Beamforming interference mitigation signaling

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications. In some aspects, a user equipment (UE) may receive an indication of an interference threshold for interference caused by beamforming at the UE. The UE may transmit a signal using a beam having an interference value that satisfies the interference threshold. Numerous other aspects are described.

Description

[0001] Cross - Reference to Related Applications

[0002] This patent application claims the priority of U.S. Patent Application No. 18 / 057,999, entitled "BEAMFORMING INTERFERENCE MITIGATION SIGNALING", filed on November 22, 2022 and assigned to the assignee of this application. The disclosure of the prior application is considered to be a part of this patent application and is incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication and relate to techniques and apparatuses for beamforming interference mitigation signaling. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasting, or other similar types of services. These wireless communication systems may employ multiple access techniques capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available wireless communication system resources.

[0005] Despite significant technological advancements in wireless communication systems over the years, challenges still remain. For example, complex and dynamic environments can still attenuate or block signals between a wireless transmitter and a wireless receiver. Accordingly, there is a continuing expectation to improve the technical performance of wireless communication systems, including for example: improving the speed and data carrying capacity of communication, improving the efficiency of using the shared communication medium, reducing the power used by the transmitter and receiver when performing communication, improving the reliability of wireless communication, avoiding redundant transmission and / or reception and associated processing, improving the coverage area of wireless communication, increasing the number and types of devices that can access the wireless communication system, increasing the ability of different types of devices to communicate with each other, increasing the number and types of wireless communication media available for use, etc. Therefore, there is a need to further improve wireless communication systems to overcome the aforementioned technical challenges and other challenges. Summary of the Invention

[0006] One aspect provides a method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE). The method includes receiving an indication of an interference threshold of interference caused by beamforming at the UE. The method further includes transmitting a signal using a beam having an interference value that meets the interference threshold.

[0007] Another aspect provides a method for wireless communication by a network entity. The method includes identifying an interference threshold of interference caused by beamforming at the UE. The method further includes outputting an indication of the interference threshold of interference caused by beamforming at the UE.

[0008] In other aspects, provided is: an apparatus operable to, configured to, or otherwise adapted to perform any one or more of the foregoing methods and / or those methods described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings and illustrated by the accompanying drawings; a non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by a processor of the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the foregoing methods and those methods described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings and illustrated by the accompanying drawings; a computer program product embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium including code for performing the foregoing methods and those methods described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings and illustrated by the accompanying drawings; and / or an apparatus including components for performing the foregoing methods and those methods described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings and illustrated by the accompanying drawings. By way of example, an apparatus may include a processing system, a device having the processing system, or processing systems cooperating via one or more networks.

[0009] The features and technical advantages of examples in accordance with the present disclosure have been outlined rather broadly above so that the detailed description that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described below. The disclosed concepts and specific examples may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes 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 as to their organization and method of operation, as well as associated advantages, will be better understood from the following description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Each of the drawings provided is for the purpose of illustration and description and is not a definition of the limits of the claims.

[0010] While aspects are described herein by way of illustration of some examples, those skilled in the art will understand that such aspects can be implemented in many different arrangements and scenarios. The techniques 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 an integrated chip implementation or other non-module component-based devices (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / shopping devices, medical devices, and / or artificial intelligence devices). 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. Devices incorporating the described aspects and features can include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described aspects. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals can include one or more components for analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, radio frequency (RF) chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders, and / or summers). The aspects described herein are intended to be practiced in a wide variety of devices, components, systems, distributed arrangements, and / or end-user devices of various sizes, shapes, and configurations. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] To enable a detailed understanding of the above-described features of the present disclosure, a more specific description of the foregoing brief summary can be obtained by reference to aspects, some of which are illustrated in the drawings. It should be noted, however, that the drawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of the present disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, as the specification may admit other equally effective aspects. The same reference numerals in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements.

[0012] Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication network in accordance with the present disclosure is depicted.

[0013] Figure 2 Aspects of an example BS and UE in accordance with the present disclosure are depicted.

[0014] Figure 3 An example decomposed base station architecture in accordance with the present disclosure is depicted.

[0015] Figure 4A 、 Figure 4B 、 Figure 4C and Figure 4D Aspects of a data structure for a wireless communication network (such as Figure 1 the wireless communication network) in accordance with the present disclosure are depicted.

[0016] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example beamforming architecture that supports beamforming for millimeter wave (mmW) communication in accordance with the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 6 A diagram illustrating an example of the difference between the main lobe gain and the sidelobe gain at different phase shifter resolutions according to the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 7 A diagram illustrating an example of beamforming interference mitigation signaling according to the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 8 A method for wireless communication by a UE according to the present disclosure is shown.

[0020] Figure 9 A method for wireless communication by a network entity according to the present disclosure is shown.

[0021] Figure 10 Aspects of an example communication device according to the present disclosure are depicted.

[0022] Figure 11 Aspects of an example communication device according to the present disclosure are depicted. Detailed Description

[0023] Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatuses, methods, processing systems, and computer-readable media for beamforming interference mitigation signaling.

[0024] Wireless communication devices such as UEs may generate beams (e.g., transmit beams and / or receive beams) to improve communication performance, particularly in frequency ranges (e.g., FR2 frequencies and above) that are subject to significant fading and attenuation due to path loss, blockage, etc. FR2 may include a frequency range of 24,250 MHz - 52,600 MHz, which is sometimes (interchangeably) referred to as "millimeter wave" ("mmW" or "mmWave"). For example, beam weights may be used in mmWave systems (and above) for directed energy generation and beam steering. A beam may have one or more sidelobes, depending on the physical properties and configuration of the components used to generate the beam, such as an antenna array and a set of phase shifters associated with the antenna array. Transmitting using a beam may cause interference at devices within the coverage area of the sidelobe of the beam generated for transmission. Implementing low-resolution phase shifters and small antenna arrays (e.g., including a relatively low number of phase shift states and / or antenna elements) may be advantageous. However, as described below, low-resolution phase shifters and small antenna arrays may be associated with increased interference and stronger sidelobes relative to higher-resolution phase shifters.

[0025] Given a particular phase shifter resolution (or number of phase shift states) and array size, some beams have stronger sidelobes than others. From the perspective of the network (or other UEs accessing the network), strong sidelobes can cause interference, especially in dense networks and scenarios where beams are not coordinated across cells. Considering the use of low-resolution phase shifters and small antenna arrays, this sidelobe-induced interference is particularly problematic, which may generally cause stronger sidelobes than high-resolution phase shifters and large antenna arrays. Using a beam associated with strong sidelobes at a UE (or other wireless communication device) may cause interference and reduced network communication efficiency.

[0026] Some of the techniques described herein provide for the selection of a beam that meets an interference threshold for interference caused by beamforming at a UE and the transmission using that beam. The interference threshold may be based on the difference between the sidelobe and the main lobe of the beam. For example, a beam that violates the interference threshold may have a sidelobe with a gain (e.g., peak gain) within X dB of the main lobe of the beam. The UE may select a beam from a set of beams that do not violate the interference threshold. In some aspects, the interference threshold may be signaled by a network entity. For example, as described elsewhere herein, a network entity may determine the interference threshold and may provide an indication of the interference threshold to the UE. By transmitting using a beam that meets the interference threshold, interference is reduced and network communication efficiency is improved. Thus, the feasibility of low-complexity devices (such as devices incorporating low-resolution phase shifters and / or a limited number of antenna elements in an antenna array) is improved.

[0027] Aspects of the present disclosure are described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to any specific structure or function presented throughout this disclosure. Rather, these aspects are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. Those skilled in the art should understand that the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover any aspect of the disclosure herein, whether implemented independently of or in combination with any other aspect of the disclosure. For example, any number of the aspects set forth herein may be used to implement an apparatus or practice a method. Additionally, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover such an apparatus or method practiced using other structures, functionality, or a combination of structures and functionality in addition to or different from the aspects of the disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure herein may be embodied by one or more elements of the present invention.

[0028] Aspects of a telecommunications system will now be presented with reference to various apparatuses and techniques. These apparatuses and techniques will be described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various boxes, modules, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements can be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0029] Although terms generally associated with 5G or New Radio (NR) radio access technology (RAT) may be used herein to describe aspects, aspects of the present disclosure may be applied to other RATs, such as 3G RAT, 4G RAT, and / or post-5G (e.g., 6G) RATs.

[0030] Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication network 100 in accordance with the present disclosure is depicted.

[0031] Generally speaking, the wireless communication network 100 includes various network entities (alternatively, network elements or network nodes). Network entities are typically communication devices and / or communication functions performed by communication devices (e.g., user equipment (UE), base station (BS), components of a BS, servers, etc.). For example, the various functions of the network and the various devices associated with and interacting with the network can be considered network entities. Additionally, the wireless communication network 100 includes terrestrial aspects and non-terrestrial aspects, terrestrial aspects such as terrestrial-based network entities (e.g., BS110), non-terrestrial aspects such as satellite 140 and aircraft 145, which non-terrestrial aspects may include airborne network entities (e.g., one or more BSs) capable of communicating with other network elements (e.g., terrestrial BSs) and UEs.

[0032] In the depicted example, the wireless communication network 100 includes BS110, UE 120, and one or more core networks such as the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 160 and 5G Core (5GC) 190, which interoperate to provide communication services over various communication links, including wired and wireless links.

[0033] Figure 1Depicts various example UEs 120, which may more generally include: cellular phones, smart phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite radios, global positioning systems, multimedia devices, video devices, digital audio players, cameras, game consoles, tablet computers, smart devices, wearable devices, vehicles, electricity meters, air pumps, large or small kitchen appliances, healthcare devices, implants, sensors / actuators, displays, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, always-on (AON) devices, edge processing devices, or another similar device. The UE 120 may also more generally be referred to as a mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, station, mobile station, subscriber station, mobile subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, remote device, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, or handset, etc.

[0034] The BS 110 may wirelessly communicate with the UE 120 via the communication link 170 (e.g., send a signal to or receive a signal from the UE). The communication link 170 between the BS 110 and the UE 120 may carry an uplink (UL) (also referred to as a reverse link) transmission from the UE 120 to the BS 110 and / or a downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmission from the BS 110 to the UE 120. In various aspects, the communication link 170 may use multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity.

[0035] The BS 110 may generally include, for example, a NodeB, an enhanced NodeB (eNB), a next-generation enhanced NodeB (ng-eNB), a next-generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB), an access point, a transceiver base station, a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a transmit receive point, and / or others. The BS 110 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 112, which may sometimes be referred to as a cell, and in some cases may overlap (e.g., the small cell provided by the BS 110a may have a coverage area 112' that overlaps the coverage area 112 of the macro cell). For example, the BS may provide communication coverage for a macro cell (covering a relatively large geographic area), a pico cell (covering a relatively small geographic area, such as a stadium), a femto cell (covering a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home)), and / or other types of cells.

[0036] Although the BS110 is depicted as a single communication device in various aspects, the BS110 can be implemented in various configurations. For example, one or more components of the base station can be decomposed, including a central unit (CU), one or more distributed units (DUs), one or more radio units (RUs), a near-real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC, to name a few examples. In another example, various aspects of the base station can be virtualized. More generally, the base station (e.g., BS110) can include components located at a single physical location or components located at various physical locations. In an example where the base station includes components located at various physical locations, the various components can each perform functions such that the various components together achieve functions similar to those of a base station located at a single physical location. In some aspects, a base station including components located at various physical locations can be referred to as a decomposed radio access network architecture (such as an open RAN (O-RAN) or a virtualized RAN (VRAN) architecture). Figure 3 An example decomposed base station architecture is depicted and described.

[0037] The different BS110s within the wireless communication network 100 can also be configured to support different radio access technologies (such as 3G, 4G, and / or 5G). For example, a BS110 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to as the evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN)) can interface with the EPC 160 via a first backhaul link 132 (e.g., the S1 interface). A BS110 configured for 5G (e.g., 5G NR or next-generation RAN (NG-RAN)) can interface with the 5GC 190 via a second backhaul link 184. The BS110s can communicate directly or indirectly with each other (e.g., via the EPC 160 or the 5GC 190) on a third backhaul link 134 (e.g., the X2 interface), which can be wired or wireless.

[0038] Wireless communication network 100 can subdivide the electromagnetic spectrum into various categories, frequency bands, channels, or other characteristics. In some aspects, the subdivision is provided based on wavelength and frequency, where frequency may also be referred to as carrier, sub - carrier, channel, tone, or sub - band. For example, 3GPP currently defines Frequency Range 1 (FR1) as including 410 MHz - 7125 MHz, which is commonly (interchangeably) referred to as "below 6 GHz". Similarly, 3GPP currently defines Frequency Range 2 (FR2) as including 24,250 MHz - 52,600 MHz, which is sometimes (interchangeably) referred to as "millimeter wave" ("mmW" or "mmWave"). A base station configured to communicate using the mmWave or near - mmWave radio frequency band (e.g., a mmWave base station such as BS110b) can utilize beamforming with a UE (e.g., 120) (e.g., as shown by 182) to improve path loss and range.

[0039] The communication link 170 between BS110 and, for example, UE 120 can be through one or more carriers, which can have different bandwidths (e.g., 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, 20 MHz, 100 MHz, 400 MHz, and / or other bandwidths) and can be aggregated in various ways. The carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other. In some examples, the allocation of carriers can be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers can be allocated for DL compared to UL).

[0040] Compared to communication at lower frequencies, communication using higher frequency bands may have higher path loss and shorter range. Accordingly, certain base stations (e.g., Figure 1The base station 110b) in can utilize beamforming with the UE 120 to improve path loss and range, as shown at 182. For example, BS110b and UE 120 can each include multiple antennas, such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and / or antenna arrays, to facilitate beamforming. In some cases, BS110b can send beamformed signals to UE 120 in one or more transmission directions 182'. UE 120 can receive beamformed signals from BS110b in one or more reception directions 182". UE 120 can also send beamformed signals to BS110b in one or more transmission directions 182". BS110b can also receive beamformed signals from UE 120 in one or more reception directions 182'. Then, BS110b and UE 120 can perform beam training to determine the optimal reception and transmission directions for each of BS110b and UE 120. It is noted that the transmission direction and reception direction of BS110b can be the same or can be different. Similarly, the transmission direction and reception direction of UE 120 can be the same or can be different.

[0041] The wireless communication network 100 also includes a Wi-Fi AP 150 that communicates with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in, for example, the 2.4 GHz and / or 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum.

[0042] Certain UEs 120 can communicate with each other using device-to-device (D2D) communication links 158. The D2D communication links 158 can use one or more sidelink channels, such as the physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), the physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), the physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), the physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), and / or the physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH).

[0043] The EPC 160 can include various functional components, including: a mobility management entity (MME) 161, other MMEs 162, a serving gateway 163, a multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS) gateway 164, a broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC) 165, and / or a packet data network (PDN) gateway 166, such as in the depicted example. The MME 161 can communicate with a home subscriber server (HSS) 167. The MME 161 is a control node that processes the signaling between the UE 120 and the EPC 160. Generally speaking, the MME 161 provides bearer and connection management.

[0044] Generally speaking, user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted through the Serving Gateway 163, which is itself connected to the PDN Gateway 166. The PDN Gateway 166 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. The PDN Gateway 166 and the BM-SC 165 are connected to the IP service 168, which may include, for example, the Internet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a Packet-Switched (PS) streaming service, and / or other IP services.

[0045] The BM-SC 165 may provide functions for MBMS user service provisioning and delivery. The BM-SC 165 can be used as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmissions, can be used to authorize and initiate MBMS bearer services within a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and / or can be used to schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS Gateway 164 can be used to distribute MBMS services to the BSs 110 belonging to a Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) area for a specific broadcast service, and / or can be responsible for session management (start / stop) and for collecting eMBMS-related charging information.

[0046] The 5GC 190 may include various functional components, including: an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 191, other AMFs 192, a Session Management Function (SMF) 193, and a User Plane Function (UPF) 194. The AMF 191 may communicate with a Unified Data Management (UDM) 195.

[0047] The AMF 191 is a control node that processes the signaling between the UE 120 and the 5GC 190. The AMF 191 provides, for example, Quality of Service (QoS) flow and session management.

[0048] IP packets are transmitted through the UPF 194, which is connected to the IP service 196 and provides UE IP address allocation and other functions for the 5GC 190. The IP service 196 may include, for example, the Internet, an intranet, an IMS, a PS streaming service, and / or other IP services.

[0049] In various aspects, by way of example, a network entity or network node may be implemented as an aggregated base station, a disaggregated base station, a component of a base station, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a relay node, a sidelink node, or a Transmission and Reception Point (TRP).

[0050] As indicated above, Figure 1 is provided as an example. Other examples may be different from the examples described with respect to Figure 1 which are described.

[0051] Figure 2 depicts aspects of an example BS 110 and UE 120 in accordance with the present disclosure.

[0052] Generally, BS110 includes various processors (e.g., 220, 230, 238, and 240), antennas 234a - 234t (collectively 234), transceivers 232a - 232t (collectively 232) including modulators and demodulators, and other aspects that implement wireless transmission of data (e.g., data source 212) and wireless reception of data (e.g., data sink 239). For example, BS110 can transmit and receive data between BS110 and UE 120. BS110 includes a controller / processor 240 that can be configured to implement various functions described herein related to wireless communication.

[0053] Generally, UE 120 includes various processors (e.g., 258, 264, 266, and 280), antennas 252a - 252r (collectively 252), transceivers 254a - 254r (collectively 254) including modulators and demodulators, and other aspects that implement wireless transmission of data (e.g., retrieved from data source 262) and wireless reception of data (e.g., provided to data sink 260). UE 120 includes a controller / processor 280 that can be configured to implement various functions described herein related to wireless communication.

[0054] Regarding an example downlink transmission, BS110 includes a transmission processor 220 that can receive data from data source 212 and control information from controller / processor 240. The control information can be for a physical broadcast channel (PBCH), a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), a physical hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) indicator channel (PHICH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a group common PDCCH (GC PDCCH), and / or others. In some examples, the data can be for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0055] The transmission processor 220 can process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control information to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmission processor 220 can also generate reference symbols (such as for a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), a PBCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and a channel state information reference signal (CSI - RS)).

[0056] The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols when applicable, and may provide an output symbol stream to the modulator (MOD) in the transceiver 232a - 232t. Each modulator in the transceiver 232a - 232t may process the corresponding output symbol stream to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and up-convert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signals from the modulators in the transceiver 232a - 232t may be transmitted via the antennas 234a - 234t, respectively.

[0057] To receive downlink transmissions, the UE 120 includes antennas 252a - 252r, which may receive downlink signals from the BS 110 and may provide the received signals to the demodulators (DEMOD) in the transceivers 254a - 254r, respectively. Each demodulator in the transceivers 254a - 254r may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, down-convert, and digitize) the corresponding received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator may further process the input samples to obtain the received symbols.

[0058] The MIMO detector 256 may obtain the received symbols from all the demodulators in the transceivers 254a - 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols when applicable, and provide the detected symbols. The receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate, de-interleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide the decoded data for the UE 120 to the data sink 260, and provide the decoded control information to the controller / processor 280.

[0059] Regarding an example uplink transmission, the UE 120 further includes a transmit processor 264, which may receive and process data from the data source 262 (e.g., for the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH)) and control information from the controller / processor 280 (e.g., for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)). The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal (e.g., for the sounding reference signal (SRS)). The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by the TX MIMO processor 266 when applicable, further processed by the modulators in the transceivers 254a - 254r (e.g., for single-carrier frequency-division multiplexing (SC-FDM)), and transmitted to the BS 110.

[0060] At BS110, the uplink signal from UE 120 can be received by antennas 234a - 234t, processed by the demodulators in transceivers 232a - 232t, detected by the MIMO detector 236 when applicable, and further processed by the receive processor 238 to obtain the decoded data and control information transmitted by UE 120. The receive processor 238 can provide the decoded data to the data sink 239 and the decoded control information to the controller / processor 240. Memories 242 and 282 can store data and program codes for BS110 and UE 120 respectively. The scheduler 244 can schedule the UE for data transmission on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0061] In various aspects, BS110 can be described as transmitting and receiving various types of data associated with the methods described herein. In these contexts, "transmitting" can refer to various mechanisms for outputting data, such as outputting data from data source 212, scheduler 244, memory 242, transmit processor 220, controller / processor 240, TX MIMO processor 230, transceivers 232a - 232t, antennas 234a - 234t, and / or other aspects described herein. Similarly, "receiving" can refer to various mechanisms for obtaining data, such as obtaining data from antennas 234a - 234t, transceivers 232a - 232t, RX MIMO detector 236, controller / processor 240, receive processor 238, scheduler 244, memory 242, and / or other aspects described herein.

[0062] In various aspects, UE 120 can likewise be described as transmitting and receiving various types of data associated with the methods described herein. In these contexts, "transmitting" can refer to various mechanisms for outputting data, such as outputting data from data source 262, memory 282, transmit processor 264, controller / processor 280, TX MIMO processor 266, transceivers 254a - 254t, antennas 252a - 252t, and / or other aspects described herein. Similarly, "receiving" can refer to various mechanisms for obtaining data, such as obtaining data from antennas 252a - 252t, transceivers 254a - 254t, RX MIMO detector 256, controller / processor 280, receive processor 258, memory 282, and / or other aspects described herein.

[0063] In some aspects, a processor can be configured to perform various operations (such as those associated with the methods described herein) and transmit (output) data to or receive (obtain) data from another interface configured to transmit or receive data respectively.

[0064] Although Figure 2The boxes in [description] are illustrated as separate components, but the functions described above for these boxes may be implemented in a single hardware, software, or combined component, or in various combinations of components. For example, the functions described for the transmit processor 264, the receive processor 258, and / or the TX MIMO processor 266 may be performed by, or under the control of, the controller / processor 280.

[0065] As indicated above, Figure 2 is provided as an example. Other examples may be different from the example described with respect to Figure 2 described.

[0066] The deployment of a communication system (such as a 5G NR system) can be arranged with various components or constituent parts in a variety of ways. In a 5G NR system or network, network nodes, network entities, mobility elements of the network, RAN nodes, core network nodes, network elements, base stations, or network equipment can be implemented in a converged or decomposed architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), NR BS, 5G NB, access point (AP), TRP, or cell, etc.) or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functionality can be implemented as a converged base station (also referred to as a stand-alone base station or a monolithic base station) or a decomposed base station. A "network entity" or "network node" can refer to a decomposed base station or one or more units of a decomposed base station (such as one or more CUs, one or more DUs, one or more RUs, or a combination thereof).

[0067] A converged base station (e.g., a converged network node) can be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node (e.g., within a single device or unit). A decomposed base station (e.g., a decomposed network node) can be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more units (such as one or more CUs, one or more DUs, or one or more RUs). In some examples, a CU can be implemented within a network node, and one or more DUs can be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, can be geographically or virtually spread across one or more other network nodes. A DU can be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU can also be implemented as a virtual unit, such as a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU), etc.

[0068] Base station type operations or network design may consider the aggregation characteristics of base station functionality. For example, a disaggregated base station can be utilized in an IAB network, an open radio access network (O-RAN, such as a network configuration initiated by the O-RAN Alliance), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)) to facilitate the scaling of a communication system by separating base station functionality into one or more units that can be deployed separately. A disaggregated base station may include functionality implemented across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as functionality virtualized for at least one unit, which can achieve flexibility in network design. Each unit of a disaggregated base station can be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit of the disaggregated base station.

[0069] Figure 3 An example disaggregated base station 300 architecture is depicted. The disaggregated base station 300 architecture may include one or more central units (CUs) 310, which may communicate directly with a core network 320 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 320 through one or more disaggregated base station units (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 a respective UE 120 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some specific implementations, the UE 120 may be served simultaneously by multiple RUs 340.

[0070] Each of the units (e.g., CU 310, DU 330, RU 340, and the 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 transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each unit in the units or the associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interface of the unit may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via the transmission medium. For example, the units may include a wired interface that is configured to receive or transmit signals to one or more of the other units via a wired transmission medium. Additionally or alternatively, the unit may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, a transmitter, or a transceiver (such as an RF transceiver) that is configured to receive or transmit signals or both to one or more of the other units over a wireless transmission medium.

[0071] In some aspects, the 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 utilize an interface that is configured to convey signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 310. The 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 embodiments, the 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 units may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP units via an interface (such as an E1 interface). As needed, the CU 310 may be implemented to communicate with the DU 330 for network control and signaling.

[0072] The DU 330 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs 340. In some aspects, the DU 330 may host one or more of the radio link control (RLC) layer, the media 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.) at least partially depending on a functional split (such as the functional split defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)). In some aspects, the 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 the DU 330 or with the control functions hosted by the CU 310.

[0073] The lower layer functionality may be implemented by one or more RUs 340. In some deployments, the RUs 340 controlled by the DU 330 may correspond to logical nodes that host 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 at least partially based on a functional split (such as a lower layer functional split). In such an architecture, the RUs 340 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communication with one or more UEs 120. In some embodiments, the real-time and non-real-time aspects of the control plane and user plane communication with the RUs 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).

[0074] The SMO framework 305 can be configured to support the RAN deployment and orchestration of non-virtualized network elements and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 305 can be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, and these dedicated physical resources can be managed via operation and maintenance interfaces (such as the O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 305 can be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as the Open Cloud (O-Cloud) 390) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as to instantiate virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as the O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements can include, but are not limited to, the CU 310, DU 330, RU 340, and the Near RT RIC 325. In some specific implementations, the SMO framework 305 can communicate with the hardware aspect of the 4G RAN (such as the Open eNB (O-eNB) 311) via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some specific implementations, the SMO framework 305 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 340 via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 305 can also include a Non-RT RIC 315 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 305.

[0075] The Non-RT RIC 315 can be configured to include logical functions that can 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 can be coupled to or communicate with the Near RT RIC 325 (such as via the A1 interface). The Near RT RIC 325 can be configured to include logical functions that can enable near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources through interfaces (such as via the E2 interface) via data collection and actions, and this interface connects one or more CUs 310, one or more DUs 330, or both, and the O-eNB to the Near RT RIC 325.

[0076] In some specific implementations, to generate the AI / ML models 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 can be utilized by the near-RT RIC 325 and can be received from non-network data sources or network functions 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 tune the RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 315 may monitor the long-term trends and patterns of performance and employ an AI / ML model to perform corrective actions through the SMO framework 305 (such as reconfiguration via O1) or via creating RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0077] As indicated above, Figure 3 is provided as an example. Other examples may be different from the examples described with respect to Figure 3 the examples described.

[0078] Figure 4A , Figure 4B , Figure 4C and Figure 4D depict aspects of data structures for a wireless communication network (such as Figure 1 the wireless communication network 100) according to the present disclosure. Figure 4A is a diagram 400 that illustrates an example of a first subframe within a 5G (e.g., 5G NR) frame structure, Figure 4B is a diagram 430 that illustrates an example of a DL channel within a 5G subframe, Figure 4C is a diagram 450 that illustrates an example of a second subframe within a 5G frame structure, and Figure 4D is a diagram 480 that illustrates an example of a UL channel within a 5G subframe.

[0079] A wireless communication system may utilize orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) on both the uplink and the downlink. Such a system may also support half-duplex operation using time division duplexing (TDD). OFDM and single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) divide (e.g., as depicted in Figure 4B and Figure 4D ) the system bandwidth into multiple orthogonal subcarriers. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Modulation symbols can be transmitted in the frequency domain using OFDM and / or in the time domain using SC-FDM.

[0080] The wireless communication frame structure can be frequency division duplexing (FDD), where for a specific set of subcarriers, the subframes within that set of subcarriers are dedicated to either DL or UL. The wireless communication frame structure can also be time division duplexing (TDD), where for a specific set of subcarriers, the subframes within that set of subcarriers are dedicated to both DL and UL.

[0081] In Figure 4A and Figure 4C , the wireless communication frame structure is TDD, where D is DL, U is UL, and F is flexibly used between DL / UL. The UE can be configured with a slot format by a received Slot Format Indicator (SFI) (configured dynamically via Downlink Control Information (DCI) or semi-statically / statically via RRC signaling). In the depicted example, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equal-sized 1 ms subframes. Each subframe may include one or more slots. In some examples, each slot may include 7 or 14 symbols, depending on the slot format. The subframe may also include mini-slots, which typically have fewer symbols than an entire slot. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0082] In some aspects, the number of slots within a subframe is based on the slot configuration and numerology. For example, for slot configuration 0, different numerologies (μ) 0 to 5 allow 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 slots per subframe, respectively. For slot configuration 1, different numerologies 0 to 2 allow 2, 4, and 8 slots per subframe, respectively. Accordingly, for slot configuration 0 and numerology μ, there are 14 symbols per slot and 2 μ slots per subframe. The subcarrier spacing and symbol length / duration are functions of the numerology. The subcarrier spacing can be equal to 2 μ × 15 kHz, where μ is the numerology index, which can be selected from the values 0 to 5. Thus, the subcarrier spacing for numerology μ = 0 is 15 kHz, and the subcarrier spacing for numerology μ = 5 is 480 kHz. Other numerologies and subcarrier spacings can be used. The symbol length / duration is negatively correlated with the subcarrier spacing. Figure 4A , Figure 4B , Figure 4C and Figure 4D provide an example of slot configuration 0 with 14 symbols per slot and numerology μ = 2 with 4 slots per subframe. The slot duration is 0.25 ms, the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, and the symbol duration is approximately 16.67 μs.

[0083] As Figure 4A , Figure 4B , Figure 4C and Figure 4D depicted, a resource grid can be used to represent the frame structure. Each slot includes a Resource Block (RB) (also known as a Physical RB (PRB)) that extends, for example, 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into multiple Resource Elements (REs). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0084] As Figure 4AAs illustrated, some of the REs in the RE carry reference (pilot) signals (RSs) for a UE (e.g., UE 120). The RSs may include demodulation RSs (DMRSs) and / or channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) for channel estimation at the UE. The RSs may also include beam measurement RSs (BRSs), beam refinement RSs (BRRSs), and / or phase tracking RSs (PT-RSs).

[0085] Figure 4B Examples of various DL channels within a subframe of a frame are illustrated. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DCI within one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE including, for example, nine resource element groups (REGs), each REG including, for example, four consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol.

[0086] The primary synchronization signal (PSS) may be in symbol 2 of a specific subframe of a frame. The PSS is used by a UE (e.g., UE 120) to determine subframe / symbol timing and the physical layer identity.

[0087] The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) may be in symbol 4 of a specific subframe of a frame. The SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing.

[0088] Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE may determine the physical cell identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE may determine the location of the aforementioned DMRS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the master information block (MIB) may be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS) / PBCH block (SSB). The MIB provides the number of resource blocks (RBs) in the system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not sent via the PBCH (such as system information blocks (SIBs)), and / or paging messages.

[0089] As Figure 4CAs illustrated, some of the REs in the RE carry DMRS for channel estimation at the base station (indicated as R for a particular configuration, but other DMRS configurations are possible). The UE can send DMRS for PUCCH and DMRS for PUSCH. The PUSCH DMRS can be sent, for example, in the previous one or two symbols of the PUSCH. The PUCCH DMRS can be sent in different configurations depending on whether a short PUCCH or a long PUCCH is sent and depending on the particular PUCCH format used. The UE 120 can send a sounding reference signal (SRS). The SRS can be sent, for example, in the last symbol of a subframe. The SRS can have a comb structure, and the UE can send the SRS on one of these comb teeth. The SRS can be used by the base station for channel quality estimation to enable frequency-dependent scheduling of the UL.

[0090] Figure 4D Examples of various UL channels within a subframe of a frame are illustrated. The PUCCH can be located at the position indicated in one configuration. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as a scheduling request, a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a rank indicator (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The PUSCH carries data and can, in addition, be used to carry a buffer status report (BSR), a power headroom report (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0091] Figure 5 FIG. is a diagram illustrating an example beamforming architecture 500 that supports beamforming for millimeter wave (mmW) communication in accordance with the present disclosure. In some aspects, the architecture 500 can implement aspects of a wireless communication network 100. In some aspects, the architecture 500 can be implemented in a transmitting device (e.g., a first wireless communication device, a UE, or a network node) and / or a receiving device (e.g., a second wireless communication device, a UE, or a network node), as described herein.

[0092] Broadly speaking, Figure 5 FIG. is a diagram illustrating example hardware components of a wireless communication device in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure. The illustrated components can include those that can be used for antenna element selection and / or for beamforming to transmit wireless signals. There are numerous architectures for antenna element selection and for implementing phase shifts, and only one example is illustrated here. The architecture 500 includes a modem (modulator / demodulator) 502, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 504, a first mixer 506, a second mixer 508, and a splitter 510. The architecture 500 also includes a plurality of first amplifiers 512, a plurality of phase shifters 514, a plurality of second amplifiers 516, and an antenna array 518 that includes a plurality of antenna elements 520. In some examples, the modem 502 can be combined Figure 2One or more of the described modems 232 or 254.

[0093] Shows the transmission lines or other waveguides, wires, and / or traces connecting various components to illustrate how the signals to be transmitted travel between the components. Reference numerals 522, 524, 526, and 528 indicate regions in the architecture 500 where different types of signals travel or are processed. Specifically, reference numeral 522 indicates the region where the digital baseband signal travels or is processed, reference numeral 524 indicates the region where the analog baseband signal travels or is processed, reference numeral 526 indicates the region where the analog intermediate frequency (IF) signal travels or is processed, and reference numeral 528 indicates the region where the analog radio frequency (RF) signal travels or is processed. The architecture also includes local oscillator A 530, local oscillator B 532, and controller / processor 534. In some aspects, controller / processor 534 corresponds to the controller / processor 240 of the BS 110 described above in connection with Figure 2 and / or the controller / processor 280 of the UE 120 described above in connection with Figure 2 the UE 120.

[0094] Each antenna element 520 may include one or more sub-elements for radiating or receiving RF signals. For example, a single antenna element 520 may include a first sub-element that is cross-polarized with a second sub-element, which may be used to independently transmit cross-polarized signals. The antenna element 520 may include a patch antenna, a dipole antenna, or other types of antennas arranged in a linear pattern, a two-dimensional pattern, or another pattern. The spacing between the antenna elements 520 may be such that signals with a desired wavelength transmitted individually by the antenna elements 520 can interact or interfere (e.g., to form a desired beam). For example, given a desired wavelength or frequency range, the spacing may provide a quarter-wavelength, a half-wavelength, or other fractional wavelength of the spacing between adjacent antenna elements 520 to allow the interaction or interference of signals transmitted individually by the antenna elements 520 within that desired range.

[0095] The modem 502 processes and generates a digital baseband signal and may also control the operation of the DAC 504, the first mixer 506 and the second mixer 508, the splitter 510, the first amplifier 512, the phase shifter 514, and / or the second amplifier 516 to transmit signals via one or more or all of the antenna elements 520. The modem 502 may process signals and control operations according to communication standards such as the wireless standards discussed herein. The DAC 504 may convert the digital baseband signal received from (and to be transmitted by) the modem 502 into an analog baseband signal. The first mixer 506 uses the local oscillator A 530 to up-convert the analog baseband signal to an analog IF signal within the IF. For example, the first mixer 506 may mix the signal with the oscillating signal generated by the local oscillator A 530 to "shift" the baseband analog signal to the IF. In some cases, some processing or filtering (not shown) may occur at the IF. The second mixer 508 uses the local oscillator B 532 to up-convert the analog IF signal to an analog RF signal. Similar to the first mixer, the second mixer 508 may mix the signal with the oscillating signal generated by the local oscillator B 532 to "shift" the IF analog signal to the RF or to the frequency of the transmitted or received signal. The modem 502 and / or the controller / processor 534 may adjust the frequencies of the local oscillator A 530 and / or the local oscillator B 532 such that the desired IF and / or RF frequencies are generated and used to facilitate signal processing and transmission within the desired bandwidth.

[0096] In the illustrated architecture 500, the signal up-converted by the second mixer 508 is separated or replicated into multiple signals by the splitter 510. The splitter 510 in the architecture 500 separates the RF signal into multiple identical or nearly identical RF signals. In other examples, the separation may occur for any type of signal, including baseband signals, baseband analog or IF analog signals. Each of these signals may correspond to an antenna element 520, and the signal travels through the amplifiers 512, 516, the phase shifter 514, and / or other elements corresponding to the respective antenna element 520 and is processed by these components to be provided to and transmitted by the corresponding antenna element 520 of the antenna array 518. In one example, the splitter 510 may be an active splitter connected to a power source and provide some gain such that the RF signal leaving the splitter 510 is at a power level equal to or greater than the signal entering the splitter 510. In another example, the splitter 510 is a passive splitter not connected to a power source, and the RF signal leaving the splitter 510 may be at a power level lower than the RF signal entering the splitter 510.

[0097] After being separated by the separator 510, the resulting RF signal can enter an amplifier, such as the first amplifier 512, or a phase shifter 514 corresponding to the antenna element 520. The first amplifier 512 and the second amplifier 516 are illustrated in dashed lines because in some aspects, one or both of them may not be necessary. In some aspects, both the first amplifier 512 and the second amplifier 516 are present. In some aspects, neither the first amplifier 512 nor the second amplifier 516 is present. In some aspects, one of the two amplifiers 512, 516 is present, but the other is not. By way of example, if the separator 510 is an active separator, the first amplifier 512 may not be used. By another example, if the phase shifter 514 is an active phase shifter that can provide gain, the second amplifier 516 may not be used.

[0098] The amplifiers 512, 516 can provide a desired level of positive or negative gain. Positive gain (positive on the dB scale) can be used to increase the amplitude of the signal radiated by a particular antenna element 520. Negative gain (negative on the dB scale) can be used to reduce the amplitude of the signal by a particular antenna element and / or suppress the radiation of the signal. Each of the amplifiers 512, 516 can be independently controlled (e.g., by the modem 502 or the controller / processor 534) to provide independent control of the gain for each antenna element 520. For example, the modem 502 and / or the controller / processor 534 can have at least one control line connected to each of the separator 510, the first amplifier 512, the phase shifter 514, and / or the second amplifier 516, and the at least one control line can be used to configure the gain to provide a desired amount of gain for each component and thus for each antenna element 520.

[0099] The phase shifter 514 can provide a configurable phase shift or phase offset to the corresponding RF signal to be transmitted. The phase shifter 514 can be a passive phase shifter that is not directly connected to a power source. A passive phase shifter may introduce some insertion loss. The second amplifier 516 can enhance the signal to compensate for the insertion loss. The phase shifter 514 can be an active phase shifter connected to a power source, such that the active phase shifter provides a certain amount of gain or prevents insertion loss. The setting of each phase shifter in the phase shifter 514 is independent, meaning that each phase shifter can be independently set to provide a desired amount of phase shift, or the same amount of phase shift, or some other configuration. The modem 502 and / or the controller / processor 534 can have at least one control line connected to each phase shifter in the phase shifter 514, and the at least one control line can be used to configure the phase shifter 514 to provide a desired amount of phase shift or phase offset between the antenna elements 520.

[0100] In the illustrated architecture 500, the RF signals received by the antenna elements 520 are provided to one or more first amplifiers 556 to enhance the signal strength. The first amplifiers 556 may be connected to the same antenna array 518 (e.g., for time division duplex (TDD) operation). The first amplifiers 556 may be connected to different antenna arrays 518. The enhanced RF signals are input into one or more phase shifters 554 to provide configurable phase shifts or phase offsets for the corresponding received RF signals to enable reception via one or more Rx beams. The phase shifters 554 may be active phase shifters or passive phase shifters. The settings of the phase shifters 554 are independent, meaning each phase shifter can be independently set to provide a desired amount of phase shift or the same amount of phase shift or some other configuration. The modem 502 and / or the controller / processor 534 may have at least one control line connected to each of the phase shifters 554, and the at least one control line can be used to configure the phase shifters 554 to provide a desired amount of phase shift or phase offset between the antenna elements 520 to enable reception via one or more Rx beams.

[0101] The output of the phase shifters 554 can be input into one or more second amplifiers 552 for signal amplification of the phase-shifted received RF signals. The second amplifiers 552 can be individually configured to provide a configured amount of gain. The second amplifiers 552 can be individually configured to provide a certain amount of gain to ensure that the signals input into the combiner 550 have the same amplitude. The amplifiers 552 and / or 556 are illustrated in dashed lines because in some aspects, they may not be required. In some aspects, both the amplifier 552 and the amplifier 556 are present. In another aspect, neither the amplifier 552 nor the amplifier 556 is present. In other aspects, one of the amplifiers 552, 556 is present, but the other is not.

[0102] In the illustrated architecture 500, the signals output by the phase shifters 554 (via the amplifiers 552 when present) are combined in the combiner 550. The combiner 550 in the architecture 500 combines the RF signals into one signal. The combiner 550 can be a passive combiner (e.g., not connected to a power source), which may result in some insertion loss. The combiner 550 can be an active combiner (e.g., connected to a power source), which may result in some signal gain. When the combiner 550 is an active combiner, it can provide different (e.g., configurable) amounts of gain for each input signal such that the input signals have the same amplitude when combined. When the combiner 550 is an active combiner, the combiner 550 may not require the second amplifier 552 because the active combiner can provide signal amplification.

[0103] The output of the combiner 550 is input into mixers 548 and 546. Mixers 548 and 546 typically use inputs from local oscillators 572 and 570 respectively to down-convert the received RF signals to produce intermediate or baseband signals carrying the encoded and modulated information. The outputs of mixers 548 and 546 are input into an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 544 for conversion to digital signals. The digital signals output from the ADC 544 are input into the modem 502 for baseband processing such as decoding, de-interleaving or similar operations.

[0104] The architecture 500 is given by way of example only to illustrate an architecture for transmitting and / or receiving signals. In some cases, the architecture 500 and / or each part of the architecture 500 may be repeated many times within the architecture to accommodate or provide any number of RF chains, antenna elements and / or antenna panels. Additionally, numerous alternative architectures are possible and contemplated. For example, although only a single antenna array 518 is shown, two, three or more antenna arrays may be included, each antenna array having one or more of its own corresponding amplifier, phase shifter, splitter, mixer, DAC, ADC and / or modem. For example, a single UE may include two, four or more antenna arrays for transmitting or receiving signals at different physical locations on the UE or in different directions.

[0105] Furthermore, mixers, splitters, amplifiers, phase shifters and other components may be located in different signal type regions in different implemented architectures (e.g., represented by different reference numerals among 522, 524, 526, 528). For example, in different examples, separating the signal to be transmitted into multiple signals may occur at analog RF, analog IF, analog baseband or digital baseband frequencies. Similarly, amplification and / or phase shifting may also occur at different frequencies. For example, in some aspects, one or more of the splitter 510, amplifiers 512, 516 or phase shifter 514 may be located between the DAC 504 and the first mixer 506 or between the first mixer 506 and the second mixer 508. In one example, the functions of one or more components may be combined into one component. For example, the phase shifter 514 may perform amplification to include or replace the first amplifier 512 and / or the second amplifier 516. By another example, the phase shift may be implemented by the second mixer 508 to eliminate the need for a separate phase shifter 514. This technique is sometimes referred to as local oscillator (LO) phase shift. In some aspects of this configuration, there may be multiple IF-to-RF mixers within the second mixer 508 (e.g., for each antenna element chain), and the local oscillator B 532 may supply different local oscillator signals (with different phase offsets) to each IF-to-RF mixer.

[0106] The modem 502 and / or the controller / processor 534 may control one or more of the other components 504 to 572 to select one or more antenna elements 520 and / or to form a beam for transmitting one or more signals. For example, antenna elements 520 may be independently selected or deselected for signal transmission by controlling the amplitude of one or more corresponding amplifiers, such as first amplifier 512 and / or second amplifier 516. Beamforming includes using multiple signals on different antenna elements to generate a beam, where one or more or all of the multiple signals are phase-shifted relative to each other. The formed beam may carry physical or higher layer reference signals or information. Since each of the multiple signals is radiated from a respective antenna element 520, the radiated signals interact with each other, interfere (constructively and destructively), and amplify to form the resulting beam. The shape (such as amplitude, width, and / or the presence of sidelobes) and direction (such as the angle of the beam relative to the surface of the antenna array 518) may be dynamically controlled by modifying the phase shift or phase offset applied by the phase shifters 514 and the amplitudes applied by the amplifiers 512, 516 of the multiple signals relative to each other. The controller / processor 534 may be partially or fully located within one or more of the other components of the architecture 500. For example, in some aspects, the controller / processor 534 may be located within the modem 502.

[0107] Beam weights (e.g., discrete Fourier transform (DFT) beam weights) may be used in mmWave systems (and above) for directional beam steering. Such beam weights have predictable / theoretical beam properties (assuming infinite-bit phase shift resolution and constant antenna element spacing for a uniformly spaced array, as described below), including 10log 10 (N) dB of peak array gain, a first sidelobe increment of approximately 13.2 dB relative to the main lobe of the beam, and a 3 dB beamwidth of the main lobe of approximately 100 / N degrees, where N is the array dimension. The sidelobe increment indicates the difference between the gain of the main lobe (e.g., peak gain) and the gain of the sidelobe (e.g., peak gain). The array dimension may include a value indicating how many antenna elements are in the antenna array 518 that generates the beam.

[0108] The phase shifters 514 may be characterized by a resolution. The resolution of the phase shifters 514 indicates the number of phase shifts that may be applied by the phase shifters 514 to an input signal. The resolution may be characterized by the number of bits, denoted as B. A B-bit phase shifter 514 may be capable of applying 2 BA number of phase shifts are applied to the input signal. For example, a one-bit phase shifter 514 may be capable of applying two phase shifts (corresponding to beam weights such as 1 and -1 or i and -i). A two-bit phase shifter 514 may be capable of applying four phase shifts (using only in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) signals, corresponding to beam weights such as 1, -1, i, and -i). A three-bit phase shifter 514 can use both in-phase and quadrature signals through multi-level phase shifts to achieve eight different phase shifts. In some specific implementations, the 5G chipset may assume at least a 3-bit phase shifter 514 or at least a 5-bit phase shifter 514.

[0109] A phase shifter 514 capable of having a higher resolution can be more complex than a phase shifter 514 that can only have a lower resolution. Implementing a lower resolution phase shifter 514 and implementing a higher resolution phase shifter 514 are advantageous. For example, a low-resolution phase shifter consumes less power and uses less area on the chip compared to a higher-resolution phase shifter, and thus may provide a competitive advantage for some designs. Specifically, a B = 2-bit phase shifter uses only I or Q signals (assuming beam weights are 1, i, -1, and -i), while a B = 3-bit phase shifter uses both I and Q signals through multi-level phase shifts. Therefore, low-resolution phase shifters can be considered for NR-Light / IoT applications to reduce costs and / or power. As another example, some radio access (e.g., 5G, 6G, etc.) systems can be designed to have a chipset with a WiFi design (e.g., 802.11ad / ay, where B = 2-bit resolution is usually sufficient because the deployment is usually indoor). However, such low-resolution phase shifters may be associated with increased interference and stronger sidelobes compared to higher-resolution phase shifters, as described in connection with Figure 6 described.

[0110] Figure 6 FIGS. 600 and 605 are diagrams illustrating examples of the difference between the main lobe gain and the sidelobe gain at different phase shifter resolutions in accordance with the present disclosure. Examples 600 and 605 are line graphs where the horizontal axis indicates the beam index and the vertical axis indicates the sidelobe level. The sidelobe level is the difference between the gain of the main lobe (e.g., peak gain) and the gain of the sidelobe (e.g., peak gain) generated in conjunction with the generation of the main lobe. A beam can include a main lobe and zero or more sidelobes. The main lobe has the highest gain among all the lobes of the beam (e.g., the radiation pattern of the antenna array). The sidelobes are generated by the same antenna array as the main lobe and have a lower gain than the main lobe. The sidelobes are also transmitted in directions different from the main lobe. For example, a sidelobe can include a local maximum of the radiation pattern of the antenna array that is not the main lobe. As used herein, "sidelobe" can also refer to the back lobe. Example 600 illustrates the difference between the main lobe gain and the sidelobe gain for an N = 16 (8×2) array, while example 605 illustrates the difference between the main lobe gain and the sidelobe gain for an N = 8 (4×2) array.

[0111] Examples 600 and 605 illustrate the difference between the main lobe gain and the sidelobe gain at different phase shifter resolutions corresponding to different values of B. In Examples 600 and 605, a larger sidelobe level indicates a larger difference between the main lobe gain and the sidelobe gain. Generally, it can be seen that a larger value of B (corresponding to a higher phase shifter resolution) results in a larger difference between the main lobe gain and the sidelobe gain. For example, in Example 600, the value of B = 4 (shown by reference numeral 610) and the value of B = 3 (shown by reference numeral 615) both have sidelobe values that are all higher than about 10.5 dB, indicating weak sidelobes. As another example, in Example 605, the value of B = 4 (shown by reference numeral 620) and the value of B = 3 (shown by reference numeral 625) both have sidelobe values that are all at or higher than about 9 dB, indicating weak sidelobes. However, at lower values of B (corresponding to lower phase resolution), a lower difference between the main lobe gain and the sidelobe gain may occur. For example, the value of B = 2 (shown by reference numerals 630 and 635) may result in sidelobe values that are lower than 7 dB in Example 600 and lower than 6 dB in Example 605.

[0112] It can be seen that, given a specific phase shifter resolution and array size, some beams have stronger sidelobes than other beams. From the perspective of the network (or other UEs accessing the network), strong sidelobes may cause interference, especially in a dense network and in scenarios where the beams are not coordinated across cells. Considering the use of low-resolution phase shifters and small antenna arrays, this sidelobe-based interference is particularly problematic, which may generally cause stronger sidelobes than high-resolution phase shifters and large antenna arrays. Using a beam associated with strong sidelobes at the UE may cause interference and reduced network communication efficiency.

[0113] Some of the techniques described herein provide for the selection of a beam that meets an interference threshold caused by beamforming at the UE and the transmission using that beam. The interference threshold may be based on the difference between the sidelobe and the main lobe of the beam. For example, a beam that violates the interference threshold may have a sidelobe whose gain (e.g., peak gain) is within X dB of the main lobe of the beam. The UE may select a beam from a set of beams that do not violate the interference threshold. In some aspects, the interference threshold may be signaled by a network entity. For example, as described elsewhere herein, the network entity may determine the interference threshold and may provide an indication of the interference threshold to the UE. By transmitting using a beam that meets the interference threshold, interference is reduced and network communication efficiency is improved.

[0114] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating Example 700 of beamforming interference mitigation signaling according to the present disclosure. Example 700 includes a UE (e.g., UE 120) and a network entity (e.g., BS110, CU, DU, RU, combinations thereof). Although Example 700 is described with respect to a UE, Figure 7 、Figure 8 The operations, as well as other operations described herein, may also be performed by other types of wireless communication devices.

[0115] As Figure 7 shown in and reference numeral 710, a network entity may output (e.g., send directly to the UE or provide for transmission by another network entity) and the UE may receive an indication of an interference threshold for interference caused by beamforming at the UE. The UE may receive the indication via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control (MAC) signaling, downlink control information (DCI), a combination thereof, or another form of signaling. In some aspects, the interference threshold may be related to the sidelobes of the UE. For example, the interference caused by beamforming at the UE may be due to the sidelobes of the beam generated by the UE. Thus, the network entity may provide information about the allowable sidelobe level. Based on this information, the UE may restrict the use of a particular beam (for uplink transmission) corresponding to a particular array dimension, as described below.

[0116] In some aspects, the interference threshold indicates a threshold gain offset of the sidelobes generated by beamforming at the UE. For example, the threshold gain offset may identify the minimum difference between the gain (e.g., peak gain) of the main lobe of the UE's beam and the gain (e.g., peak gain) of the sidelobe (e.g., strongest sidelobe) of the UE's beam. A beam that meets the interference threshold may have a sidelobe with a gain (e.g., peak gain) that is at most lower than the gain (e.g., peak gain) of the main lobe of the beam by the threshold gain offset. Thus, a beam that meets the interference threshold may have a strongest sidelobe that is at least weaker than the main lobe by the threshold gain offset. A beam that violates the interference threshold may have a strongest sidelobe that is weaker than the main lobe by less than the threshold gain offset. By using beams that meet the interference threshold, interference caused by sidelobes is reduced. In contrast, using beams that violate the interference threshold may cause interference due to transmission in directions other than the direction of the main lobe at high gain.

[0117] In some aspects, a network entity may identify an interference threshold. For example, the network entity may receive information indicating interference associated with sidelobes from a UE or another network entity. In some aspects, the information may identify the beam(s) causing the interference (e.g., beamforming-based reference signals such as synchronization signal blocks, channel state information reference signals, or sounding reference signals). In some aspects, the network entity may identify the interference threshold based on densification of the network entity's network. For example, the network entity may dynamically modify the interference threshold (e.g., the allowable sidelobe level) based on a densification parameter, which may indicate the density of UEs, network entities, etc. in the network or a given area. The network entity may increase the interference threshold (e.g., using a larger threshold gain offset) for a denser network (e.g., a network with a larger number of active devices or a greater amount of interference), or may decrease the interference threshold (e.g., using a smaller threshold gain offset) for a less dense network (e.g., a network with a smaller number of active devices or a lesser amount of interference).

[0118] As shown by reference numeral 720, in some aspects, the UE may select a beam at least in part based on the interference threshold. For example, the UE may access information indicating beams that meet a given interference threshold. As an example, consider Figure 6 Example 600 and a UE with a 3-bit phase shifter (as indicated by the square dots in the line graph of Example 600). If the interference threshold is configured to have a threshold gain offset of 11 dB, the beams that meet the interference threshold may include beam indices 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8. In this example, the UE may select a beam for transmission from the beams corresponding to (e.g., meeting) the interference threshold, which may include beam indices 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8. In some aspects, the UE may select a beam for a given array dimension (e.g., a given value of N or a given arrangement of antenna elements).

[0119] In some aspects, the UE may select a beam at least in part based on the minimum number of antenna elements. For example, as described with respect to Figure 6 beams generated using a smaller number of antenna elements are generally associated with stronger sidelobes than beams generated using a larger number of antenna elements. The interference threshold may be associated with (e.g., mapped to) the minimum number of antenna elements such that all beams (or a particular number of beams) generated using at least the minimum number of antenna elements meet the interference threshold. For example, consider Figure 6Examples 600 and 605, 3-bit phase shifters, and an interference threshold with a threshold gain offset of 10 dB. In this example, if N = 8 (4×2) antenna elements are used as shown in Example 605, beam indices 2 and 4 are unavailable due to the corresponding beams violating the interference threshold. In this example, at least 16 antenna elements (as in Example 600) ensure that no beam violates the interference threshold in the case of 3-bit phase shifters. For example, a set of beams generated using 16 antenna elements and 3-bit phase shifters may include beam indices 1-8 of Example 600. In this example, the UE may identify the minimum number of antenna elements as 16 antenna elements. Thus, this set of beams including beam indices 1-8 may correspond to the interference threshold because the minimum number of antenna elements (e.g., 16 antenna elements) is used to generate this set of beams, where the minimum number of antenna elements corresponds to the interference threshold. Thus, the UE may reduce the bound on the array dimension at the UE (i.e., the UE may not allow arbitrarily low array dimensions).

[0120] The correspondence between a given interference threshold (or range of interference thresholds) and the minimum number of antennas may be configured, determined, pre-configured (e.g., by the manufacturer of the UE or the network operator), etc., by the UE. As just one example, this correspondence may indicate that an interference threshold with a threshold gain offset between 9 dB and 11 dB is associated with at least 16 antenna elements, and an interference threshold with a threshold gain offset between 6 dB and 9 dB is associated with at least 8 antenna elements.

[0121] Beams may be defined by beamforming reference signals corresponding to the beams. For example, beamforming reference signals may include Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs), Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RSs), Sounding Reference Signals (SRSs), and / or another form of reference signal. An SSB may be identified by an SSB index, a CSI-RS may be identified by a CSI-RS index, and an SRS may be identified by an SRS index. Beams generated using the same Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state (e.g., the same set of spatial attributes) as the beamforming reference signal may be defined by the beamforming reference signal and may be identified by the index of the beamforming reference signal. Thus, the UE and network nodes may convey information about a specific beam by transmitting information indicating the index of the beamforming reference signal that defines the specific beam. At a given array dimension (e.g., a feasible array dimension for a certain interference threshold), the UE may restrict certain beams that can be used via SSBs, CSI-RSs, and / or SRSs, such as by selecting beams that satisfy that certain interference threshold from a set of beams defined by SSBs, CSI-RSs, and / or SRSs, where each beam in the set of beams satisfies that certain interference threshold.

[0122] In some aspects, the UE may receive information indicating that a beam meets an interference threshold. In some aspects, the UE may receive information indicating that a beam violates an interference threshold. For example, the UE may receive such information from another UE (e.g., a UE experiencing interference from the sidelobe of a beam), a network entity (e.g., Figure 7 a network entity of

[0123] or another network entity), etc. In some aspects, the UE may be pre-configured, such as by the UE's manufacturer or network operator, with information indicating that a beam meets or violates an interference threshold. In some aspects, the UE may be configured with a table indicating the interference threshold and the corresponding beams that violate (or meet) the interference threshold.

[0124] As shown by reference numeral 730, the UE may use a beam that meets the interference threshold to transmit signaling. In some aspects, a network entity may use a beam to communicate with the UE. For example, the network entity may receive a communication transmitted via a beam. For example, the UE may select a beam from a set of beams corresponding to an interference threshold (e.g., from a set of beams that use at least a minimum number of antenna elements corresponding to and / or defined by the SSB index, CSI-RS index, or SRS index not allowed for the interference threshold). The signaling may include data, control information, a reference signal, or another form of transmission.

[0125] As shown by reference numeral 740, in some aspects, the UE may transmit and a network entity may obtain (e.g., receive directly from the UE or via another network entity) information indicating a beam that violates the interference threshold at the UE. For example, the UE may transmit information indicating one or more beamforming reference signals (e.g., one or more SSB indexes, CSI-RS indexes, and / or SRS indexes) corresponding to one or more beams that violate the interference threshold at the UE. The UE may identify one or more beams that violate the interference threshold based on information stored at the UE (e.g., information indicating the gain offset between the main lobe and the sidelobe of a beam), information received from a network entity (e.g., information indicating that the sidelobe of a beam or beams is associated with a threshold level of interference), etc. In some aspects, the information indicating the one or more beamforming reference signals may indicate an SSB index or a TCI state. For example, the SSB index or TCI state may correspond to (e.g., define) a beam that violates the interference threshold. The UE may provide such information according to an interference threshold signaled by a network node (such as at reference numeral 710) or in the absence of an interference threshold. For example, the UE may transmit information indicating one or more beams associated with a low gain offset, regardless of whether the UE has been configured with an interference threshold.

[0126] As shown by reference numeral 750, in some aspects, a network node may output an indication (e.g., a beam switching message) to switch to a beam based at least in part on information indicating the one or more beamformed reference signals, and a UE may receive the indication. For example, the indication may cause the UE to switch from a beam defined by one of the one or more beamformed reference signals to a beam that meets an interference threshold (e.g., the beam described with respect to reference numeral 730). In some examples, the signaling indicated by reference numerals 740 and 750 may occur before the communication shown by reference numeral 730. Additionally or alternatively, the signaling indicated by reference numerals 740 and 750 may occur after the communication shown by reference numeral 730.

[0127] As shown by reference numeral 760, in some aspects, a network entity may output a configuration of a set of beamformed reference signals based at least in part on information indicating the one or more beamformed reference signals (as shown by reference numeral 740), and a UE may receive the configuration. For example, the set of beamformed reference signals may exclude the one or more beamformed reference signals such that the UE is less likely to select a beam that violates the interference threshold.

[0128] As indicated above, Figure 7 is provided as an example. Other examples may be different from the examples described with respect to Figure 7 those described.

[0129] Figure 8 A method 800 for wireless communication by a UE such as UE 120 is shown.

[0130] Method 800 begins at 810, where an indication of an interference threshold of interference caused by beamforming at the UE is received.

[0131] Then, method 800 proceeds to step 820, where a signal is transmitted using a beam having an interference value that meets the interference threshold.

[0132] In a first aspect, the interference threshold indicates a threshold gain offset of sidelobes generated by beamforming at the UE.

[0133] In a second aspect, separately or in combination with the first aspect, a sidelobe of a beam having an interference value that meets the interference threshold has a first gain, a main lobe of the beam has a second gain, and the interference value meets the interference threshold because the first gain is at least the interference threshold lower than the second gain.

[0134] In a third aspect, separately or in combination with one or more of the first aspect and the second aspect, transmitting using a beam further includes transmitting using at least a minimum number of antenna elements based at least in part on the interference threshold.

[0135] In a fourth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to third aspects, method 800 includes selecting a beam from a set of beams corresponding to an interference threshold.

[0136] In a fifth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fourth aspects, the set of beams is generated based on using a minimum number of antenna elements corresponding to the interference threshold, and the set of beams corresponds to the interference threshold.

[0137] In a sixth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fifth aspects, the set of beams includes at least one of one or more beams defined by a synchronization signal block index, one or more beams defined by a channel state information reference signal index, or one or more beams defined by a sounding reference signal index.

[0138] In a seventh aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to sixth aspects, method 800 includes transmitting information indicating one or more beamforming reference signals corresponding to one or more beams that violate the interference threshold at the UE.

[0139] In an eighth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to seventh aspects, method 800 includes receiving an indication to switch to a beam based at least in part on the information indicating the one or more beamforming reference signals.

[0140] In a ninth aspect, alone or in combination with one or more of the first to eighth aspects, method 800 includes receiving a configuration of a set of beamforming reference signals based at least in part on the information indicating the one or more beamforming reference signals.

[0141] In one aspect, method 800 or any aspect related thereto may be performed by a device such as Figure 10 communication device 1000, which includes various components operable to, configured to, or adapted to perform method 800. Communication device 1000 is described in more detail below.

[0142] It should be noted that Figure 8 is merely an example of a method, and other methods including fewer, additional, or alternative steps are consistent with the present disclosure.

[0143] Figure 9 A method 900 for wireless communication by a network entity such as BS110 or a decomposed base station as discussed with respect to Figure 3 is shown.

[0144] Method 900 begins at 910, where an interference threshold identifying interference caused by beamforming at the UE is identified.

[0145] Then, method 900 proceeds to step 920, where an indication of an interference threshold of interference caused by beamforming at the UE is output.

[0146] In a first aspect, the interference threshold indicates a threshold gain offset of sidelobes generated by beamforming at the UE.

[0147] In a second aspect, either alone or in combination with the first aspect, a sidelobe of a beam having an interference value that satisfies the interference threshold has a first gain, a main lobe of the beam has a second gain, and the interference value satisfies the interference threshold because the first gain is at least the interference threshold lower than the second gain.

[0148] In a third aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first aspect and the second aspect, method 900 includes, before outputting the indication, obtaining information indicating one or more beamforming reference signals corresponding to one or more beams that violate an interference threshold at the UE, wherein the interference threshold is identified at least in part based on the one or more beamforming reference signals.

[0149] In a fourth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first aspect to the third aspect, method 900 includes outputting an indication to switch to a beam based at least in part on the information indicating the one or more beamforming reference signals.

[0150] In a fifth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first aspect to the fourth aspect, process 900 includes outputting a configuration of a set of beamforming reference signals based at least in part on the information indicating the one or more beamforming reference signals.

[0151] In a sixth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first aspect to the fifth aspect, method 900 includes communicating with the UE using a beam associated with an interference value that satisfies the interference threshold.

[0152] In a seventh aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first aspect to the sixth aspect, identifying the interference threshold further includes using information indicating one or more beamforming reference signals corresponding to one or more beams that violate the interference threshold to identify the interference threshold, wherein the information is received from the UE or another network node.

[0153] In one aspect, method 900 or any aspect associated therewith may be performed by a device such as Figure 11 communication device 1100, which includes various components operable to, configured to, or adapted to perform method 900. Communication device 1100 is described in more detail below.

[0154] It should be noted that Figure 9This is merely an example of a method, and other methods that include fewer, additional, or alternative steps are consistent with this disclosure.

[0155] Figure 10 Aspects of an example communication device 1000 are depicted. In some aspects, the communication device 1000 is a UE, such as UE 120.

[0156] The communication device 1000 includes a processing system 1002 coupled to a transceiver 1008 (e.g., a transmitter and / or a receiver). The transceiver 1008 is configured to transmit and receive signals for the communication device 1000 via an antenna 1010, such as the various signals described herein. The processing system 1002 may be configured to perform the processing functions of the communication device 1000, including processing signals received by and / or to be transmitted by the communication device 1000.

[0157] The processing system 1002 includes one or more processors 1020. In various aspects, one or more processors 1020 may represent one or more of the receive processor 258, the transmit processor 264, the TX MIMO processor 266, and / or the controller / processor 280, as described with respect to Figure 2 One or more processors 1020 are coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 1030 via a bus 1006. In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1030 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by one or more processors 1020, cause one or more processors 1020 to perform the method 800 described with respect to Figure 8 or any aspect related thereto. It should be noted that the reference to a processor that performs the functions of the communication device 1000 may include one or more processors that perform the functions of the communication device 1000.

[0158] In the depicted example, the computer-readable medium / memory 1030 stores code (e.g., executable instructions) 1031 for receiving an indication of an interference threshold for interference caused by beamforming at the UE, code 1032 for transmitting a signal using a beam having an interference value that meets the interference threshold, code 1033 for selecting a beam from a set of beams corresponding to the interference threshold, and code 1034 for transmitting information indicating one or more beamformings corresponding to one or more beams that violate the interference threshold at the UE. The processing of code 1031 - 1034 may cause the communication device 1000 to perform the method 800 described with respect to Figure 8 or any aspect related thereto.

[0159] One or more processors 1020 include circuitry configured to implement (e.g., execute) code stored in a computer-readable medium / memory 1030, including circuitry 1021 for receiving an indication of an interference threshold for interference caused by beamforming at a UE, circuitry 1022 for transmitting a signal using a beam having an interference value that meets the interference threshold, circuitry 1023 for selecting a beam from a set of beams corresponding to the interference threshold, and circuitry 1024 for transmitting information indicating one or more beamformings corresponding to one or more beams that violate the interference threshold at the UE. Processing using circuitry 1021-1024 enables the communication device 1000 to perform with respect to Figure 8 the method 800 described or any aspect related thereto.

[0160] Various components of the communication device 1000 may provide parts for performing with respect to Figure 8 the method 800 described or any aspect related thereto. For example, parts for transmitting, conveying, or outputting for transmission may include the transceiver 254 and / or the antenna 252 of the UE 120 and / or Figure 10 the transceiver 1008 and the antenna 1010 of the communication device 1000 in Figure 10 the same. Parts for receiving or obtaining may include the transceiver 254 and / or the antenna 252 of the UE 120 and / or Figure 10 the transceiver 1008 and the antenna 1010 of the communication device 1000 in

[0161] Figure 11 Aspects of an example communication device are depicted. In some aspects, the communication device 1100 is a network entity, such as a BS 110 or a decomposed base station as discussed with respect to Figure 3 the same.

[0162] The communication device 1100 includes a processing system 1102 coupled to a transceiver 1108 (e.g., a transmitter and / or a receiver) and / or a network interface 1112. The transceiver 1108 is configured to transmit and receive signals for the communication device 1100 via an antenna 1110, such as the various signals described herein. The network interface 1112 is configured to obtain and convey signals for the communication device 1100 via a communication link, such as a fronthaul link, a midhaul link, and / or a backhaul link as described herein with respect to Figure 3 the same. The processing system 1102 may be configured to perform the processing functions of the communication device 1100, including processing signals received by the communication device 1100 and / or to be transmitted by the communication device.

[0163] The processing system 1102 includes one or more processors 1120. In various aspects, the one or more processors 1120 may represent one or more of the receiving processor 238, the transmitting processor 220, the TX MIMO processor 230, and / or the controller / processor 240, as described with respect to Figure 2 The one or more processors 1120 are coupled to the computer-readable medium / memory 1130 via a bus 1106. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1130 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the one or more processors 1120, cause the one or more processors 1120 to perform the method 900 described with respect to Figure 9 or any aspect related thereto. Note that references to the processors of the communication device 1100 that perform functions may include one or more processors of the communication device 1100 that perform the functions.

[0164] Figure 9 In the depicted example, the computer-readable medium / memory 1130 stores code 1131 (e.g., executable instructions) for identifying an interference threshold for interference caused by beamforming at the UE, code 1132 for outputting an indication of the interference threshold for interference caused by beamforming at the UE, and code 1133 for obtaining, prior to outputting the indication, information indicating one or more beamforming reference signals corresponding to one or more beams that violate the interference threshold at the UE. Processing of the code 1131 - 1133 may cause the communication device 1100 to perform the method 900 described with respect to or any aspect related thereto.

[0165] The one or more processors 1120 include circuitry configured to implement (e.g., execute) the code stored in the computer-readable medium / memory 1130, including circuitry 1121 for identifying an interference threshold for interference caused by beamforming at the UE, circuitry 1122 for outputting an indication of the interference threshold for interference caused by beamforming at the UE, and circuitry 1123 for obtaining, prior to outputting the indication, information indicating one or more beamforming reference signals corresponding to one or more beams that violate the interference threshold at the UE. Processing using the circuitry 1121 - 1123 may cause the communication device 1100 to perform the method 900 described with respect to Figure 9 or any aspect related thereto.

[0166] The various components of the communication device 1100 may provide components for performing the method 900 described with respect to Figure 9 or any aspect related thereto. Components for transmitting, conveying, or outputting for transmission may include the transceiver 232 and / or the antenna 234 of the BS 110 and / or Figure 11The transceiver 1108 and antenna 1110 of the communication device 1100 in. Components for receiving or obtaining may include the transceiver 232 and / or antenna 234 of the BS 110 and / or Figure 11 The transceiver 1108 and antenna 1110 of the communication device 1100 in.

[0167] An overview of some aspects of the present disclosure is provided below:

[0168] Aspect 1: A method for wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving an indication of an interference threshold of interference caused by beamforming at the UE; and transmitting a signal using a beam having an interference value that satisfies the interference threshold.

[0169] Aspect 2: The method according to aspect 1, wherein the interference threshold indicates a threshold gain offset of a sidelobe generated by the beamforming at the UE.

[0170] Aspect 3: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 2, wherein the sidelobe of the beam having the interference value that satisfies the interference threshold has a first gain, the main lobe of the beam has a second gain, and since the first gain is at least the interference threshold lower than the second gain, the interference value satisfies the interference threshold.

[0171] Aspect 4: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 3, wherein transmitting using the beam further comprises transmitting using at least a minimum number of antenna elements at least partially based on the interference threshold.

[0172] Aspect 5: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 4, the method further comprising selecting the beam from a set of beams corresponding to the interference threshold.

[0173] Aspect 6: The method according to aspect 5, wherein the set of beams is generated based on using a minimum number of antenna elements corresponding to the interference threshold, and the set of beams corresponds to the interference threshold.

[0174] Aspect 7: The method according to aspect 5, wherein the set of beams includes at least one of the following: one or more beams defined by a synchronization signal block index, one or more beams defined by a channel state information reference signal index, or one or more beams defined by a sounding reference signal index.

[0175] Aspect 8: The method according to any one of aspects 1 to 7, the method further comprising: transmitting information indicating one or more beamforming reference signals corresponding to one or more beams that violate the interference threshold at the UE.

[0176] Aspect 9: The method according to aspect 8, the method further comprising receiving an indication to switch to the beam based at least in part on the information indicating the reference signal for the one or more beamformings.

[0177] Aspect 10: The method according to aspect 8, the method further comprising receiving a configuration of a set of reference signals for beamforming based at least in part on the information indicating the reference signal for the one or more beamformings.

[0178] Aspect 11: A method of wireless communication performed by a network entity, the method comprising: identifying an interference threshold for interference caused by beamforming at a user equipment (UE); and outputting an indication of the interference threshold for the interference caused by beamforming at the UE.

[0179] Aspect 12: The method according to aspect 11, wherein the interference threshold indicates a threshold gain offset of a sidelobe generated by the beamforming at the UE.

[0180] Aspect 13: The method according to any one of aspects 11 to 12, wherein a sidelobe of the beam having the interference value satisfying the interference threshold has a first gain, a main lobe of the beam has a second gain, and since the first gain is at least the interference threshold lower than the second gain, the interference value satisfies the interference threshold.

[0181] Aspect 14: The method according to any one of aspects 11 to 13, the method further comprising: obtaining, before outputting the indication, information indicating one or more reference signals for beamforming corresponding to one or more beams violating the interference threshold at the UE, wherein identifying the interference threshold is at least in part based on the one or more reference signals for beamforming.

[0182] Aspect 15: The method according to any one of aspects 11 to 14, the method further comprising outputting an indication to switch to a beam based at least in part on the information indicating the one or more reference signals for beamforming.

[0183] Aspect 16: The method according to any one of aspects 11 to 15, the method further comprising outputting a configuration of a set of reference signals for beamforming based at least in part on the information indicating the one or more reference signals for beamforming.

[0184] Aspect 17: The method according to any one of aspects 11 to 16, the method further comprising communicating with the UE using a beam associated with an interference value satisfying the interference threshold.

[0185] Aspect 18: The method according to any one of Aspects 11 to 17, wherein identifying the interference threshold further includes using information indicating one or more beamforming reference signals corresponding to one or more beams violating the interference threshold to identify the interference threshold, and the information is received from the UE or another network node.

[0186] Aspect 19: An apparatus for wireless communication at a device, the apparatus includes a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to perform the method according to one or more of Aspects 1 to 18.

[0187] Aspect 20: A device for wireless communication, the device includes a memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors being configured to perform the method according to one or more of Aspects 1 to 18.

[0188] Aspect 21: An apparatus for wireless communication, the apparatus includes at least one component for performing the method according to one or more of Aspects 1 to 18.

[0189] Aspect 22: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication, the code includes instructions executable by a processor to perform the method according to one or more of Aspects 1 to 18.

[0190] Aspect 23: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing an instruction set for wireless communication, the instruction set includes one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to perform the method according to one or more of Aspects 1 to 18.

[0191] The foregoing disclosure provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the aspects to the precise forms disclosed. Modifications and variations may be made in light of the above disclosure, or may be obtained from practice of the aspects.

[0192] As used herein, the term "component" is intended to be broadly construed as hardware and / or a combination of hardware and software. "Software" shall be broadly construed to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, and / or functions, etc., regardless of whether it is called software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or by other names. As used herein, a "processor" is implemented in hardware and / or a combination of hardware and software. It will be apparent that the systems and / or methods described herein can be implemented by different forms of hardware and / or combinations of hardware and software. The actual specific control hardware or software code used to implement these systems and / or methods does not limit the aspects. Accordingly, the operation and behavior of the systems and / or methods are not described herein with reference to specific software code, because those skilled in the art will understand that the software and hardware can be designed at least in part based on the description herein to implement the systems and / or methods.

[0193] As used herein, depending on the context, "meeting a threshold" can mean a value greater than the threshold, greater than or equal to the threshold, less than the threshold, less than or equal to the threshold, equal to the threshold, not equal to the threshold, etc.

[0194] Although specific combinations of features are recited in the claims and / or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are not intended to limit the disclosure of the aspects. Many of these features can be combined in ways not specifically recited in the claims and / or not disclosed in the specification. The disclosure of each aspect includes each dependent claim in combination with every other claim in the claim set. As used herein, the phrase referring to "at least one of" a list of items refers to any combination of those items (which includes a single member). As an example, "at least one of a, b, or c" is intended to cover a, b, c, a + b, a + c, b + c, and a + b + c, as well as any combination with multiple identical elements (e.g., a + a, a + a + a, a + a + b, a + a + c, a + b + b, a + c + c, b + b, b + b + b, b + b + c, c + c, and c + c + c, or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

[0195] No element, act, or instruction used herein should be construed as critical or essential unless explicitly described as such. Additionally, as used herein, the article "a" is intended to include one or more items and may be used interchangeably with "one or more." Additionally, as used herein, the article "the" is intended to include one or more items mentioned in conjunction with the article "the" and may be used interchangeably with "one or more." Additionally, as used herein, the terms "set" and "group" are intended to include one or more items and may be used interchangeably with "one or more." If only one item is intended to be referred to, the phrase "only one" or similar language will be used. Additionally, as used herein, the terms "has," "owns," "possesses," etc. are intended to be open-ended terms that do not limit the elements they modify (e.g., an element that "has" A may also have B). Additionally, the phrase "based on" is intended to mean "at least partially based on" unless otherwise explicitly stated. Additionally, as used herein, the term "or" when used in a series is intended to be open-ended and may be used interchangeably with "and / or" unless otherwise explicitly stated (e.g., if used in conjunction with "either" or "only one").

[0196] The foregoing description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. The examples discussed herein do not limit the scope, applicability, or aspects set forth in the claims. Various modifications to these aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. For example, the functions and arrangements of the elements discussed may be changed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Various examples may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, the methods described may be performed in an order different from the order described, and various actions may be added, omitted, or combined. Additionally, features described with respect to some examples may be combined in some other examples. For example, any number of the aspects set forth herein may be used to implement a device or practice a method. Additionally, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to cover such devices or methods practiced using other structures, functionality, or a combination of structure and functionality that supplement or replace the various aspects of the present disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure herein may be embodied by one or more elements of the present invention.

[0197] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the present disclosure may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. While a general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, in the alternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, a system on a chip (SoC), or any other such configuration).

[0198] As used herein, the term "determine" covers a variety of actions. For example, "determine" may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, a database, or another data structure), ascertaining, etc. Further, "determine" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), etc. Additionally, "determine" may include parsing, selecting, choosing, establishing, etc.

[0199] The methods disclosed herein include one or more actions for implementing the methods. The method actions may be interchanged with one another without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of the actions is specified, the order and / or use of a particular action may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims. Additionally, the various operations of the methods described above may be performed by any suitable component capable of performing the corresponding functions. The component may include various hardware and / or software components and / or modules, including but not limited to circuitry, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a processor.

[0200] The following claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but should be accorded the full scope consistent with the claim language. In the claims, unless specifically stated otherwise, the recitation of a single element is not intended to mean "one and only one" but "one or more." Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term "some" means one or more. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase "means for." All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later become known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be covered by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, whether or not such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: Receiving an indication of an interference threshold of interference caused by beamforming at the UE; And Transmitting a signal using a beam having an interference value that meets the interference threshold.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the interference threshold indicates a threshold gain offset of a sidelobe generated by the beamforming at the UE.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein a sidelobe of the beam having the interference value that meets the interference threshold has a first gain, a main lobe of the beam has a second gain, and since the first gain is at least the interference threshold lower than the second gain, the interference value meets the interference threshold.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein transmitting using the beam further comprises transmitting using at least a minimum number of antenna elements at least partially based on the interference threshold.

5. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising selecting the beam from a set of beams corresponding to the interference threshold.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the set of beams is generated based on using a minimum number of antenna elements corresponding to the interference threshold, and the set of beams corresponds to the interference threshold.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the set of beams includes at least one of the following: One or more beams defined by a synchronization signal block index, One or more beams defined by a channel state information reference signal index or One or more beams defined by a sounding reference signal index.

8. The method according to claim 1, the method further comprising: Transmitting information indicating one or more beamforming reference signals corresponding to one or more beams that violate the interference threshold at the UE.

9. The method according to claim 8, the method further comprising receiving an indication to switch to the beam at least partially based on the information indicating the one or more beamforming reference signals.

10. The method according to claim 8, the method further comprising receiving a configuration of a set of beamforming reference signals at least partially based on the information indicating the one or more beamforming reference signals.

11. A method of wireless communication performed by a network entity, the method comprising: Identifying an interference threshold of interference caused by beamforming at a user equipment (UE); And Outputting an indication of the interference threshold of the interference caused by the beamforming at the UE.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the interference threshold indicates a threshold gain offset of a sidelobe generated by the beamforming at the UE.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein a sidelobe of the beam having the interference value that meets the interference threshold has a first gain, a main lobe of the beam has a second gain, and since the first gain is at least the interference threshold lower than the second gain, the interference value meets the interference threshold.

14. The method according to claim 11, the method further comprising: Before outputting the indication, information on one or more beamformed reference signals corresponding to beams that violate the interference threshold at the UE is obtained, wherein identifying the interference threshold is at least partially based on the one or more beamformed reference signals.

15. The method according to claim 14, the method further comprising outputting an indication to switch to a beam that is at least partially based on the information indicating the one or more beamformed reference signals.

16. The method according to claim 14, the method further comprising outputting a configuration of a set of beamformed reference signals that is at least partially based on the information indicating the one or more beamformed reference signals.

17. The method according to claim 11, the method further comprising communicating with the UE using a beam associated with an interference value that satisfies the interference threshold.

18. The method according to claim 11, wherein identifying the interference threshold further comprises using information indicating one or more beamformed reference signals corresponding to beams that violate the interference threshold to identify the interference threshold, wherein the information is received from the UE or another network entity.

19. A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, the user equipment (UE) comprising: a memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to: receive an indication of an interference threshold of interference caused by beamforming at the UE; and transmit a signal using a beam having an interference value that satisfies the interference threshold.

20. A network entity for wireless communication, the network entity comprising: a memory; and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the one or more processors configured to: identify an interference threshold of interference caused by beamforming at a user equipment (UE); and output an indication of the interference threshold of the interference caused by beamforming at the UE.

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