Beam Management via CRC Verification in Wireless Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
In wireless networks with a large number of beams and UEs, existing methods face significant signaling and measurement overhead due to frequent beam measurement and reporting, which can limit beamforming gain and increase latency.
Innovation Solution
The method involves a network node transmitting a beam-specific sequence via each active beam, allowing UEs to estimate and verify their active beams based on receive power and beam-specific sequences, thereby reducing the need for explicit signaling of active beams.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If frequent beam measurement and reporting is performed, then beamforming gain can be maintained, but signaling overhead and measurement overhead increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential verification information (CRC bits) from the complete beam management protocol, allowing UEs to verify active beam sets without transmitting full beam measurement reports. This reduces signaling overhead while maintaining beamforming performance through selective verification rather than comprehensive reporting.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having the network explicitly signal active beam sets to UEs (traditional approach), the patent inverts the approach by having UEs autonomously determine active beams based on downlink signals and verify their determination through CRC checks. This reversal reduces network signaling overhead while maintaining beam accuracy.
2Measurement precision
If explicit signaling of active beams is performed, then beam accuracy is improved, but control message overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the critical verification element (CRC checksum) from the beam management signaling, allowing UEs to verify their active beam determination without receiving explicit active beam set signaling. This extraction maintains beam accuracy through verification while minimizing control message overhead to only essential error-checking data.
3Reliability
If beam adaptation frequency is increased, then beamforming performance is improved, but latency and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables UEs to perform preliminary autonomous determination of active beam sets using downlink reference signals and beam-specific sequences. This preliminary action allows rapid beam adaptation without waiting for network signaling, reducing latency while maintaining beamforming performance through pre-computed beam selections that can be quickly verified via CRC checks.
Data Source
AI summary
According to an example embodiment, an example method may include estimating, by a receiver device in a wireless network, a set of one or more active beams for the receiver device based on an estimated receive power of each active beam to obtain an estimated set of one or more active beams for the receiver device; receiving, by the receiver device, verification information associated with the estimated set of one or more active beams for the receiver device; and, verifying, by the receiver device based on the verification information, the estimated set of one or more active beams for the receiver device.