Radio Frequency Beam Management and Recovery in 5G NR
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless communication systems face challenges in efficiently managing and recovering radio frequency beams in 5G New Radio (NR) systems, particularly in maintaining beam quality and handling beam failures, which can lead to interruptions in communication.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves configuring first and second thresholds for evaluating beam quality metrics, performing beam switching or broadening when the metric falls below the first threshold, and initiating a beam failure recovery procedure when it falls below the second threshold, utilizing nested reference signals for coarse and fine beam selection, and reporting based on a combination of reference signal receive power and channel state information metrics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If beam switching and broadening are performed when beam quality metric falls below the first threshold, then beam management robustness is improved, but communication latency increases due to additional beam recovery procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs beam switching and broadening operations in advance when the beam quality metric first drops below the first threshold, before complete beam failure occurs. This preliminary action prevents the need for more extensive recovery procedures later, thereby reducing overall communication latency while maintaining robustness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically adjusts beam management strategies based on real-time beam quality metrics. By monitoring the metric continuously and triggering different recovery actions at different threshold levels, the system adapts its behavior to current channel conditions, optimizing the balance between robustness and latency.
2Reliability
If beam failure recovery procedure is initiated when beam quality metric falls below the second threshold, then communication reliability is maintained, but system overhead increases due to recovery signaling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the beam failure recovery process into multiple stages with different thresholds. The first threshold triggers preliminary beam switching/broadening actions, while the second threshold triggers full beam failure recovery procedures. This segmentation allows the system to handle minor degradations with simpler actions, reducing overall signaling overhead while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of always performing complete beam failure recovery procedures, the patent applies partial actions (beam switching and broadening) when the beam quality metric falls between the first and second thresholds. This partial action is sufficient to address minor beam quality issues without incurring the full overhead of complete recovery procedures.
3Measurement precision
If nested reference signals are used for coarse and fine beam selection, then beam selection precision is improved, but computational complexity at user equipment increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides beam selection into two distinct stages: coarse beam selection using wide beams and fine beam selection using narrow beams. Each stage uses appropriately sized reference signals matched to its resolution requirements. This segmentation allows precise beam selection while keeping computational complexity manageable by using simpler wide beams for initial selection and only deploying complex narrow beams when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically transitions between coarse and fine beam selection based on channel conditions and requirements. The system starts with coarse beam selection using wider beams and lower computational requirements, then progresses to fine beam selection with narrower beams only when higher precision is needed, thereby adapting computational complexity to actual requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A base station (BS)/user equipment (UE) for performing radio frequency beam management and recovery in communication with a UE/BS. The BS/UE includes a processor and a memory that stores first and second thresholds. The processor evaluates a beam quality metric against the first and second thresholds, performs beam switching and/or beam broadening in response to determining the beam quality metric falls below the first threshold, and performs a beam failure recovery procedure in response to determining the beam quality metric falls below the second threshold.