Uplink Control Information Symbol Allocation for mmWave Beamforming
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Solution Overview
Problem
In millimeter wave (mmW) wireless communication systems, existing technologies face challenges in accurately receiving uplink control information due to the need for UE-specific beamforming, which can result in missed scheduling requests from UEs located in different angular regions, especially when trying to combine SRS, CQI, ACK/NAK, and SR in a single symbol.
Innovation Solution
The system determines the quantity of symbols for communicating uplink control information based on the link gain or payload size of a user equipment (UE) and adjusts the number of beams for channel information transmission based on whether the information is sent via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), allowing for separate symbols or beams for different types of information to improve accuracy and reliability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If UE-specific UL RX beamforming is performed to receive SRS, then channel estimation accuracy is improved, but SR reception from UEs in different angular regions is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the uplink control information reception into separate time resources: one symbol for SRS with UE-specific beamforming and another symbol for SR with broader beam coverage. This segmentation allows each function to be optimized independently without mutual interference.
Solution Approach 2:
The base station dynamically switches between different receive beamforming configurations depending on the symbol type and intended function. For SRS symbols, UE-specific beams are applied; for SR symbols, broader coverage beams are used. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction between precision and versatility.
2Reliability
If multiple UEs communicate in TDM with distinct beamforming directions, then each UE receives dedicated beamforming, but the base station cannot simultaneously serve multiple angular regions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a temporal dimension to resolve the spatial conflict. By allocating different time symbols for different functions (SRS vs. SR) and using different beamforming configurations in each symbol, the base station can serve multiple angular regions while maintaining dedicated beamforming where needed.
3Productivity
If SRS, CQI, ACK/NAK, and SR are combined in a single symbol, then resource efficiency is improved, but reception reliability deteriorates due to beamforming conflicts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments uplink control information into different time resources: SRS in one symbol and SR in another symbol. This prevents the beamforming conflict that would occur if all information were combined in a single symbol, thereby maintaining reception reliability while still achieving reasonable resource efficiency through tight time-division multiplexing.
Data Source
AI summary
Various aspects of the disclosure relate to communicating uplink control information. As one example, a user equipment may send uplink control information to a base station. In some aspects, the number of symbols used to communicate the uplink control information may be based on a link gain associated with the UE and/or based on a payload size of the uplink control information. As another example, the user equipment may send channel information for a number of beams to the base station. In some aspects, the number of beams may be based on the type of channel that is used to send the uplink control information.