Autonomous Uplink Beam Configuration for Wireless Overhead Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
In wireless communication systems, autonomous uplink (AUL) transmissions with analog beams face inefficiencies due to the base station's inability to determine the direction of unscheduled transmissions, leading to missed data and increased overhead in managing AUL resources.
Innovation Solution
Configuring AUL resources specifically for each user equipment (UE) or user group, including sensing and data portions, allows UEs to perform AUL transmissions with minimal overhead, enabling the base station to efficiently determine the receive beam for uplink data using the configured resources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the base station uses scheduled uplink transmissions with beamforming, then the direction of transmission is known and receive beam can be formed, but the system cannot support autonomous uplink transmissions where the base station is unaware of transmission direction
Solution Approach 1:
The base station performs preliminary beam sweeping in downlink subframes to establish a set of downlink transmit beams before uplink transmissions occur. This preliminary action creates a beam correspondence relationship that enables the base station to later determine the appropriate receive beam for autonomous uplink transmissions without real-time directional information from the UE.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback through beam correspondence, where the base station uses the relationship between downlink transmit beams and uplink receive beams to determine which receive beam to use for autonomous uplink receptions. This feedback mechanism allows the base station to adapt its receive beam based on preliminary downlink beamforming actions.
2Reliability
If the base station monitors all possible directions for autonomous uplink transmissions, then no transmissions are missed, but the overhead and complexity of managing AUL resources increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the uplink reception space into multiple directional beams, with each beam assigned to specific time-frequency resources. This segmentation allows the base station to monitor multiple directions simultaneously by dividing the monitoring task across different beam-resource associations, reducing the complexity of omnidirectional monitoring while maintaining reliable detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a spatial dimension to resource allocation by associating specific time-frequency resources with specific beam directions. This dimensional extension allows the base station to differentiate between transmissions from different directions using the same time-frequency resources, reducing monitoring complexity while maintaining comprehensive coverage.
3Productivity
If beam-specific AUL resources are configured for each UE, then overhead is minimized through efficient resource usage, but the configuration and management of resources becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a universal beam-resource mapping that can be applied across multiple UEs. The same set of downlink transmit beams and their corresponding receive beams are reused for different UEs, allowing the base station to manage beam configurations once and apply them universally. This multi-functionality reduces configuration complexity while maintaining efficient beam-specific resource allocation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of resource association from UE-specific to beam-specific. Instead of configuring resources individually for each UE, the system configures resources based on beam directions, and UEs inherit resource assignments based on their spatial relationship with the base station. This parameter change simplifies configuration management while preserving beam-specific resource efficiency.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
A base station may configure a set of autonomous uplink (AUL) resources for a specific base station receive beam, or the AUL resources may be configured for specific user equipment (UEs) or user groups. Additionally, the AUL resources may be configured to include a sensing portion, a data portion, or both. As an example, a UE may receive an AUL configuration that includes an indication of a set of AUL resources that are specific to a base station receive beam. The UE may then determine that the set of AUL resources is available and perform an AUL transmission of uplink data using the set of beam-specific AUL resources. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may perform the AUL transmission with respective portions that include a sensing signal and the uplink data. The base station may use the sensing signal to determine a receive beam on which to receive the uplink data.