the UE 104 can measure frequency band "Z" without interrupting the service on frequency band "X" or frequency band "Y".

[0075] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a UE 164, which may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 over the communication link 120 and / or communicate with the mmW base station 180 over the mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0076] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs (such as UE 190) that are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (e.g., referred to as “side links”). Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of UEs 104 connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity through the link), and has a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to WLAN AP 150 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity through the link). In an example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can use any well-known D2D RAT (such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), etc.) to support.

[0077] Figure 2 A block diagram illustrating an example architecture 200 of a base station 102 and a UE 104 that enables sending and processing of signals exchanged between the UE and the base station according to some aspects of the present disclosure. The example architecture 200 includes components of the base station 102 and the UE 104, which may be Figure 1 One of the illustrated base stations 102 and one of the UEs 104. The base station 102 may be equipped with T antennas 234a through 234t, and the UE 104 may be equipped with R antennas 252a through 252r, where in general T≥1 and R≥1.

[0078] At the base station 102, the transmit processor 220 may receive data for one or more UEs from the data source 212, select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for each UE based at least in part on a channel quality indicator (CQI) received from the UE, process (e.g., encode and modulate) the data for the UE based at least in part on the MCS selected for each UE, and provide data symbols for all UEs. The transmit processor 220 may also process system information (e.g., for semi-static resource partitioning information (SRPI), etc.) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, grants, upper layer signaling, etc.), and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. The transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRS)) and synchronization signals (e.g., primary synchronization signals (PSS) and 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 (if applicable), and may provide T output symbol streams to T modulators (MODs) 232a to 232t. The modulators 232a to 232t are shown as combined modulator-demodulators (MOD-DEMODs). In some cases, the modulator and demodulator may be separate components. Each modulator in the modulators 232a to 232t may process a corresponding output symbol stream (e.g., for an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator in the modulators 232a to 232t may further process the output sample stream (e.g., convert the output sample stream to analog, amplify, filter, and up-convert) to obtain a downlink signal. T downlink signals may be sent from the modulators 232a to 232t via T antennas 234a to 234t, respectively. According to certain aspects described in greater detail below, position encoding may be utilized to generate a synchronization signal to convey additional information.

[0079] At UE 104, antennas 252a to 252r may receive downlink signals from base station 102 and / or other base stations, and may provide received signals to one or more demodulators (DEMOD) 254a to 254r, respectively. Demodulators 254a to 254r are shown as combined modulator-demodulators (MOD-DEMOD). In some cases, the modulator and demodulator may be separate components. Each demodulator in demodulators 254a to 254r may adjust the received signal (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert and digitize the received signal) to obtain input samples. Each demodulator in demodulators 254a to 254r may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all R demodulators 254a to 254r, perform MIMO detection (if applicable) on the received symbols, and provide detected symbols. The receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE 104 to a data sink 260, and provide decoded control information and system information to a controller / processor 280. The channel processor may determine a reference signal received power (RSRP), a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a channel quality indicator (CQI), etc.

[0080] On the uplink, at the UE 104, a transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from a data source 262 and control information (e.g., for reports including RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, etc.) from a controller / processor 280. The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals (e.g., based at least in part on a beta value or set of beta values ​​associated with the one or more reference signals). The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be pre-coded by the TX-MIMO processor 266, further processed by the modulators 254a to 254r (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM, CP-OFDM, etc.), and transmitted to the base station 102. At the base station 102, uplink signals from the UE 104 and other UEs may be received by antennas 234a to 234t, processed by demodulators 232a to 232t, detected by a MIMO detector 236 (e.g., if applicable), and further processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by the UE 104. The receive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded control information to a controller (e.g., processor) 240. The base station 102 may include a communication unit 244 and communicate with the network controller 231 via the communication unit 244. The network controller 231 may include a communication unit 294, a controller / processor 290, and a memory 292.

[0081] In some aspects, one or more components of the UE 104 may be included in a housing. The controller 240 of the base station 102, the controller / processor 280 of the UE 104, and / or Figure 2 Any other component of may perform one or more techniques associated with implicit UCI β value determination for NR.

[0082] Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for base station 102 and UE 104, respectively. A scheduler 246 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink, uplink, and / or sidelink.

[0083] In some aspects, the deployment of a communication system such as a 5G New Radio (NR) system can be arranged with various components or constituent parts in a variety of ways. In a 5G NR system or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of a network, a radio access network (RAN) node, a core network node, a network element, or a network equipment (such as a base station (BS)) or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functions can be implemented in an aggregated or decomposed architecture. For example, a BS (e.g., such as a Node B (NB), an evolved NB (eNB), an NR BS, a 5G NB, an access point (AP), a transmit receive point (TRP), or a cell, etc.) can be implemented as an aggregated base station (e.g., also referred to as an independent BS or a monolithic BS) or a decomposed base station.

[0084] A converged base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A decomposed base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack physically or logically distributed between two or more units (e.g., such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs)). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed in one or more other RAN nodes. A DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of a CU, a DU, and a RU may also be implemented as a virtual unit, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0085] Base station type operations or network designs may take into account the aggregated nature of base station functions. For example, a disaggregated base station may be used in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (e.g., a network configuration such as that initiated by the O-RAN Alliance)), or a virtualized radio access network (e.g., vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Decomposition may include distributing functions across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as virtually distributing the functions of at least one unit, which may enable flexibility in network design. Various units of a disaggregated base station or disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0086] Figure 33 is a diagram illustrating an example decomposed base station 300 architecture. The decomposed base station 300 architecture may include one or more central units (CUs) 310 that may communicate directly with a core network 320 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 320 through one or more decomposed base station units (e.g., such as a near real-time (near RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 325 via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 315 associated with a service management and orchestration (SMO) framework 305, or both). The CU 310 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 330 via respective midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DU 330 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 340 via respective fronthaul links. The RU 340 may communicate with respective UEs 104 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 104 may be served simultaneously by multiple RUs 340.

[0087] Figure 3 Each of the units illustrated and / or described herein (e.g., CU 310, DU 330, RU 340, and near-RT RIC 325, non-RT RIC 315, and SMO framework 305) may include one or more interfaces or be coupled to one or more interfaces that are configured to receive or send signals, data, or information (e.g., collectively referred to as signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interface of these units may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via a transmission medium. For example, the unit may include a wired interface that is configured to receive or send signals to one or more of the other units on a wired transmission medium. Additionally, the unit may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, a transmitter, or a transceiver (e.g., such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) that is configured to receive or send signals or both to one or more of the other units via a wireless transmission medium.

[0088] In some aspects, CU 310 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions may include radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function may be implemented using an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by CU 310. CU 310 may be configured to handle user plane functions (e.g., central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), control plane functions (e.g., central unit-control plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some specific implementations, CU 310 may be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RAN configuration, the CU-UP unit may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface (such as an E1 interface). As needed, CU 310 may be implemented to communicate with DU 330 for network control and signaling.

[0089] DU 330 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RU 340. In some aspects, DU 330 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.) depending at least in part on a functional partition (e.g., such as a functional partition defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)). In some aspects, DU 330 may also host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface that is configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by DU 330 or with control functions hosted by CU 310.

[0090] The lower layer functions may be implemented by one or more RUs 340. In some deployments, a RU 340 controlled by a DU 330 may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions or low PHY layer functions (such as performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.), or both, based at least in part on a functional split (e.g., such as a lower layer functional split). In such an architecture, the RU 340 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 104. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control plane and user plane communications with the RU 340 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 330. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the implementation of the DU 330 and the CU 310 in a cloud-based RAN architecture (such as a vRAN architecture).

[0091] The SMO framework 305 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized network elements and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 305 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which may be managed via an operation and maintenance interface (e.g., such as an O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 305 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (e.g., such as an open cloud (O-Cloud) 390) to perform network element lifecycle management (e.g., such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (e.g., such as an O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, CU 310, DU 330, RU 340, and near-RT RIC 325. In some specific implementations, the SMO framework 305 may communicate with hardware aspects of the 4G RAN (such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 311) via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some specific implementations, the SMO framework 305 may communicate directly with one or more RUs 340 via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 305 may also include a non-RT RIC 315 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 305 .

[0092] The non-RT RIC 315 may be configured to include logic functions that enable non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updating, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the near-RT RIC 325. The non-RT RIC 315 may be coupled to or in communication with the near-RT RIC 325 (e.g., such as via an A1 interface). The near-RT RIC 325 may be configured to include logic functions that enable near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions through an interface (e.g., such as via an E2 interface) that connects one or more CUs 310, one or more DUs 330, or both, and the O-eNB with the near-RT RIC 325.

[0093] In some implementations, in order to generate an AI / ML model to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 325, the non-RT RIC 315 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server. Such information may be utilized by the near-RT RIC 325 and may be received from a non-network data source or from a network function at the SMO framework 305 or the non-RT RIC 315. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 315 or the near-RT RIC 325 may be configured to adjust RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 315 may monitor long-term trends and patterns of performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO framework 305 (e.g., such as via reconfiguration of O1) or via the creation of RAN management policies (e.g., such as A1 policies).

[0094] Figure 4 An example of a computing system 470 of a wireless device 407 is illustrated. The wireless device 407 may include a client device such as a UE (e.g., UE 104, UE 152, UE 190) or other type of device that can be used by an end user (e.g., a station (STA) configured to communicate using a Wi-Fi interface). For example, the wireless device 407 may include a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a tracking device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an extended reality (XR) device (such as a virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) or mixed reality (MR) device), etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a vehicle, an aircraft, and / or another device configured to communicate via a wireless communication network. The computing system 470 includes software and hardware components that can be electrically coupled or communicatively coupled via a bus 489 (e.g., or can communicate in other ways, as the case may be). For example, the computing system 470 includes one or more processors 484. One or more processors 484 may include one or more CPUs, ASICs, FPGAs, APs, GPUs, VPUs, NSPs, microcontrollers, dedicated hardware, any combination thereof, and / or other processing devices or systems. One or more processors 484 may use a bus 489 to communicate between cores and / or with one or more memory devices 486.

[0095] The computing system 470 may also include one or more memory devices 486, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs) 482, one or more SIMs 474, one or more modems 476, one or more wireless transceivers 478, an antenna 487, one or more input devices 472 (e.g., a camera, a mouse, a keyboard, a touch-sensitive screen, a touchpad, a keypad, a microphone, etc.), and one or more output devices 480 (e.g., a display, a speaker, a printer, etc.).

[0096] In some aspects, computing system 470 may include one or more RF interfaces configured to send and / or receive radio frequency (RF) signals. In some examples, the RF interface may include components such as modem 476, wireless transceiver 478, and / or antenna 487. One or more wireless transceivers 478 may send and receive wireless signals (e.g., signal 488) from one or more other devices via antenna 487, such as other wireless devices, network devices (e.g., base stations such as eNBs and / or gNBs, Wi-Fi access points (APs) such as routers, range extenders, etc.), cloud networks, etc. In some examples, computing system 470 may include multiple antennas or antenna arrays that can facilitate simultaneous transmission and reception functions. Antenna 487 may be an omnidirectional antenna so that radio frequency (RF) signals can be received from all directions and transmitted in all directions. Wireless signal 488 may be sent via a wireless network. The wireless network may be any wireless network, such as a cellular or telecommunications network (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, etc.), a wireless local area network (e.g., a Wi-Fi network), a Bluetooth TM network and / or other networks.

[0097] In some examples, wireless signals 488 may be transmitted directly to other wireless devices using sidelink communications (e.g., using a PC5 interface, using a DSRC interface, etc.). Wireless transceiver 478 may be configured to transmit RF signals via antenna 487 for performing sidelink communications according to one or more transmit power parameters that may be associated with one or more regulatory modes. Wireless transceiver 478 may also be configured to receive sidelink communication signals having different signal parameters from other wireless devices.

[0098] In some examples, one or more wireless transceivers 478 may include an RF front end that includes one or more components such as an amplifier, a mixer for down-converting a signal (e.g., also referred to as a signal multiplier), a frequency synthesizer (e.g., also referred to as an oscillator) that provides a signal to the mixer, a baseband filter, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), one or more power amplifiers, and other components. The RF front end may generally handle the selection of wireless signals 488 and the conversion of the wireless signals to baseband frequencies or intermediate frequencies, and may convert the RF signals to the digital domain.

[0099] In some cases, computing system 470 may include a coding-decoding device (or CODEC) configured to encode and / or decode data transmitted and / or received using one or more wireless transceivers 478. In some cases, computing system 470 may include an encryption-decryption device or component configured to encrypt and / or decrypt data transmitted and / or received by one or more wireless transceivers 478 (e.g., according to the AES and / or DES standards).

[0100] One or more SIMs 474 may each securely store an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) number and associated keys assigned to a user of the wireless device 407. The IMSI and keys may be used to identify and authenticate a subscriber when accessing a network provided by a network service provider or operator associated with the one or more SIMs 474. One or more modems 476 may modulate one or more signals to encode information for transmission using one or more wireless transceivers 478. One or more modems 476 may also demodulate signals received by one or more wireless transceivers 478 in order to decode the transmitted information. In some examples, one or more modems 476 may include a Wi-Fi modem, a 4G (or LTE) modem, a 5G (or NR) modem, and / or other types of modems. One or more modems 476 and one or more wireless transceivers 478 may be used to communicate data of one or more SIMs 474.

[0101] The computing system 470 may also include (and / or be in communication with) one or more non-transitory machine-readable storage media or storage devices (e.g., one or more memory devices 486), which may include, but are not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices such as RAM and / or ROM, which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0102] In various aspects, the functionality may be stored as one or more computer program products (e.g., instructions or code) in the memory device 486 and executed by the one or more processors 484 and / or the one or more DSPs 482. The computing system 470 may also include software elements (e.g., located within the one or more memory devices 486) including, for example, an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code, such as one or more applications, which may include computer programs that implement the functionality provided by the various aspects and / or may be designed to implement methods and / or configure systems, as described herein.

[0103] As previously mentioned, systems and techniques are described herein for performing beam steering for one or more relay aircraft for enabling air-to-ground (ATG) communications. Figure 5is a diagram illustrating an example of relay aircraft coverage mobility in a dense aircraft scenario according to some examples. As previously described, a dense aircraft scenario may occur when multiple relay aircraft are within LoS and / or ATG communication range of a remote UE or other land surface location. As will be described in more depth below, a dense aircraft scenario may be associated with active ATG communication beams or paths switching between different relay aircraft over time (e.g., may be associated with multiple relay aircraft handoffs).

[0104] For example, Figure 5 A land surface 2D region 530 is depicted, which may be associated with a remote UE and / or an out-of-coverage area of ​​a given wireless communication network. In some cases, the land surface 2D region 530 (e.g., also referred to as a "2D region") may be square, although other shapes may be utilized. In one illustrative example, the 2D region 530 may be associated with a remote UE (not shown), which itself may be associated with a transmission range that is fully or partially included within the 2D region 530. For example, the transmission range of the remote UE may be represented by Figure 5 The elliptical area depicted within the 2D area 530 is represented.

[0105] At a first time t1, ATG communication may be performed between the remote UE and the first relay aircraft 510 using a first beam 551 associated with the first relay aircraft 510. As shown, the first relay aircraft 510 may be associated with a plurality of beams (e.g., a first beam 551, a second beam 552, and a third beam 553, etc.), wherein each beam is oriented differently relative to the first relay aircraft 510.

[0106] At a second time t2 (e.g., after time t1), first relay aircraft 510 may have moved relative to land surface 2D region 530 such that first beam 551 is no longer within the range of 2D region 530, but second beam 552 has entered the range of 2D region 530. Figure 5 As illustrated, at time t2, the second beam 552 becomes an active beam for performing ATG communications between the first relay aircraft 510 and a remote UE located within the 2D region 530 (e.g., as indicated by the solid line used to illustrate the second beam 552 at time t2) and the first beam 551 is no longer an active beam (e.g., as indicated by the dashed line used to illustrate the first beam 551 at time t1).

[0107] In some examples, the presence of multiple relay aircraft within communication range of 2D zone 530 and / or remote UEs located in 2D zone 530 may cause the active or current ATG communication path (e.g., beam) used to relay communications from the remote UE to be switched back and forth between different relay aircraft. For example, at time t3, first relay aircraft 510 has continued along its path and second beam 552 has moved out of communication range with 2D zone 530. However, before third beam 553 moves into communication range with 2D zone 530, the beam of second relay aircraft 512 may move into communication range with 2D zone 530, resulting in a relay aircraft switching / handover event (e.g., where first beam 571 of second relay aircraft 512 becomes the active or current beam for the ATG communication path with the remote UE located in 2D zone 530).

[0108] In some cases, when a first relay aircraft has moved out of range and a second relay aircraft comes into range, a relay aircraft switch or handover event may be used to maintain ATG communication relay service to the remote UE. However, in a dense aircraft scenario with multiple relay aircraft (each with multiple beams), the beam pattern of the relay aircraft may cause the remote UE to cycle between beams of the same set of relay aircraft. For example, as shown, at time t2, the remote UE may communicate using the second beam 552 of the first relay aircraft 510. At time t3, the remote UE may switch relay aircraft and communicate using the first beam 571 of the second relay aircraft 512.

[0109] At time t4, the remote UE may switch relay aircraft again by switching from second relay aircraft 512 back to first relay aircraft 510 (e.g., the remote UE switches to using third beam 553 of first relay aircraft 510). At time t5, the remote UE may switch relay aircraft once again by switching from first relay aircraft 510 back to second relay aircraft 512 (e.g., the remote UE switches to using second beam 572 or third beam 573 of second relay aircraft 512).

[0110] In the example described above, three relay aircraft switching events (eg, handovers) may occur with only two relay aircraft overhead for a remote UE located at 2D region 530. Figure 5 The depicted dense aircraft scenario of a greater number of relay aircraft and / or a greater number of beams per relay aircraft may be associated with a greater incidence or frequency of handoff and handover events occurring back and forth between the same relay aircraft.

[0111] exist Figure 5In the above examples, the beam associated with the relay aircraft may be implemented as a fixed beam (e.g., a beam having a static or constant orientation relative to the relay aircraft) and / or may be implemented in other ways without performing beam steering. As previously described, the systems and techniques described herein may be used to perform beam steering to reduce relay aircraft switching and handoffs. In an illustrative example, the relay aircraft beam may be steered to provide continuous coverage of the same land surface 2D area (e.g., where the remote UE is located) when the relay aircraft is located within an aerial 3D area associated with the land surface 2D area.

[0112] For example, Fig. 6A and Figure 6B 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of beam steering performed by a relay aircraft 650 located within an aerial 3D zone 630. As shown in the figure, Fig. 6A depicts the orientation of the steering beam at a first time t1, and Figure 6B The orientation of the steer beam at a second time t2 is depicted. As shown, relay aircraft 650 is located within the same aerial 3D region 630 at both times t1 and t2, with the steer beam orientation being adjusted between times t1 and t2 to maintain coverage of the ground 2D region 610 of surface 612 by the steer beam.

[0113] In some aspects, beam steering may be performed to adjust the orientation of a steered beam for the duration that the relay aircraft 650 is within the aerial 3D zone 630. For example, the relay aircraft 650 may steer its beam to keep the beam directed toward the ground 2D zone 610. In examples where the remote UE 605 is fully or partially within the ground 2D zone 610, the steered beam of the relay aircraft 650 may be used to perform ATG communications between the remote UE 605 and the relay aircraft 650 while the relay aircraft 650 is within the aerial 3D zone 630.

[0114] In one illustrative example, a relay aircraft (e.g., relay aircraft 650) may perform beam steering such that a beam associated with the relay aircraft is steered toward a ground 2D zone that is mapped to a current aerial 3D zone in which the relay aircraft is located. For example, relay aircraft 650 may perform beam steering based on a mapping between ground 2D zone 610 and the relay aircraft's current aerial 3D zone 630. For example, an identifier associated with ground 2D zone 610 may be mapped to an identifier associated with aerial 3D zone 630.

[0115] In some aspects, relay aircraft 650 may use its current location to obtain a 3D zone identifier associated with a particular aerial 3D zone 630 where relay aircraft 650 is located. In some examples, relay aircraft 650 may locally determine a corresponding 3D zone identifier for its current location. For example, relay aircraft 650 may determine the global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of its current location and use a local (e.g., onboard) database storing coordinates of a plurality of predetermined aerial 3D zones to obtain an identifier for the current aerial 3D zone 630. In some cases, relay aircraft 650 may use one or more GPS receivers associated with relay aircraft 650 (e.g., an onboard GPS receiver, a GPS receiver integrated with a navigation system of an aircraft UE, etc.). In some examples, an identifier for a particular aerial 3D zone associated with the current position of relay aircraft 650 may be remotely determined (e.g., based on a remote server or computing device receiving the current position of relay aircraft 650, obtaining an identifier for the corresponding aerial 3D zone 630, and sending the aerial 3D zone identifier in response (e.g., to relay aircraft 650).

[0116] In one illustrative example, relay aircraft 650 may locally determine an identifier of its current aerial 3D zone (e.g., using its current position and a database of predetermined aerial 3D zones, as described above). Relay aircraft 650 may then obtain a mapped ground 2D zone identifier associated with the current 3D zone identifier. For example, relay aircraft 650 may send the current 3D zone identifier of the relay aircraft to a base station, a gNB, a remote computing device, and / or a network device included in the wireless communication network. The base station (e.g., a gNB) may receive the current 3D zone identifier from relay aircraft 650 and determine a corresponding ground 2D zone associated with the aerial 3D zone. For example, the base station or gNB may compare the current 3D zone identifier received from relay aircraft 650 with a database of predetermined mappings between aerial 3D zones and ground 2D zones, as previously described. With respect to Figures 8 to 10 Aspects of the predetermined mapping between aerial 3D zones (eg, aerial 3D zone 630 ) and terrestrial 2D zones (eg, terrestrial 2D zone 610 ) are further described.

[0117] In some aspects, the systems and techniques described herein may be used to perform zone control for multiple aerial 3D zones and / or multiple relay aircraft. Zone control may be used to reduce or eliminate interference associated with multiple relay aircraft located in the same aerial 3D zone and / or sending ATG communications within the same aerial 3D zone. In an illustrative example, multiple aerial 3D zones may be controlled so that at any given time, at most one relay aircraft is enabled in a given aerial 3D zone. For example, when only one relay aircraft is enabled in an aerial 3D zone (e.g., only one aerial relay aircraft per aerial 3D zone is sending and receiving ATG communications with a remote UE), multi-aircraft interference is reduced or eliminated.

[0118] In one illustrative example, these systems and techniques may be used to perform zone control for multiple aerial 3D zones and multiple relay aircraft such that a given ground 2D zone is not simultaneously mapped to multiple aerial 3D zones (e.g., such that multiple aerial 3D zones that a relay aircraft passes through simultaneously cannot be mapped to the same ground 2D zone).

[0119] For example, Fig. 7A is a diagram illustrating an example of semi-static mapping between a 3D aerial region and a 2D ground region using a central coordination process ( Figure 7B An example of a semi-static mapping between a 3D aerial region and a 2D ground region using a distributed coordination process is illustrated. Fig. 7A In an example of , relay aircraft 710 may send a current 3D zone identifier of the relay aircraft to an air-to-ground (ATG) base station 720. For example, ATG base station 720 may be a gNB, a satellite, a remote computing device or server, a network component, etc. In an illustrative example, the same ATG base station 720 may be used to communicate with (e.g., receive current 3D zone identifiers from) multiple different relay aircraft. In some examples, the wireless communication network may include multiple ATG base stations 720 each communicating with one or more different relay aircraft.

[0120] like Fig. 7A , ATG base station 720 may use the current 3D zone identifier received from relay aircraft 710 to determine the corresponding 2D ground zone identifier. In one illustrative example, ATG base station 720 may generate a predicted map 730a for relay aircraft 710 before receiving the current 3D zone identifier sent by relay aircraft 710. For example, ATG base station 720 may use planned route or trajectory information associated with relay aircraft 710 to generate a predicted 2D ground zone map 730a for one or more discrete times (e.g., based on a prediction of the position of relay aircraft 710 along the planned route at a given discrete time).

[0121] In some aspects, the ATG base station 720 may update the predicted 2D ground zone map based on receiving the current 3D zone identifier from the relay aircraft 710. For example, the ATG base station may determine the updated map 740a based on the offset or difference between the predicted position of the relay aircraft 710 along the planned route and the actual position of the relay aircraft 710 as indicated by the current 3D zone identifier. In one illustrative example, the ATG base station 720 may determine the updated map 740a in real time (e.g., when the ATG base station 720 receives an indication of the current 3D zone ID for the relay aircraft 710). In some aspects, the ATG base station 720 may receive the current 3D aerial zone ID from the relay aircraft 710 and compare the current 3D aerial zone ID with the planned route information associated with the relay aircraft 710. If the current 3D aerial region ID and the planned route information are the same (or sufficiently similar), the ATG base station 720 may send the predicted 2D ground region map 730a to the relay aircraft 710 (eg, without determining an updated map 740a). Fig. 7A As illustrated, the ATG base station 720 may send a message to the relay aircraft 710 (e.g., in a DCI message, a medium access control element (MAC-CE), RRC signaling, or other signaling) indicating a 2D ground region ID associated with the current 3D aerial region ID provided by the relay aircraft 710. In one illustrative example, the ATG base station 720 may provide the 2D ground region ID in a DCI message sent to the relay aircraft 710. In response to receiving the 2D ground region ID from the ATG base station 720 (e.g., in a DCI message), the relay aircraft 710 may steer a beam to the location of the indicated 2D ground region ID.

[0122] Figure 7B An example of a semi-static mapping between a 3D air zone and a 2D ground zone using a distributed coordination process between multiple relay aircraft is illustrated. Figure 7B In the example of FIG. 7 , a distributed coordination process is depicted between first relay aircraft 710 and second relay aircraft 712 , but note that a larger number of relay aircraft may also be utilized in the distributed coordination process described below.

[0123] For example, Figure 7BAs illustrated, each relay aircraft (e.g., relay aircraft 710 and relay aircraft 712) included in the distributed coordination process for 3D zone-2D zone mapping can locally predict a mapping of a 3D aerial zone to a 2D ground zone. For example, each relay aircraft can predict a mapping of a 3D aerial zone to a 2D ground zone, which includes all relay aircraft in a nearby area (e.g., an area associated with the predicted mapping). The local prediction of the 3D zone-2D zone mapping can be performed based on the planned route and / or trajectory information associated with one or more (or all) of the relay aircraft. In some examples, the local prediction can be performed additionally or alternatively at least in part based on the most recent positioning information previously received for one or more (or all) of the relay aircraft. In an illustrative example, each respective relay aircraft can generate an initial mapping prediction based on the planned route and / or trajectory information associated with the relay aircraft in the mapping area. Each respective relay aircraft may then update the initial mapping prediction based on the one or more zone IDs (e.g., current positioning information) exchanged between the relay aircraft. Based on the exchange of the zone IDs and / or other current positioning information of the relay aircraft, each respective relay aircraft may generate an updated mapping prediction based on the updated positioning of the other relay aircraft.

[0124] exist Figure 7BIn the depicted example of a distributed coordination process for determining a mapping between 3D aerial zones and 2D ground zones, each relay aircraft may share its current position (e.g., as a current 3D aerial zone ID) among neighboring relay aircraft. For example, relay aircraft 710 may share its current 3D aerial zone ID with relay aircraft 712, and relay aircraft 712 may share its current 3D aerial zone ID with relay aircraft 710. Based on the distribution of the current relay aircraft 3D aerial zone ID, each relay aircraft participating in the distributed 3D zone-2D zone mapping process may obtain its own current 3D aerial zone ID and the current 3D aerial zone ID for the neighboring relay aircraft. Using the distributed 3D aerial zone IDs received from the neighboring relay aircraft, each relay aircraft may update the locally predicted 3D zone-2D zone mapping 730b. In one illustrative example, the set of neighboring relay aircraft that exchange their current 3D aerial zone IDs may each converge to the same updated 3D zone-2D zone mapping 740b (e.g., based on each of the neighboring relay aircraft using the same set of current 3D aerial zone IDs to generate an updated 3D zone-2D zone mapping 740b). In some aspects, by converging to the same updated 3D zone-2D zone mapping 740b, the set of neighboring relay aircraft (e.g., relay aircraft 710 and 712) may reach a consensus mapping such that multiple relay aircraft and / or multiple 3D aerial zones are not simultaneously mapped to the same 2D ground zone. Based on the updated 3D zone-2D zone mapping 740b, the set of neighboring relay aircraft (e.g., relay aircraft 710 and 712) may each steer their respective beams to the location of the 2D ground zone mapped to their respective current 3D aerial zone IDs (e.g., at block 750b).

[0125] Figure 8 800 is a diagram illustrating an example of a 3D air zone configuration that may be used to perform relay aircraft beam steering. Figures 1 to 4 For example, 3D air zone configuration 800 may represent an airspace divided into a plurality of 3D zones that may be used to indicate geographic location information for a relay aircraft when performing beam steering based on the location of a remote UE and / or a 2D ground zone as described herein.

[0126] In some aspects, the 3D air zone configuration 800 may include a plurality of 3D zones 810 (including 3D zone 811) extending in three dimensions (e.g., X, Y, and Z dimensions). The 3D zones 810 may be examples of cubes or other 3D shapes. As an illustrative example, the airspace covered by the 3D air zone configuration 800 may be defined by dividing the airspace into 3D cubes or cuboids. The size of the 3D cube may be configured at one or more base stations, gNBs, satellites, and / or one or more relay aircraft included in the ATG communication network. For example, the base station and / or relay aircraft may be preconfigured with the size of the cube, the number or arrangement of the cube, the location of the cube (e.g., the location where the 3D airspace begins or ends), or any combination thereof.

[0127] Fig. 9 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a mapping 900 between a 3D aerial zone 930 and a 2D ground zone 910 having the same or shared horizontal position. For example, multiple 3D aerial zones (e.g., such as those included in Figure 8 The 3D zones 810 in the illustrated example 3D aerial zone configuration 800 may be mapped to 2D ground zones located directly below each respective one of the 3D aerial zones. In some aspects, the corresponding 2D ground zones located directly below a given 3D aerial zone may be determined based on a horizontal coordinate of the given 3D aerial zone, wherein the corresponding 2D ground zones are identified based on having the same (or most similar) horizontal coordinates as the given 3D aerial zone.

[0128] In some aspects, mapping a 3D aerial region to a 2D ground region based on a common or shared horizontal position (e.g., mapping a 3D aerial region to a 2D ground region directly below) can be accomplished with relatively lower computational complexity than various other mapping methods. Based on the lower computational complexity of a common horizontal position-based mapping, such a 3D region-2D region mapping can be determined locally (e.g., onboard) by one or more relay aircraft; can be determined remotely by one or more base stations, gNBs, satellites, or other network entities; or a combination of both. In some aspects, the above description of Fig. 9 The described 3D zone-2D zone mapping may be predetermined and provided to one or more of the relay aircraft as predetermined data. In some examples, the 3D zone-2D zone mapping may be provided in substantially real time (e.g., in FIG. 7A to FIG. 7B During one or more of the illustrated mapping prediction processes 730a, 730b and / or mapping update processes 740a, 740b (as needed), Fig. 9 3D area-2D area mapping.

[0129] In some examples, vertical mapping of a 3D aerial region to a 2D ground region directly below (e.g., mapping based on a 3D aerial region having zero or minimal horizontal offset relative to its mapped 2D ground region) may be associated with a low relay aircraft passing probability (e.g., the probability of a relay aircraft passing through the 3D aerial region mapped to a given 2D ground region). For example, in some cases, within a 100 km cell radius defined on a land surface, 90% of aircraft (e.g., relay aircraft) may be observable between 6-18 degrees elevation angle relative to the ground plane.

[0130] Fig.10 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a mapping 1000 between 3D aerial zones and 2D ground zones based on an elevation angle between a ground plane and each 3D aerial zone. In one illustrative example, a given 3D aerial zone may be mapped to a 2D ground zone that forms a predetermined elevation angle with the given 3D aerial zone (or a 2D ground zone that forms an elevation angle with the given 3D aerial zone that falls within a predetermined range of angle values). For example, a given 3D aerial zone may be mapped to a 2D ground zone that forms an elevation angle with the 3D aerial zone that is determined to be associated with a maximum aircraft presence probability. In some cases, a 3D aerial zone may be mapped to a 2D ground zone that forms an elevation angle with the 3D aerial zone between 6 degrees and 18 degrees.

[0131] For example, a line may extend from the plane of a given 2D ground zone 1010 to a plurality of 3D aerial zones (e.g., shown here as 3D aerial zones 1030i and 1030k, but note that a greater number of 3D aerial zones may be utilized or otherwise present). An elevation angle may be determined between the 2D ground zone 1010 and each of the plurality of 3D aerial zones. For example, an elevation angle θ may be formed between the plane of the 2D ground zone 1010 and the first 3D aerial zone 1030i. i An elevation angle θ may be formed between the plane of the 2D ground region 1010 and the second 3D aerial region 1030k k In some examples, of the multiple 3D aerial regions analyzed with respect to the 2D ground region 1010, only a single 3D aerial region may be selected and mapped to the 2D ground region (e.g., the remaining 3D aerial regions are then considered for mapping to other 2D ground regions, or are allowed to remain unmapped to 2D ground regions).

[0132] In some aspects, mapping of 3D aerial regions to 2D ground regions may be performed based on determining, for a given 3D aerial region, a 2D ground region that forms an elevation angle with the 3D aerial region that increases or maximizes probability of aircraft presence within the 2D ground region.

[0133] In some aspects, a 3D aerial region set (e.g., included in Figure 8A plurality of 3D aerial zones 810) in the illustrated 3D aerial zone configuration 800 may be mapped to one or more 2D ground zones previously identified as comprising an out-of-coverage area of ​​the wireless communication network. For example, the surface area may be divided into a continuous grid of 2D ground zones, and 2D ground zones that are not located in an out-of-coverage area of ​​the wireless communication network may be removed from the set. When the 3D zone-2D zone mapping process described herein is subsequently performed, a given 3D aerial zone may be mapped to a 2D ground zone located in an out-of-coverage area of ​​the wireless communication network, or may not be mapped at all.

[0134] In some examples, the systems and techniques described herein for performing relay aircraft beam steering to a 2D ground region and / or a remote UE may be performed continuously while the relay aircraft is at altitude (e.g., flying on a planned route). In some cases, it may be inefficient to perform beam steering when the relay aircraft is not within ATG communication range with one or more out-of-coverage cells or out-of-coverage areas of a wireless communication network. In an illustrative example, these systems and techniques may perform relay aircraft beam steering in response to one or more beam steering triggers, as described in more depth below.

[0135] In some cases, the relay aircraft may locally trigger beam steering from the relay aircraft's current 3D aerial region to the corresponding 2D ground region mapped to the current 3D aerial region. For example, the relay aircraft may trigger beam steering based on a local determination that the relay aircraft has entered or will soon enter a 3D aerial region mapped to an out-of-coverage 2D ground region. The local determination may be made by the relay aircraft in examples where discovery is initiated by the remote UE (e.g., for an ATG communication session between the remote UE and the relay aircraft), in examples where discovery is initiated by the relay aircraft, or in both.

[0136] In an illustrative example, the relay aircraft may implement a location-based beam steering trigger. For example, the relay aircraft may compare its current location (e.g., GPS coordinates, GLONASS coordinates, inertial navigation coordinates, etc.) with a predetermined location of one or more out-of-coverage areas of the wireless communication network. In some aspects, the predetermined location of the out-of-coverage area of ​​the wireless communication network may be provided as a general area including one or more out-of-coverage 2D ground areas (e.g., the relay aircraft may compare its current location with a set of one or more general areas in which beam steering will be triggered). In some examples, the predetermined location of the out-of-coverage area of ​​the wireless communication network may be the same as the location of the out-of-coverage 2D ground area. For example, as the relay aircraft travels along its route, the relay aircraft may determine whether each 3D aerial area it enters (or is about to enter) is mapped to the out-of-coverage 2D ground area. If the relay aircraft determines that it has entered or is about to enter a 3D aerial area mapped to the out-of-coverage 2D ground area, the relay aircraft may trigger beam steering. If the relay aircraft determines that it has entered or is about to enter a 3D aerial region that is not mapped to the overlay outer 2D ground region, the relay aircraft will not perform beam steering.

[0137] In one illustrative example, a relay aircraft may implement a time-based beam steering trigger. A time-based beam steering trigger may be based at least in part on a planned route or trajectory of the relay aircraft. For example, the planned route of the relay aircraft and the planned speed and / or other kinematic information of the flight may be used to determine one or more times when the relay aircraft will be within the ATG communication range of one or more covered outer 2D ground areas. For example, the planned route and planned kinematic information of the relay aircraft may be used to generate one or more predicted positions of the relay aircraft at one or more discrete points in time. By comparing the predicted position of the relay aircraft to one or more areas / locations where beam steering will be triggered, these systems and techniques may determine one or more points in time at which the relay aircraft should perform beam steering (e.g., a time-based trigger).

[0138] In some examples, the relay aircraft may be triggered to perform beam steering based on receiving one or more indication triggers from an ATG base station (such as a gNB, satellite, etc.). In an illustrative example, the ATG base station may perform the location-based trigger calculations and / or time-based trigger calculations described above, and send a beam steering trigger to the relay aircraft based on the results of the trigger calculations performed at the ATG base station. In such examples, the beam steering trigger calculation workload may be offloaded from being performed locally on the relay aircraft to being performed remotely at the ATG base station.

[0139] In some aspects, the relay aircraft may trigger beam steering to the out-of-coverage 2D ground region in response to receiving a signal sent from a remote UE located in the out-of-coverage 2D ground region. In some cases, the relay aircraft may trigger beam steering based on one or more signals sent from the remote UE in a discovery scenario initiated by the remote UE. For example, in response to receiving an ATG discovery signal sent by the remote UE, the relay aircraft may trigger the performance of beam steering toward the out-of-coverage 2D ground region where the remote UE is located (e.g., the out-of-coverage 2D ground region from which the ATG discovery signal is sent).

[0140] In some aspects, the relay aircraft may trigger beam steering after the relay aircraft decodes the received signal and identifies that the received signal is a discovery signal sent by the remote UE. In some examples, the relay aircraft may trigger beam steering in response to the relay aircraft measuring RSRP, RSSI, and / or SINR values ​​exceeding one or more thresholds (e.g., even if decoding at the relay aircraft fails). In some aspects, the relay aircraft may trigger beam steering before decoding the received message.

[0141] In one illustrative example, these systems and techniques may adjust the shape, size, and / or geometry of one or more 3D aerial regions and / or 2D ground regions to enhance performance of 3D region-to-2D region mapping and relay aircraft beam steering.

[0142] For example, multiple aerial 3D zones may be generated for a given volume of space in which an aircraft (e.g., a relay aircraft) may be present. Each aerial 3D zone may be associated with a different set of coordinates and / or may include a different volume of aerial space (e.g., the airspace through which the relay aircraft travels). In some aspects, some (or all) of the aerial 3D zones may be cuboid in shape with a length longer than its width / depth. In some cases, the aerial 3D zone is a cuboid in shape with a horizontal square side larger than a vertical square side. For example, a cuboid aerial 3D zone may be oriented in the approximate expected direction of travel of a relay aircraft flying through the cuboid aerial 3D zone (e.g., the larger length of the cuboid aerial 3D zone may be oriented in the expected or most likely direction of travel of a relay aircraft traveling at a horizontal speed higher than the vertical speed).

[0143] In some examples, a minimum inter-aircraft distance may be used to generate multiple 3D air zones such that at most one relay aircraft may be located in a given 3D air zone at any given time. In one illustrative example, a minimum inter-aircraft distance of 300 m in the vertical direction and 6 km in the horizontal direction may be used to generate multiple 3D air zones. Based on generating 3D air zones of the same size as the minimum inter-aircraft separation distance (or less than the minimum inter-aircraft separation distance), any given 3D air zone may include at most one relay aircraft at any given time, thereby reducing or eliminating the possibility of interference due to multiple relay aircraft transmitting or performing beam steering in the same 3D air zone.

[0144] In some examples, multiple aerial 3D zones may be generated to have one or more dimensions greater than the minimum inter-aircraft distance, and more than one relay aircraft may be simultaneously located in the same given aerial 3D zone at a given time. Aerial 3D zones greater than the minimum inter-aircraft separation distance may be generated with lower 3D-2D mapping complexity (e.g., computational complexity), but may also be associated with additional computational workload associated with additional overhead introduced in managing the control and selection of a single relay aircraft to simultaneously perform ATG communications for a 3D aerial zone that includes multiple relay aircraft.

[0145] In yet another example, multiple aerial 3D zones may be generated using semi-static geometries and / or sizes configured by an ATG base station (e.g., a gNB or a satellite) based on a planned trajectory (e.g., a planned route) and en route positioning report information associated with one or more relay aircraft. For example, the ATG base station may analyze the planned trajectory of a set of relay aircraft and one or more previous positioning reports received at the ATG base station from each relay aircraft. Based on the analysis, the ATG base station may generate dynamically sized and / or positioned 3D aerial zones such that each 3D aerial zone includes at most one relay aircraft at a given time and the total number of 3D aerial zones is minimized.

[0146] In some aspects, one or more 2D ground zones having a square shape may be generated. For example, a 2D ground zone having a square shape may be generated based on the TS38.331 specification. However, in some examples, the use of a square 2D ground zone may be associated with a large intersection (e.g., overlap) area between a mapped 3D aerial zone and an adjacent 2D ground zone. For example, when a first 3D aerial zone is mapped to a first 2D ground zone that forms an elevation angle with the first 3D aerial zone that maximizes the probability of an aircraft occurring, the 3D-2D mapping across multiple zones may include a large number of overlapping areas. For example, a first 3D aerial zone may exhibit a large amount of overlap with an adjacent 3D aerial zone (e.g., a second 3D aerial zone) that is mapped to an adjacent 2D ground zone (e.g., a second 2D ground zone).

[0147] In one illustrative example, the amount of overlap in the 3D zone-2D zone mapping generated for multiple 3D aerial zones and multiple 2D ground zones may be reduced by generating some (or all) of the 2D ground zones using hexagonal shapes. For example, when 2D ground zones having hexagonal shapes are generated and 3D aerial zones are mapped to hexagonal 2D ground zones that form an elevation angle associated with the 3D aerial zones that is associated with the maximum aircraft appearance probability, the overlap between the mapped 3D zones and adjacent 2D ground zones may be reduced. In some aspects, reducing the overlapping areas in the 3D zone-2D zone mapping may reduce the computational overhead associated with resolving conflicts in the overlapping areas (e.g., selecting a single relay aircraft to perform beam steering to the 2D ground zones associated with the overlapping areas when there are multiple relay aircraft located in the overlapping areas).

[0148] Fig.11 1 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a process 1100 for performing wireless communications at an aircraft user equipment (UE). At block 1102, the process 1100 includes determining an air zone based on a location of the aircraft user equipment (UE). For example, the air zone may correspond to a three-dimensional (3D) zone surrounding or including the aircraft UE. In some examples, the air zone may be determined based on an air zone identifier (ID). In some cases, the air zone may be associated with an aircraft user equipment (UE). Fig. 6A and Figure 6B The illustrated air zone 630, Figure 8 The illustrated air zone 810, Fig. 9 The illustrated aerial region 930 and / or Fig.10 One or more of the illustrated aerial regions 1030i and 1030k are the same or similar.

[0149] In some examples, the aerial region may correspond to a 3D region having a horizontal dimension greater than a vertical dimension. For example, the 3D region may correspond to at least one of a cylinder, a cube, a square prism, a cuboid, and / or a hexagonal prism.

[0150] At block 1104, process 1100 includes determining a mapping of the aerial region to at least one land region. For example, the land region may correspond to a two-dimensional region located below the three-dimensional aerial region. In some examples, the land region may correspond to Figure 5 The land area shown as an example, Fig. 6A and Figure 6B The illustrated land area 612, Fig. 9 The illustrated land area 910 and / or Fig.10 One or more of the illustrated land areas 1010 are the same or similar. In some cases, a land area may be a two-dimensional region corresponding to at least one of a circle, a square, a rectangle, and / or a hexagon.

[0151] In some examples, determining a mapping of the air zone to at least one land zone includes sending an air zone identifier (ID) corresponding to the air zone to a network entity, and receiving a land zone identifier corresponding to the at least one land zone from the network entity. The land zone identifier may be included in downlink control information (DIC) received from the network entity. In some cases, the land zone identifier may be received from a base station (e.g., and / or sent by the base station), wherein the land zone identifier is sent with the DCI.

[0152] In some examples, the network entity may be a base station or a gNB. In some examples, the network entity is a base station or one or more of the following: a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a remote / radio unit (RU), a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC of the base station.

[0153] In some examples, the mapping of the air zone to the at least one land zone may be based on determining that the horizontal coordinates of the air zone overlap with the coordinates of the at least one land zone. In some examples, the mapping of the air zone to the at least one land zone may be based on determining that the elevation angle formed between the center of the at least one land zone and the center of the air zone is less than 20 degrees. For example, if the air zone 1030i and / or the air zone 1030k are respectively mapped to the land zone 1010, then Fig.10 The two elevation angles θ are shown i and / or elevation angle θ k Can be less than 20 degrees.

[0154] In some examples, an air zone identifier may be received from a second aircraft UE, wherein the air zone identifier received from the second aircraft UE corresponds to a second air zone associated with the second aircraft UE. In some cases, the aircraft UE may adjust a mapping of the air zone to at least one land region based on the air zone identifier corresponding to the second air zone (e.g., based on the air zone identifier received from the second aircraft UE).

[0155] At block 1106, process 1100 includes directing a radio frequency (RF) beam to a location within at least one land area. For example, directing the RF beam to a location within at least one land area may be based on at least one trigger. The at least one trigger may include at least one of a location trigger, a time trigger, and / or an indication trigger from a network entity.

[0156] In some examples, at least one RF signal may be received from a remote UE, and at least one trigger may be identified based on the location of the remote UE within at least one land area. In some cases, at least one RF signal may be received from a remote UE, and at least one trigger may be identified based on a threshold of a signal measurement associated with the at least one RF signal. For example, the signal measurement may include at least one of a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement, and / or a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) measurement.

[0157] At block 1108, process 1100 includes sending one or more wireless communications based on steering the RF beam. For example, the aircraft UE may send one or more wireless communications using the steered RF beam. In some cases, the aircraft UE may send one or more wireless communications to the remote UE. The remote UE may be located in at least one land region (e.g., at least one land region mapped to the air zone of the aircraft UE and / or at least one land region to which the RF beam is directed). In some examples, the one or more wireless communications may be discovery messages and / or other data messages for performing ATG relay communications between the remote UE and the aircraft UE.

[0158] In some examples, the processes described herein (e.g., process 1100 and / or other processes described herein) may be performed by a computing device or apparatus (e.g., a UE, a network entity, etc.). In one example, process 1100 may be performed by a wireless communication device such as a UE and / or an aircraft UE (e.g., a relay aircraft). In another example, process 1100 may be performed by a computer having Fig.12 The computing device of the computing system 1200 shown in FIG. 1200 is executed. For example, Fig.12 The wireless communication device of the computing architecture shown may include components of a UE and may implement Fig.11 operation.

[0159] In some cases, a computing device or apparatus may include various components, such as one or more input devices, one or more output devices, one or more processors, one or more microprocessors, one or more microcomputers, one or more cameras, one or more sensors, and / or other components configured to perform the steps of the processes described herein. In some examples, a computing device may include a display, one or more network interfaces configured to communicate and / or receive data, any combination thereof, and / or other components. The one or more network interfaces may be configured to communicate and / or receive wired and / or wireless data, including data in accordance with 3G, 4G, 5G, and / or other cellular standards, data in accordance with WiFi (802.11x), data in accordance with Bluetooth TMStandard data, data according to the Internet Protocol (IP) standard, and / or other types of data.

[0160] Components of a computing device may be implemented in circuits. For example, a component may include and / or may be implemented using electronic circuits or other electronic hardware, which may include one or more programmable electronic circuits (e.g., microprocessors, graphics processing units (GPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), central processing units (CPUs), and / or other suitable electronic circuits), and / or may include and / or may be implemented using computer software, firmware, or any combination thereof for performing the various operations described herein.

[0161] The process 1100 is illustrated as a logic flow diagram, the operations of which represent a sequence of operations that can be implemented in hardware, computer instructions, or a combination thereof. In the context of computer instructions, each operation represents a computer-executable instruction stored on one or more computer-readable storage media that, when executed by one or more processors, performs the described operation. Generally speaking, computer-executable instructions include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific functions or implement specific data types. The order in which the operations are described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described operations may be combined in any order and / or in parallel to implement the process.

[0162] Additionally, process 1100 and / or other processes described herein may be performed under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, and may be implemented as code (e.g., executable instructions, one or more computer programs, or one or more applications) that is executed together on one or more processors, implemented by hardware, or implemented by a combination thereof. As noted above, the code may be stored on a computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium, for example, in the form of a computer program including a plurality of instructions that can be executed by one or more processors. The computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium may be non-transitory.

[0163] Fig.12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system for implementing certain aspects of the present technology. Specifically, Fig.12 An example of a computing system 1200 is illustrated, which may be any computing device, for example, constituting an internal computing system, a remote computing system, a camera, or any components thereof, wherein the components of the system communicate with each other using a connection 1205. The connection 1205 may be a physical connection using a bus, or a direct connection into the processor 1210, such as in a chipset architecture. The connection 1205 may also be a virtual connection, a networked connection, or a logical connection.

[0164] In some aspects, computing system 1200 is a distributed system in which the functionality described in this disclosure may be distributed within a data center, multiple data centers, a peer-to-peer network, etc. In some aspects, one or more of the described system components represent a number of such components that each perform some or all of the functionality for which the component is described. In some aspects, a component may be a physical or virtual device.

[0165] The example system 1200 includes at least one processing unit (CPU or processor) 1210 and connections 1205 that communicatively couple various system components including system memory 1215, such as read only memory (ROM) 1220 and random access memory (RAM) 1225, to the processor 1210. The computing system 1200 may include a cache 1212 of high-speed memory directly connected to, in close proximity to, or integrated as part of the processor 1210.

[0166] Processor 1210 may include any general purpose processor and hardware or software services such as services 1232, 1234, and 1236 stored in storage device 1230 configured to control processor 1210, as well as a dedicated processor where software instructions are incorporated into the actual processor design. Processor 1210 may essentially be a completely independent computing system containing multiple cores or processors, buses, memory controllers, caches, etc. Multi-core processors may be symmetric or asymmetric.

[0167] To enable user interaction, the computing system 1200 includes an input device 1245 that can represent any number of input mechanisms, such as a microphone for voice, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or graphical input, a keyboard, a mouse, motion input, voice, etc. The computing system 1200 may also include an output device 1235, which may be one or more of a plurality of output mechanisms. In some cases, a multimodal system may enable a user to provide multiple types of input / output to communicate with the computing system 1200.

[0168] The computing system 1200 may include a communication interface 1240, which may generally govern and manage user input and system output. The communication interface may perform or facilitate receiving and / or sending wired or wireless communications using wired and / or wireless transceivers, including using an audio jack / plug, a microphone jack / plug, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port / plug, an Apple TM Lightning TM Ports / plugs, Ethernet ports / plugs, Fiber optic ports / plugs, Dedicated wired ports / plugs, 3G, 4G, 5G and / or other cellular data network wireless signal delivery, Bluetooth TMWireless signal transmission, Bluetooth TM Low Energy (BLE) wireless signal transmission, IBEACON TM The communication interface 1240 may include one or more global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers or transceivers for determining the location of the computing system 1200 based on receiving one or more signals from one or more satellites associated with one or more GNSS systems. GNSS systems include, but are not limited to, the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), and Europe's Galileo GNSS. There is no restriction to operating on any particular hardware arrangement, and thus the base features herein may be easily substituted for improved hardware or firmware arrangements as they are developed.

[0169] The storage device 1230 may be a non-volatile and / or non-transitory and / or computer-readable memory device and may be a hard disk or other type of computer-readable medium that can store data accessible by a computer, such as a magnetic cassette, a flash memory card, a solid-state memory device, a digital versatile disk, a cassette, a floppy disk, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape, a magnetic stripe / magnetic stripe, any other magnetic storage medium, flash memory, a memristor memory, any other solid-state memory, a compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM) optical disk, a rewritable compact disk (CD) optical disk, a digital video disk (DVD) optical disk, a Blu-ray disc (BDD) optical disk, a holographic optical disk, another optical medium, a secure digital (SD) card, a micro secure digital (microSD) card, a Memory Card, or a memory card. card, a smart card chip, an EMV chip, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a mini / micro / nano / pico SIM card, another integrated circuit (IC) chip / card, a random access memory (RAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a flash EPROM (FLASH EPROM), a cache memory (e.g., a layer 1 (L1) cache, a layer 2 (L2) cache, a layer 3 (L3) cache, a layer 4 (L4) cache, a layer 5 (L5) cache, other (L#) cache), a resistive random access memory (RRAM / ReRAM), a phase change memory (PCM), a spin transfer torque RAM (STT-RAM), another memory chip or box, and / or a combination thereof.

[0170] Storage device 1230 may include software services, servers, services, etc., which, when the code defining such software is executed by processor 1210, causes the system to perform functions. In some aspects, hardware services that perform specific functions may include software components stored in a computer-readable medium connected to necessary hardware components (such as processor 1210, connection 1205, output device 1235, etc.) to perform functions. The term "computer-readable medium" includes, but is not limited to, portable or non-portable storage devices, optical storage devices, and various other media capable of storing, containing or carrying instructions and / or data. Computer-readable media may include non-transitory media in which data may be stored and does not include carrier waves and / or transient electronic signals propagated wirelessly or through wired connections. Examples of non-transitory media may include, but are not limited to, disks or tapes, optical storage media (such as compact discs (CDs) or digital versatile discs (DVDs)), flash memory, memory, or memory devices. Computer readable media may store thereon code and / or machine executable instructions, which may represent a procedure, function, subprogram, program, routine, subroutine, module, software package, category, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and / or receiving information, data, independent variables, parameters, or memory contents. Information, independent variables, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or sent via any suitable means, including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network sending, etc.

[0171] Specific details are provided in the above description to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects and examples provided herein, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the application is not limited thereto. Therefore, although the exemplary aspects of the present application have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that various inventive concepts can be embodied and adopted in various other ways, and the appended claims are not intended to be interpreted as including these variations, unless limited by the prior art. Various features and aspects of the above-mentioned applications can be used individually or in combination. In addition, without departing from the broader scope of the specification, various aspects can be utilized in any number of environments and applications beyond those described herein. Therefore, the specification and the accompanying drawings should be considered as illustrative rather than restrictive. For the purpose of illustration, each method is described in a specific order. It should be appreciated that, in alternative aspects, each method can be performed in an order different from the described order.

[0172] For clarity of explanation, in some instances, the present technology may be presented as including separate functional blocks, which include devices, device components, steps or routines in the method embodied in software or a combination of hardware and software. Additional components other than those components shown in the drawings and / or described herein may be used. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form to avoid confusing these aspects in unnecessary details. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures and techniques may be shown without unnecessary details to avoid confusing various aspects.

[0173] In addition, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits and algorithmic steps described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various exemplary components, frames, modules, circuits and steps have been generally described in terms of their functions. Whether such functions are implemented as hardware or software depends on specific applications and the design constraints proposed to the entire system. Those skilled in the art can implement the described functions in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0174] Various aspects may be described above as a process or method, which is depicted as a flow chart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flow chart may describe an operation as a sequential process, many of the operations may be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be rearranged. The process is terminated when the operations of the process are completed, but the process may have additional steps not included in the accompanying drawings. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, the termination of the process may correspond to the function returning to a calling function or a main function.

[0175] The processes and methods according to the above examples can be implemented using stored computer executable instructions or otherwise available computer executable instructions from a computer readable medium. Such instructions may include, for example, instructions and data that configure a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or a processing device to perform a certain function or group of functions. Portions of the computer resources used may be accessed via a network. Computer executable instructions may be, for example, binary, intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, source code. Examples of computer readable media that can be used to store instructions, information used, and / or information created during the methods according to the described examples include disks or optical disks, flash memories, USB devices with non-volatile memory, networked storage devices, etc.

[0176] In some aspects, computer readable storage devices, media, and memories may include wired or wireless signals containing bit streams, etc. However, when referred to, non-transitory computer readable storage media specifically excludes media such as power consumption, carrier signals, electromagnetic waves, and signals themselves.

[0177] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof in some cases, depending in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0178] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or executed using hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or any combination thereof, and may be implemented in any of a variety of form factors. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, program code or code segments (e.g., computer program products) for performing the necessary tasks may be stored in a computer-readable or machine-readable medium. The processor may perform the necessary tasks. Examples of form factors include: laptops, smartphones, mobile phones, tablet devices, or other small form factor personal computers, personal digital assistants, rack-mounted devices, stand-alone devices, etc. The functions described herein may also be embodied in peripheral devices or add-in cards. By way of further example, such functions may also be implemented on circuit boards in different chips or different processes executed on a single device.

[0179] Instructions, media for conveying such instructions, computing resources for executing them, and other structures for supporting such computing resources are example components for providing the functionality described in this disclosure.

[0180] The techniques described herein may also be implemented in electronic hardware, computer software, firmware, or any combination thereof. Such techniques may be implemented in any of a variety of devices, such as general-purpose computers, wireless communication devices, or integrated circuit devices with multiple uses, including applications in wireless communication devices, mobile phones, and other devices. Any features described as modules or components may be implemented together in an integrated logic device or separately as discrete but interoperable logic devices. If implemented in software, the techniques may be implemented at least in part by a computer-readable data storage medium including a program code, which includes instructions for executing one or more of the above methods, algorithms, and / or operations when executed. A computer-readable data storage medium may form part of a computer program product, which may include packaging materials. A computer-readable medium may include a memory or data storage medium, such as a random access memory (RAM) (such as a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM)), a read-only memory (ROM), a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a flash memory, a magnetic or optical data storage medium, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the techniques may be implemented at least in part by a computer-readable communication medium that carries or communicates program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed, read, and / or executed by a computer, such as a propagated signal or wave.

[0181] The program code may be executed by a processor, which may include one or more processors, such as one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), general-purpose microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable logic arrays (FPGAs), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuits. Such a processor may be configured to perform any of the techniques described in the present disclosure. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor; however, in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Therefore, the term "processor" as used herein may refer to any of the foregoing structures, any combination of the foregoing structures, or any other structure or device suitable for implementing the techniques described herein.

[0182] One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the less than ("<") and greater than (">") symbols or terms used herein may be replaced by less than or equal to ("≤") and greater than or equal to ("≥") symbols, respectively, without departing from the scope of this specification.

[0183] Where a component is described as being “configured to” perform certain operations, such configuration may be achieved, for example, by designing electronic circuits or other hardware to perform the operations, by programming programmable electronic circuits (e.g., a microprocessor or other suitable electronic circuits) to perform the operations, or any combination thereof.

[0184] The phrases “coupled to” or “communicatively coupled to” refer to any component being physically connected directly or indirectly to another component, and / or any component being in communication with another component directly or indirectly (e.g., connected to the other component via a wired or wireless connection and / or other suitable communication interface).

[0185] Claim language or other language reciting "at least one of" a set and / or "one or more of" a set indicates that one member of the set or multiple members of the set (in any combination) satisfies the claim. For example, claim language reciting "at least one of A and B" or "at least one of A or B" means A, B, or A and B. In another example, claim language reciting "at least one of A, B, and C" or "at least one of A, B, or C" means A, B, C, or A and B, or A and C, or B and C, or any repetition is information or data (e.g., A and A, B and B, C and C, A and A and B, etc.), or any other ordering, repetition, or combination of A, B, and C. The language "at least one of" a set and / or "one or more of" a set does not limit the set to the items listed in the set. For example, claim language stating "at least one of A and B" or "at least one of A or B" may mean A, B, or A and B, and may additionally include items not listed in the set of A and B.

[0186] Illustrative aspects of the present disclosure include:

[0187] Aspect 1: A method for wireless communication performed at an aircraft user equipment (UE), comprising: determining an air zone based on a position of the aircraft UE; determining a mapping of the air zone to at least one land zone; and directing a radio frequency (RF) beam to a position within the at least one land zone.

[0188] Aspect 2: The method according to aspect 1, wherein determining the mapping of the air zone to the at least one land region comprises: sending an air zone identifier corresponding to the air zone to a network entity; and receiving a land region identifier corresponding to the at least one land region from the network entity.

[0189] Aspect 3: The method according to aspect 2, wherein the land region identifier is included in downlink control information (DCI) received from the network entity.

[0190] Aspect 4: The method according to any one of Aspects 1 to 3 further includes: receiving an air zone identifier corresponding to a second air zone associated with the second air zone UE from a second aircraft UE; and adjusting the mapping of the air zone to the at least one land area based on the air zone identifier corresponding to the second air zone.

[0191] Aspect 5: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 4, wherein the horizontal coordinates of the aerial region overlap with the coordinates of the at least one land region.

[0192] Aspect 6: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 5, wherein an elevation angle formed between a center of the at least one land region and a center of the aerial region is less than 20 degrees.

[0193] Aspect 7: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 6, wherein the positioning of directing the RF beam to the at least one land area is based on at least one trigger.

[0194] Aspect 8: The method according to aspect 7, wherein the at least one trigger comprises at least one of a location trigger, a time trigger, or an indication trigger from a network entity.

[0195] Aspect 9: The method according to any one of aspects 7 to 8 further includes: receiving at least one RF signal from a remote UE; and identifying the at least one trigger based on the positioning of the remote UE within the at least one land area.

[0196] Aspect 10: The method according to any one of aspects 7 to 9 further includes: receiving at least one RF signal from a remote UE; and identifying the at least one trigger based on a threshold of a signal measurement associated with the at least one RF signal.

[0197] Aspect 11: The method according to aspect 10, wherein the signal measurement includes at least one of a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement, or a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) measurement.

[0198] Aspect 12: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 11, wherein the aerial zone corresponds to a three-dimensional zone, and the at least one land zone corresponds to a two-dimensional zone.

[0199] Aspect 13: The method according to aspect 12, wherein the three-dimensional region has a horizontal dimension that is greater than a vertical dimension.

[0200] Aspect 14: The method of aspect 13, wherein the three-dimensional region corresponds to at least one of a cylinder, a cube, a square prism, a cuboid, or a hexagonal prism.

[0201] Aspect 15: The method according to any one of aspects 12 to 14, wherein the two-dimensional region corresponds to at least one of a circle, a square, a rectangle, or a hexagon.

[0202] Aspect 16: A method for wireless communication performed at a network entity, comprising: determining a first mapping of one or more air zones to one or more land zones based on trajectory data associated with an aircraft user equipment (UE); receiving an air zone identifier associated with a first air zone from the one or more air zones from the aircraft UE; identifying a first land zone associated with the first air zone from the one or more land zones based on the first mapping; and sending a land zone identifier associated with the first land zone to the aircraft UE.

[0203] Aspect 17: The method according to Aspect 16 also includes: determining, based on the air zone identifier, that a current position of the aircraft UE is different from a predicted position based on the trajectory data; and determining a second mapping of the one or more air zones to the one or more land areas based on the current position.

[0204] Aspect 18: The method according to aspect 17, wherein the first land area is identified based on the second mapping.

[0205] Aspect 19: The method according to any one of aspects 16 to 18, wherein the land area identifier is sent together with downlink control information (DCI).

[0206] Aspect 20: The method according to any one of Aspects 16 to 19 further includes: sending an instruction to the aircraft UE for triggering radio frequency (RF) beam steering in a direction corresponding to the first land area.

[0207] Aspect 21: A method according to any one of Aspects 16 to 20, wherein the network entity is a base station or one or more of the following: a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a remote / radio unit (RU), a near real-time (near RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC of the base station.

[0208] Aspect 22: An apparatus for wireless communications performed at an aircraft user equipment (UE), comprising: at least one memory, the at least one memory comprising instructions; and at least one processor, the at least one processor configured to execute the instructions and cause the apparatus to: determine an air zone based on a position of the aircraft UE; determine a mapping of the air zone to at least one land zone; and direct a radio frequency (RF) beam to a position within the at least one land zone.

[0209] Aspect 23: An apparatus according to Aspect 22, wherein, in order to determine the mapping of the air zone to the at least one land area, the at least one processor is configured to enable the apparatus to: send an air zone identifier corresponding to the air zone to a network entity; and receive a land area identifier corresponding to the at least one land area from the network entity.

[0210] Aspect 24: The apparatus of aspect 23, wherein the land region identifier is included in downlink control information (DCI) received from the network entity.

[0211] Aspect 25: An apparatus according to any one of Aspects 22 to 24, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to: receive an air zone identifier corresponding to a second air zone associated with the second aircraft UE from a second aircraft UE; and adjust the mapping of the air zone to the at least one land area based on the air zone identifier corresponding to the second air zone.

[0212] Aspect 26: An apparatus according to any one of Aspects 22 to 25, wherein: the horizontal coordinates of the aerial zone overlap with the coordinates of the at least one land area; and an elevation angle formed between the center of the at least one land area and the center of the aerial zone is less than 20 degrees.

[0213] Aspect 27: An apparatus according to any one of Aspects 22 to 26, wherein: directing the RF beam to the positioning within the at least one land area is based on at least one trigger; and the at least one trigger includes at least one of a location trigger, a time trigger, or an indication trigger from a network entity.

[0214] Aspect 28: An apparatus according to Aspect 27, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to: receive at least one RF signal from a remote UE; and identify the at least one trigger based on the positioning of the remote UE within the at least one land area or based on a threshold of a signal measurement associated with the at least one RF signal.

[0215] Aspect 29: An apparatus for wireless communications performed at a network entity, comprising: at least one memory, the at least one memory comprising instructions; and at least one processor, the at least one processor configured to execute the instructions and cause the apparatus to: determine a first mapping of one or more air zones to one or more land zones based on trajectory data associated with an aircraft user equipment (UE); receive an air zone identifier associated with a first air zone from the one or more air zones from the aircraft UE; identify a first land zone associated with the first air zone from the one or more land zones based on the first mapping; and send a land zone identifier associated with the first land zone to the aircraft UE.

[0216] Aspect 30: An apparatus according to Aspect 29, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to enable the apparatus to: determine, based on the air zone identifier, that a current position of the aircraft UE is different from a predicted position based on the trajectory data; and determine, based on the current position, a second mapping of the one or more air zones to the one or more land zones.

[0217] Aspect 31: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor, the at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform operations according to any one of Aspects 1 to 15.

[0218] Aspect 32: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising means for performing the operations according to any one of aspects 1 to 15.

[0219] Aspect 33: A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, causing the one or more processors to perform the operations according to any one of aspects 1 to 15.

[0220] Aspect 34: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor, the at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform operations according to any one of Aspects 16 to 21.

[0221] Aspect 35: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising means for performing the operations according to any one of aspects 16 to 21.

[0222] Aspect 36: A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, causing the one or more processors to perform the operations according to any one of aspects 16 to 21.

[0223] Aspect 37: A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, causing the one or more processors to perform the operations according to any one of aspects 22 to 28.

[0224] Aspect 38: An apparatus comprising means for performing any of the operations of Aspects 22 to 28.

[0225] Aspect 39: A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, causing the one or more processors to perform the operations according to any one of aspects 29 to 30.

[0226] Aspect 40: An apparatus comprising means for performing any of the operations of Aspects 29 to 30.

Claims

1. An apparatus for an aircraft user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to: Determine an air zone based on the position of the aircraft UE; determining a mapping of the aerial region to at least one land region; directing a radio frequency (RF) beam toward a location within the at least one land area; as well as One or more wireless communications are output for transmission based on steering the RF beam.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein to determine the mapping of the aerial zone to the at least one land zone, the at least one processor is configured to: outputting an air zone identifier corresponding to the air zone for transmission to a network entity; and A land region identifier corresponding to the at least one land region is received from the network entity.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the land region identifier is included in downlink control information (DCI) received from the network entity.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receiving, from a second aircraft UE, an air zone identifier corresponding to a second air zone associated with the second aircraft UE; and The mapping of the air zone to the at least one land region is adjusted based on the air zone identifier corresponding to the second air zone.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein horizontal coordinates of the aerial region overlap with coordinates of the at least one land region.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein an elevation angle formed between a center of the at least one land zone and a center of the aerial zone is less than 20 degrees.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to direct the RF beam to the location within the at least one land area based on at least one trigger.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one trigger comprises at least one of a location trigger, a time trigger, or an indication trigger from a network entity.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receiving at least one RF signal from a remote UE; and The at least one trigger is identified based on a location of the remote UE within the at least one land area.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receiving at least one RF signal from a remote UE; and The at least one trigger is identified based on a threshold of a signal measurement associated with the at least one RF signal.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the signal measurement comprises at least one of a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement, or a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) measurement.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the aerial zone corresponds to a three-dimensional zone and the at least one land zone corresponds to a two-dimensional zone.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the three-dimensional region has a horizontal dimension that is greater than a vertical dimension.

14. The device according to claim 13, wherein: The three-dimensional region corresponds to at least one of a cylinder, a cube, a square prism, a cuboid, or a hexagonal prism; and The two-dimensional area corresponds to at least one of a circle, a square, a rectangle, or a hexagon.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the location of the aircraft UE using a global positioning system (GPS) receiver associated with the aircraft UE.

16. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is implemented as the aircraft UE, and the apparatus further comprises: At least one transceiver is configured to transmit the one or more wireless communications.

17. An apparatus of a network entity for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one memory and configured to: determining a first mapping of one or more air regions to one or more land regions based on trajectory data associated with an aircraft user equipment (UE); receiving, from the aircraft UE, an air zone identifier associated with a first air zone from the one or more air zones; identifying, based on the first mapping, a first land region from among the one or more land regions that is associated with the first air zone; as well as A land region identifier associated with the first land region is output for transmission to the aircraft UE.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: determining, based on the air zone identifier, that a current position of the aircraft UE is different from a predicted position based on the trajectory data; and A second mapping of the one or more aerial regions to the one or more land regions is determined based on the current location.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first land region is identified based on the second mapping.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the land region identifier is transmitted with downlink control information (DCI).

21. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: An indication for triggering radio frequency (RF) beam steering in a direction corresponding to the first land area is output for transmission to the aircraft UE.

22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the network entity is a base station or one or more of: a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a remote / radio unit (RU), a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC of the base station.

23. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the apparatus is implemented as the network entity, the apparatus further comprising: At least one transceiver is configured to transmit the land region identifier.

24. A method for wireless communication at an aircraft user equipment (UE), comprising: Determine an air zone based on the position of the aircraft UE; determining a mapping of the aerial region to at least one land region; directing a radio frequency (RF) beam toward a location within the at least one land area; as well as One or more wireless communications are transmitted based on steering the RF beam.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein determining the mapping of the aerial region to the at least one land region comprises: sending an air zone identifier corresponding to the air zone to a network entity; as well as A land region identifier corresponding to the at least one land region is received from the network entity.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein: The land region identifier is included in downlink control information (DCI) received from the network entity; and The position of the aircraft UE is determined using a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver associated with the aircraft UE.

27. The method of claim 24, further comprising: receiving, from a second aircraft UE, an air zone identifier corresponding to a second air zone associated with the second aircraft UE; as well as The mapping of the air zone to the at least one land region is adjusted based on the air zone identifier corresponding to the second air zone.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein: The horizontal coordinates of the aerial region overlap with the coordinates of the at least one land region; and An elevation angle formed between a center of the at least one land zone and a center of the aerial zone is less than 20 degrees.

29. A method for wireless communication at a network entity, comprising: determining a first mapping of one or more air regions to one or more land regions based on trajectory data associated with an aircraft user equipment (UE); receiving, from the aircraft UE, an air zone identifier associated with a first air zone from the one or more air zones; identifying, based on the first mapping, a first land region from among the one or more land regions that is associated with the first air zone; as well as A land region identifier associated with the first land region is sent to the aircraft UE.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising: determining, based on the air zone identifier, that a current position of the aircraft UE is different from a predicted position based on the trajectory data; as well as A second mapping of the one or more aerial regions to the one or more land regions is determined based on the current location.

Images