Beam management between user devices

Abstract

Various aspects of this disclosure relate, in general, to wireless communications. In some aspects, a user device (UE) may transmit signaling relating to an inter-UE beam-maintaining (BM) procedure supported by the UE. The UE may perform the inter-UE BM procedure based at least in part on the signaling. Numerous other aspects are described.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] (Cross - reference to Related Applications) This patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 493,898, titled "USER EQUIPMENT TO USER EQUIPMENT BEAM MANAGEMENT", filed on April 3, 2023, and U.S. Non - Provisional Patent Application No. 18 / 410,665, titled "USER EQUIPMENT TO USER EQUIPMENT BEAM MANAGEMENT", filed on January 11, 2024, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

[0002] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication and techniques and apparatus for user equipment (UE) - to - user equipment (UE - to - UE) beam management.

Background Art

[0003] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide a variety of telecommunications services, including telephone, video, data, messaging, and broadcast. Typical wireless communication systems can employ multiple access technologies that support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power). Examples of such multiple access technologies include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), and Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE / LTE-Advanced is a set of extensions to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard, published by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®).

[0004] A wireless network may include one or more network nodes that support communication between user equipment (UE) or wireless communication devices such as multiple UEs. UEs may communicate with network nodes via downlink and uplink communications. "Downlink" (or "DL") refers to the communication link from a network node to a UE, and "uplink" (or "UL") refers to the communication link from a UE to a network node. Some wireless networks may support inter-device communication via local links (e.g., sidelink (SL), wireless local area network (WLAN) links, and / or wireless personal area network (WPAN) links).

[0005] The multiple access technologies described above have been adopted in various telecommunications standards to provide a common protocol that enables various UEs to communicate at the city, national, regional, and / or global levels. New Radio (NR), sometimes referred to as 5G, is a set of extensions to the LTE mobile standard published by 3GPP. NR is designed to better support mobile broadband internet access by improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, enhancing services, utilizing new spectra, and better integrating with other open standards by using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with cyclic prefixes (CP) on the downlink and CP-OFDM and / or single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) (also known as discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM, DFT-s-OFDM) on the uplink, as well as by supporting beamforming, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, and carrier aggregation. As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to grow, further improvements in LTE, NR, and other radio access technologies remain useful. [Overview of the project]

[0006] Some aspects described herein relate to methods of wireless communication performed by user equipment (UE). These methods may include transmitting signaling relating to an inter-UE beam maintenance (BM) procedure supported by the UE. These methods may include performing an inter-UE BM procedure based at least in part on the signaling.

[0007] Some embodiments described herein relate to a UE for wireless communication. The UE may include memory and one or more processors coupled to the memory. One or more processors may be configured to transmit signaling relating to an inter-UE BM procedure supported by the UE. One or more processors may be configured to perform an inter-UE BM procedure, at least in part, based on the signaling.

[0008] Some embodiments described herein relate to a non-temporary computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions for wireless communication by a UE. The set of instructions, when executed by one or more processors of the UE, can cause the UE to transmit signaling relating to an inter-UE BM procedure supported by the UE. The set of instructions, when executed by one or more processors of the UE, can cause the UE to execute an inter-UE BM procedure based at least in part on the signaling.

[0009] Some embodiments described herein relate to apparatus for wireless communication. The apparatus may include means for transmitting signaling relating to an inter-UE beam-maintaining (BM) procedure supported by the apparatus. The apparatus may include means for performing an inter-UE BM procedure, at least in part, based on the signaling.

[0010] Embodiments are generally described substantially herein with reference to the drawings and include methods, apparatus, systems, computer program products, non-temporary computer-readable media, user equipment, base stations, network entities, network nodes, wireless communication devices, and / or processing systems, as shown by the drawings.

[0011] The above provides a fairly broad overview of the features and technical advantages of the embodiments of this disclosure so that the following “Modes for Carrying Out the Invention” may be better understood. Additional features and advantages are described below. The concepts and specific embodiments disclosed may be readily used as a basis for modifying or designing other structures to accomplish the same objectives of this disclosure. Such equivalent structures shall not deviate from the scope of the appended claims. The characteristics of the concepts disclosed herein, both their configuration and method of operation, will be better understood, along with the relevant advantages, by considering the following description in relation to the accompanying figures. Each figure is provided for illustrative and explanatory purposes and is not provided to define any limitation of the claims.

[0012] While various embodiments are described herein by example to several embodiments, those skilled in the art will understand that such embodiments can be implemented in many different configurations and scenarios. The technologies described herein can be implemented using a variety of platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and / or packaging configurations. For example, some embodiments can be implemented via integrated chip embodiments or other non-modular component-based devices (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / purchasing devices, medical devices, and / or artificial intelligence devices). The embodiments 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 embodiments and features may include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described embodiments. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals may include one or more components (e.g., hardware components including antennas, radio frequency (RF) chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders, and / or analog adders) for analog and digital purposes. The embodiments described herein are intended to be applicable to a wide variety of devices, components, systems, distributed configurations, and / or end-user devices of various sizes, shapes, and structures.

[0013] To gain a more detailed understanding of the features of this disclosure listed above, a more detailed description may be obtained by referring to the embodiments partially shown in the accompanying drawings. However, it should be noted that the accompanying drawings only illustrate certain typical embodiments of this disclosure, and therefore the description may be incorporated into other equally effective embodiments and should not be considered to limit the scope of this disclosure. The same reference numeral in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0014] [Figure 1] This figure shows one embodiment of a wireless network according to the present disclosure. [Figure 2] This figure shows one embodiment of a network node that communicates with user equipment (UE) within a wireless network, as disclosed herein. [Figure 3] This figure shows an exemplary non-aggregated base station architecture as described herein. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of sidelink communication as described in this disclosure. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of sidelink communication and accesslink communication as disclosed herein. [Figure 6] This figure shows an example of the implicit inter-UE beam maintenance (BM) procedure described herein. [Figure 7] This figure shows an example of an explicit UE-to-BM procedure as disclosed herein. [Figure 8] This figure shows an example of signaling related to the UE-to-BE procedure as disclosed herein. [Figure 9] This figure shows an example of a hybrid UE-to-BM procedure as disclosed herein. [Figure 10] This figure shows an exemplary process performed by, for example, a UE, as described in this disclosure. [Figure 11] This is a diagram of an exemplary device for wireless communication according to the present disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0015] Wireless communication devices, such as user equipment (UEs), may use beamforming to communicate with other wireless communication devices, which improves signal propagation and counteracts the increased path loss of higher frequency communications. For example, a UE may perform beamforming for transmission (the radiated signal is beamformed) and / or reception (a spatial filter is applied to a set of antennas to receive the radiated signal). In some deployments, network nodes (such as gNBs) and UEs may use beamforming to communicate with each other. Beam selection and management (collectively referred to herein as beam maintenance) may enable UEs and network nodes to identify the appropriate beam pair (including one or more transmit beams in the transmitter and one or more receive beams in the receiver) for communication.

[0016] In some cases, two UEs can communicate with each other using beamforming. For example, UEs may use beamforming for side-link unicast communication in frequency range 2 (FR2) (e.g., mm waves). However, beam-maintaining procedures may not be well-defined in the case of side-link beamforming, which can lead to suboptimal beam selection when the UE changes location or orientation. Furthermore, in beamforming between a UE and a network node, it is generally expected that the network node is stationary and not moving or rotating. Therefore, beam-maintaining procedures between the UE and the network node may be based on the assumption that the beam direction of the network node does not change over time. For example, in some situations, explicit beam-maintaining procedures with feedback between the transmitter and receiver may introduce latency into beam-maintaining. On the other hand, if the side-link UE (such as a roadside unit) does not move or rotate, explicit beam-maintaining procedures may be more robust or stable than implicit beam-maintaining procedures.

[0017] Several techniques described herein provide inter-UE beam-maintaining procedures. For example, some techniques described herein provide an implicit inter-UE beam-maintaining procedure, in which the UE improves its own beam by measuring a reference signaling from the transmitting UE on a single transmitting beam (or set of transmitting beams) using multiple receiving beams at the UE. This reduces latency for beam-maintaining procedures between the UE and network nodes, thereby facilitating beam-maintaining between moving UEs. As another example, some techniques described herein provide an explicit inter-UE beam-maintaining procedure, in which the transmitting UE transmits a reference signaling on multiple beams, receives feedback from the receiving UE regarding one or more of the multiple beams, and then transmits information indicating the selected beam. Thus, beamforming stability and robustness are achieved, particularly in situations where one or both UEs are stationary.

[0018] In some cases, a UE may have the capability (e.g., support) for one or more types of inter-UE beam holding, such as explicit or implicit beam holding. Explicit and implicit beam holding are described in more detail below. Different UEs may have different capabilities for beam holding, or may wish to activate or deactivate (e.g., support or deactivate) types of beam holding. Some techniques described herein provide capability signaling indicating one or more types of inter-UE beam holding supported by a UE. Thus, two UEs can identify the appropriate type of inter-UE beam holding for their beam pair, which improves compatibility with the UE's capabilities and increases beamforming flexibility. Furthermore, in some cases, the type of inter-UE beam holding used by a UE may be switched at least partially based on the UE's motion state, which provides stability and robustness to a stationary UE (e.g., by using explicit inter-UE beam holding) or reduced latency to a moving UE (e.g., by using implicit inter-UE beam holding).

[0019] Hereinafter, various aspects of the present disclosure will be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure can be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to any specific structure or function presented throughout the present disclosure. Rather, these aspects are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the scope of the present disclosure is intended to encompass any and all aspects of the present disclosure disclosed herein, regardless of whether implemented independently of any other aspect of the present disclosure or in combination with any other aspect of the present disclosure. For example, any number of the aspects described herein can be used to implement an apparatus or practice a method. Furthermore, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to encompass such apparatus or methods practiced using other structures, functionality, or structures and functionality in addition to or other than the various aspects of the present disclosure described herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the present disclosure disclosed herein can be embodied by one or more elements of the claims.

[0020] Next, some aspects of a telecommunications system are presented with reference to various devices and techniques. These devices and techniques are described in the following "Modes for Carrying Out the Invention" and are shown in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, modules, components, circuits, steps, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements can be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Whether such elements are implemented as hardware or realized as software depends on the specific application example and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0021] Aspects may be described herein using terms generally associated with 5G or New Radio (NR) radio access technology (RAT), but aspects of the present disclosure may also be applicable to other RATs such as 3G RAT, 4G RAT, and / or a RAT following 5G (e.g., 6G).

[0022] Figure 1 shows an embodiment of a wireless network 100 according to the present disclosure. The wireless network 100 may, in particular, be a 5G (e.g., NR) network and / or a 4G (e.g., Long-Term Evolution (LTE)) network, or may include elements thereof. The wireless network 100 may include one or more network nodes 110 (shown as network node 110a, network node 110b, network node 110c, and network node 110d), a UE 120 or multiple UE 120s (shown as UE120a, UE120b, UE120c, UE120d, and UE120e), and / or other entities. A network node 110 is a network node that communicates with a UE 120. As shown in the figure, a network node 110 may include one or more network nodes. For example, network node 110 may be an aggregated network node, meaning that the aggregated network node is configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single radio access network (RAN) node (e.g., within a single device or unit). In another embodiment, network node 110 may be a non-aggregated network node (sometimes referred to as a non-aggregated base station), meaning that the network node 110 is configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more nodes (such as one or more central units (CUs), one or more distributed units (Dus), or one or more radio units (RUs)).

[0023] In some embodiments, network node 110 is a network node such as an RU that communicates with UE 120 via a wireless access link, or includes such a network node. In some embodiments, network node 110 is a network node such as a DU that communicates with other network nodes 110 via a fronthaul link or a midhaul link, or includes such a network node. In some embodiments, network node 110 is a network node such as a CU that communicates with other network nodes 110 via a midhaul link or with the core network via a backhaul link, or includes such a network node. In some embodiments, network node 110 (such as an aggregated network node 110 or an unaggregated network node 110) may include multiple network nodes such as one or more RUs, one or more Cus, and / or one or more Dus. Network nodes 110 may include, for example, NR base stations, LTE base stations, node B, eNB (e.g., in 4G), gNB (e.g., in 5G), access points, transmission reception points (TRPs), DUs, RUs, CUs, network mobility elements, core network nodes, network elements, network equipment, RAN nodes, or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, network nodes 110 may interconnect with each other or with one or more other network nodes 110 within the wireless network 100 using any suitable transport network through various types of fronthaul, midhaul, and / or backhaul interfaces, such as direct physical connections, air interfaces, or virtual networks.

[0024] In some embodiments, network node 110 may provide communication coverage to a specific geographic area. In the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the term “cell” may refer to the coverage area of ​​network node 110 and / or the network node subsystems serving this coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. Network node 110 may provide communication coverage for macrocells, picocells, femtocells, and / or other types of cells. A macrocell may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs 120 subscribing to the service. A picocell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs 120 subscribing to the service. A femtocell may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allow restricted access by UEs 120 associated with that femtocell (e.g., UEs 120 within a closed subscriber group, CSG). A network node 110 relating to a macrocell may be referred to as a macronetwork node. A network node 110 relating to a picocell may be referred to as a piconetwork node. A network node 110 relating to a femtocell may be referred to as a femtonetwork node or home network node. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, network node 110a may be a macronetwork node relating to a macrocell 102a, network node 110b may be a piconetwork node relating to a picocell 102b, and network node 110c may be a femtonetwork node relating to a femtocell 102c. A network node may support one or more (e.g., three) cells. In some embodiments, cells may not necessarily be fixed, and the geographical area of ​​a cell may move according to the location of a mobile network node 110 (e.g., a mobile network node).

[0025] In some embodiments, the terms “base station” or “network node” may refer to an aggregated base station, a non-aggregated base station, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a relay node, or one or more components thereof. For example, in some embodiments, “base station” or “network node” may refer to a CU, DU, RU, a Near-Real Time (NRT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), or a Non-RT (Non-RT) RIC, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the terms “base station” or “network node” may refer to a single device configured to perform one or more functions, such as those described herein with respect to network node 110. In some embodiments, the terms “base station” or “network node” may refer to multiple devices configured to perform one or more functions. For example, in some distributed systems, each of several different devices (which may be located at the same or different geographical locations) may be configured to perform at least a portion of a function, or to replicate the performance of at least a portion of a function, and the terms “base station” or “network node” may refer to any one or more of those different devices. In some embodiments, the terms “base station” or “network node” may refer to one or more virtual base stations or one or more virtual base station functions. For example, in some embodiments, two or more base station functions may be instantiated on a single device. In some embodiments, the terms “base station” or “network node” may refer to one of the base station functions and not another. In this way, a single device may contain two or more base stations.

[0026] The wireless network 100 may include one or more relay stations. A relay station is a network node that can receive data transmissions from upstream nodes (e.g., network node 110 or UE 120) and send those data transmissions to downstream nodes (e.g., UE 120 or network node 110). A relay station may also be a UE 120 that relays transmissions to other UE 120s. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, network node 110d (e.g., a relay network node) may communicate with network node 110a (e.g., a macro network node) and UE 120d to facilitate communication between them. The network node 110 that relays communications may be referred to as a relay station, relay base station, relay network node, relay node, repeater, etc.

[0027] The wireless network 100 may be a heterogeneous network including different types of network nodes 110, such as macronetwork nodes, piconetwork nodes, femtonetwork nodes, and relay network nodes. These different types of network nodes 110 may have different transmit power levels, different coverage areas, and / or different effects on interference within the wireless network 100. For example, macronetwork nodes may have high transmit power levels (e.g., 5 to 40 watts), while piconetwork nodes, femtonetwork nodes, and relay network nodes may have lower transmit power levels (e.g., 0.1 to 2 watts).

[0028] The network controller 130 may be coupled to or communicate with a set of network nodes 110, and may provide coordination and control over these network nodes 110. The network controller 130 may communicate with the network nodes 110 via backhaul or midhaul communication links. The network nodes 110 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly via wireless or wired backhaul communication links. In some embodiments, the network controller 130 may be a CU or core network device, or may include a CU or core network device.

[0029] UE120 may be distributed across the entire wireless network 100, and each UE120 may be fixed or mobile. UE120 may include, for example, access terminals, terminals, mobile stations, and / or subscriber units. UE120 may also include mobile phones (e.g., smartphones), personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless modems, wireless communication devices, handheld devices, laptop computers, cordless phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, tablets, cameras, gaming devices, netbooks, smartbooks, ultrabooks, medical devices, biometric devices, wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, smart clothing, smart glasses, smart wristbands, smart jewelry (e.g., smart rings or smart bracelets)), entertainment devices (e.g., music devices, video devices, and / or satellite radios), vehicle components or sensors, smart meters / sensors, industrial manufacturing equipment, global positioning system devices, UE functions of network nodes, and / or any other suitable devices configured to communicate via wireless or wired media.

[0030] Some UE120s may be considered Machine-Type Communication (MTC) UEs, or evolved or enhanced Machine-Type Communication (eMTC) UEs. Examples of MTC UEs and / or eMTC UEs may include robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors, and / or location tags that can communicate with network nodes, other devices (e.g., remote devices), or any other entities. Some UE120s may be considered Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices and / or implemented as NB-IoT (narrowband IoT) devices. Some UE120s may be considered customer premises equipment. A UE120 may be contained within a housing that accommodates its components, such as processor components and / or memory components. In some embodiments, the processor components and memory components may be coupled together. For example, processor components (e.g., one or more processors) and memory components (e.g., memory) can be operably coupled, communicatively coupled, electronically coupled, and / or electrically coupled.

[0031] In general, any number of wireless networks 100 can be deployed within a given geographical area. Each wireless network 100 may support a specific RAT and may operate on one or more frequencies. RAT may be referred to as wireless technology, air interface, etc. Frequencies may be referred to as carriers, frequency channels, etc. To avoid interference between wireless networks of different RATs, each frequency may support a single RAT within a given geographical area. In some cases, NR or 5G RAT networks may be deployed.

[0032] In some embodiments, two or more UE120s (e.g., indicated as UE120a and UE120e) may communicate directly using one or more sidelink channels (e.g., without using network node 110 as an intermediary for communication with each other). For example, UE120s may communicate using peer-to-peer (P2P) communication, device-to-device (D2D) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) protocols (e.g., vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) protocols, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) protocols, or vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) protocols), and / or mesh networks. In such embodiments, UE120s may perform scheduling operations, resource selection operations, and / or other operations described elsewhere in this specification as being performed by network node 110.

[0033] Devices in wireless network 100 can communicate using the electromagnetic spectrum, which can be subdivided into various classes, bands, channels, etc., depending on frequency or wavelength. For example, devices in wireless network 100 can communicate using one or more operating bands. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands are identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz to 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz). It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is higher than 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "sub-6 GHz" band in various documents and papers. A similar nomenclature issue may arise with respect to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "millimeter wave" band in documents and papers, even though it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz to 300 GHz) which is identified as the "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0034] The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as intermediate band frequencies. In recent 5G NR research, the operating band for these intermediate band frequencies is identified as the frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz to 24.25 GHz). The frequency bands included within FR3 may inherit the characteristics of FR1 and / or FR2, and therefore, in effect, the characteristics of FR1 and / or FR2 can be extended to the intermediate band frequencies. Furthermore, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as the frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz to 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz to 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0035] With the above examples in mind, please understand that, unless otherwise specified, terms such as "sub-6GHz" may broadly refer to frequencies that may be below 6GHz, frequencies that may be within the FR1 range, or frequencies that may include intermediate band frequencies. Furthermore, please understand that, unless otherwise specified, terms such as "millimeter wave" may broadly refer to frequencies that may include intermediate band frequencies, frequencies that may be within the FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1, and / or FR5 ranges, or frequencies that may be within the EHF band. The frequencies included within these operating bands (e.g., FR1, FR2, FR3, FR4, FR4-a, FR4-1, and / or FR5) may be modified, and the techniques described herein are intended to be applicable to those modified frequency ranges.

[0036] In some embodiments, the UE 120 may include a communications manager 140. As described in more detail elsewhere in this specification, the communications manager 140 may transmit signaling relating to inter-UE BM procedures supported by the UE and may execute inter-UE BM procedures at least in part on the signaling. In addition or alternatively, the communications manager 140 may perform one or more other operations described herein.

[0037] As described above, Figure 1 is provided as one embodiment. Other embodiments may differ from those described with respect to Figure 1.

[0038] Figure 2 shows one embodiment 200 of a network node 110 communicating with a UE 120 within a wireless network 100 according to the present disclosure. The network node 110 may be equipped with a set of antennas 234a to 234t, such as T antennas (T≧1). The UE 120 may be equipped with a set of antennas 252a to 252r, such as R antennas (R≧1). The network node 110 in embodiment 200 includes one or more radio frequency components, such as antenna 234 and modem 232. In some embodiments, the network node 110 may include an interface, a communication component, or other components that facilitate communication with the UE 120 or another network node. Some network nodes 110 may not include radio frequency components that facilitate direct communication with the UE 120, such as one or more Cu or one or more Du.

[0039] At network node 110, the transmit processor 220 may receive data from data source 212 addressed to UE120 (or a set of UE120s). The transmit processor 220 may select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCSs) for the UE120, at least in part on one or more channel quality indicators (CQIs) received from the UE120. The network node 110 may process (e.g., encode and modulate) the data for the UE120, at least in part on the selected MCS(s) for the UE120, and may provide data symbols to the UE120. The transmit processor 220 may process system information (e.g., related to semi-static resource partitioning information (SRPI)) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, authorizations, and / or upper-layer signaling), and may provide overhead symbols and control symbols. The transmit processor 220 may generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRS) or demodulation reference signals (DMRS)) and synchronization signals (e.g., primary synchronization signals (PSS) or secondary synchronization signals (SSS)). The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may, where applicable, perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, overhead symbols, and / or reference symbols, and may provide a set of output symbol streams (e.g., T output symbol streams) to the corresponding set of modems 232 (e.g., T modems) indicated as modems 232a to 232t. For example, each output symbol stream may be provided to the modulator component (indicated as MOD) of modem 232.Each modem 232 may acquire an output sample stream by processing the corresponding output symbol stream (for example, for OFDM) using the corresponding modulator component. Each modem 232 may further acquire a downlink signal by processing the output sample stream (for example, converting it to analog, amplifying it, filtering it, and / or upconverting it) using the corresponding modulator component. Modems 232a to 232t may transmit a set of downlink signals (for example, T downlink signals) over the corresponding set of antennas 234 (for example, T antennas) indicated as antennas 234a to 234t.

[0040] In UE120, a set of antennas 252 (indicated as antennas 252a to 252r) may receive downlink signals from network node 110 and / or other network nodes 110, and may provide a set of received signals (e.g., R received signals) to a set of modems 254 (e.g., R modems) indicated as modems 254a to 254r. For example, each received signal may be provided to a demodulator component of a modem 254 (indicated as DEMOD). Each modem 254 may acquire input samples by modifying the received signals (e.g., filtering, amplifying, downconverting, and / or digitizing) using the corresponding demodulator component. Each modem 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM) using the demodulator component to acquire received symbols. A MIMO detector 256 may acquire received symbols from the modem 254, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols where applicable, and provide the detected symbols. The receiving processor 258 may process the detected symbols (e.g., demodulate and decode), provide the decoded data for UE120 to the data sink 260, and provide the decoded control and system information to the controller / processor 280. The term "controller / processor" may refer to one or more controllers, one or more processors, or a combination thereof. The channel processor may, in particular, determine the reference signal received power (RSRP) parameter, the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) parameter, the reference signal received quality (RSRQ) parameter, and / or the CQI parameter. In some embodiments, one or more components of UE120 may be contained within the housing 284.

[0041] The network controller 130 may include a communication unit 294, a controller / processor 290, and memory 292. The network controller 130 may include, for example, one or more devices in the core network. The network controller 130 may communicate with the network node 110 via the communication unit 294.

[0042] One or more antennas (e.g., antennas 234a-234t and / or antennas 252a-252r) may, in particular among the examples, include, or be included in, one or more antenna panels, one or more antenna groups, one or more sets of antenna elements, and / or one or more antenna arrays. An antenna panel, antenna group, set of antenna elements, and / or antenna array may include one or more antenna elements (in a single housing or multiple housings), a set of coplanar antenna elements, a set of non-coplanar antenna elements, and / or one or more antenna elements coupled to one or more transmitting and / or receiving components, such as one or more components in Figure 2.

[0043] On the uplink, in UE120, the transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from data source 262 and control information from controller / processor 280 (e.g., for reporting, including RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, and / or CQI). The transmit processor 264 may generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals. The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by the TX MIMO processor 266, where applicable, further processed by the modem 254 (e.g., for DFT-s-OFDM or CP-OFDM), and transmitted to the network node 110. In some embodiments, the modem 254 of UE120 may include a modulator and demodulator. In some embodiments, UE120 includes a transceiver. The transceiver may include any combination of antenna(s) 252, modem(s) 254, MIMO detector 256, receive processor 258, transmit processor 264, and / or TX MIMO processor 266. The transceiver may be used by a processor (e.g., a controller / processor 280) and memory 282 to carry out any of the methods described herein (see, for example, Figures 6 to 11).

[0044] In the network node 110, uplink signals from UE 120 and / or other UEs may be received by antenna 234, processed by modem 232 (e.g., the demodulator component of modem 232, indicated as DEMOD), detected by MIMO detector 236 where applicable, and further processed by receiving processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by UE 120. The receiving processor 238 may provide the decoded data to data sink 239 and the decoded control information to controller / processor 240. The network node 110 may include a communication unit 244, which may communicate with the network controller 130 via the communication unit 244. The network node 110 may include a scheduler 246 for scheduling one or more UE 120 for downlink and / or uplink communication. In some embodiments, the modem 232 of the network node 110 may include a modulator and a demodulator. In some embodiments, the network node 110 includes a transceiver. The transceiver may include any combination of an antenna(s) 234, a modem(s) 232, a MIMO detector 236, a receiving processor 238, a transmitting processor 220, and / or a TX MIMO processor 230. The transceiver may be used by a processor (e.g., a controller / processor 240) and memory 242 to carry out any aspect of the method described herein (see, for example, Figures 6 to 11).

[0045] The controller / processor 240 of network node 110, the controller / processor 280 of UE 120, and / or any other component(s) in Figure 2 may perform one or more techniques associated with inter-UE BM, as described in more detail elsewhere in this specification. For example, the controller / processor 240 of network node 110, the controller / processor 280 of UE 120, and / or any other component(s) in Figure 2 may perform or direct the operation of, for example, process 1000 in Figure 10 and / or other processes as described herein. Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program code for network node 110 and UE 120, respectively. In some embodiments, memory 242 and / or memory 282 may include non-temporary computer-readable media storing one or more instructions (e.g., code and / or program code) for wireless communication. For example, when one or more instructions are executed by one or more processors of the network node 110 and / or UE 120 (for example, directly or after compilation, translation, and / or interpretation), one or more processors, UE 120, and / or network node 110 can be instructed to perform or direct the operation of, for example, process 1000 in Figure 10 and / or other processes described herein. In some embodiments, executing an instruction may include, in particular among examples, running the instruction, translating the instruction, compiling the instruction, and / or interpreting the instruction.

[0046] In some embodiments, the UE120 includes means for transmitting signaling relating to an inter-UE BM procedure supported by the UE, and / or means for performing an inter-UE BM procedure at least in part on the signaling. The means by which the UE120 performs the operations described herein may include, for example, one or more of the following: a communications manager 140, an antenna 252, a modem 254, a MIMO detector 256, a receiving processor 258, a transmitting processor 264, a TX MIMO processor 266, a controller / processor 280, or a memory 282.

[0047] Although the blocks in Figure 2 are shown as individual components, the functions described above with respect to these blocks may be implemented in a single hardware, software, or combination of components, or in various combinations of components. For example, the functions described with respect to the transmit processor 264, the receive processor 258, and / or the TX MIMO processor 266 may be performed by or under the control of the controller / processor 280.

[0048] As described above, Figure 2 is provided as one embodiment. Other embodiments may differ from those described with respect to Figure 2.

[0049] The deployment of communication systems such as 5G NR systems can be configured in multiple ways using various components or parts. In a 5G NR system or network, network nodes, network entities, network mobility elements, RAN nodes, core network nodes, network elements, base stations, or network equipment can be implemented in an aggregated or unaggregated architecture. For example, a base station (e.g., among other examples, Node B (NB), evolved NB (eNB), NR base station, 5G NB, access point (AP), TRP, or cell), or one or more units (or one or more components) that perform base station functionality can be implemented as an aggregated base station (also known as a standalone base station or a monolithic base station) or an unaggregated base station. "Network entity" or "network node" may refer to an unaggregated base station, or one or more units of an unaggregated base station (such as one or more Cu, one or more Du, one or more RU, or a combination thereof).

[0050] An aggregated base station (e.g., an aggregated network node) may 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 non-aggregated base station (e.g., a non-aggregated network node) may 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 embodiments, a CU may be implemented within a network node, one or more Dus may be co-located with that CU, or alternatively, geographically or virtually distributed across one or more other network nodes. A Du may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU may 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), among other examples.

[0051] The operation or network design of a base station type may take into account the aggregation characteristics of base station functionality. For example, by using non-aggregated base stations in an IAB network, an open radio access network (O-RAN, such as a network configuration supported by the O-RAN Alliance), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network, C-RAN), the scaling of the communication system can be facilitated by separating base station functionality into one or more units that may be deployed individually. A non-aggregated base station may include functionality implemented across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as functionality virtually implemented in at least one unit, which can allow for flexibility in network design. Various units of a non-aggregated base station may be configured to communicate with at least one other unit of the non-aggregated base station via wired or wireless communication.

[0052] Figure 3 shows an exemplary non-aggregated base station architecture 300 according to the present disclosure. The non-aggregated base station architecture 300 may include a CU 310 that can communicate directly with the core network 320 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 320 via one or more non-aggregated control units (e.g., a quasi-RT RIC 325 via an E2 link, or a 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 Du 330s via their respective midhaul links, for example, via an F1 interface. Each Du 330 may communicate with one or more RU 340s via their respective fronthaul links. Each RU 340 may communicate with one or more UE 120s via their respective radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, the UE 120s may be serviced simultaneously by multiple RU 340s.

[0053] Each of the units, including Cu310, Du330, RU340, and the quasi-RT RIC325, non-RT RIC315, and SMO framework 305, may include, or be coupled to, one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. An associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interfaces of each unit, or one or more of the corresponding units, may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via a transmission medium. In some embodiments, each unit may include a wired interface configured to receive or transmit signals via a wired transmission medium to one or more of the other units, and a wireless interface which may include a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver (such as an RF transceiver) configured to receive or transmit or receive signals via a wireless transmission medium to one or more of the other units.

[0054] In some embodiments, the CU310 may host one or more higher-layer control functions. Examples of such control functions include, but are not limited to, radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), or service data adaptation protocol (SDAP). Each control function may implement an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU310. The CU310 may be configured to handle user plane functions (e.g., Central Unit-User Plane (CU-UP) functions), control plane functions (e.g., Central Unit-Control Plane (CU-CP) functions), or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the CU310 can be logically divided 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 can communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP units via an interface such as the E1 interface. The CU310 can be implemented to communicate with the DU330 as needed for network control and signaling.

[0055] Each DU330 may correspond to a logic unit containing one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RU340s. In some embodiments, the DU330 may host one or more of the radio link control (RLC) layer, the medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more upper physical (PHY) layers, at least in part according to a functional partition such as a functional partition as defined by 3GPP. In some embodiments, one or more upper PHY layers may be implemented by one or more modules, among other examples, for forward error correction (FEC) coding and decoding, scrambling, and modulation and demodulation. In some embodiments, the DU330 may further host one or more lower-level PHY layers, such as those implemented by one or more modules for fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, or physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering. Each layer (sometimes also referred to as a module) may be implemented with an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU330, or with control functions hosted by the CU310.

[0056] Each RU340 can implement lower-layer functions. In some deployments, a RU340 controlled by a DU330 may correspond to a logical node hosting RF processing functions or lower-PHY layer functions, such as performing FFT, iFFT, digital beamforming, or PRACH extraction and filtering, based on a functional partitioning (e.g., functional partitioning defined by 3GPP), such as lower-layer functional partitioning. In such architectures, each RU340 can be operated to handle over-the-air (OTA) communication with one or more UE120s. In some implementations, the real-time and non-real-time modes of control plane and user plane communication with the RU340 can be controlled by the corresponding DU330. In some scenarios, this configuration allows each DU330 and CU310 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture, such as a vRAN architecture.

[0057] The SMO framework 305 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 305 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which can be managed via an operation and maintenance interface (such as the O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 305 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as the open cloud (O-Cloud) platform 390) to perform lifecycle management of the network element (such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as the O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, the Cu310, Du330, RU340, non-RT RIC315, and quasi-RT RIC325. In some implementations, the SMO framework 305 may communicate with hardware embodiments of the 4G RAN, such as the open eNB (O-eNB) 311, via the O1 interface. In addition, in some implementations, the SMO framework 305 can communicate directly with each of one or more RU340s via a corresponding O1 interface. The SMO framework 305 may also include a non-RT RIC315 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 305.

[0058] Non-RT RIC315 may be configured to include logical functions that enable policy-based guidance for non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updating, or applications / functions in quasi-RT RIC325. Non-RT RIC315 may be coupled to or communicate with quasi-RT RIC325 (via the A1 interface, for example). Quasi-RT RIC325 may be configured to include logical functions that enable quasi-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources through data acquisition and action via an interface connecting one or more Cu310s, one or more Du330s, or both, and an O-eNB to the quasi-RT RIC325 (via the E2 interface, for example).

[0059] In some implementations, the non-RT RIC315 may receive parameter or external enrichment information from an external server to generate an AI / ML model that will be deployed in the quasi-RT RIC325. Such information may be utilized by the quasi-RT RIC325 and may be received in the SMO framework 305 or the non-RT RIC315 from a non-network data source or from a network function. In some embodiments, the non-RT RIC315 or quasi-RT RIC325 may be configured to adjust the behavior or performance of the RAN. For example, the non-RT RIC315 may monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and take corrective action using the AI / ML model, either through the SMO framework 305 (e.g., reconfiguration via the O1 interface) or by creating a RAN management policy (e.g., an A1 interface policy).

[0060] As described above, Figure 3 is provided as one embodiment. Other embodiments may differ from those described with respect to Figure 3.

[0061] Figure 4 shows an example 400 of sidelink communication according to this disclosure.

[0062] As shown in Figure 4, the first UE405-1 may communicate with the second UE405-2 (and one or more other UE405s) via one or more sidelink channels 410. UE405-1 and 405-2 may communicate using one or more sidelink channels 410 for P2P communication, D2D communication, V2X communication (which may include, for example, V2V communication, V2I communication, and / or V2P communication), and / or mesh networking. In some embodiments, the UE405 (e.g., UE405-1 and / or UE405-2) may correspond to one or more other UEs described elsewhere in this specification, such as UE120. In some embodiments, one or more sidelink channels 410 may use the PC5 interface and / or operate in a high-frequency band (e.g., 5.9 GHz band). As an addition or alternative, the UE405 may use global navigation satellite system (GNSS) timing to synchronize the timing of transmission time intervals (TTIs) (e.g., frames, subframes, slots, or symbols).

[0063] As further shown in Figure 4, one or more sidelink channels 410 may include a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) 415, a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) 420, and / or a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) 425. The PSCCH 415 may be used to communicate control information, similar to the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and / or physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) used for cellular communication with the network node 110 over an access link or access channel. The PSSCH 420 may be used to communicate data, similar to the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) and / or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) used for cellular communication with the network node 110 over an access link or access channel. For example, PSCCH415 may carry sidelink control information (SCI)430, which may represent various control information used for sidelink communication, such as one or more resources (e.g., time resources, frequency resources, and / or spatial resources), in which case a transport block (TB)435 may be carried on PSCCH420. TB435 may contain data.The PSFCH425 may be used to communicate sidelink feedback 440 such as hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback (e.g., acknowledgment or negative acknowledgement (ACK / NACK) information), transmit power control (TPC), and / or scheduling request (SR).

[0064] As shown on PSCCH415, in some embodiments, SCI430 may include multiple communications in different stages, such as a first-stage SCI (SCI-1) and a second-stage SCI (SCI-2). SCI-1 may be transmitted on PSCCH415. SCI-2 may be transmitted on PSSCH420. SCI-1 may include, for example, an indication of one or more resources on PSSCH420 (e.g., time resources, frequency resources, and / or spatial resources), information for decoding sidelink communications on PSSCH, a quality of service (QoS) priority value, resource reservation period, PSSCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS) pattern, SCI format for SCI-2, beta offset for SCI-2, PSSCH DMRS port quantity, and / or modulation and coding scheme (MCS). SCI-2 may include information associated with data transmission on the PSSCH420, such as the HARQ process ID, new data indicator (NDI), source identifier, destination identifier, and / or channel state information (CSI) reporting trigger.

[0065] In some embodiments, one or more sidelink channels 410 may use resource pools. For example, a scheduling assignment (e.g., contained in SCI430) may be transmitted on a subchannel using specific resource blocks (RBs) over time. In some embodiments, data transmissions associated with a scheduling assignment (e.g., on PSSCH420) may occupy adjacent RBs in the same subframe as the scheduling assignment (e.g., using frequency division multiplexing). In some embodiments, the scheduling assignment and associated data transmissions are not transmitted on adjacent RBs.

[0066] In some embodiments, the UE405 may operate using a sidelink transmit mode (e.g., Mode 1), in which case resource selection and / or scheduling is performed by the network node 110 (e.g., base station, CU, or DU). For example, the UE405 may receive grants from the network node 110 (e.g., directly or via one or more network nodes) for sidelink channel access and / or scheduling (e.g., for configured grants, in downlink control information (DCI) or in radio resource control (RRC) messages). In some embodiments, the UE405 may operate using a transmit mode (e.g., Mode 2), in which case resource selection and / or scheduling is performed by the UE405 (rather than the network node 110). In some embodiments, the UE405 may perform resource selection and / or scheduling by sensing channel availability for transmission. For example, the UE405 may measure received signal strength indicator (RSSI) parameters associated with various sidelink channels (e.g., sidelink RSSI (S-RSSI) parameters), measure reference signal received power (RSRP) parameters associated with various sidelink channels (e.g., PSSCH-RSRP parameters), and / or measure reference signal received quality (RSRQ) parameters associated with various sidelink channels (e.g., PSSCH-RSRQ parameters), and may select a channel for transmitting sidelink communication at least in part on the measurement(s).

[0067] As an addition or alternative, UE405 may perform resource selection and / or scheduling using SCI430 received in PSCCH415, which may indicate occupied resources and / or channel parameters. As an addition or alternative, UE405 may perform resource selection and / or scheduling by determining the channel busy ratio (CBR) associated with various sidelink channels, which may be used for rate control (for example, by indicating the maximum number of resource blocks that UE405 can use for a particular set of subframes).

[0068] In transmit modes where resource selection and / or scheduling are performed by the UE405, the UE405 may generate sidelink permissions and transmit those permissions in the SCI430. A sidelink permission may indicate one or more resource blocks to be used for the next sidelink transmit on the PSSCH420 (e.g., for TB435), one or more subframes to be used for the next sidelink transmit, and / or one or more parameters to be used for the next sidelink transmit (e.g., transmit parameters), such as the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) to be used for the next sidelink transmit. In some embodiments, the UE405 may generate sidelink permissions indicating one or more parameters for semi-persistent scheduling (SPS), such as the periodicity of the sidelink transmit. As an addition or alternative, the UE405 may generate sidelink permissions for event-driven scheduling, such as for on-demand sidelink messages.

[0069] As described above, Figure 4 is provided as one embodiment. Other embodiments may differ from those described with respect to Figure 4.

[0070] Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example 500 of side-link communication and access-link communication according to this disclosure.

[0071] As shown in Figure 5, the transmitter (Tx) / receiver (Rx) UE505 and Rx / Tx UE510 can communicate with each other via sidelinks, as described above with respect to Figure 4. As further shown, in some sidelink modes, network node 110 can communicate with Tx / Rx UE505 (e.g., directly or via one or more network nodes), such as via a first access link. Additionally or alternatively, in some sidelink modes, network node 110 can communicate with Rx / Tx UE510 (e.g., directly or via one or more network nodes), such as via a first access link. Tx / Rx UE505 and / or Rx / Tx UE510 may correspond to one or more UEs described elsewhere in this specification, such as UE120 in Figure 1. Therefore, a direct link between UE120s (e.g., via the PC5 interface) may be called a sidelink, and a direct link between network node 110 and UE120 (e.g., via the Uu interface) may be called an access link. Sidelink communication may be transmitted via a sidelink, and access link communication may be transmitted via an access link. Access link communication may be either downlink communication (from network node 110 to UE120) or uplink communication (from UE120 to network node 110).

[0072] As described above, Figure 5 is provided as one embodiment. Other embodiments may differ from those described with respect to Figure 5.

[0073] Figure 6 shows an example 600 of implicit inter-UE beamkeeping (BM) as described herein. Generally, an implicit inter-UE BM procedure is a procedure in which a receiving (Rx) UE605 (e.g., UE120, UE405, UE505) performs a series of measurements to improve the received beam of Rx UE605 (and optionally the transmit beam, if beam matching is enabled in Rx UE605). For example, in some embodiments, the implicit inter-UE BM procedure may not involve feedback signaling from Rx UE605 to transmit UE610. The implicit inter-UE BM procedure may be called receiver-autonomous beam improvement. Example 600 also includes a transmit (Tx) UE610 (e.g., UE120, UE405, UE505). In some embodiments, Rx UE605 and Tx UE610 may communicate in FR2. Beam correspondence is a feature that allows a UE to derive the beam parameters of one beam (e.g., the transmit beam or the receive beam in the UE) from the beam parameters of two beams (e.g., the receive beam or the transmit beam, respectively).

[0074] Example 600 shows multiple transmissions by Tx UE610 and multiple receptions (e.g., measurements) by Rx UE605. Each transmission by Tx UE610 may utilize a reference signal (RS) resource. For example, each transmission by Tx UE610 may utilize a channel state information (CSI) RS (CSI-RS) resource. The CSI-RS resource may define the time, frequency, and / or parameters (e.g., beam parameters such as quasi co-location (QCL) parameters or transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states) for Tx UE610 to transmit CSI-RS. Tx UE610 may transmit CSI-RS resources, meaning that Tx UE610 may transmit CSI-RS according to the corresponding CSI-RS resources. The Rx UE605 can perform measurements according to CSI-RS resources (for example, at the time and / or frequency defined by the CSI-RS resource, and / or using the parameters indicated by the CSI-RS resource), which is referred to herein as measuring the CSI-RS resource. Measurements may include any appropriate measurements such as reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, reference signal received quality (RSRQ) measurement, and signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) measurement. Measurements may be referred to as Layer 1 measurements (in contrast to filtered measurements, which may incorporate time-domain filtering, such as Layer 3 measurements). The transmission and reception of each CSI-RS resource are indicated by indicators T1 to T8. For example, T1 indicates that transmission and reception occurred at time T1. Thus, it can be seen that the Tx UE610 transmits multiple CSI-RS resources using a fixed beam (referred to as beam repetition). For example, multiple CSI-RS resources may belong to the same resource set. It can also be seen that the Rx UE605 measures multiple CSI-RS resources using beam sweeping, which changes the Rx UE605's receiving beam from one measurement to another.For example, beam sweeping may involve measurements that use multiple different beams within a resource set.

[0075] As shown by reference no. 615, in some embodiments, Rx UE605 may send and Tx UE610 may receive a request asking Tx UE610 to transmit multiple CSI-RS resources. For example, the request may indicate that Tx UE610 transmits multiple CSI-RS resources using a fixed beam (e.g., using beam repetition). In some embodiments, the request may be aperiodic. For example, Rx UE605 may send aperiodic request that is not associated with periodicity in order to trigger Tx UE610 to transmit multiple CSI-RS resources. In some other embodiments, the request may be periodic. For example, Rx UE605 may send a request according to periodicity on configured resources, or according to configured parameters that indicate periodicity.

[0076] As shown by reference number 620, the Rx UE605 can measure multiple CSI-RS resources using multiple receive beams (four different receive beams in example 600). The measurement is described above. Thus, the Rx UE605 can measure multiple CSI-RS resources using beam sweeping, which may allow for improvements to the Rx UE605's receive beams.

[0077] As indicated by reference number 625, Rx UE605 may communicate with Tx UE610 using a selected receive beam. For example, Rx UE605 may select a selected receive beam from multiple receive beams from which Rx UE605 has measured multiple CSI-RS resources. In some embodiments, the selected receive beam may have the best measurement among the multiple receive beams (e.g., the strongest RSRP, the strongest RSRQ, the highest SINR). In some embodiments, communicating with Tx UE610 using a selected receive beam may include receiving communications from Tx UE610 using the selected receive beam. Additionally or alternatively, communicating with Tx UE610 using a selected receive beam may include transmitting communications to Tx UE610 using the selected receive beam. For example, if Rx UE605 supports beam mapping, Rx UE605 may use a selected receive beam (e.g., spatial parameters of the selected receive beam, such as QCL parameters or TCI states) to transmit communications to Tx UE610. Therefore, the Rx UE605 can select or refine the receive beam for transmission or reception without performing feedback to the Tx UE610, which reduces the latency and overhead associated with beam refinement.

[0078] In some embodiments, Tx UE610 may also perform the implicit inter-UE BM procedure in Example 600. For example, Tx UE610 may perform one or more of the operations in Example 600 described as being performed by Rx UE605, and Rx UE605 may perform one or more of the operations in Example 600 described as being performed by Tx UE610.

[0079] In some embodiments, Tx UE610 and Rx UE605 may swap signaling, for example, as described with respect to Example 800 in Figure 8. In addition or alternatively, in addition to the operations described with respect to Example 600, Tx UE610 and Rx UE605 may perform one or more explicit inter-UE BM operations, such as one or more of the operations described with respect to Example 700 in Figure 7.

[0080] As described above, Figure 6 is provided as one embodiment. Other embodiments may differ from those described with respect to Figure 6.

[0081] Figure 7 shows an example 700 of an explicit inter-UE BM procedure according to this disclosure. Generally, an explicit inter-UE BM procedure is a procedure in which Rx UE705 (e.g., UE120, UE405, UE505) provides feedback to Tx UE710 (e.g., UE120, UE405, UE505) regarding RS resource transmission by Tx UE710 so that Tx UE710 can select an appropriate Tx beam and / or report the selected Tx beam to Rx UE705. In some embodiments, Rx UE705 and Tx UE710 may communicate via FR2.

[0082] Example 700 demonstrates multiple RS transmissions by Tx UE710. Example 700 also includes multiple receptions (e.g., measurements) by Rx UE705. Each transmission by Tx UE710 may utilize an RS resource. For example, each transmission by Tx UE710 may utilize a CSI-RS resource. Tx UE710 may transmit a CSI-RS resource, meaning that Tx UE710 may transmit CSI-RS according to the corresponding CSI-RS resource. Rx UE705 may perform a measurement according to the CSI-RS resource (e.g., at the time and / or frequency defined by the CSI-RS resource, and / or using the parameters indicated by the CSI-RS resource), which is referred to herein as measuring a CSI-RS resource. The measurement may include any appropriate measurement such as an RSRP measurement, an RSRQ measurement, or a SINR measurement. The measurement may be referred to as a Layer 1 measurement (in contrast to a filtered measurement, which may incorporate time-domain filtering, such as a Layer 3 measurement).

[0083] The Tx UE710 can transmit multiple CSI-RS resources using multiple beams (i.e., using beam sweeping across multiple transmit beams). For example, multiple CSI-RS resources may belong to the same resource set. The Rx UE705 measures multiple CSI-RS resources using one or more beams. For example, the Rx UE705 may measure a first set of CSI-RS resources using a first receive beam and a second set of CSI-RS resources using a second receive beam. As another example, the Rx UE705 may measure all of the CSI-RS resources using the same beam.

[0084] As indicated by reference no. 715, in some embodiments, Tx UE 710 may transmit and Rx UE 705 may receive a request for information regarding measurements of one or more beams among a plurality of Tx beams. For example, Tx UE 710 may trigger an explicit inter-UE BM by transmitting a request. The request may be referred to as a trigger for a Layer 1 RSRP (L1-RSRP) or Layer 1 SINR (L1-SINR) report from Rx UE 705. For example, the request may indicate that Rx UE 705 transmits information regarding measurements of one or more beams among a plurality of Tx beams, and the information includes one or more L1-SINR or L1-RSRP measurements. The request may be transmitted periodically or aperiodicly (e.g., according to configured resources or configured periodicity parameters). In some embodiments, the request may include a field in a Sidelink Control Information (SCI) message, such as SCI-2.

[0085] As shown by reference no. 720, the Rx UE 705 can measure multiple CSI-RS resources using one or more Rx beams. In Example 700, the Rx UE 705 uses a single Rx beam. In some embodiments, the Rx UE can use multiple Rx beams. The measurements may include L1-RSRP measurements, L1-SINR measurements, or other forms of measurements.

[0086] As indicated by reference number 725, Rx UE705 may transmit first information, and Tx UE710 may receive it. The first information may include information about measurements of one or more Tx beams among a plurality of Tx beams. For example, one or more Tx beams may include K beams, where K is configurable or can be signaled by Tx UE705 or Rx UE710. In some embodiments, the first information may relate to the top K beams, such as a set of K beams having the strongest L1-RSRP or the highest L1-SINR among the plurality of Tx beams. In some embodiments, the first information may identify one or more Tx beams, for example, by using an identifier corresponding to the CSI-RS resource of one or more Tx beams. In some embodiments, Rx UE705 may select one or more Tx beams, for example, according to L1-RSRP or L1-SINR measurements of one or more Tx beams or a plurality of Tx beams.

[0087] As indicated by reference number 730, the Tx UE710 can select a Tx beam from among multiple Tx beams. For example, the Tx UE710 can select the Tx beam with the best measurement among multiple Tx beams. Thus, the Tx UE710 can select a Tx beam based at least partially on the first piece of information.

[0088] As indicated by reference number 735, Tx UE710 may transmit second information indicating the selected Tx beam, which Rx UE705 may receive. For example, the second information may indicate the TCI state of the selected Tx beam. The TCI state may indicate the beam parameters (e.g., QCL parameters) of the selected Tx beam. In some embodiments, the second information may indicate the identifier of the CSI-RS resource corresponding to the selected beam (e.g., the CSI-RS resource to which the RS measured by Rx UE705 was measured). In some embodiments, Tx UE710 may communicate with Rx UE705 using the selected Tx beam (for example, by sending a communication to Rx UE705 that may include the second information using the selected beam). In some embodiments, Tx UE710 may determine the Rx beam corresponding to the selected Tx beam. For example, if the Tx UE710 supports beam mapping, the Tx UE710 may use a selected Tx beam (e.g., spatial parameters of the selected Tx beam, such as QCL parameters or TCI states) to receive communications from the Rx UE705, which may be referred to as communicating with the Rx UE705 using a selected Tx beam.

[0089] As indicated by reference number 740, the Rx UE705 may select an Rx beam. For example, the Rx UE705 may select an Rx beam based at least in part on second information. In some embodiments, the Rx UE705 may select an Rx beam corresponding to a selected Tx beam indicated by second information. For example, the Rx UE705 may select an Rx beam used to measure a selected Tx beam. As another example, the Rx UE705 may select a beam corresponding to a selected Tx beam according to the spatial parameters of the selected Tx beam. The Rx UE705 may communicate with the Tx UE710 using the selected Rx beam. For example, the Rx UE705 may receive communications from the Tx UE710 using the selected beam. As another example, if the Rx UE710 supports beam mapping, the Rx UE705 may use a selected Rx beam (e.g., spatial parameters of the selected Rx beam, such as QCL parameters or TCI states) to send communications to the Tx UE710, which may be referred to as communicating with the Tx UE710 using a selected Rx beam.

[0090] In some embodiments, Tx UE710 and Rx UE705 may swap signaling, for example, as described with respect to Example 800 in Figure 8. In addition or alternatively, in addition to the operations described with respect to Example 700, Tx UE710 and Rx UE705 may perform one or more implicit inter-UE BM operations, such as one or more of the operations described with respect to Example 600 in Figure 6.

[0091] As described above, Figure 7 is provided as one embodiment. Other embodiments may differ from those described with respect to Figure 7.

[0092] Figure 8 shows an example 800 of signaling related to the UE-to-UE BM procedure as disclosed herein. Example 800 includes a first UE (e.g., UE120, UE405, UE505, UE605, UE610, UE705, UE710) and a second UE (e.g., UE120, UE405, UE505, UE605, UE610, UE705, UE710). In some embodiments, the first UE may be a Tx UE and the second UE may be an Rx UE. In some embodiments, the first UE and the second UE may communicate in FR2, for example, by using sidelink signaling.

[0093] As indicated by reference number 810, a first UE may transmit capability information, and a second UE may receive it. The transmission of capability information may be referred to herein as signaling with respect to the inter-UE BM procedure. In some embodiments, a second UE may transmit capability information, and a first UE may receive it. For example, a first UE and a second UE may exchange capability information. In some embodiments, a first UE and / or a second UE may transmit capability information during the establishment of a unicast link between the first and second UEs. For example, configuration information exchanged between the first and second UEs may include capability information. In some embodiments, a first UE and / or a second UE may transmit capability information after the establishment of a unicast link. For example, a first UE and / or a second UE may transmit capability information over a unicast link between the first and second UEs (using, for example, the source identifier of the source UE of the capability information and the destination identifier of the destination UE of the capability information).

[0094] Capability information may indicate one or more types of inter-UE BM procedures supported by the first UE. For example, capability information may indicate whether the first UE supports implicit inter-UE BM procedures (as described with respect to Figure 6). As another example, capability information may indicate whether the first UE supports explicit inter-UE BM procedures (as described with respect to Figure 7). As yet another example, capability information may indicate whether the first UE supports both explicit and implicit inter-UE BM procedures.

[0095] As shown by reference no. 820, in some embodiments, a second UE may transmit information indicating the mobility state of the second UE, which the first UE may receive. Additional or alternative, the first UE may transmit information indicating the mobility state of the first UE, which the second UE may receive. In some embodiments, the mobility state may indicate whether the UE is expected to move or change direction. Additional or alternative, the mobility state may indicate whether the UE is currently moving or rotating. Additional or alternative, the mobility state may indicate the type of UE (for example, the mobility state may indicate whether the UE is a fixed side-link UE such as a side-link relay UE, roadside unit, or side-link hub UE, whether the UE is attached to a stationary object, or to a moving object such as a vehicle, or whether the UE is a smartphone, or other type of UE that is expected to move or change direction). In some embodiments, capability information may be based at least in part on the mobility state. As an addition or alternative, capability information may be based at least in part on whether the UE supports beam-awareness. For example, a mobile UE that supports beam-awareness may transmit information indicating that the mobile UE supports only implicit inter-UE BM procedures. In some embodiments, a UE may determine its own mobility status using mobility sensors or mobility measurements (for example, a UE may be determined to be a mobile UE if a mobility sensor or mobility threshold indicates at least a threshold level of movement). As an addition or alternative, a UE may determine its own mobility status at least in part on its configuration, such as the UE's pre-configuration. The first UE and / or second UE may use information indicating their mobility status to select the type of inter-UE BM procedure, as described below.

[0096] As shown by reference no. 830, the first UE and the second UE may perform an explicit inter-UE BM procedure. For example, the first UE and the second UE may perform an explicit inter-UE BM procedure as described with respect to Figure 7. In some embodiments, the first UE or the second UE may choose to perform an explicit inter-UE BM procedure. For example, if both the first UE and the second UE support explicit inter-UE BM procedures, the first UE or the second UE may choose to perform an explicit inter-UE BM procedure. As another example, the first UE or the second UE may choose to perform an explicit inter-UE BM procedure if the motion state of the first UE or the second UE indicates that the first UE or the second UE is stationary (or associated with motion below a threshold level). In some embodiments, the first UE may transmit information indicating that it is performing an explicit inter-UE BM procedure, such as a request relating to the explicit inter-UE BM procedure, as described with respect to Figure 7, and the second UE may receive this information.

[0097] As shown by reference number 840, the first and second UEs may perform an implicit inter-UE BM procedure. Thus, the first and second UEs may switch from an explicit inter-UE BM procedure to an implicit inter-UE BM procedure. In some embodiments, the first or second UE may switch the type of inter-UE BM procedure based at least partially on the motion state. For example, a UE (e.g., the first or second UE) may determine that the motion state of one UE or another UE (e.g., the second or first UE) has changed, at least partially based on signaling from another UE. The UE may switch the type of inter-UE BM procedure in response to the change in motion state. For example, if a UE moves from a stationary motion state to a moving motion state, the UE may switch from an explicit inter-UE BM procedure to an implicit inter-UE BM procedure. In some embodiments, if the channel quality falls below a threshold, the UE may switch to an implicit inter-UE BM procedure, which can reduce the occurrence of missing communications related to BM due to poor channel quality.

[0098] When the first UE supports both implicit and explicit inter-UE BM procedures, the first UE may perform either an implicit or explicit inter-UE BM. For example, the first UE may initiate an explicit inter-UE BM procedure by periodically triggering L1-RSRP or L1-SINR reports from the second UE. As another example, the first UE may request the second UE to support the first UE's implicit inter-UE BM procedure by transmitting multiple CSI-RS resources using beam iterations. As yet another example, the first UE may switch between explicit and implicit BM types based at least partially on the mobility state of the second UE. For example, when the second UE is in a low-mobility state, the first UE may choose an explicit inter-UE BM procedure. When the second UE is in a high-mobility state, the first UE may choose an implicit inter-UE BM procedure. As explained above, the second UE may indicate its mobility state (e.g., low mobility vs. high mobility), which can assist in the selection of the first UE for the type of inter-UE BM procedure.

[0099] Table 1 below provides an illustrative overview of the BM type selection and BM actions of the first UE (UE1) and the second UE (UE2), given different capabilities of the first UE and the selected BM type of the first UE.

[0100] [Table 1]

[0101] As described above, Figure 8 is provided as one embodiment. Other embodiments may differ from those described with respect to Figure 8. For example, the first or second UE in Figure 8 may, as an addition or alternative, perform any one or more actions described with respect to Example 600 in Figure 6, Example 700 in Figure 7, or Example 900 in Figure 9. As another example, while Figure 8 primarily describes signaling for supporting explicit and implicit BM procedures, the signaling in Figure 8 may also include capability signaling or mobility status information for hybrid UE-to-UE BM procedures, as described in Figure 9. Furthermore, any description of signaling related to types of UE-to-UE BM procedures, or BMs that use them, may also include signaling related to hybrid UE-to-UE BM procedures, or BMs that use them, as described in Figure 9.

[0102] Figure 9 shows an example 900 of a hybrid UE-to-BM procedure according to the present disclosure. Example 900 includes a first UE (e.g., UE120, UE405, UE505, UE605, UE610, UE705, UE710, the first UE in Figure 8) and a second UE (e.g., UE120, UE405, UE505, UE605, UE610, UE705, UE710, the second UE in Figure 8).

[0103] As shown in Figure 9 by reference no. 910, a first UE may transmit a signaling that includes a request to transmit the number of CSI-RS resources, and a second UE may receive it. The request may include a first instruction for the number of CSI-RS resources to be transmitted per beam (M) (e.g., the number of iterations of the CSI-RS resources) and a second instruction for the number of beams to transmit (N). For example, the request may indicate transmitting M × N CSI-RS resources using M iterations on each of N Tx beams.

[0104] As shown by reference number 920, a second UE may transmit multiple CSI-RS resources according to signaling. For example, the second UE may transmit a number of M CSI-RS resources per beam (e.g., repetitions) in each of the N beams. As an example, if M is 2 and N is 4, the second UE may transmit a total of 8 CSI-RS resources, i.e., 2 on the first beam, 2 on the second beam, 2 on the third beam, and 2 on the fourth beam. In some embodiments, the UE may select N beams. For example, the UE may select N Tx beams to sweep for transmitting CSI-RS resources.

[0105] As shown by reference no. 930, the first UE may use the number of received beams to measure the number of CSI-RS resources (M) relative to the number of Tx beams (N). The number of received beams may include any number of received beams (including both ends) between, for example, 1 to M × N received beams. In some embodiments, the first UE may select the number of received beams. In addition or alternatively, the first UE may select specific received beams for measurement. For example, the first UE may determine the beam parameters of a set of beams for measurement of multiple CSI-RS resources.

[0106] As indicated by reference number 940, the first UE may transmit information (e.g., a third instruction) indicating a selected Tx beam from among N Tx beams. For example, the first UE may select a Tx beam (e.g., the Tx beam with the strongest L1-RSRP, the Tx beam with the highest L1-SINR) based at least partially on the measured values. As another example, the first UE may select a Tx beam based at least partially on a preferred Rx beam. For example, the first UE may select a Tx beam associated with the best measured value on the first UE's preferred Rx beam. Thus, the first UE may select a selected Tx beam for the second UE based at least partially on a selected beam pair of the first UE. The information indicating the selected Tx beam may include, for example, information indicating the TCI status of the selected Tx beam, information indicating the CSI-RS resource of the selected Tx beam, and so on.

[0107] As indicated by reference no. 950, the first UE and the second UE can communicate. For example, the first UE and the second UE can communicate based at least partially on a selected Tx beam or a selected Rx beam. In some embodiments, the first UE can receive a communication transmitted by the second UE using the selected Tx beam, using the selected Rx beam. In some embodiments, if the first UE supports beam matching, the first UE can transmit a communication using the selected Rx beam (e.g., the beam parameters of the selected Rx beam, as described elsewhere in this specification with respect to beam matching). In some embodiments, if the second UE supports beam matching, the second UE can receive a communication using the selected Tx beam (e.g., the beam parameters of the selected Tx beam, as described elsewhere in this specification with respect to beam matching).

[0108] As described above, Figure 9 is provided as one embodiment. Other examples will be described with reference to Figure 9.

[0109] Figure 10 shows an exemplary process 1000 performed by, for example, a UE as described herein. The exemplary process 1000 is an example in which a UE (e.g., UE120, UE405, UE505, UE605, UE610, UE705, UE710, the first UE in Figures 8 and / or 9) performs an operation associated with an inter-UE BM procedure.

[0110] As shown in Figure 10, in some embodiments, process 1000 may include transmitting signaling relating to an inter-UE BM procedure supported by the UE (block 1010). For example, a UE may transmit signaling relating to an inter-UE BM procedure supported by the UE (for example, using the transmit component 1104 and / or communication manager 1106 depicted in Figure 11), as described above. The signaling may include configurations indicating a CSI-RS transmit, a request for another UE to perform a CSI-RS transmit, capability signaling, information indicating mobility status, or the number of CSI-RS resources and / or the number of beams to transmit that number of CSI-RS resources, as described herein.

[0111] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 10, in some embodiments, process 1000 may include executing an interUE BM procedure based at least in part on signaling (block 1020). For example, a UE (e.g., using a communication manager 1106 depicted in Figure 11) may execute an interUE BM procedure based at least in part on signaling, as described above. The interUE BM procedure may be an implicit interUE BM procedure, an explicit interUE BM procedure, or a hybrid interUE BM procedure, as described with respect to Figures 6, 7, and 9, respectively.

[0112] Process 1000 may include additional embodiments, such as any single embodiment or any combination of embodiments, which are described below and / or in relation to one or more other processes described elsewhere in this specification.

[0113] In the first embodiment, signaling for an interUE BM procedure includes a request asking another UE to transmit multiple CSI-RS resources using a single transmit beam.

[0114] In the second embodiment, the requirement is a non-periodic requirement, either on its own or in combination with the first embodiment.

[0115] In the third aspect, the requirement is a periodic requirement, either on its own or in combination with one or more of the first and second aspects.

[0116] In the fourth aspect, the signaling relating to the inter-UE BM procedure includes, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to third aspects, multiple CSI-RS resources corresponding to multiple transmit beams.

[0117] In the fifth aspect, the signaling relating to the interUE BM procedure, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fourth aspects, further includes a request for information regarding measurements of one or more beams among a plurality of transmitted beams.

[0118] In the sixth aspect, the signaling relating to the interUE BM procedure further includes information indicating a selected beam from a plurality of transmit beams to a plurality of CSI-RS resources, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fifth aspects.

[0119] In the seventh aspect, the signaling relating to an interUE BM procedure includes capability information indicating one or more types of interUE BM procedures supported by the UE, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to sixth aspects.

[0120] In the eighth aspect, transmitting a signaling relating to an interUE BM procedure, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to seventh aspects, further includes transmitting a signaling during or after the establishment of a unicast link between one UE and another UE.

[0121] In the ninth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to eighth aspects, the inter-UE BM procedure is a first inter-UE BM procedure, and process 1000 includes switching to a second inter-UE BM procedure based at least partially on a first mobility state of one UE or a second mobility state of another UE, with the other UE associated with the inter-UE BM procedure.

[0122] In the tenth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to ninth aspects, the first interUE BM procedure is either an implicit interUE BM procedure or an explicit interUE BM procedure, and the second interUE BM procedure is either an implicit interUE BM procedure or an explicit interUE BM procedure.

[0123] In the eleventh aspect, process 1000 receives information indicating a second mobility state, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to tenth aspects.

[0124] In the twelfth aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to eleventh aspects, the signaling relating to the inter-UE BM procedure includes a first instruction for the number of CSI-RS resources to be transmitted per beam and a second instruction for the number of beams for the inter-UE BM procedure.

[0125] In the 13th embodiment, the signaling further includes, either alone or in combination with one or more of the 1st to 12th embodiments, a third designation of a preferred beam among the number of beams.

[0126] In the 14th aspect, transmitting a signaling, either alone or in combination with one or more of the 1st to 13th aspects, further includes transmitting a request to a second UE to transmit multiple CSI-RS resources using a single transmit beam, and performing an inter-UE BM procedure further includes measuring multiple CSI-RS resources using multiple receive beams, and communicating with the second UE using a selected receive beam from the multiple receive beams, at least in part, based on measuring multiple CSI-RS resources.

[0127] In the 15th aspect, communicating with a selected UE using a selected received beam, either alone or in combination with one or more of the 1st to 14th aspects, further includes transmitting or receiving communications using a selected received beam.

[0128] In the sixteenth aspect, transmitting signaling, either alone or in combination with one or more of the first to fifteenth aspects, further includes transmitting multiple CSI-RS resources using multiple transmit beams, and performing an inter-UE BM procedure includes receiving from a second UE information regarding measurements of one or more of the multiple transmit beams, and selecting a beam for communication with the second UE, based in part on the measurements of one or more of the multiple transmit beams.

[0129] In the 17th aspect, one or more beams, either alone or in combination with one or more of the 1st to 16th aspects, include the top one or more beams of a plurality of transmitting beams.

[0130] In the 18th aspect, communicating with a second UE using the selected beam, either alone or in combination with one or more of the 1st to 17th aspects, further includes transmitting or receiving communications using the selected beam.

[0131] In the 19th aspect, the process 1000 includes transmitting information indicating a selected beam to a second UE, either alone or in combination with one or more of the 1st to 18th aspects.

[0132] In the 20th aspect, either alone or in combination with one or more of the 1st to 19th aspects, the signaling relating to the interUE BM procedure includes a first instruction for the number of CSI-RS resources to be transmitted per beam and a second instruction for the number of transmit beams for the interUE BM procedure, and the execution of the interUE BM procedure further includes measuring the number of CSI-RS resources relative to the number of transmit beams using the number of received beams, transmitting a third instruction for selected beams from the number of transmit beams, and communicating using the selected beams.

[0133] Figure 10 shows an exemplary block of process 1000, but in some embodiments, process 1000 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or blocks configured differently from those shown in Figure 10. Additionally or alternatively, two or more blocks of process 1000 may be executed in parallel.

[0134] Figure 11 is a diagram of an exemplary apparatus 1100 for wireless communication according to the present disclosure. The apparatus 1100 may be a UE, or a UE may include the apparatus 1100. In some embodiments, the apparatus 1100 includes a receiving component 1102, a transmitting component 1104, and / or a communications manager 1106 that can communicate with each other (e.g., via one or more buses and / or one or more other components). In some embodiments, the communications manager 1106 is the communications manager 140 described in relation to Figure 1. As shown, the apparatus 1100 may use the receiving component 1102 and the transmitting component 1104 to communicate with a UE or another apparatus 1108 such as a network node (CU, DU, RU, or base station).

[0135] In some embodiments, the device 1100 may be configured to perform one or more operations described herein in relation to Figures 4 to 9. Alternatively, the device 1100 may be configured to perform one or more processes described herein, or a combination thereof, such as process 1000 in Figure 10. In some embodiments, the device 1100 and / or one or more components shown in Figure 11 may include one or more components of the UE described in relation to Figure 2. Alternatively, one or more components shown in Figure 11 may be implemented within one or more components described in relation to Figure 2. Alternatively, one or more components of a set of components may be implemented at least partially as software stored in memory. For example, a component (or a portion of a component) may be implemented as instructions or code stored in a non-temporary computer-readable medium, which can be executed by a controller or processor to perform the function or operation of that component.

[0136] The receiving component 1102 may receive communications from the device 1108, such as reference signals, control information, data communications, or a combination thereof. The receiving component 1102 may provide the received communications to one or more other components of the device 1100. In some embodiments, the receiving component 1102 may perform signal processing on the received communications (among other examples, filtering, amplification, demodulation, analog-to-digital conversion, demultiplexing, deinterleaving, demapping, equalization, interference cancellation, or decoding), and provide the processed signals to one or more other components of the device 1100. In some embodiments, the receiving component 1102 may include one or more antennas, modems, demodulators, MIMO detectors, receiving processors, controllers / processors, memory, or a combination thereof, of the UE described in relation to Figure 2.

[0137] The transmitting component 1104 can transmit communications such as reference signals, control information, data communications, or combinations thereof to the device 1108. In some embodiments, one or more other components of the device 1100 may generate communications and provide these generated communications to the transmitting component 1104 for transmission to the device 1108. In some embodiments, the transmitting component 1104 may perform signal processing (among other examples, filtering, amplification, modulation, digital-to-analog conversion, multiplexing, interleaving, mapping, or coding) on ​​the generated communications and transmit these processed signals to the device 1108. In some embodiments, the transmitting component 1104 may include one or more antennas, modems, modulators, transmitting MIMO processors, transmitting processors, controllers / processors, memory, or combinations thereof of the UE described in relation to Figure 2. In some embodiments, the transmitting component 1104 may be located in the transceiver alongside the receiving component 1102.

[0138] The communication manager 1106 may support the operation of the receiving component 1102 and / or the transmitting component 1104. For example, the communication manager 1106 may receive information associated with configuring the receiving component 1102 to receive communications and / or the transmitting component 1104 to transmit communications. Additionally or alternatively, the communication manager 1106 may generate and / or provide control information to the receiving component 1102 and / or the transmitting component 1104 to control the receiving and / or transmission of communications.

[0139] The transmitting component 1104 may transmit signaling related to an inter-UE BM procedure supported by the UE. The communication manager 1106 may execute the inter-UE BM procedure based at least in part on the signaling.

[0140] The receiving component 1102 can receive information indicating a second mobility state.

[0141] The transmitting component 1104 may transmit information indicating the selected beam to the second UE.

[0142] The number and arrangement of components shown in Figure 11 are provided as an example. In practice, there may be additional components, fewer components, different components, or components configured differently from those shown in Figure 11. Furthermore, two or more components shown in Figure 11 may be implemented within a single component, or a single component shown in Figure 11 may be implemented as multiple distributed components. Additionally or alternatively, a set of (one or more) components shown in Figure 11 may perform one or more functions that are described as being performed by another set of components shown in Figure 11.

[0143] The following provides an overview of some aspects of this disclosure.

[0144] Embodiment 1: A method of wireless communication performed by a user device (UE), comprising transmitting a signaling relating to an inter-UE beam-maintaining (BM) procedure supported by the UE, and performing an inter-UE BM procedure at least in part on the signaling.

[0145] Embodiment 2: The method according to Embodiment 1, wherein the signaling for the inter-UE BM procedure includes a request to another UE to transmit multiple channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources using a single transmit beam.

[0146] Embodiment 3: The method according to Embodiment 2, wherein the requirement is a non-periodic requirement.

[0147] Embodiment 4: The method according to Embodiment 2, wherein the requirement is a periodic requirement.

[0148] Embodiment 5: The method according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 4, wherein the signaling for the inter-UE BM procedure includes multiple channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources corresponding to multiple transmit beams.

[0149] Embodiment 6: The method according to Embodiment 5, wherein the signaling relating to the interUE BM procedure further includes a request for information regarding measurements of one or more beams among a plurality of transmitted beams.

[0150] Embodiment 7: The method of Embodiment 5, wherein the signaling relating to the interUE BM procedure further includes information indicating a selected beam from a plurality of transmit beams based at least partially on a plurality of CSI-RS resources.

[0151] Embodiment 8: The method according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 7, wherein the signaling relating to an inter-UE BM procedure includes capability information indicating one or more types of inter-UE BM procedures supported by the UE.

[0152] Embodiment 9: The method according to Embodiment 8, further comprising transmitting signaling relating to an interUE BM procedure during or after the establishment of a unicast link between one UE and another UE.

[0153] Embodiment 10: The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 9, wherein the interUE BM procedure is a first interUE BM procedure, and the method further comprises switching to a second interUE BM procedure based at least in part on a first mobility state of a UE or a second mobility state of another UE, the other UE being associated with the interUE BM procedure.

[0154] Embodiment 11: The method according to Embodiment 10, wherein the first interUE BM procedure is either an implicit interUE BM procedure or an explicit interUE BM procedure, and the second interUE BM procedure is the other of either an implicit interUE BM procedure or an explicit interUE BM procedure.

[0155] Embodiment 12: The method according to Embodiment 10, further comprising receiving information indicating a second mobility state.

[0156] Embodiment 13: The method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 12, wherein the signaling for the inter-UE BM procedure includes a first instruction for the number of CSI-RS resources to transmit per beam and a second instruction for the number of beams for the inter-UE BM procedure.

[0157] Embodiment 14: The method according to Embodiment 13, wherein the signaling further includes a third indication of a preferred beam among the number of beams.

[0158] Embodiment 15: The method of any one of embodiments 1 to 14, further comprising transmitting a signaling, which in turn comprises transmitting a request to a second UE to transmit multiple channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources using a single transmit beam, and performing an inter-UE BM procedure, which in turn comprises measuring multiple CSI-RS resources using multiple receive beams, and communicating with the second UE using a selected receive beam from the multiple receive beams, at least in part, based on measuring multiple CSI-RS resources.

[0159] Embodiment 16: The method according to Embodiment 15, further comprising communicating with a selected UE using a selected receive beam, or transmitting or receiving a communication using a selected receive beam.

[0160] Embodiment 17: The method according to any embodiment 1 to 16, wherein transmitting a signaling further comprises transmitting multiple channel status reference signal (CSI-RS) resources using multiple transmit beams, and performing an inter-UE BM procedure comprises receiving from a second UE information about measurements of one or more of the multiple transmit beams, and selecting a beam for communication with the second UE, based in part on the measurements of one or more of the multiple transmit beams.

[0161] Embodiment 18: The method according to Embodiment 17, wherein one or more beams include the top one or more beams of a plurality of transmitting beams.

[0162] Embodiment 19: The method of Embodiment 17, further comprising communicating with a second UE using the selected beam, or transmitting or receiving communications using the selected beam.

[0163] Embodiment 20: The method according to Embodiment 17, further comprising transmitting information indicating the selected beam to a second UE.

[0164] Embodiment 21: The method according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 20, wherein the signaling for an interUE BM procedure includes a first instruction for the number of CSI-RS resources to be transmitted per beam and a second instruction for the number of transmit beams for the interUE BM procedure, and the execution of the interUE BM procedure further includes measuring the number of CSI-RS resources relative to the number of transmit beams using the number of received beams, transmitting a third instruction for selected beams from the number of transmit beams, and communicating using the selected beams.

[0165] Embodiment 22: A device for wireless communication in a device, comprising a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor, wherein the instructions cause the device to perform one or more of the methods described in Embodiments 1 to 21.

[0166] Embodiment 23: A device for wireless communication, comprising a memory and one or more processors coupled to the memory, wherein one or more processors are configured to perform one or more of the methods described in Embodiments 1 to 21.

[0167] Embodiment 24: An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising at least one means for performing a method according to one or more of Embodiments 1 to 21.

[0168] Embodiment 25: A non-temporary computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication, wherein the code includes instructions that can be executed by a processor, and the instructions perform one or more of the methods described in Embodiments 1 to 21.

[0169] Embodiment 26: A non-temporary computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions for wireless communication, the set of instructions comprising one or more instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to perform one or more of the methods described in Embodiments 1 to 21.

[0170] The above disclosures are for illustrative and explanatory purposes only, and are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the forms to those disclosed. Modifications and variations may be made in light of the above disclosures or obtained from the practice of the forms.

[0171] Where used herein, the term “Components” is intended to be interpreted broadly as hardware and / or combinations of hardware and software. “Software” is intended to be interpreted broadly as instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, execution threads, procedures, and / or functions, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or other names, among many other examples. Where used herein, “Processor” is implemented in hardware and / or combinations of hardware and software. It will become clear that the systems and / or methods described herein can be implemented in various forms of hardware and / or combinations of hardware and software. The actual specialized control hardware or software code used to implement these systems and / or methods is not limited to these embodiments. Therefore, as those skilled in the art will understand, software and hardware can be designed to perform the system and / or method based at least in part on the description herein; the operation and behavior of the system and / or method are described herein without reference to specific software code.

[0172] As used herein, “meeting the threshold” may mean, depending on the context, that a value is 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, or not equal to the threshold.

[0173] Even if certain combinations of features are enumerated in the claims and / or disclosed herein, those combinations are not intended to limit the disclosure of various embodiments. Many of these features can be combined in ways not specifically enumerated in the claims and / or disclosed herein. The disclosure of various embodiments includes each dependent claim in combination with any other claim in the set of claims. Where used herein, the phrase "at least one of" the list of items refers to any combination of those items, including a single member. As an example, “at least one of a, b, or c” is intended to encompass a, b, c, a+b, a+c, b+c, and a+b+c, as well as any combination having 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 sequence of a, b, and c).

[0174] None of the elements, actions, or commands used herein should be construed as essential or mandatory unless expressly stated otherwise. Furthermore, as used herein, the articles “a” and “an” are 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 with respect to the article “the” and may be used interchangeably with “one or more.” Furthermore, 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.” When only one item is intended, the phrase “only one” or similar words are used. Also, as used herein, terms such as “has,” “have,” and “having” are intended to be open-ended terms that do not limit the elements they modify (for example, an element that “has” A may also have B). Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, the phrase "based on" is intended to mean "at least partially based on." Also, as used herein, the term "or" is intended to be inclusive when used in a series, and may be used interchangeably with "and / or" unless otherwise specified (for example, when used in combination with "either" or "only one of").

Claims

1. User equipment (UE) for wireless communication, Memory and One or more processors coupled to the memory, The UE transmits signaling regarding the inter-UE beam maintenance (BM) procedure supported by the UE, The interUE BM procedure is performed at least in part based on the aforementioned signaling. One or more processors configured in such a way, User equipment (UE) equipped with these features.

2. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the signaling relating to the inter-UE BM procedure includes a request to another UE to transmit multiple channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources using a single transmit beam.

3. The UE according to claim 2, wherein the requirement is a non-periodic requirement.

4. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the signaling relating to the inter-UE BM procedure includes a plurality of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources corresponding to a plurality of transmit beams.

5. The UE according to claim 4, wherein the signaling relating to the interUE BM procedure further includes a request for information regarding measurements of one or more of the plurality of transmitted beams.

6. The UE according to claim 4, wherein the signaling relating to the inter-UE BM procedure further includes information indicating a selected beam from the plurality of transmit beams based at least partially on the plurality of CSI-RS resources.

7. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the signaling relating to the inter-UE BM procedure includes capability information indicating one or more types of inter-UE BM procedures supported by the UE.

8. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the inter-UE BM procedure is a first inter-UE BM procedure, and the one or more processors are configured to switch to a second inter-UE BM procedure based at least partially on a first mobility state of the UE or a second mobility state of another UE, and the other UE is associated with the inter-UE BM procedure.

9. The UE according to claim 8, wherein the first inter-UE BM procedure is either an implicit inter-UE BM procedure or an explicit inter-UE BM procedure, and the second inter-UE BM procedure is the other of the implicit inter-UE BM procedure or the explicit inter-UE BM procedure.

10. The UE according to claim 1, wherein the signaling relating to the inter-UE BM procedure includes a first instruction for the number of CSI-RS resources to be transmitted per beam and a second instruction for the number of beams for the inter-UE BM procedure.

11. The transmission of the signaling further includes sending a request to a second UE to transmit multiple channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources using a single transmit beam, and the one or more processors perform the inter-UE BM procedure. Using multiple receiving beams, measure the multiple CSI-RS resources, Based at least in part on measuring the plurality of CSI-RS resources, communicate with the second UE using a selected received beam from the plurality of received beams, It is structured in such a way. The UE according to claim 1.

12. The one or more processors are configured to transmit multiple channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources using multiple transmit beams to transmit the signaling, and the one or more processors are configured to perform the interUE BM procedure, The second UE receives information regarding the measurement values ​​of one or more of the multiple transmission beams. Based in part on the measured values ​​of one or more of the plurality of transmitting beams, a beam is selected for communication with the second UE. It is structured in such a way. The UE according to claim 1.

13. The UE according to claim 12, wherein one or more processors are configured to transmit or receive communications using the selected beams in order to communicate with the second UE using the selected beams.

14. The UE according to claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to transmit information indicating the selected beam to the second UE.

15. The signaling relating to the interUE BM procedure includes a first instruction for the number of CSI-RS resources to be transmitted per beam, and a second instruction for the number of transmit beams for the interUE BM procedure, and the one or more processors perform the interUE BM procedure. Using the number of received beams, measure the number of CSI-RS resources relative to the number of transmitted beams. A third instruction is transmitted for a selected beam from the aforementioned number of transmission beams. The selected beam is used to communicate, It is structured in such a way. The UE according to claim 1.

16. A method of wireless communication performed by user equipment (UE), Transmitting signaling relating to the inter-UE beam maintenance (BM) procedure supported by the aforementioned UE, The UE-to-BE procedure is performed at least partially based on the aforementioned signaling, Methods that include...

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the signaling relating to the inter-UE BM procedure includes a request to another UE to transmit multiple channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources using a single transmit beam.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein the signaling relating to the interUE BM procedure includes a plurality of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources corresponding to a plurality of transmit beams.

19. A non-temporary computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions for wireless communication, wherein the set of instructions is The system includes one or more instructions, and when the one or more instructions are executed by one or more processors of a user device (UE), the UE is configured to: The UE transmits signaling regarding the inter-UE beam maintenance (BM) procedure supported by the aforementioned UE. The signaling is used to perform the interUE BM procedure, at least in part. Non-temporary computer-readable media.

20. The non-transient computer-readable medium according to claim 19, wherein the signaling relating to the inter-UE BM procedure includes a request to another UE to transmit multiple channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources using a single transmit beam.

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