Antenna beam measurement and reporting

Abstract

A terminal transmits a measurement report identifying a set of current antenna beams associated with current quality measurements in response to determining the set of current antenna beams is different from a previously reported set of antenna beams associated with reported quality measurements. Based on received reference signals, the terminal measures the quality of a plurality of antenna beams of a multiple-beam antenna pattern of a network node to determine a quality measurement for each antenna beam of the plurality of antenna beams. The terminal identifies, from the plurality of antenna beams, the current set of antenna beams that have higher quality measurements than other quality measurements of other antenna beams of the plurality of antenna beams. If a comparison between the set of reported antenna beams and the set of current antenna beams based on difference criteria identifies a difference, the measurement report is transmitted to the network node.

Description

TUTL 00408 PC-1 -ANTENNA BEAM MEASUREMENT AND REPORTINGCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present application claims priority to Provisional Application No. 63 / 698,834 entitled “UE-lnitiated Beam Monitoring and Reporting Method” and filed September 25, 2024, assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIELD

[0002] This invention generally relates to wireless communications and more particularly to antenna beam measurement and reporting.BACKGROUND

[0003] Many wireless communication systems that employ several base stations that provide wireless service to user equipment (UE) devices. In many conventional communication systems, a serving network node (e.g., serving base station, serving gNB) applies a precoder matrix to transmissions to the UE devices through multiple antennas at the base station. Some systems utilize Multiple User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) techniques for transmission of signals from multiple antennas at a base station to multiple UE devices where a MU-MIMO precoder matrix is applied to the transmissions to enhance the achievable data rates of the transmission to each UE device. With MU-MIMO, a multi-antenna transmitter communicates simultaneously with multiple receivers. Each receiver may have one or multiple antennas. The MU-MIMO precoder facilitates beam forming or other communication channel adjustments where transmission antenna beams are formed to maximize the signal strength of each stream directed to each target UE device. Conventional beamforming techniques include the base station transmitting downlink reference signals which are measured by a terminal. The terminal sends Channel State Information feedback (CSI) to the base station which uses the CSI feedback to configure the downlink beamforming scheme that meets a set of requirements. Traditional CSI reporting is initiated by the base station.TUTL 00408 PC-2-SUMMARY

[0004] A terminal transmits a measurement report identifying a set of current antenna beams associated with current quality measurements in response to determining the set of current antenna beams is different from a previously reported set of antenna beams associated with reported quality measurements. Based on received reference signals, the terminal measures the quality of a plurality of antenna beams of a multiple-beam antenna pattern of a network node to determine a quality measurement for each antenna beam of the plurality of antenna beams. The terminal identifies, from the plurality of antenna beams, the current set of antenna beams that have higher quality measurements than other quality measurements of other antenna beams of the plurality of antenna beams. The measurement report is transmitted if the identified beams in the two sets are not the same, the ranking of the antenna beams in the two sets are not the same, and / or at least one of the antenna beams in the current set of antenna beams is associated with a current quality measurement that is different by more than a threshold from the reported quality measurement for the same antenna beam in the set of previously reported antenna beams.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system where a terminal transmits, to a network node, a measurement report identifying a current set of antenna beams associated with current quality measurements in response to determining the current set of antenna beams is different from a previously reported set of antenna beams associated with reported quality measurements.

[0006] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of a base station suitable for use as the network node.

[0007] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example of a UE device suitable for use as the terminal.

[0008] FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an example of a method of managing measurement reports for antenna beams.TUTL 00408 PC-3-

[0009] FIG. 5 is a message flow diagram for an example of antenna beam reporting where a beam reporting trigger is a based on detection of a difference between a current set of antenna beams and a previously reported set of antenna beams.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0010] As discussed above, traditional CSI reporting for antenna beam management is initiated by the base station (gNB). Some proposed techniques for CSI reporting include using CSI reporting that is initiated by the terminal based on event triggers.Such UE-initiated / event-driven beam management is intended to reduce overhead and / or latency while leveraging legacy CSI measurement and reporting configuration frameworks. The proposed techniques include defining various “events” that trigger a beam report from the terminal to invoke antenna beam adjustment at the base station to the terminal. Some examples of the events are based on a new beam becoming better or worse that current beam(s) being used for downlink data transmission where the terminal may measure signal quality such as signal strength or signal-to-noise ratio. Examples of proposed events can be found in RP-241051 , 3GPP TSG RAN Meeting #104, “NR MIMO Phase 5 Status Report to TSG,” Samsung (Moderator), Shanghai, China, June 17-20, 2024. The proposed events (E1-E9) include:

[0011] Event-1 : Quality of the current beam is worse than a certain threshold.

[0012] Event-2: Quality of at least one new beam, such as L1 -RSRP, becomes a threshold value better than the current beam.

[0013] Event-3: Quality of a new beam is better than a certain threshold.

[0014] Event-4: Quality of the current beam is worse than a threshold 1 , and quality of at least one new beam is better than a threshold 2.

[0015] Event-5: Absolute value of the difference between the quality of the current beam and the quality of at least one new beam is lower than a threshold.

[0016] Event-6: When the current beam is not in the best K>1 beams (out of configured beams for measurement and reporting).

[0017] Event-7a: Quality of at least one new beam, such as L1 -RSRP, becomes a threshold value better than the RS derived from the activated TCI state with the worst quality.TUTL 00408 PC-4-

[0018] Event-7b: Quality of at least one new beam, such as L1-RSRP, becomes a threshold value better than the RS derived from the activated TCI state with the best quality.

[0019] Event-8: Quality of M>1 new beams, such as L1-RSRP, become a threshold value better than the current beam.

[0020] Event-9: Quality of at least one new beam, such as L1 -RSRP, becomes a threshold value better than the configured reference RS (can be SSB or CSI-RS).

[0021] Unfortunately, the proposed defined events complicate the UE-assisted or UE-initiated beam management procedure, especially if some steps in the beam reporting procedure are contingent upon the detection of one or more such events by the terminal. For example, the proposed techniques require the terminal to frequently evaluate up to several events to trigger beam monitoring and reporting making the process unnecessarily complicated and to transmit a measurement report for each detected event. If the terminal is configured with two or more of the events discussed above, for example, the terminal is potentially required to transmit a measurement report for each detected event resulting in multiple measurement reports to possibly report a change in beam quality that can be expressed with a single measurement report. The transmission of multiple measurement report results in unnecessary additional overhead and an inefficient use of resources. For the examples discussed herein, however, the terminal compares a current set of antenna beams to a previously reported set of antenna beams and determines whether there is a difference between the two sets. If a difference is detected, the terminal generates and transmits a measurement report with the current set of antenna beams to the network node.Accordingly, the terminal applies the same criteria to establish the set of antenna beams at different times to determine if there has been a change. As compared to proposed techniques, the terminal is not required to evaluate numerous thresholds for independent events to determine whether to transmit a measurement report. The thresholds for triggering transmission of a measurement report are not individual thresholds but rather related to changes compared to the last report. With other proposed and conventional techniques, the triggers for individual events could result in the transmission of multiple measurement reports. For example, a change in a beamTUTL 00408 PC-5- not meeting a minimum threshold and the beam changing by more than a maximum threshold would result in the transmission of two measurement reports. In the examples discussed herein, however, a single measurement report is transmitted regardless of the number of individual events that may have triggered a change in the status of the preferred beams.

[0022] A network node is any apparatus, equipment, device, or combination of devices, on the network side of the communication system that is connected to the communication network or is part of communication network. Some examples of a network node include a base station, a node B, an E-UTRA Node B, Evolved Node B, eNodeB, eNB, a New Generation eNB (ng-eNB), a gNodeB (also known as a gNB) in new radio (NR) technology, a macro station, pico station, and a femto station. The network node may form, or be a part of, the radio access network (RAN) that provides a connection between the core network and terminal communication devices. A RAN may be organized into three functional blocks including a Radio Unit (RU), a Distributed Unit (DU) and a Centralized Unit (CU). The RU transmits, receives, amplifies, and digitizes radio frequency signals and typically located near, or integrated into, the antenna. The DU and CU perform computations and / or processing to send and receive digitalized radio signals to and from the core network. The DU is typically located at or near the RU and the CU may be closer to the core network. The infrastructure or connection between the RU and the DU is often referred to as fronthaul and the infrastructure or connection between the DU and the CU is often referred to as a midhaul. The communication node, therefore, may perform the functions of one or more of the RU, DU and / or CU depending on the particular implementation.

[0023] A terminal communication device (terminal), such as a remote terminal and a relay terminal, is a communication device on the terminal side of the communication system and is sometimes referred to as user equipment (UE), a UE device, a terminal device, wireless mobile device, wireless communication device and other terms. Some examples of a terminal communication device include a mobile phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), tablet, and laptop computer. In some situations, the terminal communication device is a machine type communication (MTC) communication device or Internet-of-Things (IOT) device. In addition, the terminal communicationTUTL 00408 PC-6- device may be, or may be a part of, a wearable device or a vehicle where the vehicle may be terrestrial vehicle, watercraft, or aircraft (including unmanned aerial vehicles). The terminal communication device, therefore, is any fixed, mobile, or portable equipment that performs the functions of the terminal device described herein.

[0024] For the examples discussed herein, base stations and UE devices are examples of network nodes and terminals, respectively. Accordingly, any functions or descriptions of a base station herein can be applied to a network node and any functions or descriptions of a UE, UE device, and UE communication device herein can be applied to a terminal or terminal communication device.

[0025] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system 100 where a terminal 102 transmits, to a network node 104, a measurement report 106 identifying a current set of antenna beams 108 associated with current quality measurements in response to determining the current set of antenna beams 108 is different from a previously reported set of antenna beams 110 associated with previously reported quality measurements.

[0026] The network node 104 includes a transmitter 112 that transmits downlink (DL) signals through multiple antennas 114. The multiple antennas 114 form an antenna array in the example where the array may be a massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) array in some circumstances. The transmitter 112 includes antenna management functionality that facilitates beam forming such that the antenna pattern of the antennas 114 includes a plurality of antenna beams 116. For the example, the network node 104 transmits reference signals 118 through the multiple antennas 114 that are received and measured by the terminal 102. In accordance with known techniques, the terminal measures downlink reference signal to determine a quality indicator for each antenna beam of a group of measured antenna beams 121 -128 where the number of measured beams can be represented by M. The terminal 102 measures Channel State Information Reference Signals CSI-RS which are downlink signals transmitted by the network node through the multiple antennas 114. For the example of FIG. 1 , M is equal to eight such that eight antenna beams including antenna beam B1 121 , antenna beam B2 122, antenna beam B3 123, antenna beam B4 124, antenna beam B5 125, antenna beam B6 126, antenna beam B7 127, and antenna beam B8 128 are measured. Examples of suitable quality measurements include LayerTUTL 00408 PC-7-1 Reference Signal Received Power (L1-RSRP), Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), and Signal-to-lnterference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR). Other metrics to quantify the quality of an antenna beam can also be used. The number, M, of measured antenna beams is selected by the network in the examples. The parameter M may be provided to the terminal by Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or other suitable messaging or control signaling. In some situations, the actual number M used by a particular terminal may also be limited by the capability of the terminal. For example, a high-end, more sophisticated, terminal may be able to monitor up to eight antenna beams (M=8 beams), whereas a low-end, less sophisticated terminal may monitor up to two antenna beams (M=2 beams). The network node may select M for any particular terminal based on the capability of the terminal and other considerations.

[0027] After measuring the M antenna beams 121-128, the terminal 102 generates and stores in memory information regarding the current set of antenna beams 108 which includes at least a beam identifier 131 -134 and an associated quality indicator 141-144 for a number (N) of antenna beams that meet a criterion for inclusion in the set. In some examples discussed herein, N is set by the network and the N parameter is sent to the terminal by the network node. In other examples, the terminal 102 autonomously determines N. In still other examples, N is determined by the terminal based on criteria provided by the network node 104. For the example of FIG. 1 , the four antenna beams are included in the current set of antenna beams. For some examples, the criterion for including a measured antenna beam in the current candidate set is such that the quality of any beam in the set must be larger than or equal to a minimum quality threshold, THQ MIN, set by the network. The network node 104 may send information to the terminal 102 identifying the THQ MIN parameter using RRC signaling. The THQ MIN parameter may be sent to the terminal 102 in the same message identifying other parameters, such as M. The parameters may also be sent in different messages. In some situations, the THQ IN parameter is preconfigured at the terminal 102 and is static. In other situations, the preconfigured THQ IN parameter may be dynamically adjusted only when needed.

[0028] In some situations, the terminal 102 generates the set of current antenna beams 108 such that the antenna beams in the set 108 are ordered based on theTUTL 00408 PC-8- quality indicator. For the example, the highest quality beam that was measured by the terminal 102 is antenna beam B3 123. Accordingly, the quality indicator, Q3 141 indicating the measured quality of antenna beam B3 123 is the quality indicator indicating the highest quality measured. The beam indicator (beam ID) 131 identifying the antenna beam B3 123 is associated with the quality indicator, Q3 141. For the example, the measured antenna beam with the second highest quality is antenna beam B2 122 which is identified by the antenna beam identifier, IDB2 132. Beam IDB2 is associated with quality indicator, Q2 142 which indicates the measured quality of the measured antenna beam B2 122.

[0029] The quality indicators are quantized such that the quality indicators in a set of antenna beams differ by an integer value including a value of zero. The quality measurement of each antenna beam in a set is quantized so that the quality indicator of any two consecutive beams in the set satisfies the formula Quality Indicator(Bi) - Quality lndicator(Bi+1 ) = mA, where m is an integer including the value m = 0, A is a beam quality quantization step, and B is a beam ranking in the ordered beam list of the set. Accordingly, m = 0 where two or more beams are quantized to the same quality value.

[0030] After generating the current set of antenna beams 108, the terminal 102 compares the current set of antenna beams 108 to the previously reported set of antenna beams 110. The previously reported set of antenna beams 110 is the most recent set transmitted to the network node 104 and includes previously reported antenna beam identifiers 146 associated with corresponding previously reported quality indicators 148. The terminal 102 determines whether there is a difference between the current set of antenna beams 108 to the previously reported set of antenna beams 110 where the difference may be based on various criteria. For the example, a detected difference is the existence of at least two of a contents difference, a rank difference, or a quality indicator difference. A contents difference is determined to exist where the current antenna beams in the current set of antenna beams are not the same antenna beams as the reported antenna beams in the previously reported set of antenna beams. A contents difference may be a difference in the number of beams identified in the sets or a difference in the identified beams in the sets. A rank difference is determined toTUTL 00408 PC-9- exist where a current ranking of current antenna beams based on the current quality indicators is not the same as a reported ranking of previously reported antenna beams based on the previously reported quality indicators. For example, where the beams are ordered based on quality, a different order of beams is a rank difference. A quality difference is determined to exist where a difference between at least one current quality indicator and a reported quality indicator is greater than a quality threshold for a common antenna beam contained in the current set of antenna beams and in the reported set of antenna beams. For example, if a trigger event quality threshold, THQ EVENT, is set to 0.25 dB and the difference between Q2 associated with IDB2 in the current set and the Q2 associated with IDB2 in the previously reported set is 0.5 dB, a difference is determined to exist.

[0031] In response to determining a difference exists, the terminal 102 generates and transmits a single measurement report 106 to the network node 104 where the measurement report 106 includes the current set of antenna beams 108. After the measurement report 106 is successfully received by the network node 104, the current set of antenna beams 108 becomes the new previously reported set of antenna beams 110. When a new beam measurement is performed, the new resulting set of beams is the current set of antenna beams 108. Therefore, a single measurement report is transmitted when multiple events may have occurred. For example, where a contents difference and a rank difference are detected a single measurement report is provided to the network node. Similarly, a single measurement report is transmitted where a contents difference, a rank difference, and a quality difference are detected. In conventional systems each difference may be associated with a different event and a measurement report is transited in response to each event resulting in inefficient beam measurement reporting. Other differences may be used to trigger the transmission of measurement report where the detected difference(s) triggering the measurement report transmission account(s) for multiple individual events. For example, a defined difference that triggers a single measurement report may involve the occurrence of any two or more events defined in the any two of events (E1 -E9) discussed above.

[0032] In some situations, the terminal 102 may transmit a single report even when the terminal 102 is configured with individual events for detecting changes in the beamTUTL 00408 PC-10- quality such as any combination of the events (E1 -E9). In such situations, the terminal may detect any two (or more) of the configured individual events but still transmits a single measurement report including the new current set of beams. In addition, the measurement report may identify the individual events that have been triggered.

[0033] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of a base station 200 suitable for use as the network node 104. The base station 200 includes a controller 204, transmitter 112, and receiver 208, and multiple antennas 114, as well as other electronics, hardware, and code. The base station 200 is any fixed, mobile, or portable equipment that performs the functions described herein. The various functions and operations of the blocks described with reference to the network node 104 and base station 200 may be implemented in any number of devices, circuits, or elements. Two or more of the functional blocks may be integrated in a single device, and the functions described as performed in any single device may be implemented over several devices. The base station 200 may be a fixed device or apparatus that is installed at a particular location at the time of system deployment. Examples of such equipment include fixed base stations or fixed transceiver stations. Although the base station 200 may be referred to by different terms, the base station is typically referred to as a gNodeB or gNB. In some situations, the base station 200 may be mobile equipment that is temporarily installed at a particular location. Some examples of such equipment include mobile transceiver stations that may include power generating equipment such as electric generators, solar panels, and / or batteries. Larger and heavier versions of such equipment may be transported by trailer. In still other situations, the base station 200 may be a portable device that is not fixed to any particular location.

[0034] The controller 204 includes any combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware for executing the functions described herein as well as facilitating the overall functionality of the base station 200. An example of a suitable controller 204 includes code running on a microprocessor or processor arrangement connected to memory. The transmitter 112 includes electronics configured to transmit wireless signals. In some situations, the transmitter 112 may include multiple transmitters. The receiver 208 includes electronics configured to receive wireless signals. In some situations, the receiver 208 may include multiple receivers. The receiver 208 may receive signalsTUTL 00408 PC-11- through multiple antennas or through a selected antenna of the plurality of antennas 114. The antennas 114 may include separate transmit and receive antennas.

[0035] The transmitter 112 and receiver 208 in the example of FIG. 2 perform radio frequency (RF) processing including modulation and demodulation. The receiver 208, therefore, may include components such as low noise amplifiers (LNAs) and filters. The transmitter 112 may include filters and amplifiers. Other components may include isolators, matching circuits, and other RF components. These components in combination or cooperation with other components perform the base station functions. The required components may depend on the particular functionality required by the base station.

[0036] The transmitter 112 includes a modulator (not shown), and the receiver 208 includes a demodulator (not shown). The modulator modulates the signals to be transmitted as part of the downlink signals and can apply any one of a plurality of modulation orders. The demodulator demodulates any uplink signals received at the base station 200 in accordance with one of a plurality of modulation orders. The controller 204 in conjunction with the transmitter 112 may apply a precoder matrix other beam forming process to signals transmitted through the multiple antennas 114.

[0037] The base station 200 includes a communication interface 212 for transmitting and receiving messages with other base stations. The communication interface 212 may be connected to a backhaul or network enabling communication with other base stations. In some situations, the link between base stations may include at least some wireless portions. The communication interface 212, therefore, may include wireless communication functionality and may utilize some of the components of the transmitter 112 and / or receiver 208.

[0038] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example of a UE device 300 suitable for use as the terminal 102. In some examples, the UE device 300 is any wireless communication device such as a mobile phone, a transceiver modem, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet, or a smartphone. In other examples, the UE device 300 is a machine type communication (MTC) communication device or Internet-of-Things (IOT) device. The UE device 300, therefore is any fixed, mobile, or portable equipment thatTUTL 00408 PC-12- performs the functions described herein. The various functions and operations of the blocks described with reference to UE device 300 may be implemented in any number of devices, circuits, or elements. Two or more of the functional blocks may be integrated in a single device, and the functions described as performed in any single device may be implemented over several devices.

[0039] The UE device 300 includes at least a controller 302, a transmitter 304, and a receiver 306. The controller 302 includes any combination of hardware, software, and / or firmware for executing the functions described herein as well as facilitating the overall functionality of a communication device. An example of a suitable controller 302 includes code running on a microprocessor or processor arrangement connected to memory 310. The transmitter 304 includes electronics configured to transmit wireless signals. In some situations, the transmitter 304 may include multiple transmitters. The receiver 306 includes electronics configured to receive wireless signals. In some situations, the receiver 306 may include multiple receivers. The receiver 304 and transmitter 306 receive and transmit signals, respectively, through antenna 308. The antenna 308 may include separate transmit and receive antennas. In some circumstances, the antenna 308 may include multiple transmit and receive antennas.

[0040] The transmitter 304 and receiver 306 in the example of FIG. 3 perform radio frequency (RF) processing including modulation and demodulation. The receiver 306, therefore, may include components such as low noise amplifiers (LNAs) and filters. The transmitter 304 may include filters and amplifiers. Other components may include isolators, matching circuits, and other RF components. These components in combination or cooperation with other components perform the communication device functions. The required components may depend on the particular functionality required by the communication device.

[0041] The transmitter 304 includes a modulator (not shown), and the receiver 306 includes a demodulator (not shown). The modulator can apply any one of a plurality of modulation orders to modulate the signals to be transmitted as part of the uplink signals. The demodulator demodulates the downlink signals in accordance with one of a plurality of modulation orders.TUTL 00408 PC-13-

[0042] The UE device 300 is capable of transmitting and receiving sidelink signals to and from other UE devices as well as communicating with a base station. The controller 302, in conjunction with the receiver 306, measures signals, such as discovery signals, transmitted by nearby UE devices to generate the neighbor list that includes neighbor UE devices within the maximum distance. The neighbor list is stored in the memory 310 and transmitted to the base station 104 when the UE device 300 is a reporting UE device. The receiver 306 and controller 302 also measure signals transmitted by the base station to determine the wide-beam precoder and the UE-specific precoder information.

[0043] FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an example of a method of managing measurement reports for antenna beams. The method may be performed in a system such as the system 100 discussed herein. For the example, the method is performed by a terminal, UE, or other UE device, such as the terminal 102 and UE device 300. The method may be performed using any of several techniques involving any combination of software, hardware, and firmware. For example, software code running on electronics including a processor, computer or other processor arrangement within the terminal may facilitate the generation, formatting, reception and transmission of signals and messages. One or more of the steps may be omitted, combined, performed in parallel, or performed in a different order than that described herein or shown in FIG. 4. In still further examples, additional steps may be added that are not explicitly described in connection with the example discussed with reference to FIG. 4.

[0044] At step 402, beam reporting configuration parameters are received. For the example, the beam reporting configuration parameters include one or more antenna beam measurement and beam set generation parameters which may include parameters related to the number of beams, set sizes, thresholds, quantization steps sizes and other parameters that configure the terminal for measuring and reporting information related to the antenna beams. The terminal 102 receives one or more parameters related to the beam measurement and / or beam set generation from the network node 104. The parameters may be received in a single message or via multiple messages. An example of a suitable technique of receiving the parameters includesTUTL 00408 PC-14- receiving an RRC message including information elements (lEs). In one example, the parameters include parameters conveying the number (M) of beams to measure, the number (N) of beams to include in the measurement report, the minimum quality threshold (THQ MIN) for including a measured beam in a set, and the beam quality quantization step (A). In another example, the parameters include M, A, and THQ SET_SIZE which is used by the terminal 102 to determine N.

[0045] At step 404, downlink reference signals transmitted from the network node through the plurality of antennas 114 are received and measured to measure the antenna beam quality of M antenna beams. For the example, the terminal receives and processes CSI-RS signals to determine the quality of each of the M antenna beams 121-128. Any of metric that qualifies the quality of an antenna beams where some examples of suitable quality measurements include L1 -RSRP, SNR, and SINR. M is parameter provided by the network node 104.

[0046] At step 406, an antenna beam set is generated. The terminal 102 evaluates the M measured antenna beams 121-128 to select N antenna beams to include in the set of antenna beams where N is less than or equal to M. For the example, each of the N antenna beams has a quality that is greater than or equal to a minimum quality threshold, TH1 . As discussed above, TH1 is provided to the terminal 102 by the network node 104. The number, N, of antenna beams included in the set of antenna beams is provided by the network node 104 in some examples. In other examples, the terminal 102 autonomously determines N. In still other examples, the terminal determines N based on other criteria. In one example, the network node 104 provides a set size threshold parameter, THQ_SET_SIZE, that is applied by the terminal to the measured beams to determine N. The quality of each measured antenna beam is compared to the next best quality such that the beam with the worst quality included in the set is greater than or equal to THQ_SET_SIZE above the next best quality of the measured beams. Where the measured antenna beams are ordered based on quality from best to worst (Qi , Q2, . . . QM) the quality (QN) of the Nth antenna beam in the set is such that QN > QN+I + THQ. SET_SIZE. For example, if M=8 and the seventh best quality (Q7) of beam B7 is less than the sixth best quality (Q6) of B6 by more than THQ_SET_SIZE, N is set to 6 by the terminal. For situations where the terminal determines N, the network node 104 mayTUTL 00408 PC-15- configure a maximum N value (NMAX). The NMAX parameter may be sent to the terminal 102 via an RRC message. The NMAX value is such that N < NMAX < M. Such an option may be advantageous in facilitating the configuration of resources for measurement reporting.

[0047] In some situations, the minimum threshold, THQ MIN, may limit the number of antenna beams included in the set to less than the parameter, N, provided by the network node 104. For example, if the N parameter is set to 4 by the network but only three measured antenna beams have a quality greater than or equal to THQ MIN, the generated set of antenna beams includes three antenna beams (i.e., N=3 for the generated set).

[0048] In some examples, a quantized quality value is included for each beam of the set where the network node sets the quantization resolution by providing the beam quality quantization step, A. In some situations, the capabilities of the terminal may limit the quality quantization step. For the examples, the qualified quality value of a beam is compared to the minimum quality threshold, THQ MIN. In other situations, terminal 102 compares the threshold, THQ_MIN, to the quality values with the finest resolution (smallest quantization step) in accordance with the terminal capability.

[0049] In other examples, the quantization step, A, is left, at least partially, to the terminal implementation and is not explicitly specified by the network. For example, the network may set the degree of quantization for the best beam (e.g., 7-bit L1 RSRP) for absolute quality and the remaining quality indicators of the beams within the set may be reported relative to the quality of the best beam.

[0050] At step 408, it is determined whether the terminal 102 had previously reported a set of beams to the network node 104. Where the terminal 102 had reported a set of beams, the reported set can be referred to as the “previously reported set of antenna beams” and the antenna beams set generated from the most recently measured beams can be referred to as the “current set of antenna beams”. Where a previously reported set of antenna beams has been sent to the network node 104, the method continues at step 410. Otherwise, the method proceeds to set 412 where the set of antenna beams are stored.TUTL 00408 PC-16-

[0051] At step 410, it is determined whether the current set of antenna beams is different from the previously reported set of antenna beams. Where it is determined that there is a difference between the current set of antenna beams and the previously reported set of antenna beams, the method proceeds to step 412. Otherwise, the method returns to step 404.

[0052] Various techniques and criteria may be applied to determine whether a difference exists. For one example, a difference between the sets is determined to exist when at least one of the following differences is detected: a contents difference, a rank difference, or a quality indicator difference. A contents difference is determined to exist where the current antenna beams in the current set of antenna beams are not the same antenna beams as the reported antenna beams in the previously reported set of antenna beams. A contents difference may be a difference in the number of beams identified in the sets or a difference in the identified beams in the sets.

[0053] A rank difference is determined to exist where a current ranking of current antenna beams based on the current quality indicators is not the same as a reported ranking of previously reported antenna beams based on the previously reported quality indicators. For example, where the beams are ordered based on quality, a different order of beams is a rank difference.

[0054] A quality difference is determined to exist where a difference between at least one current quality indicator and a reported quality indicator is greater than a maximum quality threshold for a common antenna beam contained in the current set of antenna beams and in the reported set of antenna beams. For example, if a trigger event quality threshold, THE, is set to 0.25 dB and the difference between Q2 associated with IDB2 in the current set and the Q2 associated with IDB2 in the previously reported set is 0.5 dB, a difference is determined to exist. For the example, the quality value indicators in each set are the quantized quality values.

[0055] At step 412, the set of antenna beams are stored in memory before the set of beams reported to the network node at step 414. At step 414, the terminal 102 generates a measurement report that includes the set of antenna beams. The measurement report is transmitted to the network node 104 before the method returns to step 404. Accordingly, the set of antenna beams based on the latest measuredTUTL 00408 PC-17- beams is transmitted to the network node 104 and stored in memory at the terminal 102 as the previously reported antenna beams for comparison to the next set of beams generated from the next antenna beam measurement.

[0056] After receiving the measurement report including the set of antenna beams, the network node 104 may make adjustments to the DL transmissions to the terminal 102. In accordance with known techniques, the network node performs beam management based on the measurement report.

[0057] FIG. 5 is a message flow diagram 500 for an example of antenna beam reporting where a beam reporting trigger is a based on detection of a difference between a current set of antenna beams and a previously reported set of antenna beams.

[0058] At transmission 502, the terminal 102 sends a UE capability message to the network node 104. The UE capability message indicates the capabilities of the terminal related to antenna beam management. For the example, the UE capability message includes information related to the maximum number of antenna beams that can be simultaneously measured by the terminal and the minimum quantization step (finest measurement resolution).

[0059] At transmission 504, the network node 104 sends measurement and set generation parameters to the terminal 102. The parameters may be sent using lEs in one or more RRC messages. In one example, the parameters include parameters conveying the number (M) of beams to measure, the number (N) of beams to include in the measurement report, the minimum quality threshold (TH1 ) for including a measured beam in a set, and the beam quality quantization step (A). In another example, the parameters include M, A, and THQ_SET_SIZE which is used by the terminal 102 to determine N.

[0060] At transmission 506, CSI-RS signals transmitted through the plurality of antennas 114 from the network node 104 are received at the terminal 102. For the example, the number, M, of measured beams is determined by the parameter provided by the network node 104 where the network node 104 may set M at least partially based on the capabilities of the terminal 102. For the example of FIG. 5, a single CSI-RS isTUTL 00408 PC-18- received for each antenna beam. Accordingly, M CSI-RS signals are received by the terminal 102 in FIG. 5.

[0061] At event 508, the terminal 102 measures and otherwise processes the CSI- RS signals to determine a beam quality indicator for each antenna beam and generates a first antenna beam set. Using the criteria and parameters provided by the network node, the terminal associates a beam indicator for each antenna beam of N antenna beams with a quality indicator indicative of the quality of the antenna beam. The quality indicators are quantized values of the measured quality parameters, such as L1-RSRP, SNR, or SINR. For the example, the quantization step set by the network node 104 is greater than the minimum quantization step (highest resolution) dictated by the capabilities of the terminal 102. For the example of FIG. 5, transmission 506 and event 508 are the first measurement and set generation. Accordingly, a measurement report with the first antenna beam set is transmitted to the network node at transmission 510.

[0062] At transmission 512, CSI-RS signals transmitted through the plurality of antennas 114 from the network node 104 are received at the terminal 102. M CSI-RS signals are received by the terminal 102.

[0063] At event 514, the terminal 102 measures and otherwise processes the CSI- RS signals to determine a beam quality indicator for each antenna beam and generates a second antenna beam set. Using the same criteria and parameters provided by the network node and used for generating the first antenna beam set, the terminal associates a beam indicator for each antenna beam of N antenna beams with a quality indicator indicative of the quality of the antenna beam.

[0064] At event 516, the terminal 102 compares the second set of antenna beams to the first set of antenna beams to determine the sets are difference. As discussed above, the criteria for determining whether a difference exists may be based on the identified antenna beams in the set (which beams and / or order of the beams), or a quality difference between the quality indicator for a beam.

[0065] In response to determining the second antenna beam set is different from the first antenna beam set, the terminal 102 generates and transmits a measurement report including the second set of antenna beams at transmission 518.TUTL 00408 PC-19-

[0066] To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware, firmware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware, firmware or software, or a combination of these techniques, depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. The described functionality may be implemented in various ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions do not cause a departure from the scope of the present disclosure. In accordance with various embodiments, a processor, device, component, circuit, structure, machine, module, etc. can be configured to perform one or more of the functions described herein. The term "configured to" or "configured for" as used herein with respect to a specified operation or function refers to processors, devices, components, circuits, electronics, and equipment that are physically constructed, programmed, instructed and / or arranged to perform the specified operation or function. Furthermore, the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, devices, components and circuits described herein can be implemented within or performed by an integrated circuit (IC) that can include a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), other electronics or combinations thereof. (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, or any combination thereof. The logical blocks, electronics, and circuits can further include antennas and / or transceivers to communicate with various components within the network or within the device. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor can be any conventional processor, controller, or state machine. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suitable configuration to perform the functions described herein.

[0067] When implemented in software, the functions can be stored as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Thus, the steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein can be implemented as software stored on a computer- readable medium. Computer readable media includes both computer storage mediaTUTL 00408 PC-20- and communication media including any medium that can be enabled to transfer a computer program or code from one place to another. A storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

[0068] Therefore, the methods and apparatus of this invention may take the form, at least partially, of program logic or program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as a machine-readable storage medium. When the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. The methods and apparatus of the present invention may also be embodied in the form of program code that is transmitted over some transmission medium, such as over electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via any other form of transmission. When the program code is received and loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. When implemented on a general-purpose processor, the program code combines with the processor to provide a unique apparatus that operates analogously to specific logic circuits.

[0069] Additionally, memory or other storage, as well as communication components, may be employed in embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be appreciated that, for clarity purposes, the above description has described embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to different functional units and processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, processing logic elements or domains may be used without detracting from the present disclosure. For example, functionality illustrated to be performed by separate processing logic elements, or controllers, may be performed by the same processing logic element, or controller. Therefore, references to specific functional units are only references to a suitable means for providing the described functionality, rather than indicative of a strict logical or physical structure or organization.TUTL 00408 PC-21-

[0070] Clearly, other embodiments and modifications of this invention will occur readily to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of these teachings. The above description is illustrative and not restrictive. This invention is to be limited only by the following claims, which include all such embodiments and modifications when viewed in conjunction with the above specification and accompanying drawings. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined not with reference to the above description, but instead should be determined with reference to the appended claims along with their full scope of equivalents.

Claims

TUTL 00408 PC-22-CLAIMS1 . A method comprising: measuring, at a terminal device, signals transmitted through a plurality of antenna beams of a multiple-beam antenna pattern of a network node to determine a quality measurement for each antenna beam of the plurality of antenna beams; identifying, from the plurality of antenna beams, a current set of antenna beams having higher quality measurements than other quality measurements of other antenna beams of the plurality of antenna beams; comparing the current set of antenna beams to a previously reported set of antenna beams identified in a previously transmitted measurement report transmitted to the network node, the current set of antenna beams comprising current antenna beam identifiers and a current quality indicator associated with each current antenna beam identifier, the previously reported set of antenna beams including reported antenna beam identifiers and a reported quality indicator associated with each reported antenna beam identifier; and transmitting, to the network node and in response to determining there is a difference between the current set of antenna beams and the reported set of antenna beams, a current measurement report comprising an antenna beam identifier and a quality indicator indicative of the current quality measurement for each current antenna beam, the difference being at least two of: a contents difference where the current antenna beam identifiers are not the same antenna beam identifiers as the reported antenna beam identifiers, a rank difference where a current ranking of current antenna beams based on current quality indicators is not the same as a reported ranking of reported antenna beams based on reported quality indicators, or a quality difference where a difference between at least one current quality indicator and a reported quality indicator is greater than a quality threshold for a common antenna beam contained in the current set of antenna beams and in the previously reported set of antenna beams.TUTL 00408 PC-23-2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the measurement report in response to another difference, the another difference comprising one of the contents difference, the rank difference, and the quality difference3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measurement report comprises at least two event identifiers, where each event identifier identifies a single defined event.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving information from the network node indicating a value, M, wherein the plurality of measured antenna beams is equal to M.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising transmitting terminal capability information to the network node, wherein the value, M, is based on a terminal capability.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the current quality indicators are quantized values at a beam quality quantization step, A, and each reported quality indicator is a quantized value of a previously measured quality at the beam quality quantization step, A.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising receiving information form the network node indicating the beam quality quantization step, A.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein a current highest quality indicator of the current quality indicators is indicative of a measured value of the quality of a highest quality current beam and other current quality indicators are difference values between measured values of the quality of other current beams and the measured value of the quality of the highest quality beam and wherein a reported highest quality indicator of the reported quality indicators is indicative of a measured value of the quality of a highest quality reported beam and other reported quality indicators are difference values between measured values of the quality of other reported beams and the measured value of the quality of the highest quality reported beam.TUTL 00408 PC-24-9. The method of claim 8, wherein the current highest quality indicator is quantized to a first quantization step and the other current quality indicators are quantized to a second quantization step and wherein the reported highest quality indicator is quantized to the first quantization step and the other reported quality indicators are quantized to a second quantization step, the second quantization step larger than the first quantization step.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying the current set of antenna beams comprises selecting a number, N, of measured antenna beams quality indicators greater that a minimum quality threshold, THQ MIN.11 . The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving information from the network node indicating minimum quality threshold, THQ MIN.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising receiving information from the network node indicating N.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising autonomously determining N.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: receiving information from the network node indicating a set size threshold parameter, THQ_SET_SIZE; applying the set size threshold parameter, THQ_SET_SIZE, to the plurality of measured antenna beams to determine N, by comparing the measured quality of each measured antenna beam to a next best quality such that an antenna beam with a worst quality included in the set is greater than or equal to THQ_SET_SIZE above a next best quality of the measured antenna beams.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:TUTL 00408 PC-25- receiving information from the network node indicating a maximum number, NMAX, the number, N, of antenna beams in the current antenna beam set is less than or equal to NMAX.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the contents difference comprises a different number of antenna beam identifiers between the current antenna beam set and the previously reported antenna beam set.

17. A terminal comprising: a receiver configured to receive signals transmitted through a plurality of antenna beams of a multiple-beam antenna pattern of a network node; a controller configured to: determine a quality measurement for each antenna beam of the plurality of antenna beams based on the received signals; identify, from the plurality of antenna beams, a current set of antenna beams having higher quality measurements than other quality measurements of other antenna beams of the plurality of antenna beams; compare the current set of antenna beams to a previously reported set of antenna beams identified in a previously transmitted measurement report transmitted to the network node, the current set of antenna beams comprising current antenna beam identifiers and a current quality indicator associated with each current antenna beam identifier, the previously reported set of antenna beams including reported antenna beam identifiers and a reported quality indicator associated with each reported antenna beam identifier; and determine there is a difference between the current set of antenna beams and the reported set of antenna beams, the difference being at least two of: a contents difference where the current antenna beam identifiers are not the same antenna beam identifiers as the reported antenna beam identifiers,TUTL 00408 PC-26- a rank difference where a current ranking of current antenna beams based on current quality indicators is not the same as a reported ranking of reported antenna beams based on reported quality indicators, or a quality difference where a difference between at least one current quality indicator and a reported quality indicator is greater than a quality threshold for a common antenna beam contained in the current set of antenna beams and in the previously reported set of antenna beams; and a transmitter configured to transmit, to the network node and in response to determining there is the difference between the current set of antenna beams and the reported set of antenna beams, a current measurement report comprising an antenna beam identifier and a quality indicator indicative of the current quality measurement for each current antenna beam.

18. A method comprising: transmitting signals through a plurality of antenna beams of a multiple-beam antenna pattern of at a network node; receiving, from a terminal, a first set of antenna beams comprising a number, N, of first antenna beam identifiers and N first beam quality indicators, each first antenna beam identifier associated with a first beam quality indicator; receiving, from the terminal, a second set of antenna beams comprising second antenna beam identifiers and second beam quality indicators, each second antenna beam identifier associated with a second beam quality indicator, second set of antenna beams transmitted from the terminal in response to the terminal determining a difference exists between the first set of antenna beams and the second set of antenna beams, the difference being at least two of: a contents difference where the second antenna beam identifiers are not the same antenna beam identifiers as the first antenna beam identifiers, a rank difference where a second ranking of second antenna beams based on second quality indicators is not the same as a first ranking of first antenna beams based on first quality indicators, orTUTL 00408 PC-27- a quality difference where a difference between at least one second quality indicator and a first quality indicator is greater than a quality threshold for a common antenna beam contained in the first set of antenna beams and in the second set of antenna beams.

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