Non-Zero-Power Beam CSI Reporting for Wireless Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless communication systems face inefficiencies in channel state information (CSI) reporting for multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) communications, particularly in reducing the payload of CSI reports to improve throughput and reduce uplink time-frequency resource consumption.
Innovation Solution
The described techniques configure user equipment (UE) to report CSI for a number of beams over one or more spatial layers, identifying non-zero-power beams and omitting their coefficients in the CSI report, thereby reducing the payload and improving communication efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If CSI reports include beam coefficients for all configured beams, then complete channel state information is provided, but the payload size increases consuming more uplink time-frequency resources
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary beam coefficients (non-zero-power beams) from the complete set of configured beams, omitting zero-power beam coefficients from the CSI report. This selective extraction maintains channel state information completeness for relevant beams while reducing payload size by excluding unnecessary zero-power beam data.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different reporting quality to different beams based on their power characteristics. Non-zero-power beams receive full coefficient reporting while zero-power beams are reported with omitted coefficients. This local differentiation optimizes the balance between information completeness and payload reduction.
2Measurement precision
If all beam coefficients are reported in CSI reports, then accurate channel state information is provided, but uplink time-frequency resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only essential beam coefficient information for non-zero-power beams, removing redundant zero-power beam coefficients. This maintains measurement precision for channels that actually carry power while reducing uplink time-frequency resource consumption by transmitting less data.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by reporting only the necessary portion of beam coefficients (non-zero-power beams) rather than all configured beams. This partial reporting is sufficient for accurate channel state information while minimizing resource consumption.
3Loss of information
If beam coefficients for zero-power beams are included in CSI reports, then complete beam information is provided, but communication throughput is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and transmits only non-zero-power beam coefficients, omitting zero-power beam coefficients from CSI reports. This reduces the amount of data transmitted, thereby increasing communication throughput while maintaining beam information completeness for actually useful beams.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent discards zero-power beam coefficient information from the CSI report since these beams contribute no useful signal. The base station recovers the necessary beam information by identifying which beams are non-zero-power through alternative means, maintaining effective beam information without the overhead of transmitting zero-power beam data.
Data Source
AI summary
Some wireless communication networks may improve communication reliability and/or throughput using multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) schemes. MIMO operation may in turn be supported by the use of channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), which may allow communicating devices to estimate and leverage multipath channel conditions. However, the signaling used to support such communications may consume significant resources. In accordance with the described techniques, a user equipment (UE) may identify non-zero-power beams based on received CSI-RS. The non-zero-power beams may contribute to the final precoding vector. Rather than transmitting beam coefficients relating to zero-power beams, the UE may instead indicate a presence of these zero-power beams to the base station (e.g., by indicating a number of non-zero-power beams). Such techniques may reduce overhead of the communications or otherwise benefit the system.